Brazilian-born homebuyers represent a growing market on Cape Cod. Many of the Brazilians on the Cape seek single-family homes like this three-bedroom Ranch in West Yarmouth, which is currently for sale for $254,900.
Known as a popular vacation spot for families and a desirable destination for retirees, Cape Cod has also been drawing another group in recent years – Brazilian-born homebuyers.
More and more local Realtors are becoming aware of the growing numbers of Brazilian home seekers, particularly in Hyannis and Barnstable, and trying to tap into the market by learning Portuguese and by becoming more attuned to their needs as consumers.
Cristina Junqueira of Century 21 Shoreland Real Estate in Hyannis started noticing this homebuying segment about three years ago. Fluent in Portuguese and English, Junqueira decided to leave her prior job as a conference organizer for health care professionals to become a full-time real estate agent.
“I decided to get in the business because I saw a need for Realtors that spoke Portuguese,” said Junqueira, who estimates that 90 percent of the home sales she handled last year involved a Brazilian-born client.
“The last census showed that there were about 11,000 Brazilians on the Cape,” said Junqueira. “They like the quality of life [on the Cape]. They have good jobs and [because] rent is going up it makes more sense to them to own homes.”
Brazilians are drawn to the Cape because others from their native country, including friends and family members, have located there. Many are filling service-sector jobs – cleaning homes, landscaping, painting or working at restaurants – or starting their own businesses.
“I think it’s the largest ethnic group on the Cape probably, other than the Canadians,” said Henry J. DiGiacomo, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors.
‘Nonconforming’ Borrowers
About three years ago, the Cape association promoted a course at a local community college that taught Realtors how to speak Portuguese. Several other Realtor associations have offered diversity training in recent years to teach Realtors about different cultures.
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors recently initiated a campaign to help members better serve foreign-born buyers. MAR established the International Council of Realtors, a group that plans to offer training programs, networking opportunities and other services to real estate agents and brokers.
About 50 Realtors have joined the council so far. Membership is not limited to Realtors, but is also open to attorneys, mortgage brokers and other professionals who are interested in international real estate.
The council is hosting its first event today – a seminar and reception, with a panel discussion on how Realtors can build their global business. Part of the session will include an overview of the growing immigrant population in Massachusetts, including the cultures and customs of the largest foreign-born and ethnic homebuying groups in the commonwealth. Realtors also will discuss their experiences working with foreign-born clients, including Brazilian buyers and sellers.
“One thing that I think is very important for members to realize is that most global real estate is local,” said Concord Realtor Nancy Edmond, who helped establish the International Council of Realtors.
Too often Realtors have the perception that they’re not going to be selling real estate in another country and therefore don’t need to learn more about international real estate, said Edmond, a Certified International Property Specialist. But what most Realtors don’t realize is that they’re engaging in international real estate more and more by helping immigrants to purchase homes in this country, she said.
According to some studies, foreign-born buyers will comprise the largest segment of home purchasers this decade. While foreign-born households are only 8 percent of all homeowners, they represent 14 percent of all recent first-time homebuyers, according to a study released last year by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
While many local Realtors have helped foreign-born buyers and investors on some level, fewer than 12 in Massachusetts are actually certified in international real estate, as Edmond is.
Unlike Edmond, Junqueira does not hold the Certified International Property Specialist designation, but she has learned a lot about working with Brazilian-born homebuyers on the Cape during the last three years.
Junqueira said she spends a lot more time working out the financing details for Brazilian-born homebuyers early on in the home purchasing process. Since many of the Brazilians have only been in the United States a short time, they might not have savings accounts or a lengthy and traceable work history, she said. In addition, some employees are paid cash, with no record of tax withholdings. In the eyes of the banks, many of the Brazilian buyers are “nonconforming” borrowers, she explained, and that’s why it’s critical to get them pre-qualified early on in the process.
“If a deal falls through with the Brazilians, most of the time it’s because close attention wasn’t paid to the financing,” she said.
Most of the buyers that Junqueira has worked with seek single-family homes in the price range of between $200,000 and $300,000. Junqueira explained that Brazilians on the Cape are known to work long hours and make sacrifices, often sharing homes and cramming 10 or 12 people into apartments to save money to buy a home. They realize that real estate is a pretty safe investment, she said, and that if they want to sell their homes several years from now to return to their native country, they will get a solid return from that investment.
Like Junqueira, Maiza Eloy, a Brazilian-born agent with Today Real Estate in South Yarmouth, also primarily helps Brazilians buy and sell homes.
Eloy started working in real estate two years ago after what she says was not a very pleasant experience buying her own home. Her husband urged her to get into the business. Today, anywhere from 80 percent to 90 percent of Eloy’s business comes from Brazilians.
In the last two years, Eloy has helped many first-time buyers, but she has also helped several Brazilians purchase second, third and fourth homes as investment properties.
And Eloy is discovering that her skills as a Portuguese-speaking agent are in demand. Other real estate firms have been trying to recruit her recently. The firm she currently works for recently hired another Brazilian agent, and more than a year ago the company hired a mortgage broker from Brazil.
“The number of Brazilian brokers here on the Cape is growing,” she said.
While non-Portuguese speaking agents work with Brazilian customers too, Eloy said she offers her services as a translator to her colleagues, and sometimes get referrals from other agents who can’t assist Brazilian immigrants.
“They try to help them as much as they can … If they cannot help, sometimes they give me the business,” she said.
Aglaia Pikounis may be reached at apikounis@thewarrengroup.com.
