As the world keeps growing, global business and international real estate are becoming more common and more popular. Mark Makoto Kitabayashi lives in Washington State and teaches the certification class for Certified International Property Specialists. He joins Monica on the show today to talk about aspects of the global real estate market, and how REALTORS® can help clients involved in these transactions. Monica and Mark talk about how to develop rapport with foreign clients, what things to focus on, cultural differences, as well as some of the technical aspects of completing these kinds of transactions. Today’s episode is a wealth of knowledge — you won’t want to miss out! Mark is a first-generation immigrant; his parents came here from Japan when he was twelve years old. He went to school in Los Angeles, and before he got involved in real estate, he was doing international corporate travel and international import/export. He’s been doing real estate for about 17 years, and actually got into international real estate via his first real estate client who was Vietnamese. Homeownership is a dream of most people in this world. Here in the States, we know this as the American Dream, but around the world, everybody wants to have a safe place for their family. But if you’re looking to buy real estate somewhere other than your country, there may be some cultural differences to keep in mind as you go through the process of acquiring the real estate. As agents, it is our job to help them achieve their dream of homeownership, no matter the culture. If you have that foundation, you can do a great job. The culture in the U.S. is heavily influenced by immigration. Globalization and the progression of technology (and tools that allow information to spread more quickly) have contributed to the way we do business and how people look for and find houses. There are many ways to communicate with people about finding areas and this helps give everyone the opportunity to meet international clients. The Certified International Property Specialist designation is about learning about foreign buyers or local buyers who are foreign-born. It teaches American REALTORS® about business in other cultures. Our perception of what global business is may differ but, for Mark, all global business starts locally. The goal is to understand how different cultures or different parts of the world handle business and how they handle real estate specifically. There are typically two types of international clients. The first is people locally who are foreign-born and probably speak English as a second language, looking for real estate locally. You could also have clients abroad that are looking for property in your area. When working with domestic foreigners, the biggest thing is that they want to work with someone they can trust. Knowing their first language would be helpful, but building a trusting relationship can help grow your business with other people in that culture. There are two aspects to keep in mind when working with domestic foreigners or international clients. The first is understanding their understanding of how the real estate transactions are conducted in the countries that they’re from. There are two big groups of different culture: high context culture and low context. In high context culture, the relationship is more important and personal space is very large (less physical contact). Low context is agreement-driven and personal space is very small. In high context, the relationship usually comes first before negotiations start, unlike low context, where the start of a negotiation is usually the start of the relationship. As an American REALTOR®, you can do some pre-emptive research about the culture where your client comes from to better understand what processes they’re used to. In addition, there is nothing wrong with asking questions or sharing what you understand to make sure that’s how they understand as well. It is better to ask than to assum