A real estate decision that looks entirely local, such as buying a house in a US suburb, can serve a global goal. That intersection is becoming more common as new construction reaches an international audience.
A Local Purchase With a Global Payoff
Bill Gaul, CEO of Builders Update and chair of the RESO Data Dictionary New Construction Subcommittee, points to a college-cost example that illustrates the overlap. A family abroad that wants a child to attend a US university faces steep international tuition, often several times the rate paid by state residents. Buying a home in the state, and establishing residency, can move a student toward the resident rate.
Gaul estimates the difference can approach $100,000 over four years, while the family also builds equity in a property it can later sell. Residency requirements vary by state and institution, and buyers should confirm the rules that apply to them.
The broader point, Gaul argues, is that local and global markets are increasingly connected, and the ability to move data across borders is what makes that connection practical.
What Serving Global Buyers Requires
Reaching international buyers has meant rethinking details US platforms take for granted. Addresses are one.
In many markets, homes, especially new ones, may not have a formal street address that maps cleanly, which makes listings hard to locate. “If I can get a lat-long, I can pinpoint that property on a map,” Gaul says, describing the effort to attach geographic coordinates to new construction listings.
Units and language matter too. A home measured in square feet means little to a buyer who thinks in square meters, so listings have to present both. Builders Update has created a bilingual chat feature where agents and consumers can verbally talk to the site in either English or Spanish (with more languages coming), and the site will respond in kind for their convenience.
Underneath these adaptations is a standards question. The RESO data dictionary, whose new construction subcommittee Gaul chairs, aims to establish common terminology so data can move cleanly between systems and, increasingly, across borders.
“The world is a shrinking place, and we need to work together,” Gaul says. For buyers, the payoff is practical: the ability to search, compare, and act on inventory in another country using consistent, current information.
About the Expert: Bill Gaul is CEO of Builders Update and chair of the RESO Data Dictionary New Construction Subcommittee. Based in Austin, Texas, he specializes in new construction data and MLS interoperability.