The Wake Up Call

Gloria kept checking with me, knowingly saying that global real estate was going to play a larger role in the future.When I was still saying “no” a few years later, she asked me to tell her about what I did in my real estate career. Until that time, my vision of an international REALTOR^® was someone who traveled the world, cutting big corporate deals and speaking several languages.“I only speak English; I haven’t traveled a lot,” I said.

I was, however, one of the few REALTORS^® in my area who sold business opportunities. After describing many transactions in which foreign nationals were involved in the purchase of those businesses, many of whom had Treaty Investor (E-2) visas which allowed buyers to enter the U.S. to oversee their business operations, Gloria said, “There, you see, you are involved in international real estate!”

The truth was that, at that point, I was an International REALTOR^® in denial! As slow as I was to recognize it, international business was already a good percentage of my company’s activity.

Most of you are well past any semblance of the denial I was in, but I’m guessing you know a few folks who—as I did in 1987—fail to see the full breadth of their real estate activity and fail to maximize the opportunities associated with the international aspects of their business.

Today's Electronic Advantage

My conversations with Gloria also helped me recognize the importance of cultural understanding in business success.At the time, I was advancing toward the chairmanship of NAR’s Education Committee and was liaison to the “International Practitioners” group, which was working on an international education program. At the meeting of the international group, listening to the discussion, I realized why some of my customers hadn’t returned. It was likely I had done something culturally unacceptable without realizing it. As I now tell my students, learning in the classroom is a lot less expensive than learning by loosing a transaction.

The fact is that you can very successfully conduct international business without ever leaving your local market. For that matter, you can conduct international business without leaving your office, which is hard to do when conducting domestic business in your local market! But, I digress.

In an electronic age,you can connect with buyers,sellers,and colleagues all over the world with just a few clicks of your mouse.Video conferencing gives you eye-to-eye contact, and communications tools like Skype let us see and talk to each other for the price of a local phone call. Business transactions are increasingly electronic thanks to electronic signatures, bank wire transfers, and other such 21st century conveniences of communication.
Best of all, the concept of client referrals on a global scale is increasingly talking hold, due in great part to ICREA’s Transnational Referral Certification (TRC) program—which instructs agents on the concept of broker cooperation through client referrals—and the system ICREA has put in place to support it.

Face-To-Face Networking

All this is good. If our area of expertise required foreign language fluency and international travel, we’d be a much smaller group.That said, there’s nothing like face-to-face contact for inter-national business development. It’s the little things that impress, such as knowing the French greet one another with two kisses while the Dutch exchange three.This sort of knowledge, coupled with the value that comes from experiencing another culture directly, can make a big difference in establishing yourself as a source for international referrals and also in effectively providing service to those client referrals. A happy referral client generates more referrals!

Since those early days, I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel and teach in many areas of the world. To those of you who would like to expand your horizons and your business, traveling to trade missions, real estate shows, and international congresses and expos are opportunities for personal growth and substantial income possibilities. This is particularly true right now for U.S. REALTORS^® because the weakness of the U.S.dollar against other major currencies has increased the demand for U.S. properties.

NAR offers CIPS Network members and other REALTORS^® the opportunity to participate in a variety of programs. In 2008, NAR will again organize participation in the SIMA 2nd Home Show in Madrid (April), in Expo Real in Munich (October), in MIPIM Asia in Hong Kong (November), and has already organized participation in MIPIM Europe in Cannes, France earlier this year. NAR also promotes partner events, like Panama Spectacular and Master Inmobiliaria (Brazil).

These are great opportunities to make business connections and build your global network, but there are many other opportunities—some of the best being offered by state and local REALTOR^® associations in the U.S. Many of these are open to all REALTORS^®, so participants can build not only a global network, but also a domestic one.

Although it seems like yesterday, it was 1987 when I attended an NAR meeting in Puerto Rico and met Gloria Berman, CIPS. Gloria was a pioneer in international business and in the CIPS program. I spent time with her during that week, and we became friends. Over the next couple of years, each time I saw Gloria she would ask if I was doing international business yet,and I would say,“No.”

Gloria kept checking with me, knowingly saying that global real estate was going to play a larger role in the future.When I was still saying “no” a few years later, she asked me to tell her about what I did in my real estate career. Until that time, my vision of an international REALTOR^® was someone who traveled the world, cutting big corporate deals and speaking several languages.“I only speak English; I haven’t traveled a lot,” I said.

