Frank Roessler on Miami Real Estate's Hungry Foreign Buyers

Over half of the residents of Miami are foreign born. The internationally-flavored, welcoming climate of Miami, along with the rising rent prices and abundance of properties on the up-rise, give Miami a quality that foreign buyers can't resist.

Wealthy investors from Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, France, Italy, Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands make up a large portion of the buyers in Miami currently. Frank Roessler, President and CEO of Ashcroft Capital, LLC, shares that this is likely a self-perpetuating cycle. This is because once a relationship between foreign buyers and local sellers emerges, it is likely to continue and grow.

One connection will lead to several more connections. Roessler explains that real estate agents in the Miami area are keenly aware that foreign buyers often put down hefty down payments, or even pay for properties in full. This leads to an active courting of buyers who are based abroad. Real estate agents who are seeking out target audiences must market and otherwise make themselves available to those specific audiences. The relationship between buyer and seller seems to become like a path or a channel, that gets more well-worn with time. The floodgates have indeed opened between foreign markets and the Miami area.

Tried-and-true, flourishing connections are not enough. If we want to know the full story of foreign buying in Miami, we have to follow the money. After all, business transactions worth millions of dollars don't happen based on friendships and marketing alone. Instead, the deal must be considered win-win, and the investor needs to feel that they are coming away with something valuable for the money that they spent.

Miami does present investors with this opportunity. For example, Roessler, who has been overseeing land development deals for the last three years and beyond, says that properties in Miami can be rented out for higher amounts than equivalent properties in other countries. A room that may be rented for over two grand per month in Miami may rent for less than half as much in Turkey. This makes Miami fertile ground for wealthy Turkish business men to invest their money into. They can start earning a profit much faster when investing in south Florida condos than when investing in properties on their homeland.

Money matters, and Roessler sees profit as the main reason that foreign buyers are so intent on owning a piece of the city of Miami. If it wasn't a promising investment, the wealthy looking to plant seeds for future income would look to other land. After all, they have the entire world to chose from.

One of the final reasons for the steady interest from foreign buyers is the potential that Miami seems to offer. Constant growth and an air of excitement surround the city, which has seen a serious up-rise in start-up companies, land development, and economic opportunities in the past decade. No one wants to buy property in a city that feels stale or sleepy. In contrast, Miami is vibrantly alive, and clearly growing. Cranes dapple the skyline, and new fashion-forward boutiques open up downtown with a frequency that can make your head spin.

Miami real estate agents have the ability to plug into that vibrancy, and use it as a tool to sell the city to foreigners who want a piece of it. People from other locations on the globe not only want to buy a room, or a building. They also want to buy a piece of the allure of the city -- including the culture, the night-life, and the sex appeal.

The fact that Miami has so many people of varying ethnicity adds to the sense of openness and aliveness. Because of both location and reputation, Miami has become a safe-haven and home-away-from home for people from many different countries. Cubans once flocked to the Miami shores to find freedom, and since then the city has seen, in different waves, influxes of Argentinians, Russians, and Turks. These waves of immigration sparked new communities, cultures, and pockets of rich ethnicity which keep the city balanced and fresh.

And then, there's the weather. We can't forget about the weather! Miami has a climate and natural vistas that rival the best coordinates on the Earth. Sun, sand, and waves are hard to compete with. Many facets of Miami make foreign investors hungry to partake in Miami real estate. Well-established buyer-seller relationships, high rent prices, and a growing number of renovated properties make Miami real estate hard to resist.