Cultural rapport is the key to working with foreign nationals mortgage market.

Follow the international political and economic news on any given day and you will be reasonably able to predict from what part of the globe the next wave of foreign nationals' investment in residential real estate will appear.

Political unrest? Stock market upheaval? Social anarchy? Deposed dictatorship or monarchy? Changes in tax, estate or investment law? Whatever the impetus, people with significant net wealth and the capacity to move it will be looking to invest it out of the country in times of uncertainty at home.

As a location for those investments, few countries can compete with the financial and political security, size, diversity and appeal of the United States, just as no other U.S. city equals New York's perpetual allure as a sophisticated, welcoming mecca for diverse cultures.

Whether it is a pied-a-terra in Manhattan, corporate apartment, investment property for long- or short-term rental (such as a luxury bed and breakfast), or a palatial mansion in one of the wealthier suburbs, the foreign nationals market in the New York metropolitan area is not a trend but a substantial, growing and consistently flowing source of high-end residential real estate buyers.

To successfully work with this lucrative market requires a combination of international financial skills, the ability to establish cultural rapport and a willingness to acknowledge that working with affluent foreign nationals is a far cry from business as usual.

Imagine for a moment that you, an American, suddenly find yourself making a large capital investment in residential real estate in Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, Rome or Lisbon. Your comfort level in doing so will depend on your mortgage broker's ability to converse in your language, his or her familiarity with American customs and standards of living, and the broker's qualifications and experience with the intricacies of international finance.

Similarly, though we New Yorkers may view ourselves as living in the center of the universe, working with foreign nationals requires that we put aside our sophisticated provinciality and bend toward working in the language and customs of the client's culture.

It is more than the ability to speak a language that makes a difference. At Home Mortgage Acceptance Corp., though executives in foreign nationals operations speak fluent Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Italian. French and Spanish, their understanding goes beyond conversation. They are also from or have lived in these countries and are sensitive to appropriate cultural responses, nuances of verbal and physical language, and the traditional business practices of each culture.

Typically, the real estate broker of a foreign national is of the same nationality and takes upon greater responsibilities than usual by also serving as an informal attorney, financier and cultural attache. The mortgage broker must also be capable of serving in this extended consultant role.

The foreign nationals purchasing in the New York market are the upper echelon of their societies, with substantial income and net worth. Customizing marketing approaches to international cultures is a prerequisite for successfully working with this high level market, as is altering customer service approaches in order to build a high comfort level during business transactions.

Because foreign nationals do not bring plain vanilla deals to the table, sophisticated skills and experience in international finance are an absolute necessity. The foreign exchange market is the largest in the world. Massive amounts of yen, pounds, lira and pesos are being transferred and must be tracked through international borders. Restrictions on transfers of foreign money must be known and dealt with, as must unmarked and cryptic bank account names and understanding tax limitations.

Mortgage brokers must have the capabilities to analyze liquid assets in overseas institutions, translate on-the-spot, provide in-house counsel on the feasibility of a deal, and operate with a heightened sense of urgency resulting from the compressed timeframes of foreign nationals that can allow as little as 3 to 5 days to complete a complex transaction.

Though banks have indicated a greater interest in working with the foreign nationals market of late, the mortgage broker's ability to educate the bankers themselves on the viability of a deal (even though the deal may not meet exact guidelines) can also be part of the process.

Some far-sighted New York real estate brokerage companies have taken it a step further by aggressively pursuing the lucrative foreign nationals market through forging cross-border alliances and affiliations with large real estate companies in other countries, using videotapes of properties with multiple language translations as sales tools, and incorporating sophisticated information technology-based international marketing strategies.

From the simplest of conversations to the most complex transference of information, working with foreign nationals is an art that requires serious commitment of time and money to acquire and perfect. Those real estate professionals who are willing to make that commitment will find tremendous opportunities to propel sales growth and revenues by serving the international marketplace in New York.