Realtors® Break Record and Celebrate Birthday

By John K. Glaab, CIPS

Attendance records were broken at the 2007 Annual Conference of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). More than 30,000 Realtors® assembled in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, for the annual event. Among them 2,300 from the international section. This included about 14 from Mexico, of which I was one.

The General Session featured, as a warm up act, a white-jumpsuited Elvis, feather-plumed showgirls and Carlotta from “Phantom.” This was followed by a slide show, NAR’s forefathers, and the five Good Neighbors award, the naming of an extraordinary REALTOR® from every U.S. state and territory. And in a fitting end to one of the Conference’s most feel-good events, comedy icon and master yarn-spinner Bill Cosby took the stage in a blue sweatshirt emblazoned with the REALTOR® “R” and the phrase “HELLO FRIEND” in multi-colored letters. Bill Cosby may be an entertainment icon, but he’s an unlucky real estate investor. Or at least his wife is. Speaking at Wednesday’s General Session during the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, the Cos lamented his decision to sell his much-beloved Beverly Hills home in order to stay on the good side of his wife, who was afraid of earthquakes. The home, which he bought 38 years ago, netted the couple a $3,000 gain. A decade later, that same home sold for $10 million.“That’s the only thing in our 43 years of marriage that I have on her. And you can believe I keep bringing it up,” said Cosby, as the crowd broke out in laughter.

SOME Conference Highlights:

Stewart Title, as it does every year sponsored a Technology Learning Center. As usual many of the simultaneous sessions were fully subscribed by Internet before the Conference even started... Among the mot popular, Upgrading your Power Point Presentation: Beyond the Basics, Transaction Management: More than a Document Manager, Microsoft® Outlook ®Contact Management and More and Bring your own Palm®, Treo or Smartphone.

The Second Home Pavilion was the largest ever. Exhibitors came from Canada, Europe, and Latin America, including Mexico. The Pavilion was created and sponsored by the Spanish company, SIMA. They are the managers of the largest real estate exhibition in the world. I intend to be at their event in Madrid in May. Part of the pavilion is the International Networking Center. It includes chances to network with Realtors® from around the world. Each day different countries are featured at round tables. Companies can bring their literature and visit with others from around the world. Mexico was featured Thursday morning. From other countries, at other tables were Realtors® from Brazil, France, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

Lou Holz, former football coach at Notre Dame and currently a commentator on ESPN made a presentation, establishing a Meaningful Relationship with People. One of the more fascinating sessions for me was, Feng Shui Secrets for Real estate.” This taught how to sue Feng Shui to help sell properties at higher prices and implement the ancient wisdom for buyers and sellers.

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Attending the CIPS (Certified International Property Specialist) breakfast is always a must for me. I enjoy renewing acquaintances with fellow, CIPS friends from around the globe who have been awarded this designation. This was a special year for me. My friend. Mitch Creekmore from Stewart Title in Dallas was presented with his accreditation and pin. He was one of 256 Designees. The number of Realtors world-wide who have earned the designation is about 2,000.

International Consortium of Real Estate Associations (ICREA): It was great to attend ICREA’s Plenary Session. This is a group of 30 associations around the world, representing 1million brokers. A popular NAR® Translational Referrals shows Realtors® how to conduct international transactions and be guaranteed commissions. Mexico has a seat on the five member board. Our representative is Cesar Paredes from Monterrey, N.L. Representing Mexico as delegates to the session were Mario Aviles President of AMPI and Sergio Duenas. For information about ICREA go to worldproperties.com.

NAR® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun reported that other national sales downturns in the last 30 years were spurred by broad economic problems. This year, by contrast, economic fundamentals remain solid, with the U.S. gross domestic product expected to grow by a respectable 2 percent, supported by 2 million job gains in the last two years and continuing low interest rates. Yun said 2007 existing-home sales will exceed 5.5 million, close to the level in 2002, a record-setting year. At the same time, home prices remain near record highs despite drops in a few markets.

He said, “much of the cooling in real estate markets over the last year is attributable to risky subprime loans. A tightening in credit standards, though much needed, has made it harder for some borrowers to close on their financing in a timely manner. “

Next year’s NAR® Conference will be held in Orlando, Florida, from November 5 - 10, 2008.

The National Advisory Board of AMPI (The National Association of Real Estate Professionals) held its December meeting at the Conference Center in the 52-story Torre Mayor. The “Torre” is a “smart building” located on the Paseo Reforma in Mexico’s capital. I had the pleasure of joining the Board on its noon break for a tour of the building. It has many special features. Just one example is the giant shock absorber system, located in the foundation. This has been designed to protect the building in the event of a major earthquake such as the one that hit the Federal District in 1985. During the tour, we were told about an event that had happened next door, the day before. The Canadian Ambassador participated at a ground breaking center of a nine-story commercial building. This will be constructed by Canada’s Reichmann brothers who built the Torre Mayor. Passageways between the two buildings will be connected on floors two and nine. The new building has been totally leased, even although it will take three years to build.

Some of the items covered at the Board’s meeting: ratification of the election of Sergio Duenas from Guadalajara as President for 2008, preliminary discussions on the 2008 Conference to be held in the Mayan Riviera (November 20-23), Cedula Professional (professional certificate to be awarded to AMPI members, by the Mexican Department of Education) and electoral reform. Mario Aviles, AMPI President from the State of Mexico, delivered the final report for his term. The inauguration of new President Sergio Duenas will take place in Mexico D.F. on January 25, 2008.

Retiring in Mexico - Recommended Reading

About the author: John Glaab has been a member of NAR’s International Section for over a decade. He has earned the Certified International Property Specialist designation and is a founding member of AMPI Los Cabos. He spends half the year in La Paz, Baja California Sur and the other half in Uruapan, Michoacan. For further information
John.glaab@settlement-co.co

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