We have heard it for years, “real estate is going global.” The day has come; real estate has gone global and the opportunities are limitless. The emerging trends in the real estate market can generate an unlimited source of buyers, sellers and resulting referrals all here at home. 

International real estate really does begin at home. The key is utilizing local resources to identify and capture the market. Depending on your personal comfort level, you can join structured organizations and participate in related programs or you may decide to take a more informal approach and achieve the same goals of increasing market share. Ideas for entering into the international market are listed below.

Diverify and Broaden
Begin by diversifying and broadening your perspectives. Successful real estate professionals study and adapt to market changes. Add an international twist and study changes in demographics and immigration trends to help maximize returns on marketing and networking efforts.

The National Association of Realtors® offers the “At Home with Diversity” training program. The six hour course teaches the real estate professional how to increase sensitivity and learn how to adapt to future market trends. Exercises in the program strive to increase awareness of cultural differences and improve the cross-cultural communication skills. Check with the local Association of Realtors® to complete the training.

Join and Attend
Join and attend international real estate networking groups and associations. If your local Association of Realtors® has an international council, join it. Otherwise, form a council to promote networking and educational opportunities. Contact and join FIABCI, The International Real Estate Federation, based in Paris, France. The general membership of FIABCI includes persons and organizations from more than sixty countries in all regions of globe. Members are real estate professionals, developers, financiers, attorneys, architects and so on. For more information, check the web at www.FIABCI-USA.com or www.FIABCI.org .

Make Contact
Contact the Embassies and Consular Corps in your area to see how you can be of service to foreign nationals residing and conducting business in your area. Most of the larger cities provide a Consulate directory with contact information for members of the local Consular Corps. A complete list of Embassies in the United States can be found on-line at www.Embassy.org.

Attend Cultural Meetings
Attend meetings and join cultural specific Chambers of Commerce and multi-cultural associations. Check the local telephone directory and internet search engines to identify which organizations are in your market. Request an invitation to attend the local meetings and join the organization if an invitation is extended. Consider sponsoring an event or information kiosk when the opportunity arises. The goodwill and networking opportunities will prove beneficial.

Get Out More Often
Get out more often. Treat yourself and build a relationship in the process. Dine in ethnic restaurants, shop in multi-cultural centers, attend and participate in ethic festivals and parades.

Utilize and Offer 
When you utilize the services of members from other communities remember to offer your services as well. Many members of smaller ethnic communities seek professional services from outside of their own community. The desire for a client to keep business matters private will often cause the client to seek services from unrelated parties.

As you build a relationship and share your background with members of differing communities they will begin to seek advice and services from you . 

The next time you head dine out, think about all of the real estate transactions that revolved around the restaurants. Are you in the mood for Tex-Mex, Chinese, Thai, Italian, Greek? Imagine all of the real estate deals involved in obtaining the commercial space and the homes of the business owners and their employees.

By broadening your perspectives you will create more business opportunities in any market. After all is said and done, international real estate really does begin at home.