U.S. Real Estate Agents Selling International Property

The dollar has been steadily losing value against most major currencies for several years, and it appears that the dollar has further to fall, given the Federal Reserve’s commitment to dropping interest rates in hopes of spurring the economy out of recession. This provides an opportunity for real estate agents to market to two new types of clients.

Foreign investors

As currencies in other nations rise against the dollar, it becomes less expensive for foreign investors to own real estate in the United States. Not long ago, I read an article about how real estate prices were continuing to rise in Manhattan, despite the general real estate malaise. It turns out that this was primarily influenced by foreign investor purchases.

I just talked with Amy Phillips from Deedquest, a real estate analysis website. A majority of visitors to her site are international investors researching U.S. real estate opportunities. International investors are out there and searching. Do you have a web presence that helps cater to those investors? My guess is that few do, so there seems to be much opportunity still available to claim that Web real estate.

Americans investing abroad

Americans looking to purchase in other countries are another group that offers opportunities for real estate agents. Though most real estate is becoming more expensive for this group as a result of the declining dollar, purchasing property in other countries is a way for investors to diversify. For example, an American purchasing property in Canada would own an asset valued in terms of the loonie. Even if the property didn’t appreciate, the investor would experience a gain if the dollar dropped in value with respect to the loonie.

In my experience, there are many Americans interested in foreign property. The difficulty is getting past the knowledge and distance issues. This is much easier to overcome if there is a trusted, local service provider that specializes in a specific foreign area and visits it regularly. Could you be that trusted, local service provider? Would it be that bad if you had to regularly visit Mexico, Costa Rica or Brazil?