I was, however, one of the few REALTORS^® in my area who sold business opportunities. After describing many transactions in which foreign nationals were involved in the purchase of those businesses, many of whom had Treaty Investor (E-2) visas which allowed buyers to enter the U.S. to oversee their business operations, Gloria said, “There, you see, you are involved in international real estate!”

The truth was that, at that point, I was an International REALTOR^® in denial! As slow as I was to recognize it, international business was already a good percentage of my company’s activity.

Most of you are well past any semblance of the denial I was in, but I’m guessing you know a few folks who—as I did in 1987—fail to see the full breadth of their real estate activity and fail to maximize the opportunities associated with the international aspects of their business.

My conversations with Gloria also helped me recognize the importance of cultural understanding in business success.At the time, I was advancing toward the chairmanship of NAR’s Education Committee and was liaison to the “International Practitioners” group, which was working on an international education program. At the meeting of the international group, listening to the discussion, I realized why some of my customers hadn’t returned. It was likely I had done something culturally unacceptable without realizing it. As I now tell my students, learning in the classroom is a lot less expensive than learning by loosing a transaction.

The fact is that you can very successfully conduct international business without ever leaving your local market. For that matter, you can conduct international business without leaving your office, which is hard to do when conducting domestic business in your local market! But, I digress.

In an electronic age,you can connect with buyers,sellers,and colleagues all over the world with just a few clicks of your mouse.Video conferencing gives you eye-to-eye contact, and communications tools like Skype let us see and talk to each other for the price of a local phone call. Business transactions are increasingly electronic thanks to electronic signatures, bank wire transfers, and other such 21st century conveniences of communication.
Best of all, the concept of client referrals on a global scale is increasingly talking hold, due in great part to ICREA’s Transnational Referral Certification (TRC) program—which instructs agents on the concept of broker cooperation through client referrals—and the system ICREA has put in place to support it.

All this is good. If our area of expertise required foreign language fluency and international travel, we’d be a much smaller group.That said, there’s nothing like face-to-face contact for inter-national business development. It’s the little things that impress, such as knowing the French greet one another with two kisses while the Dutch exchange three.This sort of knowledge, coupled with the value that comes from experiencing another culture directly, can make a big difference in establishing yourself as a source for international referrals and also in effectively providing service to those client referrals. A happy referral client generates more referrals!

Since those early days, I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel and teach in many areas of the world. To those of you who would like to expand your horizons and your business, traveling to trade missions, real estate shows, and international congresses and expos are opportunities for personal growth and substantial income possibilities. This is particularly true right now for U.S. REALTORS^® because the weakness of the U.S.dollar against other major currencies has increased the demand for U.S. properties.

NAR offers CIPS Network members and other REALTORS^® the opportunity to participate in a variety of programs. In 2008, NAR will again organize participation in the SIMA 2nd Home Show in Madrid (April), in Expo Real in Munich (October), in MIPIM Asia in Hong Kong (November), and has already organized participation in MIPIM Europe in Cannes, France earlier this year. NAR also promotes partner events, like Panama Spectacular and Master Inmobiliaria (Brazil).

These are great opportunities to make business connections and build your global network, but there are many other opportunities—some of the best being offered by state and local REALTOR^® associations in the U.S. Many of these are open to all REALTORS^®, so participants can build not only a global network, but also a domestic one.

State and local associations are increasingly involved in international study tours/trade missions. The launch of NAR’s new “Market to Market” business development program will further foster local market trade missions. Read more about this initiative, and about national and regional business development/ trade mission opportunities on page 14. I support those of you who manage and grow your global market business 100 percent from your local market,and encourage you to identify colleagues who might be international REALTORS^® in denial.

Gloria Berman changed my life and I’ll forever be grateful. Perhaps you can do the same for someone. If you’ve never thought about traveling to connect with a business market of interest—or if you’ve thought about it, but just not pursued it—then take a closer look at some of the opportunities being offered this year. Just one such experience can make a world of difference. Go to www.realtor.org/international/events.

State and local associations are increasingly involved in international study tours/trade missions. The launch of NAR’s new “Market to Market” business development program will further foster local market trade missions. Read more about this initiative, and about national and regional business development/ trade mission opportunities on page 14. I support those of you who manage and grow your global market business 100 percent from your local market,and encourage you to identify colleagues who might be international REALTORS^® in denial.

Gloria Berman changed my life and I’ll forever be grateful. Perhaps you can do the same for someone. If you’ve never thought about traveling to connect with a business market of interest—or if you’ve thought about it, but just not pursued it—then take a closer look at some of the opportunities being offered this year. Just one such experience can make a world of difference. Go to www.realtor.org/international/events.