Press Release

CENTURY 21 Meyer Real Estate Agent Earns Certified Investor Agent Specialist Designation

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Jeremy Sullivan, of CENTURY 21 Meyer Real Estate in Gulf Shores, Alabama, has earned the prestigious Certified Investor Agent Specialist™ (CIAS) Designation, having completed extensive training to understand the different real estate investor types, and the investment opportunities, financing options and calculations needed to provide solutions for each. The five real estate investor types include: First-Time Investors, Move-Up Investors, Portfolio Investors, Performance Investors, and Rehab and Resell Investors.

“For decades, investing in real estate has proven to be a consistent and stable way for individuals to build wealth,” Sullivan said. “Real estate investment supports a number of industries, including construction, condominium sales, retail and professional services, and is a strong way to energize and increase investment in our local economy.”

Over the past 12 months, investment and second-home properties comprised more than $300 billion in sales, representing approximately 27 percent of all residential real estate transactions. In addition, in market conditions affected by mortgage industry challenges, 48 percent of investors made all-cash purchases.

“As markets face the challenges of distressed properties and a difficult economy, real estate investors have the opportunity to find productive deals while helping communities stabilize,” Sullivan said. “Investors provide much needed liquidity to the market, decrease vacancy rates, improve neighborhoods, and present solutions for homeowners who need to sell.”

With the CIAS Designation training, Sullivan will help Gulf Shores, Orange Beach & Foley area residents build wealth through real estate investment, and homeowners facing foreclosure find potential buyers for their properties.

Anthony Kaiser, Broker and COO of CENTURY 21 Meyer Real Estate, states “We are delighted that Jeremy Sullivan has earned this important designation which our company values and the CENTURY 21 organization values as well.”

Today, millions of homeowners are either delinquent on their mortgages or in the foreclosure process. One potential solution for homeowners in this situation is a short sale, in which the lien holder accepts a sale price of the home that is less than the mortgage amount owed. Increasingly, real estate investors are facilitating this solution.

“When it comes to properties that actually end up in foreclosure,” Sullivan added, “up to 30 percent of them can’t close conventionally. Investors are often the only ones who can buy them.”

The Distressed Property Institute provides live and online CIAS Courses to train real estate professionals how to address the needs of all real estate investors.

For more information about the CIAS Designation, visit www.cias.com.