What is required to market residential developments to offshore buyers

From my direct involvement with many projects taken offshore, a well-established sales path is required for success; otherwise if the exercise is poorly managed or the resources underestimated it can be a costly mistake.

However, well-managed and resourced offshore marketing campaigns do provide a unique avenue to bolster sales in particular off-the-plan sales, usually ahead of general open market release. And in laying the ground work we should firstly look at some of the particular attributes to fuel a successful exhibition or campaign.

When looking at Asian markets in particular there is a proven appetite among buyers looking for early participation in new projects. They like to be among the first, if not the first buyers offered a product.

However this does not always mean that an entire project has to be held off-market ahead of any offshore release, because it is possible to sell simultaneously with the right platforms to manage multi-channel sales or take a preferred selection of apartments, with such apartments having been selected to meet the preferences of the individual off-shore target markets.

This is also in part achieved by the discreet use of buyer database targeting so that an environment is created through which it is possible to fine-tune the offer that is being made at, for example, invitation-only exhibitions. This depth of knowledge further underlines the role and importance of local partners.