US Real Estate Forecast 2013: Property Agents Are Learning Chinese

Americans may not want to admit it yet, but all facts, data, and signs point to China overtaking the US as the worlds largest economy sometime in the next few years, and savvy real estate agents are starting to learn Chinese in an effort to tap into the Chinese market.

No, not just Chinese buyers in the US. These agents are going to China, where the money is at.

The New York Times reported that, when the New York market dried up in 2008 after the financial crisis, Sothebys International Realty team turned its focus to Asia. The company dispatched one of its star brokers, Nikki Fields, to Asia to develope relationships with clients. Fields and her business partner, Kevin Brown, started traveling to China regularly, up to four times a year.

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We wanted to get out ahead of the worlds investment flow, Ms. Field told the New York Times.

She reckons that, with the explosion of wealth in China, that is where the most lucrative deals ? from the most eager or successful buyers ? are at.

These rich Chinese are either looking to buy just to invest, or to secure a place for their childrens housing when their children head off to college in the US.

Accorinding to the New York Times, no city in the United States has been a bigger beneficiary of the Chinese buying wave than New York ? so the most ambitious brokers are learning Chinese.

Since 2008, Ms. Field said, she has been on an at times exasperating journey to understand China. She started taking Mandarin classes about two years ago. More recently she and Mr. Brown have been attending classes in Mandarin and business culture at the State University of New Yorks Confucius Institute for Business, a program that began in early 2011 and that is seeing a lot of interest from real estate brokers eager to sell to the Chinese.

Ironically, the two real estate agents who doubt the usefulness of traveling to China are Asian American. Janet Wang and Carrie Chiang, two brokers at Corcoran Group, one of the more successful real estate groups in New York, said they have repeatedly declined invitations by banks and organizations to go to China.

I have yet to see how successful those cold approaches and road shows are, Ms. Wang said. Chinese, especially on the high end, rely heavily on the circle of their trusted friends and family members and people they have done business with in the past.

Dolly Lenz, the vice chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman, said half of her clients now come from Asia, many of them from China. Thats twice as much as a few years ago.

Chinese billionaires continue to buy high-end properties in buildings like the Time Warner Center, 15 Central Park West and the newest, One57.

Groups of Chinese are making their way to New York for house-hunting tours. A Mandarin-English luxury lifestyle magazine, YUE, is organizing a real estate conference in New York in October at which Ms. Field is scheduled to speak. More than 150 wealthy Chinese that Sothebys has reached out to are expected to attend, she said.

After five years of traveling to Asia, Ms. Field acknowledges that she is still not fluent in Mandarin and has only scratched the surface on the choreography required to be successful with the mainland Chinese. There is proper protocol with greetings to consider, welcome gifts, seating and who eats when at meals. There are nuances related to distinguishing business time and social time.

Understanding Chinese negotiating styles has been a challenge, she said.

But the bigger challenge is learning Chinese heritage and beliefs, especilaly feng shui, from which Chinese buyers rely heavily on their decisions.

Source: http://www.allennelsonrealtor.com/?p=2722

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