Sagine, I've been thinking about this as well.  I see a lot of Ontario and Quebec license plates during the summer so it's on my list.  You know...that loooooonnnnngggg list!  I'll be interested to read any comments.  

Good Question!

As a Canadian Realtor I recieve a TON of marketing from U.S. Realtors all offering a referral fee - some as high as 50%.  Crazy.  The ppl. up here generally buy in Florida, Arizona or the Carolinas but most are purchasing in South America.  I would say 80% of international purchases are Mexico, Costa Rico and Panama.

As for a way to add to your business - might work - as for the main place of your income (that being Canadian buyers) I would not count on it.  We are a country of 30 million ppl., roughly the same population as California.  5% of our population makes over 85k a year.  Don't get me wrong - we are great and polite ppl but certainly not enough to change anything significantly in your market.

Hope that helps!

I'm afraid of Canadians.

Hi Sagine, I'm an agent in West Vancouver, BC, Canada and have clients who have asked about the"Foreclosure" opportunities in the US...

any insight you can provide for your market is appreciated.

Irene Mandzuk

I noticed the Phoenix area real estate agents beginning to market to Western Canadians and I'm thinking about inviting Ontario residents to consider Charleston South Carolina. Temp was 74 and sunny today, no humidity, beautiful Carolina blue skies. I think Canadians will like it here.

I have had a few Canadian clients here in the Phoenix area recently.  Since they can only reside here for 6 months out of the year, they love to come during our winters with abundant sunshine.  We have many foreclosure and preforeclosure homes for sale and an abundance of "deals to be had" with almost 60,000 active listings in our MLS.  

Marketing to them is easy, all you have to do is speak their languages.Been doing it for many years.

I also trade the EURO Currency. Best way to get referrals from Currency Brokers. Visit their Brokerage Firms in Boca and Miami.Introduce yourself and give them free advice and tips, or invite them for a free Local Tour of the City and coffe or Capuccino.Think outside the box.

Learn to the introduction in their Language.They like that.

Most Canadians speak the same language as you!!  

We discussed this very thing at our office meeting this morning.  Some Canadians probably will take advantage of the strong Canadian dollar and the soft real estate market in the US and invest down there.  We expect to see that happen.  Our market is still fairly strong up here in Canada - especially in the Atlantic provinces.  But we do see less Americans coming to invest as compared to other years.  

I would suggest making some connections with Canadian realtors so they can send their clients your way should they decide to go that way.  

And Mike..don't be scared..

[Trista sez: We are a country of 30 million ppl. . . .  5% of our population makes over 85k a year.  . .  certainly not enough to change anything significantly in your market.]

Hmmm . . . a mil and a half potentially able buyers? Might be worth a try!  :)

We've had 'north of border' clients all along . . . my experience has been that they choose our area because

a) it's warm

b) there's 'stuff to do' (in our case, gaming, golf and watersports)

Soooo . . . if like Howie, you want to market to Canadians, emphasize your area's great weather and culture, activities, etc. in your marketing.

One of my compadres created/SEOd a golf website linked to his main site to hit that niche hard. Works.

Good points Candice.

And if the Canadian dollar gets up in the neighborhood of $1.25 US, watch out - methinks there'll be a Canadian horde sending investment dollars South . . .

Well, send 'em to the river so the poor Californians can sell their investment homes! LOLOL