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International clients frequently pay all cash compared to domestic buyers: About 63 percent of reported transactions were all cash, as reported in the recently released 2013 Profile of International Home Buying Activity, which captures transactions of respondents in the 12 months ended March 2013.
Mortgage financing tends to be a major problem for international clients due to a lack of a U.S. based credit history, lack of a Social Security number, difficulties in documenting mortgage requirements, and financial profiles that are different in some cases from those normally received by the financial institution from domestic residents. Financing-related issues accounted for about 26 percent of the reported reasons for not buying a property in the United States.
There is a good chance of having a foreign buyer, whose expectations and needs may differ from those of U.S. buyers. The site http://www.realtor.org/global provides a substantial amount of information that may be of help to REALTORS® not experienced in dealing with international clients. Information at the site may be useful in addressing reasons why clients don’t buy—and helping to convert no-sales into sales.
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