Real estate brokers target Brazilian buyers

SARASOTA — A Sarasota real estate company, Re/Max Platinum Realty, is attempting to generate business leads in Brazil.

The firm recently sent an agent, Teresa Witte, to the Investir USA Expo in Sao Paulo, Brazil, according to a release. A native of Sao Paulo, Witte represented developer properties marketed by the real estate firm's global new homes division at the real estate expo. Witte also spoke during the “Brazilian Brokers Working with American Brokers” session and was interviewed by reporters from three Brazilian media organizations.

“The Brazil show really exceeded our expectations in buyer and investor interest in Florida properties from Orlando to Tampa to the Sarasota corridor,” Re/Max Platinum Realty Broker-Owner Bryan Guentner says in the release.  “We are already making plans for next year's show as well as our own conference to bring Brazilian brokers here.”
 
Witte, fluent in Portuguese, English and Spanish, has more than 20 years of experience in new homes sales and management. In addition to the seminar, Witte used her time in Brazil to network with Brazilian real estate brokers and agents.
 
“There is increasing interest in Florida real estate among Brazilian buyers,” said Witte, the division sales manager for the global new homes division. “Buyers and brokers want to know that systems are in place to securely and professionally handle their investment. Brazilians need to know every aspect of the sales process before they buy.”

Local real estate firms have sold properties to overseas buyers for years, but the networking has picked up recently. Several Sarasota brokers attended an expo in Spain earlier this summer, for example, and the National Association of Realtors named local broker Carla Rayman a president's liaison to Panama late last year. More than 1,200 people and featured exhibitors from Miami, Naples, Orlando, Sarasota, Westin and New York City attended the two-day event in Sao Paulo, according to Re/Max Platinum Realty.