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As International Buying Surges, Best Broker Practices Are More Important Than Ever

By RSIR Staff |

The rise of the Seattle housing market has been such a consistent refrain for the last several years that there’s little question whether the Puget Sound has “arrived” yet.

Motivated homebuyers from diverse backgrounds are drawn by the region’s spectacular environment, great schools, vibrant culture and world-class companies. The only reason sales could decline in Seattle is insufficient inventory, not waning demand.

International buyers have been an important factor in this surge, with Chinese consumers leading the charge. It’s no surprise Seattle was the most searched U.S. market in 2017 according to Juwai.com, China’s top real estate search portal, and that many Chinese plan to go on shopping tours during the upcoming Lunar New Year celebration.

Increased demand means increased competition, especially in an inventory-scarce market like Seattle. With fewer available properties than interested buyers, consumers sometimes resort to time-saving and corner-cutting tactics to get to the front of the line, like waiving inspections, purchasing homes sight unseen or doing comparison shopping before putting in an offer.

Since our company was founded, Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty and our brokers have had an unwavering commitment to always follow best practices throughout the home buying process. We know how important it is to ensure buyers are protected, that they have the information they need to make educated decisions and receive the best counsel from objective, professional experts both here at RSIR or among our preferred list of advisors including accountants, lawyers, inspectors, school admissions consultants, immigration specialists and the like.

We also understand the unique factors that Chinese consumers face when contemplating a home purchase in the Puget Sound. That’s why we founded the first-of-its-kind Asia Services Group, a network of trusted, experienced brokers who speak Chinese and understand Chinese culture, and are able to serve as responsible, accessible advisors when Chinese consider buying a home.

With Chinese New Year approaching, RSIR recently hosted a Town Hall meeting with the Asia Services Group to review best practices when working with overseas buyers. The meeting was attended by China Daily reporter Linda Deng, who covered the findings in a recent China Daily cover story, and was moderated by Marc Berger from Nyhus Communications. The following are top ten results from this meeting:

1. Work with a reputable brokersuch as a certified Asia Services Group member at RSIR, that has established, trustworthy capabilities gained through policies, endorsements and language/cultural alignment.

2. Require a personal tour of homes – RSIR strongly discourages buying homes sight unseen or relying on referrals and endorsements from friends or family members.

3. Hire an independent inspector – do not assume that all systems are working, even if you are considering a new home with a warranty, as deferred maintenance will transfer to new ownership and may surface later.

4. Encourage market education – do not allow a buyer to get fixated on a particular home or neighborhood, but instead encourage comparisons to ensure all reasonable alternatives are considered to explore alternatives.

5. Hire a property appraiser and consider that advice during the offer/counteroffer process – ultimately a property is worth what a buyer is willing to pay.

6. If providing buyer credits, and a buyer agent is being rebated, that agent must always show all price and compensation adjustments on the HUD statement.

7. If a home is going to be vacant for a period of time, hire a property management company to professionally manage heat, maintenance and landscaping to avoid neighborhood conflicts and loss of value.

8. Confirm all warranty periods and perform inspections again prior to expiration to ensure all claims are processed in a timely manner as deferred maintenance items may be discovered upon resale and be a cost to seller to remedy.

9. Work through third-party experts rather than making representations outside the Law of Agency of a broker, which states that the duty of an agent or broker terminates after closing.

10. Treat all buyers with great respect and ethical behavior as a great experience will often lead to multiple referrals.

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RSIR is proud to employ local experts in global real estate including our exclusive Asia Services Group. Since founding this unique solution for overseas buyers, we have participated in scores of successful transactions with foreign nationals including many repeat transactions and high value referrals earned through satisfied clients.  Along the way, we’ve contributed to first-to-market publication like the all-Chinese Seattle Luxury Living magazine, now in its third year of distribution, as well as participating in dozens of national and global media stories on these trends. As the Seattle area continues to emerge as a global city on the rise, RSIR is uniquely experienced to assist. After all, international is our middle name.

In 2017, Sotheby’s International Realty was named the most trusted residential brokerage brand in the United States, according to Lifestory Research. Our franchise parent company, Realogy Corp, has been honored as one of the world’s most ethical companies for six years in a row, according to Ethisphere Institute.

