International Realtors confront laws, customs

Try this as method of prospecting for

real estate clients: Get yourself invited to

events at San Francisco Bay-area consulates

of foreign nations. Make sure your

brochure is available in case a foreign

national stops by the consulate between

the airport and his visit to buy property

in northern Nevada.

That's one of the offbeat paths followed

by an offbeat Realtor, Charles

Tyler Clay. He's a specialist in international

real estate, one of only 900 real

estate agents nationally who carry the

Certified International Property

Specialist designation of the National

Association of Realtors.

In northern Nevada, Clay is joined by

Michael Ornelas of McCall Realty in

Zephyr Cove and Shari Chase of Chase

International at Lake Tahoe and London

as the only certified international

realty specialists.

While much of Clay's day is filled

with commercial transactions at Coldwell

Banker Plummer & Associates Inc. in

Reno, his work extends into transactions

that are anything but routine.

There's the Australian businessman,

for instance, who thinks the Reno area

might be a good site for a plant that

makes synthetic corks for wine bottles.

Or the Chinese businessman who

owns one firm in northern Nevada and

looks to expand his operations.

Clay acts as the foreign buyers' advisor

on real estate, but he finds that much of

his time is spent advising them on the

cultural and legal fine points of American

transactions.

Such as?

Many foreign buyers are surprised at

the strong assurances about the validity

of titles to American real estate, assurances

that result from the U.S. system of

title insurance. That's an assurance that's

rare elsewhere.

In Mexico, Ornelas notes, purchase of

private property isn't allowed but

acquisitions can take the form of a 50-

year lease with an option for an additional

50 years.

European buyers, meanwhile, often

are surprised at the speed and simplicity

of American transactions, Clay says.

Purchases of real estate in Europe tend

be less common and much more complex.

In Italy, Ornelas cites as one example,

the infrastructure to handle realestate

transactions isn't particularly well

organized.

"The bartender may know as much as

the attorney," he says.

Clay has learned to be sensitive to the

cultural needs of his buyers.

"With the Germans and the Dutch,

you don't say, 'Here's the deal. Do you

want it or not?' It takes a lot of relationship

building," he says.

It's not unusual for Asian buyers,

meanwhile, to request a feng shui inspection

before they buy a property.

Big factors in many international

transactions are regulations that may forbid

foreign nationals from moving large

amounts of money from their homelands.

"Before you find the property, find the

money," Clay says.

In the United States, meanwhile,

sometimes overlooked laws require federal

registration by any foreigner who buys

farmland or land rezoned from agricultural

uses within the past five years.

The Internal Revenue Service imposes

paperwork requirements and sometimes

requires a cash deposit for foreign buyers

of U.S. property valued at more than

$300,000. The goal is to keep untaxed

capital gains from leaving the country.

But the need to be aware of cultural

and legal differences in the real estate

business runs both ways.

As Clay works with the increasing

number of American buyers of property

in Costa Rica, for instance, he makes sure

they understand that nation's squatter

rules. If the property owners don't take

steps to regularly clear squatters from

their property specialized contractors

are available for that purpose the

squatters gain some ownership rights.

While Ornelas and Clay say international

transactions currently account for a

small share of their business, Ornelas

expects that an international listings

service expected to debut this year will

provide a boost.

"It's going to be just outstanding," he

says. "Once that comes on line, the

international part of my business

will grow.