Four tips to help you sell Australian property to Chinese buyers

Today, Chinese money makes up the fastest-growing segment of the real estate market in Australia.

Darrell Irwin of Colliers International says that the investment wave is pushed by Chinese immigration and tourism. Chinese see the Gold Coast and Australia as a safe place to invest and a good place to educate their children.

Australia is the southern hemisphere’s Switzerland.

Irwin thinks this Chinese investment boom could end up being bigger than the Japanese wave of the 1980s.

There is a difference, however. As Irwin says: "The Chinese are a lot more astute than the Japanese were when it comes to the acquisition of real estate assets.”

Everyone from property developers to the Gold Coast City Council are trying to work out how to make sure some of that money finds its way into their pockets.

The council wants to create a Chinatown in Southport to serve the 200,000 tourists who fly down from China to the Gold Coast each year.

The Queensland government has put money into the project, contributing $50,000 to create a Chinatown masterplan. Several China-based investors have already invested significant amounts, according to a report published in the Sun.

Even Tom Tate, mayor of the Gold Coast, is getting in on the act. He bought his own tickets to China, Taiwan and Macau, where he met with rich Chinese investors and encouraged them to come to Australia.

It is no surprise that deep-pocketed organizations are targeting Chinese buyers. They have the resources to do so.

But what can individual vendors and agents do?

It turns out that, even with a limited budget, you can do plenty. To find out if you have the kind of property that could appeal to a buyer from China, or a Chinese -speaking buyer from Australia, read my last article.