Editor’s Note: The following is the cover story from the August issue of RISMedia’s Real Estate magazine. From the widespread ripple effect of the Brexit vote to the staggering investment made by Chinese homebuyers in the U.S., there’s no denying residential real estate has become a global industry. With a parent company that already has worldwide recognition, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices had global expansion planned when the brand launched in 2013. Now, heralded by a new website designed to facilitate international business like no other, the real estate brokerage franchise network readies itself for phase two of the plan: awarding Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices franchises in key markets around the world. “Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has grown remarkably in the U.S. and we’re now extending our brand, value proposition and culture abroad,” says Gino Blefari, network chief executive officer. “Our expansion plan takes place in two phases with carefully measured steps and milestones. Our first priority is to help our domestic franchisees conduct more international business, and then add high-quality brokerages abroad that will uphold our network’s values and meet its rigorous standards.” To head up global expansion, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brought on global real estate franchising veteran Peter Turtzo one year ago this month. Serving as the brand’s senior vice president of International Operations, Turtzo has been responsible for establishing the strategy and process for growth into international markets. According to Turtzo, global expansion was part of the brand promise Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices made to its franchisees from the outset. “This is something our entire organization not only looked forward to but also expected as part of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices value proposition,” he says. “I plan to deliver on this promise.” Phase One: Bringing the World to the U.S. Phase one of the two-pronged plan rolled out with the May release of the new BerkshireHathawayHS.com, replete with rich features to engage a global audience. Thanks to sweeping upgrades nearly a year in the making, BerkshireHathawayHS.com has become the industry’s first site to showcase the complete U.S. property database—translated into 10 foreign languages—to the world. “We had two primary goals for our website: to promote the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand beyond U.S. borders, and to connect international real estate consumers with our U.S. franchisees,” explains Stephen Phillips, COO of HSF Affiliates, which operates the network. “We addressed both goals with our site’s powerful search platform, which enables consumers to look for real estate in their native language. We offer a consistent experience for customers regardless of the language they choose. Other brands’ sites require you to jump to a different site for translation.” BerkshireHathawayHS.com translates property information into: Chinese; French (European); French (Canadian); German; Italian; Japanese; Portuguese (Brazilian); Portuguese (European); and Spanish (Latin American) and Spanish (European). The most striking feature of the site, however, is its ability to bring full MLS data to buyers around the world—a feat that has yet to be taken on by other brands. “Compliance represents a high barrier to entry into the full MLS data space,” explains Phillips, preventing brokers from making the leap to this point. BerkshireHathawayHS.com now breaks this mold by presenting full MLS data in home-search results. “By contrast, other brands’ sites show only their listings or use advertising data (IDX) to power their websites,” says Phillips. “The latter does not contain full MLS data, as many brokers opt out entire listings and others opt out pieces of information, such as street addresses. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is the only franchise that empowers its franchisees to bring full MLS data to their registered customers, international or domestic.” The bold move is a smart one considering the significant influx of foreign buyers in the U.S. According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) 2016 Profile of International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate, between April 2015 and March 2016, foreign buyers purchased $ 102.6 billion of residential property in the U.S. A total of 214,885 U.S. residential properties were bought by foreign buyers (up 2.8 percent), and properties were typically valued higher ($ 277,380) compared to the median price of all U.S. existing-home sales ($ 223,058). “Roughly 4 percent of the U.S. housing market is consumed by foreigners, and we expect that number to continue to grow,” says Turtzo. “Our first objective was to capture those buyers who are looking at the U.S. We did that by expanding the website to be multilingual for all of the listings in the MLSs across America. So now, somebody in Germany looking for properties in Naples, Fla., would be able to see all of the listings that are available for sale translated to German, not just those available through Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. They’re not just seeing a slice of the listings pie; they’re able to see the whole thing.” The decision to offer the full swath of U.S. listings in 10 languages was made with the consumer in mind, underscores Turtzo. “We put ourselves in the shoes of the consumer and asked, ‘If we were in Germany, what would we want to see? Only Brand X’s listings or all of the listings in the marketplace?’ We felt that Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, being a consumer-focused brand, should deliver all of the listings.” To develop the site’s global MLS platform, HSF Affiliates’ IT group worked with Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Real Estate Digital (RED). “Since providing full MLS data was important to us, we needed an ally that understood what was required to obtain and properly use that data,” says Phillips. “Real Estate Digital has a strong MLS data-aggregation team that ensures compliance with every MLS.” Adds Phillips: “Our IT team performed far beyond our high expectations in developing the site. The group, which is led by CIO Grady Ligon, brought innovation and perspective to the year-long project at every step.” The user experience for the foreign buyer was designed to be simple and welcoming. With one click, BerkshireHathawayHS.com visitors can choose their language, and the website instantly translates. Site translations are performed and checked by linguists—not machines—so they are clean, […]