在跨国购房的热潮中,遵循经纪人最佳实践守则尤为重要

西雅图房地产市场在过去几年始终保持蓬勃的发展势态,普吉特湾当仁不让赶在风口浪尖。

来自五湖四海,背景迥然的潜在购房者被该地区优美的环境、壮丽的景色、优秀的学校、充满活力的文化和世界级的公司深深吸引。如若西雅图房地产销售出现下滑,唯一的原因只能是房源库存不足,而不是需求下降。

国际购房者是刺激销售的重要因素之一。西雅图房地产市场占中国顶尖的国际房地产搜索网站居外网(Juwai.com)2017年美国市场搜索量头名,是意料之中的事情。许多中国消费者计划农历新年(春节)假期中出境购物旅游。

居外网最新的调研表明,92%的中国消费者有计划在2018年出境旅游,其中26%的人打算访问美国(出境游第一目的地)。 近一半的人表示他们将在春节黄金周期间查看房地产,其中大多数人计划在其度假旅行的目的地寻找搜购房目标。

需求居高不下,加剧本已激烈的竞争,尤其在像西雅图这样缺乏房源库存的市场。僧多粥少,为了确保能立于买房大军的前列,有时虎视眈眈的买家不得不采取各种手段走捷径、抄小路,诸如省去房屋检查步骤、未看实物就下单盲购,或者来不及货比三家就出价等做法屡见不鲜。

自公司成立以来,RSIR(Realogics苏富比国际地产)和我们的经纪人始终不渝、坚守承诺,在整个购房过程中遵循最佳实践的行为准则。对于我们而言,确保买家受到保护,了解必须知道的情况、信息来作出明智的决定,和达成交易同样重要。因此,RSIR除提供优质的房地产经纪服务,更有不同专业的专家和/或我们的首选顾问名单(包括会计师、律师、房屋检查员、入学顾问、移民专家等等),确保买家得到客观和最佳的咨询服务。

我们也了解中国消费者在普吉特湾购房时所面对的独特因素。 这也是我们建立了第一个亚洲服务团队的初衷。这支由值得信赖、经验丰富的经纪人组成的网络,能说中文、了解中国文化,并且能够在中国购房者考虑购买房屋时提供负责任的、合理合度的咨询建议。

随着农历新年(春节)的到来,RSIR新近与其亚洲服务团队联合举办了一次全体大会,再次确认与海外买家合作时采取的最佳实践。 中国日报美国版记者琳达·邓出席并报道了此次会议,发表在最近一期《中国日报美国版》封面报道中。大会由Nyhus通讯公司的马克·伯格主持。 以下是本次大会得出的美国购房十大建议:

  1. 只与信誉良好的经纪人合作,例如RSIR认证的亚洲服务团队,该团队成员通过法规政策、背书认可和语言/文化适应性学习,经验丰富、能力强、诚信度高。
  2. 需要亲自参观、查看目标实物——RSIR强烈建议购房者不要盲购房屋(未看实物就下单)或仅仅依靠亲朋推荐和认可就做决定;
  3. 聘请独立的房屋检查员——即使您要买的是带保修的新房,也不能假定所有系统都能正常工作而省略检查步骤。因为一些之前不那么明显的隐患可能会在稍后浮出水面,而随着房屋产权转移到新房主,这些延后出现的维护问题也将转移为新房主的责任;
  4. 鼓励加强市场教育 ——让买家不要紧盯着特定的住宅或社区,而是鼓励他们进行比较,确保所有合适的选择方案都已列入考虑范围;
  5. 聘请物业评估师,在报价/还价过程中提供评估意见 ——简而言之,确认该物业是否物有所值;
  6. 如果买方有信贷返点,并且买方经纪人将得到退款,该经纪人必须始终在其HUD(购房成交费用法定报告)中列出所有价格和佣金调整;
  7. 如果购房者不打算立刻入住,建议聘请专业物业管理公司管理空置房屋,包括调控采暖系统、定时维护,以及修整花园的景观美化项目等,以避免邻里矛盾和财产、价值损失;
  8. 确认所有保修的期限,并在到期之前再次进行检查,以确保所有问题瑕疵得到及时处理,否则可能到转售时发现有延后出现的维修项目,需要卖方采取补救措施,增加卖方成本;
  9. 和第三方专业人士合作,而不是由经纪人代理法律规定的责权之外的工作,经纪人法规确认,中介或经纪人的职责在封盘后既已终止;
  10. 尊重所有买家,严守职业道德。口口相传,一次愉快满意的购房经历,往往会产生多次转介;

能与本地的国际房地产专家合作,包括我们自己的独家亚洲服务团队,一直令RSIR倍感自豪。自为海外买家创建这个独特的解决方案以来,我们成功参与了大量涉及国际买家的住宅交易,包括许多住宅的重复转卖,得到满意客户的高度评价和高价值住宅的转介。 一路走来,我们成功推出了市场上的第一种全中文出版物,现在已经是第三年发行的《璀璨奢逸西雅图》杂志,以及在全国和全球媒体(参与)发表的数十篇有关房地产趋势的报道。RSIR以其独特的经验,将为大西雅图地区不断发展成为国际化城市助一臂之力。毕竟,国际一词已深入骨髓,是我们的名字(Realogics苏富比国际地产)中不可分割的一部分。

2017年,苏富比国际地产被生活故事调查研究所(Lifestory Research)评为美国最值得信赖的住宅经纪品牌。 道德村协会(Ethisphere Institute)则连续六年将我们的特许经营母公司,Realogy Corp,评为全球最具道德标准的公司之一。