Eric Chen, Long & Foster's director of Asia-Pacific initiatives, leads a seminar at LPS Shanghai.

CRES Division Travels to Shanghai for Luxury Real Estate Conference

Event provided opportunity to connect with global investors

In December, representatives from Long & Foster’s Corporate Real Estate Services division, had the opportunity to attend LPS Shanghai, China’s leading luxury real estate expo. Pandra Richie, president of Long & Foster’s Corporate Real Estate Services, and Eric Chen, director of the company’s Asia Pacific initiatives, traveled to the event, which was held Dec. 9-11. More than 6,000 buyers attended the expo, which included over 120 exhibitors and offered more than 50 forums about luxury real estate around the globe.

“Chinese buyers are continuously seeking information about the U.S. real estate market and how they can break into it. They are eager to learn about what investment opportunities are available here and what they need to know about the process,” Chen said. “The event was a great opportunity to provide them with the information they need and connect with them in person. This was our second time attending an LPS expo, and it was a great success. We look forward to attending future events.”

Richie said they were able to meet with a number of high-net-worth investors, as well as with executives and leadership from some of the largest real estate companies and services firms in China. These include Homelink Real Es­tate Agency, B.A. Consulting and its subsidiary 5i5j Group, Fang.com, China Real Estate Asso­ciation and Ping An Insurance group, among others.

In addition to being an exhibitor at the expo, Chen led seminars on the U.S. real estate market for attendees. The sessions included information about the basics of purchasing properties in the United States, what real estate trends are helpful to track and ample time for questions. Chen and Richie also spoke with expo attendees about the services available to them through Long & Foster and its global networks, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Luxury Portfolio International and Christie’s International Real Estate.

“Connecting with those in the real estate mar­ket on a global scale is important to us at Long & Foster, and the LPS Shanghai expo was an excellent opportunity to do that,” Richie said. “Events like this help us to form vital relation­ships internationally, as well as stay up-to-date and as knowledgeable as possible about what’s happening in the Chinese market and real estate industry. We’re glad to have had the opportunity to represent Long & Foster at another fantastic LPS event.”

Additional Outreach within the Asia Pacific Market

In November, Long & Foster hosted 39 mem­bers of the China Real Estate Alliance Delega­tion, which included real estate brokers from throughout China. The visit allowed them to see and learn more about the U.S. real estate market firsthand.

Long & Foster also has plans to host a devel­opers’ summit at its Chantilly headquarters in May 2017 to bring investors from the U.S. and Chinese markets together.