ShareWith members spanning the globe and representing a wide range of specialized interests and knowledge, it’s not easy to describe the "typical" CIPS designee. However, based on a 2015 membership survey and other data, here are several key facts.
What type of license do CIPS designees hold?
- 48% Sales Agent/Associate
- 31% Broker
- 28% Broker-Owner
- 2% Appraisal
- 1% Other
Residential or commercial?
- 44% Mostly residential, some commercial
- 41% Strictly residential
- 14% At least 50% commercial
- 1% Appraisal
What languages do CIPS designees speak?
- Afrikaans
- Albanian
- American sign language
- Arabic
- Armenian
- Bosnian
- Bulgarian
- Cantonese
- Chinese
- Croatian
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- English
- Estonian
- Farsi
- Filipino
- Finnish
- French
- Gaelic
- Georgia
- German
- Greek
- Hebrew
- Hindi
- Hungarian
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Lao
- Latvian
- Lithuanian
- Malay
- Mandarin
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Punjabi
- Romanian
- Russian
- Serbian
- Sindhi
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Spanish
- Swahili
- Swedish
- Tagalog
- Taiwanese
- Thai
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
- Yugoslavian
Challenges: Biggest Barriers to Conducting Global Real Estate Business
- Language barrier/lack of a second language
- Finding international clients/contact with international clients
- Financing for foreign buyers
- Difficulties getting commission
- Cultural differences
- Attracting international buyers to my website
- Don’t know how to network internationally/ don’t know where to start
- Time limitations
Source: 2015 CIPS Member Profile Survey
Solutions: 4 Ways to Clear Language Hurdles
Foreign language fluency is a huge advantage for global agents, but there are many ways to work around it. Are you aware of each of these resources? (Most are FREE!)
- realtor.com®/international – every listing on realtor.com® (for-sale and rental) is automatically translated into 11 languages on its international platform. You don’t have to do a thing!
- Translation tools – specifically designed for smart phones, applications like iTranslate, Google Translate and SayHi Translate can be very helpful for translating phone conversations.
- Translated forms – many state REALTOR® associations offer translated copies of forms and contracts (although buyers/sellers must sign the official English version).
- Self-study tools – if you want to sharpen your own foreign language skills, check out the books/programs in NAR’s library (realtor.org/library). Members can access them at no charge!
How are Members Bridging the Language Gap?
Many of you are using translation services to communicate with members and to translate your listings.
The most popular services include (not in rank order):
- realtor.com®/international (listing translation)
- Google Translate
- Proxio
- Babelfish
- Immobil
- Yourselves/a friend/other agents