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Central American/Caribbean

Groundbreaking Pact Links Seven Countries with Global Agent Network

In a milestone toward organizing the Central American and Caribbean real estate business, the associations of seven countries have signed a deal to syndicate their listings internationally in 12 languages.

The agreement between FECEPAC, the regional association of real estate associations, and U.S.-based Immobel covers listings in Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Agents in the countries will enter listings into Immobel’s Global Listing Exchange, which will translate and distribute the listings through Google Real Estate and international portals, including WorldProperties.com and Enormo.com.

In addition to creating a framework for listings, Immobel’s Global Referral Network offers a secure system for international agents to earn referral fees.

“It definitely connects everybody in a way that brings business to everyone,” said Lucia Solorzano Sacasa, president of FECEPAC.

FECEPAC also linked with ICREA, the international real estate association, and the Realtor Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches(RAMB)using Immobel’s service to share listings.

The agreements are big news in the region, where there is nothing close to an MLS and agents are generally unregulated.

“For the first time, professionals in the FECEPAC region have easy access to data management and aggregation, as well as options for marketing their listing internationally,” said Immobel chief executive Janet Choynowski. (Disclosure: Choynowski is publisher of the International Property Journal.)

In the past, efforts to organize listings were always considered too expensive for individual countries, Sacasa said. The ability to market the listings on a regional basis helped bring down costs.

“MLS are extremely expensive,” Sacasa said. “We feel that the Immobel technology has come at an affordable price for the region.”

Under terms of the agreement, FECEPAC members will enter their listings either in Spanish or English directly into the Immobel system, using on-line listing information forms. The forms offer 1,500 different fields for searchable information, including notations for waterfront property and recreational features, like boating and dock facilities.

In the Immobel system, listings will be integrated into Google mapping, and translated into 12 additional languages. Property prices will be shown in 20 world currencies, reflecting exchange rates updated throughout the day.

In addition to the search engines and portals, the listings will also be available to 300,000 U.S. Realtors already participating in the Global Listing Exchange who will be able to show the Central American listings on their own websites to generate referral inquiries.

The agreement comes at a time when Central America is growing increasingly popular as a second home and retirement destination, especially among baby boomers in the U.S. and Canada.

“This gives Realtors in North America the chance to directly connect with the professionals in these markets,” Choynowski said. “There is already business going back and forth, but in the past it was difficult for most professionals to benefit from it.”

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