Illinois REALTORS® to promote state at international real estate conference
Illinois REALTORS® to promote state at international real estate conference
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – (RealEstateRama) — The Illinois Association of REALTORS® will send a delegation of members to an international real estate conference in March as part of an ongoing effort to promote cross-border investment in the state.
This marks the association’s second year of participation in Le Marché International des Professionnels de L’immobilier, better known as MIPIM. The conference is March 15-18 in Cannes, France, and is widely recognized as one of the largest international real estate conferences in the world, attracting more than 21,000 people.
“The people who go there are in charge of millions — if not billions — of dollars of capital that can be used for projects,” said IAR President Mike Drews, broker-associate with Charles B. Doss & Co. in Aurora. “And while a deal might not get closed at the show, the pathways to making those deals happen in the future are made there.”
Drews, who attended the conference in 2015, said participation allowed the association to talk directly with real estate investors about opportunities in the state and reinforce the value of using a REALTOR® in transactions.
IAR will be part of the National Association of REALTORS® pavilion at MIPIM. The association will be joined in the pavilion by a number of REALTOR® organizations, including delegations from Missouri, Miami and San Diego.
For the past several years, IAR has been committed to increasing awareness of the global real estate business. The association sponsored training for members to earn their Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) designation, signed a cooperative agreement with a Mexican real estate association and created a global task force to look at ways to meet the needs of an increasingly international clientele.
“The exposure you get is out of this world,” said Maurice Hampton, managing broker at Centered International Realty in Chicago, who went to MIPIM in 2015 and returns this year. “In addition, you get education and exposure to the expansion of possibilities for yourself and your business which are limitless.”
Hampton said attending the conference gives brokers a chance to promote not just the real estate industry, but also the state and region as a whole.
IAR is partnering with a number of Illinois firms to promote the state as a place to do business, including Sperry Van Ness/Ramshaw Real Estate; the Inland Real Estate Group of Companies; Baird & Warner; Caton Commercial Real Estate Group; Centered International Realty and Farmers National Company.
Contact: Jon Broadbooks, 217-529-2600
