Try this as method of prospecting for
real estate clients: Get yourself invited to
events at San Francisco Bay-area consulates
of foreign nations. Make sure your
brochure is available in case a foreign
national stops by the consulate between
the airport and his visit to buy property
in northern Nevada.
That's one of the offbeat paths followed
by an offbeat Realtor, Charles
Tyler Clay. He's a specialist in international
real estate, one of only 900 real
estate agents nationally who carry the
Certified International Property
Specialist designation of the National
Association of Realtors.
In northern Nevada, Clay is joined by
Michael Ornelas of McCall Realty in
Zephyr Cove and Shari Chase of Chase
International at Lake Tahoe and London
as the only certified international
realty specialists.
While much of Clay's day is filled
with commercial transactions at Coldwell
Banker Plummer & Associates Inc. in
Reno, his work extends into transactions
that are anything but routine.
There's the Australian businessman,
for instance, who thinks the Reno area
might be a good site for a plant that
makes synthetic corks for wine bottles.
Or the Chinese businessman who
owns one firm in northern Nevada and
looks to expand his operations.
Clay acts as the foreign buyers' advisor
on real estate, but he finds that much of
his time is spent advising them on the
cultural and legal fine points of American
transactions.
Such as?
Many foreign buyers are surprised at
the strong assurances about the validity
of titles to American real estate, assurances
that result from the U.S. system of
title insurance. That's an assurance that's
rare elsewhere.
In Mexico, Ornelas notes, purchase of
private property isn't allowed but
acquisitions can take the form of a 50-
year lease with an option for an additional
50 years.
European buyers, meanwhile, often
are surprised at the speed and simplicity
of American transactions, Clay says.
Purchases of real estate in Europe tend
be less common and much more complex.
In Italy, Ornelas cites as one example,
the infrastructure to handle realestate
transactions isn't particularly well
organized.
"The bartender may know as much as
the attorney," he says.
Clay has learned to be sensitive to the
cultural needs of his buyers.
"With the Germans and the Dutch,
you don't say, 'Here's the deal. Do you
want it or not?' It takes a lot of relationship
building," he says.
It's not unusual for Asian buyers,
meanwhile, to request a feng shui inspection
before they buy a property.
Big factors in many international
transactions are regulations that may forbid
foreign nationals from moving large
amounts of money from their homelands.
"Before you find the property, find the
money," Clay says.
In the United States, meanwhile,
sometimes overlooked laws require federal
registration by any foreigner who buys
farmland or land rezoned from agricultural
uses within the past five years.
The Internal Revenue Service imposes
paperwork requirements and sometimes
requires a cash deposit for foreign buyers
of U.S. property valued at more than
$300,000. The goal is to keep untaxed
capital gains from leaving the country.
But the need to be aware of cultural
and legal differences in the real estate
business runs both ways.
As Clay works with the increasing
number of American buyers of property
in Costa Rica, for instance, he makes sure
they understand that nation's squatter
rules. If the property owners don't take
steps to regularly clear squatters from
their property specialized contractors
are available for that purpose the
squatters gain some ownership rights.
While Ornelas and Clay say international
transactions currently account for a
small share of their business, Ornelas
expects that an international listings
service expected to debut this year will
provide a boost.
"It's going to be just outstanding," he
says. "Once that comes on line, the
international part of my business
will grow.
