A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES

The British are coming — to buy real estate.

The downward real estate market in Destin might be getting an international boost from our neighbors across the pond.

An article in Florida Realtor Magazine recently stated that overseas buyers are responsible for 26 percent of all real estate transactions in Florida. Furthermore, 65 percent of Realtors in Florida have had international clients.

Northwest Florida is seeing its share.

“I’m very excited in what has been happening in real estate in Northwest Florida,” said Teri McCall, international specialist for Compass Realty of Florida. “I know a lot of people have been hurt, and it’s good to see some light at the end of the tunnel.”

The light that McCall refers to is the increasing international sales of residential and commercial property around Destin, Sandestin and 30-A.

Internationals are finding their way here to acquire vacation homes, investments and scout places to open businesses.

“It’s kind of like a whisper campaign,” McCall said. “People are starting to discover us.”

She goes on to explain that Florida’s annual visitors are starting to migrate north because South Florida is highly congested and “we have fourseasons that they don’t.”

“Their typical holiday is 15 to 20 days, and they’re kind of burned out on South Florida,” she said.

McCall believes that internationals, particularly the one million British that fly into Orlando each year, will begin to pass up Central Florida with the construction of a new airport in Panama City.

As a result, internationals are coming to the area and buying second homes and paying cash for land to develop on. The exchange rate is also on the side of people looking to purchase from afar.

Moneycorp, a large money exchange company out of London, has recently assigned Kelly Cutchin as an account manager for Northwest Florida. They anticipate foreign investors turning their attention to Northwest Florida and want to be prepared.

The International Council of Northwest Florida has become a hub for global information in business and real estate. Part of their mission is to promote Northwest Florida and all that it has to offer.

McCall said that people from Brazil, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Russia, Belize, Mexico, South Africa and a little bit from Asia are coming to Destin for higher end homes on 30A and homes in Sandestin.

“They’re all over ecotourism, which we have a lot of,” McCall said.

She also said that internationals are coming here to experience our “more laid back beaches” and attitude.

“We’ve got so much to offer,” she said.

Another reason for interest in Northwest Florida is the fact that people from abroad get so much more for their money here. McCall used the example of one of her associates from the UK that said she could get a three-bedroom, two-story home here for what a one-bedroom apartment would cost back home.

With cheaper homes, Florida’s sunshine and favorable currency exchange rates, McCall feels that “Northwest Florida will be very active here soon.”

For now, business and real estate circles in Destin are getting ready to serve the needs of their new international clientele.

“If you’re going to go international you have to be way above the game,” McCall said.