REALTOR®: Over 350 Real Estate Professionals Gather at Second Annual Bay Area Multicultural Real Estate Summit
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The state of the real estate industry and how real estate professionals can succeed in today's market were among the topics discussed at the Second Annual Bay Area Multicultural Real Estate Summit, held Friday, Sept. 26 at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Union City. The gathering was organized by 16 Bay Area real estate associations and one title company.
The summit brought together over 350 real estate professionals and service providers from the Bay Area under the theme "Empowering the Real Estate Professional," and offered an educational conference format on topics like FHA loans, 1031 Exchange, financing options, international real estate certification, working with multicultural clients, technology, natural hazard disclosure and commercial real estate.
The summit's keynote speakers were California Department of Real Estate Commissioner Jeff Davi and National Chairman of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals Rebecca Gallardo. Davi recognized the hundreds of real estate professionals at the summit "are the face of diversity" in real estate, and shared statistics that show in the state of California, "new buyers of every culture are coming into real estate."
Gallardo discussed the importance of homebuyer assistance programs, especially for minorities, and asked everyone "to please take the time to care, and to care now about creating sustainable homeownership."
A multicultural top producer panel, composed of successful REALTORS® from the participating associations, was held later in the afternoon, followed by a networking reception. An all-day expo gave different companies the opportunity to present information about their products and services.
The 17 organizations that hosted this year's initiative include eight ethnic real estate associations - the Asian Real Estate Association of East Bay, Chinese American Real Estate Association, Chinese Real Estate Association of America, Filipino American Real Estate Professionals Association, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals of Alameda County, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, South Asian Real Estate Association of America; eight REALTOR® associations - Bay East Association of REALTORS®, Berkeley Association of REALTORS®, California Association of Realtors, Contra Costa Association of REALTORS®, San Francisco Association of REALTORS®, San Mateo County Association of REALTORS®, Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS®, Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS®; and one title company, Fidelity National Financial.
The summit was supported by a National Association of REALTORS® Diversity Grant, and the following sponsors: Platinum: Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; Gold: Bank of America and Property ID; Silver: WHB Solution; Corporate: Key Point Credit Union and Bank of the West; and Business: Oakland Association of REALTORS® and Bankers Exchange Services.
Eleven real estate professional associations began the initiative last year. The mission of the annual summit is to bring real estate professionals from all cultures together, and learn from each other about how to better serve the fast growing multicultural real estate communities in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara.
The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. SILVAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in Silicon Valley.
The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
Variations of this article have appeared in local area newspapers.
For further information, please contact Rose Meily at SILVAR Public Affairs, email , or phone (408) 200-0109.
» Back to Real Estate Articles