Optimize your listings for international buyers by ensuring that your properties are packaged and delivered in the languages and channels that buyers actually use, write Marie Wang and Kevin Mo.
The National Association of Realtors’ latest international transaction data is a useful reminder for luxury goods dealers. International demand remains important, meaning Chinese buyers remain particularly important in the high-priced U.S. market.
In NAR’s 2025 report, China accounts for 15% of foreign buyers and leads the countries in dollar transaction volume with $13.7 billion, while California remains one of the top destinations for international buyers. Foreign buyers were also more likely to pay in cash than the overall market.
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In the Bay Area luxury market, it matters beyond a relatively small portion of true overseas trade. Buyers, parents, adult children, wealth advisors, and referral networks often consume home information in multiple languages.
If your listing only exists on the MLS, Zillow, and English-only email blasts, your listing may be visible even if not everyone who influences that deal can actually find it.
The discovery tier looks different for many Chinese-speaking buyers and their advisors. Long before a serious buyer books a private tour, neighborhood research, school district comparisons, agent vetting, and early property discussions are likely to take place on YouTube, WeChat, and Xiaohongshu.
By the time a screening request comes in, the marketing work is already done somewhere else.
That doesn’t mean every listing agent needs to be a Chinese-speaking content creator. That means your listing strategy should extend beyond portal distribution. In fact, four shifts can be effective.
Build a bilingual asset pack
Start with a sophisticated property overview, neighborhood highlights, and a short FAQ in English and Chinese. This is not intended for translation per se. This signals to the buyer’s agent and family decision makers that the property is easy to understand and share.
Treat the pre-market as a distribution window
Many agents use the pre-market period for staging, photo-taking, and waiting. Use this period to your advantage by testing your messaging, distributing materials privately, and identifying where multilingual exposure might increase demand before your list becomes fully public.
In our market on the Peninsula, we have seen early bilingual outreach generate significant interest prior to a property’s first public opening. This is not because the properties have changed, but because the buyer base has expanded.
Borrow reach instead of building from scratch
Most major markets already have bilingual agents, creators, and community voices with the right audience. One smart collaboration around a specific property is more effective than trying to build an entirely new channel from scratch.
Measure more than portal impressions
If your listing is getting views, but tour demand isn’t increasing, there’s no sharing among agents, and offers aren’t becoming more competitive, the problem may not be price or presentation. Maybe it’s the quality of the delivery.
The industry spends a lot of time talking about AI, CRM, and ad tech. fair enough. However, one of the most practical benefits in luxury marketing remains underutilized. It’s about making sure real estate is packaged and distributed in the languages and channels that buyers actually use.
There’s nothing wrong with English-only marketing. It’s just incomplete. In a market where additional qualified buyers can change terms, timing, and final price, incomplete distribution poses a significant risk.
Marie Wang and Kevin Mo are co-founders of Meridian Keystone Real Estate Group. Connect with Marie on YouTube and Xiaohongsho, and connect with Kevin on YouTube and Xiaohongsho.
