From banana cue to real estate for the global market

By Arnel Medrano
Inquirer
August 29, 2007

SHE SPENT PART OF HER YOUTH IN MALABON, selling sugar-coated banana-on-stick just to send herself to school and support her younger siblings, not knowing she was destined to sell much bigger things.

Selling, she still does, but no more banana cues for her. And she plies her trade no longer in Malabon but in the world: the US and far beyond.

Susan Barlin has made it big selling prime real estate in various parts of the world to the global marketplace.

This former small entrepreneur is making a name no longer for herself but for the Philippines — selling the country and the rest of tropical Asia as the world’s premier second-home and property investment destination and retirement haven.

Her efforts have caught the attention of the Department of Tourism, which has appointed her as its special envoy for investment and tourism promotion.

“After all, that’s what I’ve been doing all these years,” Barlin says, referring to her trips around the world year-in and year-out to promote the Philippines and Asia’s tropical region to the international market.

Voice of real estate

“That’s part of my business as a certified international property specialist,” Barlin says in Filipino. “Making the Philippines and Asia as the focal point of my sales pitches is part of my being a Filipino and an Asian.”

Barlin is the chief executive officer of the Barlin Group of Companies, which comprises the Barlin & Associates Realty Inc., Barlin International Group, Barlin Commercial Property Management, First Home Loans Inc., Media Consultants Inc. and Advance Graphix Design & Print, all based in the US.

Both owned and run by Barlin, Media Consultants Inc. is the publisher of South Bay Balita, Planet Philippines and Loans 101 Magazine, while Advance Graphix publishes and manages the Kababayan Homebuyers’ Guide magazine.

Barlin is also the editor in chief of the International Real Estate Magazine, which is circulated in 27 countries worldwide.

Her achievements made her an easy pick for the post of president/liaison to the Philippines for the 1.3 million-strong National Realtors Association, the voice of real estate in the US and an influential member of the International Confederation of Real Estate Associations (ICREA), an alliance of 24 international realtor associations worldwide.

“As such, traveling becomes part of my life’s routine, and the best way that I can make it relevant to my country and region is to promote them wherever I go,” Barlin says.

Top 12 choices for 2nd home

It was in one of her trips that the prospect of the Philippines and Asia becoming a second home and retirement hub dawned on Barlin.

“I’ve realized that we (tropical Asia) have as much, if not more, to offer than Central and South America and the Mediterranean region to the world’s millions of second-home buyers, a trillion-dollar market that we cannot afford to miss,” Barlin says. “Otherwise, our own property industry will be left out in this global craze for vacation and retirement homes.”

At present, the world’s top 12 choices for second homes are Panama, France, Malta, Mexico, Romania, Italy, Nicaragua, Uruguay, New Zealand, Belize, Spain and Chile.

“But that’s because the global second-home market hasn’t heard or seen much about tropical Asia, particularly the Philippines, which ought to be on top of that list,” she says.

“Ours is a beautiful country and region with very affordable real estate, competitive labor costs, lower cost of living and nice tropical climate where the icy world can run to during cold winter and where many speak English.”

She says that in the Philippines, for example, a foreigner’s regular dollar income can afford him a driver, house help, even a nurse if he’s a retiree.

“And he can live like a king while enjoying the beauty and bounties of our country’s nature and the hospitality of our people. At the same time, the dollars these foreigners will spend in the Philippines can create jobs and help improve our economy.”

Barlin says this sector of the tourism market may seem new to Filipinos, pointing out the Philippine real estate industry is not even represented in the Sima (Salon Imobiliario de Madrid).

Bringing the world to Asia

She describes Sima as Europe’s biggest annual real estate expo and conference, offering 38,000 square meters of exhibit space and attracting thousands of industry professionals and exhibitors yearly. It had 140,000 attendees in 2005 and 156,000 in 2006.

“An event of this magnitude, when held in the Philippines, could boost both our tourism and real estate industries,” Barlin says.

She says Europe is getting very expensive for the average exhibitor or second-home buyers.

“So, why not hold an event like Sima in more affordable Asia, or in the Philippines. And since I’ve been promoting the Philippines and Asia to the world, I’ve thought of bringing the world to Asia, instead,” Barlin adds.

This was how she arrived at the idea of staging the 1st Asian Real Estate Expo and Conference (AIREEC) at the Philippine International Convention Center on Dec. 6-10 this year. (Event details at www.aireec.com).

Hard work, studies

AIREEC is projected to bring in more than 5,000 visitors from some 50 countries worldwide, according to the US-based Expo and Convention Promotion Inc. (ECPI), whose support Barlin has gained for her vision.

ECPI president Leon Katz has signed a memorandum of cooperation with Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace H. Durano for that project.

“Now all three of us—ECPI, DOT and the Barlin Group—will just have to pull our act together to make AIREEC successful,” Barlin says.

Barlin didn’t get to the peak of her career in a single bounce. From her humble beginnings in the Philippines, she beefed up her credentials through hard work and studies.

Hard work as a real estate broker paid off, not just in millions of dollars worth of sales, but more so in numerous prestigious awards she has earned as an exceptional entrepreneur and outstanding business and community leader in California.

Barlin is also a member of the CEO Clubs Worldwide, which has over 10,000 members in the US, China, Korea, Japan, India, Pakistan and the Middle East.