Mike Vachani -Courtesy photo
The National Association of REALTORS® recognized the local Arcadia Association of REALTORS® (AAR) with the Platinum Achievement Award – the highest award given for Global Business Council Achievement. The AAR received the award at the 2014 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in New Orleans this month.
Global business councils are groups within the local association structure of the national group dedicated to globally themed education, programming and networking for their members.
The award is given for having demonstrated exceptional commitment to building members’ awareness of the global and multicultural business opportunities in their local markets.
Interest in U.S. properties has been growing. For the 12 months ending in March 2014, total international residential sales amounted to about $88.2 billion, with California second after Florida in attracting international buyers and accounting for 17 percent of foreign purchases.
In the past year, AAR offered (2) week-long Certified International Property Specialist Institutes (CIPS), EB-5 Visa classes, hosted “Destination: Los Angeles” a global real estate conference featuring TV personalities from “Million Dollar Listing” attended trade missions in Hong Kong and Singapore, respectively and hosted other global education programs. The association was also recently appointed NAR Presidential Liaisons to Bulgaria, Hong Kong and Singapore.
“The San Gabriel Valley, especially Arcadia, has long been a top choice among foreign buyers. For our Realtors to stay competitive in both residential and commercial markets, they need to be familiar with international real estate issues and practices. AAR seeks to provide our members tools they can use to be successful when dealing with clients here and abroad,” said Mike Vachani, 2014 President of AAR.
Also during this year’s conference, which was held in New Orleans during Nov. 5-10, more than 20,000 attendees from across the country and all over the world engaged industry leaders and federal officials about legislative priorities, and the obstacles and opportunities facing consumers, the real estate market, and the economy.
“As Realtors from across the globe come together, we are optimistic about the future of home ownership and the real estate industry. We are committed to ensuring that housing markets continue their forward momentum,” said NAR 2014 President Steve Brown.
NAR is actively advocating public policies that promote responsible, sustainable home ownership and a stable housing market; ensure that reforms to the Federal Housing Administration do no harm to consumers’ access to safe, affordable financing; preserve property and home ownership tax policies, such as the mortgage interest deduction; and restructure the secondary mortgage market with a government guarantee and a strong private market.
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