Courting Chinese buyers, a growing number of NYC brokers are learning Mandarin

Nikki Field
Nikki Field

As Asiatic wealth and influence grows throughout New York’s real estate industry, brokers are increasingly mastering Mandarin, according to the New York Times. Nikki Field and Kevin Brown of Sotheby’s International Realty now travel to mainland China four times a year in order to court rich investors looking to store millions in New York properties.

Chinese buyers are spending large sums of money on exclusive properties like Time Warner Center, 15 Central Park West and One57.

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Field began studying Chinese two years ago when the market was still reeling from the recession. Her partner, Brown, has since followed her lead and begun classes at the State University of New York’s Confucius Institute for Business. Even though immersing oneself in Chinese culture can prove particularly challenging for brokers raised in America, many are rising to the challenge, given the demand in the niche.

“We as Americans always expected anyone to adapt to our business style, and they did,” Field said. “That is no longer true with the Chinese. There are too many of them, they have too much power. We truly must adapt to their style of business in order to do deals.” [NYT]Christopher Cameron