I’M LOCAL and I’M GLOBAL

I’ve been hearing a lot of questions and buzz about international exposure when it comes to selling real estate lately. It makes sense that this would be important to anybody buying or selling in San Diego since it is such a wonderful tourist destination and very desirable to people purchasing vacation homes.

Working with a locally owned, countywide company, and not one of the big box, national corporate companies, the question often is asked how I can tap into that exposure both within the US and abroad.

The company I am affiliated with, Ascent Real Estate, is partnered with an international network of the world’s market-leading independent residential brokerages in over 70 countries through Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (think boutique firms of highly skilled agents all over the world). With this affiliation, I have the ability to market homes and network with agents internationally, however, I believe that the general public may be fooled by how much power this may actually provide to any marketing strategy.

If you were interested in purchasing a home in France, for example, would you go to a site here in the United States or to a real estate firm’s site in your local area to search online? You would probably seek out the real estate advertising sites in France, right? Of course, their system is completely different from ours here in the US, but the methodology is similar. On the same token, I believe that consumers looking to buy a home here in San Diego are not going to go to a local firm’s website in their area or to any specific real estate company’s site to commence their search. They will, rather, begin their search online with the various housing sites that are fed the listings from the MLS in the area they are searching (i.e. Zillow, Realtor.com, etc.). So you see, at the end of the day, whether selling in the luxury market or the investment market, today we are all pretty much on a level playing field when it comes to international exposure due to access to technology.

When seeking an agent and deciding who to work with, I suggest you look for the qualities and skillset that you feel will best represent you, rather than focusing on international exposure. Your agent should have many years of experience in working with buyers and sellers, and ultimately be a highly skilled negotiator, project manager, and honest consultant for you. If you would like to learn more about the services I provide to my clients, I would be very happy to meet with you. Just give me a call at 619-944-2798 for a no-pressure meeting. I look forward to hearing from you!