There's nothing wrong with focusing on community for your real estate agent marketing. In fact, it's crucial to use social media to emphasize to your clients and prospects that you are indeed the right person to find them a home in a particular part of the country. But that doesn't mean you should think locally exclusively. New research shows that foreign buyers still see the U.S. as a safe real estate investment, making them a new target for your real estate agent marketing.

Trulia's International House Hunter Report shows a drop in the foreign share of American home searches, but nevertheless reveals that despite increasing housing prices, U.S. real estate is seen as among the safest investments.

"Although Europe's financial troubles have been a global economic threat, the Eurozone crisis had a silver lining for U.S. housing in 2011 as Europeans looked to American real estate as a safer investment," said Trulia's Dr. Jed Kolko. "Last year, the share of searches from Greece, Spain and Italy increased, bucking the international trend. Now, however, the foreign search share is declining even from those Eurozone crisis countries."

Dr. Kolko continued, "Foreigners attracted to real estate bargains get turned off when prices increase. Investors want to buy when prices are at their bottom, but they'll start to lose interest when prices rise 15 percent, as they have in Miami and Phoenix. Demand by people looking to scoop up bargains can dry up quickly when prices rise." Below is Trulia's graph of international home searches:

So, how do you take advantage of these potential buyers who are thousands of miles away from your service area? In days gone past, you put an ad in the paper or advertised in international realty magazines. Now you just use social media, which is the best tool possible for staying available, current, reachable and visible to buyers everywhere.

To view the original article, visit the ReachFactor blog.

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