There is so much to being a REALTOR® in Houston. You can list and sell all types of property. Land, rentals, beach property, suburban homes, country homes, condominiums, town homes, high rises and now even property listings outside the U.S.
I have been a REALTOR® since 1986 and a broker/owner since 1996. Because of this, I have repeat clients that move from city life inside the loop to country living or suburban living outside the loop and vice versa. And with the Internet, we can reach out all over the world for buyers and sellers. From advertising in Newcomer Guide Magazines, I have helped many employees from Germany move to the Houston area. It has been a great learning experience especially when they have just learned English. Since I vacation in Mexico every year, I understand how they feel when they are trying to speak and understand English. I have had the same problem in Mexico with Spanish. I have listed property in San Pancho, Mexico –north of Puerto Vallarta as a result of my travels.
With all this interest in and outside of the U.S., I decided to join the HAR International Advisory Group last year. What a great group of people! I learned so much from attending the meetings that I decided to get my Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) designation by taking the classes which come to Houston only every two years or so. I was fortunate to be able to take them all in just one week. What an eye-opener! There was so much to learn. I have been in real estate for almost 30 years and have learned more in the last year that I did in the previous 15 years.
I also joined AMPI (The Mexican Association of Professional Sales People). This puts your name out there. From that membership, I have heard about real estate conferences throughout Mexico. One conference was in Puerto Vallarta, near my listing. I contacted my seller who lives in California, and he met me out there to see the listing and the town to become more familiar with the area and property. At the conference, I met many real estate professionals and spread the word about the listing. I believe this effort will get the property sold and I have developed relationships that will help me down the road with more referral business. This is truly taking real estate to a whole new level for me and I owe this opportunity to HAR through the advisory groups and classes they bring to the Houston area.
HAR is a great association and I encourage you to get involved by signing up for one of the many advisory groups currently forming for 2014. The deadline to apply is December 5 and you can learn more at www.har.com/getinvolved.
Debi Trahan
2013 International Advisory Group member
Texas Go2, REALTORS®
