Volunteer and Local Association Highlight
Meet "Mountain Man" Dan Easton, A Globally Minded REALTOR® With an Appalachian Heart
Dan Easton, Broker/Owner of Three Springs Realty, Inc. and president of the International Alliance of the Georgia Association of REALTORS® (GAR), is a man of the mountains by birth, hailing originally from the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio. Dan’s fascination with globalism began during his university days at Rio Grande University, where he was involved with the school’s international student community. From there, his international experience soared.
Dan joined the real estate industry twenty years ago after purchasing an 1820 vintage log cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia, near the North Carolina and Tennessee borders.
"My county," he notes, "is blessed with beautiful mountains, lakes, rivers, trout, and wonderful wines. It is a hidden gem, and when people come from other parts of the world, they are in total awe."
Dan and his colleagues at Three Springs Realty in Blairsville, Georgia, do a high percentage of their business with international buyers looking to purchase second homes in the area. His leadership, along with the need of Georgia's REALTORS® to understand and work with a variety of cultures, drives the success of GAR's popular International Alliance.
A Southern Board with a Global Mission
The International Alliance of the Georgia Association of REALTORS®, formerly the International Real Estate Council of Georgia, was founded in 1999 and serves roughly 28,000 REALTOR® members. According to Easton, events typically average roughly 200 attendees and are held several times per year. The Alliance recently renewed its vision and structure, absorbing a number of local boards' global business councils to create a strong statewide organization that provides educational programs, networking opportunities, and globally themed lectures to Georgia's real estate professionals.
GAR's Global Alliance has hosted a number of events and speakers during the past six months. Last October, the Alliance welcomed Kristian Wolf, CEO and president of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern U.S., who spoke about the impact of German foreign direct investment on the U.S. real estate market. This session was followed by a February visit and address by Travis Kim, president of the Korean American Chamber of Commerce. Dan and his team plan to maintain their ambitious pace with an exciting June program. This event will feature Michael Haagen Jensen, Chairman of the Board of the Danish American Chamber of Commerce, Georgia.
Event details are as follows:
Georgia International Alliance Networking and Speaker Session:
Using Danish and Swedish technologies to enhance electronic listings
Thursday, June 23
6:30-8:00 p.m.
Georgia Association of REALTORS®
3200 Presidential Parkway
Atlanta, GA
Putting it All Together
Dan Easton and the International Alliance of the Georgia Association of REALTORS® have succeeded in creating global programs that both educate and generate business by making members aware of multicultural communities and foreign investors in their local areas. The fruits of their labors are apparent in the high percentage of global transactions completed by Georgia REALTORS®. NAR Global salutes this visionary group for its commitment to creating global and multicultural business opportunities, both for REALTOR® members and for their colleagues in allied professions.
For more information on Georgia's events or to RSVP for 2011 programs, please contact Jennifer Lundy at jlundy@garealtor.com.
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