Event Coverage
Japanese Delegation Visits SILVAR
Fifteen real estate professionals from Japan came to Silicon Valley and visited SILVAR last Friday afternoon. The purpose of their visit was to meet and network with Silicon Valley REALTORS®, bring cultural awareness, and learn about similarities and differences in doing business in the U.S. and Japan.
The visitors were also primarily here to learn about home inspection and typical inspection services provided to homeowners in U.S. They also visited Google and Facebook, during their visit to the region.
SILVAR Global Business Council member Atsuko Yube, who is a past president of the Asian Real Estate Association of America Silicon Valley (AREAA SV) and a board director of AREAA Global Inc., arranged the visit. Yube 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 is the custom in Japan to build new homes because the Japanese like new things. "Because of this, 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.
SILVAR Executive Officer Paul Cardus and President-elect Alan Barbic welcomed the visitors and shared some information about SILVAR. 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).
At SILVAR, Yube delivered a presentation about Silicon Valley real estate in Japanese. SILVAR member Chika Mori, 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.
Later in the afternoon, the visitors, members and guests, met for a mixer at the Lazy Dog restaurant in Cupertino.
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The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. SILVAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in Silicon Valley.
The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
For further information, please email or call the SILVAR office at (408) 200-0100.