The Condo Kings dig in: Phil Spiegelman and Craig Studnicky, the partners behind International Sales Group, have ridden the high-rise wave to become the kings of condo sales in South Florida. Here's how they did it - ISG - Cover Story

South Florida CEO, Feb, 2004 by Charles Flowers

By the time Sergio reported to ISG for work, his wife Jimena had been working for the company as a sales associate for six months. International sales had been part of ISG's strategy from the start, run by associate Rose Marie VanBlommenstein at a respectable 15 percent to 20 percent of total sales. In the two years since Pintos was hired, ISG has jumped their level of closings to Latin buyers to an eye-popping 55 percent of all ISG sales.

"Two years ago, I decided to come here and try a new opportunity," Pintos told SouthFloridaCEO on the eve of a week-long trip to meet with brokers and their prospects in Colombia, where he hoped to sell 100 Biscayne Landing units. "It has worked out quite well. Maybe because I ran a large Latin company, I had a different approach to developing relationships, because as you know sales is about relationships. We created a very wide and deep net of brokers, especially in Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico."

However, Pintos adds, "I learned a lot of things about the markets in Latin America that I didn't know when I was selling primarily in Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. For example, they all have different motives for buying."

Currently, he says, Colombians buy South Florida real estate for two reasons--as an investment, and to have a second home for security reasons. Venezuelans, on the other hand, buy as a hedge against the dicey political situation in their home country, and tend to move their families here for the same reason. Relatively stable Mexico constitutes a large and growing market for South Florida real estate, mainly because of price.

"Mexicans invest in their own country," he says. "There's plenty of opportunity there. They used to [buy property] primarily in Los Angeles, San Diego and Texas. But right now, Mexicans are rediscovering Miami, which is much cheaper than the West Coast. They buy mainly for use, not for investment."

Now well-established in those countries, ISG is widening its net to include buyers from Puerto Rica, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala, Pintos says.

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As ISG has evolved and adapted, so has the South Florida condominium business, from how projects are developed, to how they are marketed and sold.

"Ten years ago, you could put a sign on the property, run a series of ads in the Miami Herald announcing your property or condominiums for sale, and people would come to the sales office," Studnicky says. "And Philip and I would measure it in a very traditional way. One out of 15 or 20 people would buy it. Very conventional. And in fact that's how it's done all over the United States.

"South Florida has changed," Studnicky continues, "mostly because of two things--the South Americans and their influence on the real estate market, and also because of how expensive South Florida properties are becoming. There are more and more real estate brokers involved in every transaction now. It used to be 10, 20 percent of our total sales would come from other real estate brokers. Now, it's more like 80 percent, all coming from other brokers. If that's the case, then we're going to do what we can to broaden our net of real estate brokers throughout South America, Mexico, and different parts of South Florida and the US to attract more customers."