Also significant is the fact that in some multicultural families the acculturation may be different among generations living in the same household. “Grandparents may not speak English, parents may speak both and children may speak primarily English,” Valentin says.

She adds that the firm finds Orange County to be a strong area for multicultural homebuyers. “The multicultural owner-occupied projected growth in the next five years is going to be about 13%. That's an additional 31,000 or 32,000 more owner-occupied multicultural transactions here.”

Aside from the language differences, even if buyers from other countries are familiar with the way real estate is done in their own country, they may not be aware that it's done completely differently in the US, Valentin adds. “Many countries don't provide title insurance, but that's very important for us because title insurance gives us such peace of mind. Educating the consumer about what they're paying for with title insurance was important. We really wanted to accomplish this with the website because they have no point of reference. Explaining the different types of insurance and what title insurance is is important.”

The firm's new multicultural video library is another great learning tool for buyers, says Valentin. “We find that many times the consumer would prefer to listen and look at the video rather than read. We're excited to be able to provide both, and we feel it will be a real hit with the consumer.”