Nassau — Patti Birch was returned as president of the Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA), with Franon Wilson taking on the vice president post in the association’s elections.
Also elected to the BREA leadership for 2011 – 2012 were Sara Callender as treasurer and Gino Maycock to the post of Secretary. Birch said that 2010 proved a challenging year, but that many plans were underway for the 2011 – 2012 period, aimed at improving and building up the professionalism of members and creating greater opportunities for them.
One of BREA’s initiatives to continue to grow networking opportunities is the implementation of an IDX feed. The IDX will allow realtors to have their own websites link into BREA’s Multiple Listing Services (MLS), effectively allowing cooperative brokerage on thousands of listings.
All BREA members will have the opportunity to participate and Birch said for those who choose to there would be no fees charged beyond the monthly fee for MLS participation — currently less than $50.
BREA is also hoping to expand its member’s networking capabilities to international markets. The association is hoping for approval to have the IDX feed link into worldproperties.com — the official website of the International Consortium of Real Estate Associations (ICREA).
Foreign realtors cannot practice in The Bahamas, so Birch explained that a referral fee would go to the buyer’s agent under the ICREA link if approved.
