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Pictured are members of the Japanese real estate delegation with SILVAR board directors, Global Business Council members and guests.

Fifteen real estate professionals from Japan came to Silicon Valley early in this month to network with Silicon Valley REALTORS®, bring cultural awareness, and learn about similarities and differences in doing business in the U.S. and Japan.

At the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR), the Japanese real estate professionals also learned about home inspection and typical inspection services provided to homeowners in the U.S. SILVAR Global Business Council member Atsuko Yube, a REALTOR® with Global Estate Link, arranged the visit. Yube, who is also a past president of the Asian Real Estate Association of America Silicon Valley (AREAA SV) and a board director of AREAA Global Inc., said home inspection is new in Japanese real estate because typically, when purchasing property, the Japanese buyer will tear down the home and build new.

Yube explained it has been the custom in Japan to build new homes because the Japanese like things new. There is also the traditional belief that bad fortune can transfer from the previous owner to the owner. Because of the preference for new and their beliefs, secondhand homes are not as desirable and are heavily discounted. Homes that are newly constructed begin to depreciate in value from the day they are purchased. Most homes are rebuilt after 25 to 30 years.

“The re-sale market has not been strong historically, so when the age of a property is more than 20 years old, its value drops to zero with the property essentially having no value,” said Yube.

Upon arriving at SILVAR, executive officer Paul Cardus and president-elect Alan Barbic welcomed the visitors and shared some information about organized real estate in the U.S., the difference between a real estate agent and a REALTORS®, the REALTORS® Code of Ethics, and membership in the Association of REALTORS®. The real estate professionals met with board directors Mark Wong, Ryan Nunnally and Joanne Fraser, members of the Global Business Council, and leadership from other real estate associations, including Tess Crescini, chair of SILVAR’s Global Business Council and co-president of the Filipino American Real Estate Professional Association Silicon Valley (FAREPA SV), and Anna Maria Valenzuela and Tracey McNeeley, president and director of membership services, respectively, of the Women’s Council of REALTORS® Silicon Valley (WCR SV).

Introductions were followed by a presentation by Yube on Silicon Valley real estate in Japanese. SILVAR member Chika Mori, a REALTOR® with Keller Williams Realty, presented information about the MLS, also in Japanese. Her presentation was followed by a presentation on home inspection in the U.S. by Frank Lesh, executive director of the American Society of Home Inspectors, who flew all the way from Chicago to speak to the group, and Larry Tringali, with Property Inspection Services.

After the presentations, the visitors, members and guests, met for a special evening mixer. Like many foreign guests that visit Silicon Valley, the Japanese real estate professionals were interested in the giant tech companies and were fortunate to tour Google and Facebook during their visit.