The first time Missi Howell tried to travel afar was when she was 5 years old.
She’d gotten into an argument with her two older sisters, who were babysitting her. She packed a little overnight suitcase with pajamas, a blanket and a stuffed animal and walked nearly all the way to the city bus stop. Her sisters secretly followed.
Only the memory of seeing her mother pay bus fare turned her back — Howell had brought no money.
From that day, Howell realized she had no fear of the outside world and one day she was going to go there.
Today an agent with Watson Realty, Howell chose this — her second career — for the flexibility and income it would give her to travel. She and her husband have vacationed overseas every year since 2000.
On the job, she’s also tied to the world.
One of Northeast Florida’s most recognizable specialists in global customers, Howell this year finishes her third term as head of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors’ Global Council.
Beginning next year, she’ll rise to the state level, serving as vice chair and after that, chair of the Florida Realtors’ Global Business Committee.
A necklace she wears has “wanderlust” inscribed on one side and a compass on the other.
“Ever since I can remember I have loved exploring and learning about other geographies and cultures,” she said.
Home to international hot-spots Miami and Orlando, Florida is the country’s top market for global buyers. In Jacksonville, though, they make up only 3 percent of transactions. Howell admitted she picks up only one or two foreign-national clients per year.
“They’re not my bread and butter,” she said.
But expand the definition of “global” and global training becomes more relevant.
A global buyer can be a foreign-born client who is buying his second or third home. Or a second-generation buyer who is still embedded in his or her family’s heritage. Knowing how to work with diverse cultures is just a matter of good professionalism, Howell said.
Howell also enjoys the perks of having a global focus.
It’s sent her overseas on Realtor trade missions — twice to Germany now — to see how real estate is practiced in other parts of the world.
She knows, for instance, that East Berlin has, in the wake of a fallen Iron Curtain, the up-and-coming neighborhoods. The culture is international, too. You won’t see any Lederhosen or Dirndl dresses.
If a client wants to move to Germany, Howell knows she’ll have to rely on networks outside a multiple listing serve to find them a reputable Realtor. Other countries don’t have one.
Is it knowledge that will snag her a sale? Perhaps not.
“It makes me more educated,” she said.
Howell grew up in West Virginia in a family of limited means. Asked how many languages she speaks, she stretches the number to three — English, halting German and hillbilly.
It isn’t a barrier. Most people from overseas don’t expect Americans, who live in a country that stretches thousands of miles, to speak anything but English, she said.
What can be a barrier, though, is not understanding a homebuyer.
Howell’s first international customer was a couple from Iran. It was before her global training.
“They were looking for a deal, which we never found,” Howell said.
She jumped in her car, showed them all over town and put in five offers.
Each of which, she warned them, were much too low. Then, she got frustrated.
“I told them they needed to find another Realtor,” she said.
Today, Howell knows Middle Easterners are heavy negotiators. The couple did not understand the American way of doing business.
Her second international buyer was a Hispanic couple who Howell picked up after her training.
Again, the couple wanted something they couldn’t have — a home in a location that was out of their price range.
This time Howell spent extra “desk time” getting to know the couple and understanding their needs.
“Hispanics want a personal relationship,” she said.
She eventually earned their trust and convinced them to widen their search. They found a home they loved.
Howell enjoys being an ambassador, not only for global customers, but also for the cause of more Realtors training for them.
As a state leader, she hopes to raise awareness among Jacksonville Realtors of their city’s cultural diversity.
Her service with the local council has already seen results. The faces of those attending Global Council meetings this year kept changing, with more new Realtors coming in to learn about it.
“It’s something that makes us all look better,” Howell said.
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