When executives from Legacy Development Sales & Marketing Sales & Marketing head south to Brazil later this month, we’ll be looking to do more than sell luxury residential real estate – like ocean front condominiums and condo-hotels – along Miami Beach and Bal Harbour. We’ll be looking to recreate fire.
The Pordes team at ONE Bal Harbour and Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach already have reconnected with their Brazilian relationships. The result: More than a dozen sales in the last three months – with expectations of more in the near future.
In the 1990s, when I was named Director of International Sales for Williams Island in Aventura, I identified Latin America – and specifically Brazil – and a hot emerging market. The local currency – the real – was strong, but the political climate was unstable. Wealthy Brazilians were flocking to Miami – and bringing their liquidity with them.
So I took a team south to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. We built two, fully-equipped model / sales centers and staffed them with 16 full-time associates.
We partnered with luxury auto brands and high-end magazines. Threw over-the-top parties with celebrities and athletes. We flew in up to 45 wealthy families each month to stay in the condos. This went on for nearly six years.
And we eventually sold some $800 million in real estate.
The time’s feeling right again. There’s a huge, new influx of Brazilians in South Florida.
Over 10 days in May, I’ll dust off my Portuguese and speak the language of safe investing. We’ll reach out to our old contacts and partner with local brokers. We’ll host eight sales events, educational sessions, a webinar with Remax, and individual meetings with private buyers in Rio, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte. We’ll be in hotel conference rooms, a yacht club and prospects’ homes.
We’ll be reaching out to people who see Miami as a trusted destination to invest in real estate.
In the 1990s, political unrest frightened many Brazilians into buying here. This time around, politics are stable. As recently as 2009, the Brazilian market was suffering the recession just like the U.S. Today, the real is near par with the dollar, making it very attractive for Brazilians to hedge and protect their currency by buying luxury real estate at a discounted value in today’s market – when compared to the prices paid over the last five years
Times change. So do motivations. But one reality seems certain: We’ll create fire – again.
