Bob Hurwitz, founder and CEO of Hurwitz James Company, has been a real estate broker and consultant for more than 25 years. His listing inventory includes trophy properties exceeding $3 billion in 13 different countries.
He has unique insight into the minds of high-net-worth individuals — his clientele varies from celebrities to Fortune 500 executives to entertainment personalities t0 foreign buyers and sellers from around the world.
Bob will be speaking at Luxury Connect in Beverly Hills, October 19 through 20.
What are some of the most common requests you get from international buyers?
They want to know restrictions in terms of both ownership and transferring money from overseas accounts to close an escrow.
They also want comfort as far as the value of what they are buying, particularly, and very high-end properties where there it is no real way to comp out the property. That is where the credibility of the agent is most important.
Having a long track history of representing international buyers and all of the elements that are integral, from showing the property to explaining the contracts often through translators, negotiating the purchase and coordinating the sale in an easily understandable manner to them is very important.
As a matter of fact, I think the single most important aspect is really the experience and track record of the agent. The majority of international buyers to contact me have already done their research on the company and are aware that a large portion of our business is in exactly this realm.
What do you see as the no. 1 issue in the luxury market that the real estate industry should be aware of in the coming year?
That there is almost undoubtedly going to be a major correction in prices. There are too many super high-end properties on the market and being built right now to be sustained, and all it takes is a couple of developers unloading at a big discount to drastically affect that market.
If you were to give an agent trying to break into the luxury market one piece of advice, what would it be?
Find a company that deals extensively with that type of market and try and find a good mentor.
