Safety First for Chinese Buyers

Some of the latest insights to come from property portals at this Global Online Classifieds Summit in Miami in June show there is still much to learn about luring Australia’s most coveted buying demographic.

Chinese buyers purchase overseas for 4 reasons:

• investment
• migration
• luxury
• lifestyle

According to 2017 data from Juwai.com users, close to 80 per cent of Chinese buyers pay for properties in cash – staggering, but not news to anyone familiar with that market.

But in a country where property developers are pulling out all the stops to court mainland Chinese investors, perhaps it’s time to consider ‘why’ over ‘what’.

WHY?

According to Juwai.com the first priority for Chinese buyers purchasing in markets like the US and Australia, safety is the top consideration.

So… as a nation should we shift our marketing efforts from school zones to safety?

If safety is the chief concern of today’s Chinese buyers, Australia has a major advantage over the United States, where most of mainland China’s property dollars are spent.

But then we need to ask:

HOW?

Aussie property comes with many lures… but even our most beautiful beachside offerings are scaring many a foreign buyer away.

Red tape is Chinese buyers’ biggest hurdle when it comes to buying in Australia according to Juwai.com.

Communication is another potential barrier, but with many big agencies and portals setting up their own mandarin speaking China Desks, we are working hard to overcome it.

THE VIDEO SOLUTION

But according to RealEstateTube CEO Steve Makris, many transactions are still being lost in translation.

It was while working as a commercial broker, attempting to sell big ticket listings to offshore buyers, that the concept of RealEstateTube was born.

“The biggest challenge was I didn’t speak Chinese then and I don’t now.

“Back in 2014 I had Chinese buyers looking to buy a business in Australia under a 457 visa to get permanent residency,” Mr Makris said.

He needed to find a solution to explain his clients’ businesses, fast.

“I whipped out my phone and shot a quick video, emailed it to the buyer and bang! Video broke the barriers and they got on the first plane from Hong Kong to Melbourne and bought the property within days.”

If a picture tells a thousand words, a video says it all – no translation required.