Bahamas Realty CEO Larry Roberts, CRS, CIPS, e-PRO, has been elected president of the 425-member Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) for the second time. He served as president from 1992-1994. Roberts will work closely with international bodies, including the National Association of Realtors, U.S., whose President’s Liaison Chip Lubeck predicted that Roberts will bring a “very hands-on approach to the continued, dramatic advancement of BREA in technology, education and international business, leading BREA into a new technological era.”
Timing for the progressive-thinking Roberts is auspicious – the island nation is experiencing its hottest real estate market ever with hundreds of millions of dollars of property transactions last year and a booming start to this year, including $40 million in residential sales in a single gated, waterfront community in less than three months.
“With a record level of interest in property in The Bahamas, it is critical for the real estate industry to maximize marketing opportunities while regulating itself in such a way that its reputation is not only untarnished, but unquestioned,” said Roberts, whose own company just completed the best year in its 57-year history with two brokers alone accounting for nearly $100 million in sales. Highest interest has been in exclusive, ultra high-end second homes and in resort development, inclusive of residential components.
Roberts said in addition to ensuring external trust, his goals include improving communication with members, keeping them abreast of seminars, workshops, listings and market changes on a regular basis through an e-newsletter and reviewing the feasibility of an internal MLS system similar to that which many firms in The Bahamas employ through international affiliations.
Bahamas Realty, founded in 1949, is itself affiliated with SAVILLS and is a Member of The Board of Regents of Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate and Luxury Portfolio of The Leading Real Estate Companies of The World. And Roberts serves as the founding chapter chairman of the Real Estate Cyber Society (RECS). He is a Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS). He is an e-PRO and recently received certification as an Institute of Luxury Home Marketing Specialist. Roberts, 59, is a member of the Nassau Economic Development Commission appointed by the Prime Minister of The Bahamas, a director of the Nassau Tourism Development Board, director of Safe Bahamas and he is a member of the Board of the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation a former director of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce as well as past president of the Rotary Club of Southeast Nassau.