Inman

Helping ‘silent millionaires’ realize their dream of owning a second home overseas

Barbara Harlib Schmerzler, owner and lead broker of Westport, Conn.-based U.S. Homefinders Inc., says “silent millionaires” — people “who worked very hard to accumulate wealth, but not multimillions” — can have a hard time fulfilling their dream of owning a second home overseas.

The homes they can afford won’t generate a commission that’s large enough to entice an overseas broker who has to pay a referral fee to a U.S. broker. And if they don’t speak the language in the country they want to buy, they’ll find themselves going from agency to agency, hoping to find an English-speaking agent, because there are no MLSs.

As members of the International Section of the National Association of Realtors, Schmerzler says U.S. Homefinders can help clients find agents anywhere in the world.