Mocked real estate buyers were thrilled with the level of knowledge and salesmanship displayed by the Turks and Caicos Islands Real Estate Association (TCREA) Mentees at the Wymara Resort Open House on Saturday, April 29.
Pitching the Wymara Penthouse to ‘prospective buyers’, which included Education Minister Hon. Rachel Taylor, Member of Parliament for Wheeland Hon. Kyle Knowles, attorney Tremaine Swann and Todd Foss of Grace Bay Car Rental, the mentees, ranging from several high schools across the Turks and Caicos, were lauded for their shrewdness in selling the product.
Nervousness aside, the ‘prospective buyers’, who gave their assessment at the end of the session, said they were blown away by the assertiveness of the students.
For the mentees, it was quite the learning experience. Adriauna Williams, a fourth former at the Clement Howell High School, told the media that the exercise whetted her sales skills to enter the market after high school and college.
“I enjoyed it a lot because it gave me a great insight on how the real estate market would be for me. And because this is a field that I really wanted to go into when I become older, it was fun for me, I loved it,” she said.
She added: “I believe I will walk away with more experience because, now I am getting to understand how a buyer would see the property, but also how a real estate agent would sell the property.”
Phanaica Alcina, of the Marjorie Basden High School in South Caicos, remarked that the occasion taught her even better on how to sell properties to her customers, and one that she thoroughly enjoyed.
“It was really a very good experience, especially that I want to become a real estate agent,” she said.
For her part, Celeste Tape, a third form student at the Maranatha Academy, also described the open house as a great experience for her.
“It was nice to see how it would feel to be a professional real estate agent, and I felt great meeting more people, nice people, and overall, I would recommend it. It would likely be (my career of choice). I like what I experienced today, it was fun,” she said.
Elijah Simmons, a fourth form student at the Wesley Methodist High School said that one of the many real estate attributes that he walked away from the event with was the importance of knowing your property.
“I am very proud of myself because I thought I would have done a lot worse (selling the property). But I believe I did very well, and I happened to know a lot more than what I was supposed to know. I learnt that you need to know a lot more about the property that you are selling,” he said.
Samarth Parvani, of the HJ Robinson High School in Grand Turk, said the occasion would forever etch in his mind.
“Today’s experience was one to remember,” he exclaimed. “Having experienced what an open house in real life feels like, what a real estate agent goes through, the questions they encounter, it really inspired me and wanted me to continue.
“Some of the questions were difficult, but it comes with learning. The mentorship programme is a great start for real estate agents. It gives you real insight on what’s to come,” Parvani assessed.
The TCREA Mentorship Programme is the brainchild of TCREA Ambassador and immediate past president of the Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association (TCHTA), Trevor Musgrove, who was on hand to observe the atmosphere.
Musgrove, in his assessment of the students, said they were excited about the field, and were asking the right questions about the nature of real estate, and how to make it into a career.
In the meantime, Blair MacPherson of Remax Real Estate Agency, and a member of TCREA, said it was important for young Turks and Caicos Islanders to become part of that market.
He noted that TCREA members counted a great joy and opportunity to have youngsters trained in that sector so they could see the career opportunities that are available.
“From a Turks Islands perspective, it is extremely important. We encourage young high school students to pursue real estate, and this (mentorship progrmme) gives them an opportunity to give them a taste of that,” MacPherson said.
He said TCREA members were yearning to employ individuals from the Belonger population, and so, was happy that the entity had come up with the initiative.
“We would love to hire from the local Belongership population…it is important to us, and it is important to this country. And doing programmes like that would benefit that, and I think that leads to some of these children going into real estate as a career,” MacPherson said.
He said last year’s mentees were awesome, but this batch stepped it up a few notches with their preparedness.
“I have seen more engagement from the kids…they seem to be more prepared. And no disrespect to the first group we had in year one, they were excellent as well, but we sort of seeing them (this batch) elevate to ask very important questions and really come prepared. They are not just showing up here (only) to say they took part in the programme…they are working hard and trying to learn about real estate,” MacPherson assessed.
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