For a brief flash it was like old times. Standing in a large booth on the show floor, near an impressive model of a tower project, a developer’s representative was pitching me on two developments in Mexico, large projects with vast aspirations and the need for investors.
A 50 percent stake is available in a 13,000-acre project on the Sea of Cortez, says Guillermo Cervantes, the helpful sales rep for New Life Alliance, a development firm. The price is $112 million, but smaller packages are available, he assures me.
“It will be the greenest project ever made,” Cervantes says.
It was like a throwback to a different era, a time when convention floors were covered with cool models and pre-construction deals. But developers pitching deals were a rarity on this year’s NAR show floor, victims of an economic climate that took the fun out of pitching unbelievable high-yield opportunities and one-of-a-kind amenities.
The Sea of Cortez project is located in the desolate desert of Sonora, about 19 miles north of Puerto Peñasco. A new airport is in development, Cervantes says. And the project will include a marina and oceanography facility. All constructions materials will come from the surrounding landscape and solar cells will provide power, he says.
He’s also pitching a fractional project on Riviera Maya, south of Cancun. Full ownership of the condominiums is priced at $320,000, and agents can receive a 5 percent commission on full sales, six percent on fractions, Cervantes says.
Fractional sales are good for agents, he says. Most fractional owners flip their unit in a few years, he notes. “So [agents] continue business with their customer,” he said
In general, reaction to the projects has been “great,” Cervantes says. “Most people listen to us.”
But he acknowledges times have changed. There is a new wariness in the community.
“It’s difficult to pre-sell,” he says. “People want to see units finished.”
* * *
NAR named its annual Certified International Property specialist award winners Saturday at a special “International Night Out” dinner. The winners:
Honorary CIPS: Cynthia Shelton, Florida Realtors International Program; Joao Crestana, new president of SECOVI-SP, Brazil
CIPS Course Sponsor: REALTOR Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches
CIPs Instructor of the Year: David Wyant
Outstanding Presidents Liaisons: Michael Romanovsky, liaison to Russia; Nancy Macaluso, South Africa
Outstanding Ambassador Association: Arcadia Association of Realtors, ambassadors to Singapore and Austria.
Outstanding Outreach Efforts: Aida Turbow, liaison to Argentina; Carlos Ipuche, president of Colegio Martilleros; and Kirkor Ajderjanyan, chair of international committee for FNAIM, the French association of real estate professionals.
* * *
Outgoing president Charles MacMillan delivered the convention’s most quoted line: “The truth of the matter is all agents are created equal--and many will choose to stay that way.”
