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Dealing with International Buyers: Part 2

Last week my little diva came down with the cold and unfortunately we all caught the bug, so being the mama bear I had to put business, social media, etc on hold to tend to the kids and myself with lotsa chicken noodle soup, cuddling, movies and video games. One of the many reasons why I love being my own boss (reason #384755: I can take time off anytime without permission … love it)

Luckily, the houses that were scheduled to close took place a few days before, so it was easier to just relax. The property manager I was working with also has a title agent license, so he did all the closings and it turned out to be one of my smoothest and easiest closings ever. In previous closings, I did all the back and forth from seller to buyer to title agent, back to seller… you get the idea. I was in charge of everything, kept everyone in check, did all the follow ups and made sure everyone showed up at closing and papers were signed with little to no incidence. In this case, the PM/TA took care of everything. As soon as I sent the signed contracts to him, he did the title work, called and kept up with the seller, buyer and gave me daily updates. It was such a relief and I was very impressed with his hardwork and persistence. The best part ofcourse was a few hours after closing he sent me an email to let me know he has deposited the money in my account for all 3 closings. I’ll be honest, my heart skipped a beat when I checked my bank account because it was the most I’ve ever got in one day’s closing.

I’ll like to add some more things I learned from dealing with international buyers. You can check out Part 1 here.

10. When dealing with international buyers it’s very important to have the title company provide a closing statement/HUD. It explains how much the buyer is expected to pay at closing and what he is paying for. Necessary corrections could also be made before closing. Before one of my closings, there was a mistake on the buyer closing statement and the title company had to make the corrections, but it was nerve racking because the buyer was a little hesitant and skeptical afterward and needed some convincing to proceed. Next time I would ask the title agent to send a copy to me for review before sending it to the buyer.

11. It is quite challenging sending money to the US from another country. Very few American Banks actually accept money transfers from another country and the ones that do require some hassles with paperwork and fees. One of the banks I use for that purpose is Chase Bank. Other options are Western union and Xoom, but they could be quite expensive. The advantage Chase Bank has over the other options is they charge per number of transfers as opposed to amount to be transferred, so make sure to check the rates and fees.

12. I normally charge local buyers $1000 EMD, but for my international clients I charged $2000 EMD. The reason is simply commitment. It’s easier for someone you don’t know and have never met to back out of a deal and remain anonymous if they don’t have much to lose. A large EMD makes it less likely for that to happen and give them a reason to follow through.

13. Follow up!!! I follow up with all my buyers right after every closing to ask them how they felt about the process and also find out more about what they are looking for so I can go out and house shop for them. From experience I can guarantee that once you close a deal with a buyer with little to no hiccups, they will keep coming back for more and that my friends is trust you can’t buy.

P.S: I will be celebrating my birthday this weekend and I can’t wait to have a blast with family and friends. I feel very blessed and fulfilled to have accomplished a lot more than I could dream before turning the BIG 3-0. I’ll back to work next week and ready to take over the world. So watch out world … here I come