International Networking Section of NARdi Gras, New Orleans

International Networking Section of NARdi Gras, New Orleans. Photo by Nisa Salmans.

The Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals (AMPI) recently held its 39th Annual Conference and Trade Show in Monterrey, N.L.

Members assembled from across Mexico to exchange ideas, hear speakers on various subjects of interest, network, socialize and hold AMPI’s annual meeting. Two special events took place during the week. The first was the signing of an agreement of cooperation between AMPI and four other real estate associations. These are Brazil, Colombia, Peru and the Federation of Central America, Panama and the Caribbean. The second event during the week was the annual meeting of the Mexican section of the International Real Estate Federation. (FIABCI) The home office for FIABCI is in Paris. I found three of the presentations, during the week, particularly interesting. Two were by personnel from banks and the third was a panel of international REALTORS® Everardo Elizonda, Chief Economist at BANORTE, addressed the subject, “The Mexican economy at the end of 2010, Accuracy and Guess.” He reported the descent in the Mexican construction business was rapid, but recent statistics indicated a turn around. Everardo echoed something we frequently hear in this country, “The Mexican crisis was not made in Mexico, but in New York and in the District of Columbia.” Employment in Mexico is 10-15 percent below the plateau of 2008. So far in 2010, 850,000 jobs have been created in this county. He predicted the GNP will increase by 3.9 percent in 2011, (The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development- Paris, projects Mexico’s growth at 3.5 percent) that inflation will be 3.7 percent, the interest rate will be 5 percent and the peso will be at 12.7 to the u.S. dollar. Concerning 2011, he stated that since the Mexican economy is export driven its health will depend to a large extent on the u.S. economic recovery. For this reason he sees growth in 2011 slower than in 2010. Everardo does feel positive about exports to Latin America, especially Brazil.

Elizabeth Bermudez of BANCOMER came from Chicago to address the conference. She is Director of “Hipotecaria Mexicana” (a mortgage program). She opened her presentation by reporting that the Hispanic population of the United States is 333 million. Elizabeth presented a video about “Bush” beans, the leading seller of beans in the U.S. She also cited other advertising campaigns aimed at Latinos. Mention was made of several companies such as Sara Lee that are owned in Mexico. Next she made a presentation on the bank’s program Tu Vivienda en Mexico (Your home in Mexico). The program was launched in the United States six and a half years ago. It is aimed at Mexicans living in the U.S. who may wish to purchase property in Mexico. The immigration status of those applying for mortgages is not an issue.

Featured on the international panel of REALTORS® was Nelson Germanso of Brazil; Federico Estrada of Columbia; Juan Pareja, Peru: and Lucia Solorzano-Secasa, representing the Central America Federation and the Panama and Caribbean associations of REALTORS®. They were joined by Adrian Arriaga from Mc Allen Texas. He is the past ambassador of the National Associations of RALTORS® (NAR) to AMPI and the Chair of NAR’s Global Business Alliances, operations committee. Adrian is a member of the Texas Real Estate Commission. The discussion focused on real estate licensing (note: only a handful of states in Mexico have a licensing law at the moment, while several others will be presenting proposed legislation to their state governments in the near future) and the need for more cooperation among associations in Latin America. Nelson Germano stated Brazil has had licensing since 1964. In Peru, one wanting to sell real estate has eighteen months to register with the housing ministry. Adrian Arriaga pointed out that in the U.S. real estate, licensing laws are state controlled. All of the panelists felt they would feel more secure when referring their clients to another jurisdiction that has a licensing law.

There was a discussion on how Latin American associations could work better together. The countries represented on the panel had signed a agreement to cooperate a day earlier. There is a need for a group such as the International Consortium of Realtors (worldwide and known as ICREA) in Latin America. An organization to be known as ICREA Latin America should be established to foment cooperation between the countries. It was mentioned, “We all speak the same language,” (not Spanish but real estate.)

At the Annual General meeting, seven members were elected to AMPI’s National Advisory Board. (Consejos) They replaced seven who had completed their two year term. The Consejeros represent a good cross section of Mexico. There are two in Mexico City and one each in Cancun and Tijuana. A new Vice-President was elected. The name of the new V.P. will not be announced until the inauguration of President Elect Adrian Larracilla Marquez (from Puebla, Puebla). That will event take place in Mexico City in January. Finally, Merida, Yucatan has been selected as the site for the Congreso in 2011.

The National Association of Realtors, one of the United States largest business associations, held their annual convention in New Orleans, LA, from November 5th-10, 2010.

The annual event, called “NAR”di Gras, brings together over 20,000 international real estate professionals, for conferences, networking, educational seminars, trends and buying and selling opportunities.    Many of this year’s presentations dealt with the current economic situation affecting real estate worldwide and advances in technology, with a great emphasis on social media which was a topic of dozens of presentations, up from only a few at last year’s event. Some of this year’s highlights were: Trendhunter.com’s Jeremy Gutshce, also the author of Exploiting Chaos, which propose that great opportunity comes in times of upheaval; Top Producer and Realtor.com’s Technology instructors presented a series on technology trends in sales, focusing on social media; Ginger Wilcox, founding partner of the Social Media Marketing Institute, had great tips; plus a wide variety of marketing seminars with real estate specific tips and sales strategies.

Not just a great educational event and a wonderful networking opportunity for Realtors, the convention also brings together the Realtor International affiliates such as AMPI, here in Mexico. The International Networking center had representatives from: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden. On hand from Mexico in the International Networking area were several attendees from Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, and Ixtapa. To see what you missed at this year’s “NAR”diGras, go to www.Realtor.org/conferencelive. Mark your calendars for the 2011 REALTORS Conference & Expo, November 11-14, 2011, in Anaheim, California. Registration opens May 2011.