By Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Two leading Northeast Florida industry associations will be represented later this year at a major London trade show designed to encourage non-United States residents to invest in Northeast Florida real estate.
Realtor Kim Smith, chair of NEFAR’s International Business Development Council, said that NEFBA Executive Director Daniel Davis will join his council and to go with the group to London later this year.
“I believe this should be a profitable trip for NEFBA members as well as NEFAR,” said Davis. “I’m planning on the trip as long as my members believe this is a creative outside-the-box marketing campaign. I believe they will. We’re looking forward to the upcoming meeting.”
Smith spoke about the trip at last month’s meeting of the NEFAR Ponte Vedra Council at the Sawgrass Beach Club. The October event is the culminating trade show of a series conducted in the United Kingdom.
“The publishers and show organizers, the Brookland Group, visited the Florida Association of Realtors winter convention and offered a number of discounts to FAR members,” said Smith. “We are hoping to leverage that offer in order to raise awareness of the attractions of Northeast Florida.”
Smith said he hoped to see about 12 members between NEFAR and NEFBA taking the trip. He would also like to see some representatives from affiliated professions, including the lending industry, come along.
How did he get Davis to agree to go?
“After meeting Daniel at a NEFBA Sales and Marketing Council event, I asked him to become a member of the NEFAR IBDC,” said Smith. “When I asked him to be a spokesperson for the group while in London, he happily volunteered. I have asked Daniel to be a leading spokesman for the group when in the UK because he brings a unique knowledge of the construction industry and Northeast Florida communities, as well as broad leadership to the table. He will be an exemplary representative of Northeast Florida, its real estate community, as well as great company on the trip.”
Smith said they will also visit the area to make additional contacts in addition to visiting the trade show.
The organizers say that the show will attract over 13,000 potential investors. According to the organizers, each earns an average of $138,000 per year and is looking to invest an average of $392,000.
The trade show, “A Place in the Sun Live,” is the world’s largest exhibition of overseas property and, according to Smith, will showcase over 1,000 overseas properties from all around the world.
Smith also said the group will visit real estate offices in the UK to “extol the virtues of Northeast Florida, explain the role of Realtors as buyers’ agents and illustrate how Northeast Florida continues to avoid the climatic and financial extremes that have damaged other parts of Florida.”
The cost of the trip will be mostly borne by those on the trip. Smith said he was open for donations, too — “For those not traveling, please find lenders who will support your business with non-U.S. residents wanting to buy here.”