East Meets West Via Keyes

Looking to expand its international connections, The Keyes Company has turned its eyes to the east‚ Eastern Europe that is. Brokers and investors from Latin America, Canada and Western Europe have long looked toward South Florida as a golden investment opportunity. Now, an emerging new market, made up of former Soviet republics, is beginning to look toward the US for investment purposes.

Looking to expand its international connections, The Keyes Company has turned its eyes to the east‚ Eastern Europe that is. Brokers and investors from Latin America, Canada and Western Europe have long looked toward South Florida as a golden investment opportunity. Now, an emerging new market, made up of former Soviet republics, is beginning to look toward the US for investment purposes.

Keyes Associates, Robert and Anita Maskin, are spearheading the push eastward. On November 15th, they traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia to attend the annual meeting of CEREAN (Central and Eastern European Real Estate Association Network of Brokers), an organization made up of owners and senior members of real estate companies in Eastern Europe. At the meeting, the Miami Board, Russian Guild and the Bulgarian Real Estate Association signed an agreement with the Greater Miami and The Beaches Real Estate Board, which will facilitate Keyes to work directly with them. Among other things Keyes will share its expertise in the real estate field. We will be able to give them our knowledge to help them build the real estate business in their countries," Anita says. There is a pretty small industry over there right now, because until very recently people could not own property. Now that they can, they need trained professionals who really know the methodology behind the real estate business. That's where we can hopefully lend a hand."

The Keyes Company has created a partnership of financial institutions, attorneys, and accountants to help the Eastern European Investor to appropriately structure the purchase of the property, e.g. mortgages designed for Eastern European Investors, forms of ownership, immigration and visa requirements, FIRPA consequences; etc.

Both Robert and Anita are excited about the emerging opportunities for investors, both in Eastern Europe and South Florida. There is enormous potential in this market," Robert explains. There are many people who now have the means to invest outside of their native countries and they're looking to buy property in the US. They're interested in residential properties, businesses and multi-family properties...South Florida seems to be the place they want to be and since Keyes specializes in international business, we have the resources to help them."

During the conference, co-sponsored by The Keyes Company, Robert and Anita met with 246 delegates from 14 different countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Belorussia, Poland, Albania, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Slovenia. The conference yielded much success, as nine of the countries signed agreements with Keyes, which will hopefully lead to future business with the company. In fact, some of them have already been in contact with the Maskins regarding potential deals.

The benefits of these agreements extend not only to investors in Eastern Europe, but to those in the US. The opportunities for American investors to get a foothold in Eastern Europe are there," Robert says. For developers who wish to make in-roads in this part of the world, we now have the ability to take their property directly to qualified buyers, as well as to brokers and realtors, who have international clients."

Robert Maskin has been in real estate for over 30 years. Robert is a Certified International Property Specialist and a Certified Luxury Home Specialist. Anita Maskin, a Certified Luxury Home Specialist, has been in sales for 35 years with a large international following; she is fluent in English and French. Together they are multi-million dollar producers, with 127 deals made in the last 2 1/2 years. Their motto is...We make deals happen...Anywhere in the world. You can contact them at: (305) 371-3592, ext. 404 or (305) 868-1810