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Weekly UpdatesTRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD TODAY AND YOU WILL FIND, OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, NEARLY 1,400 INDIVIDUALS IN 37 COUNTRIES WHO HOLD, OR ARE CANDIDATES FOR, AN IREM CREDENTIAL--CPM [R], ARM[R], or ACCREDITED COMMERCIAL MANAGER. This represents 8 percent of IREM's credentialed members and 12 percent of its CPM Members, percentages that have grown steadily over the last decade.
The question is often asked, "When did IREM start going international?" The answer to this, however, is not a simple one.
IREM in Canada
IREM started going international as early as 1939 when John Gibson Walker of Vancouver, British Columbia, received key no. 201 to become the first CPM outside the United States. By 1955 IREM had its first truly international chapter--the combined State of Washington and southern British Columbia chapter.
In these early years, Canadian members joined IREM directly and held membership on the same footing as members from the United States. This protocol continued until the early 1980s, when IREM entered into a relationship with the Real Estate Institute of Canada (REIC) to deliver education and member services on behalf of IREM under what was essentially a franchise agreement. Although amendments were made to the arrangement from time to time, this franchise relationship, continued until 2003, when IREM and REIC struck a new agreement with a goal to enhance both the connection between IREM and its members in Canada and the partnership between IREM and REIC.
Today there are nearly 900 IREM Members in Canada, including one recipient of IREM's newest credential, the ACCREDITED COMMERCIAL MANAGER. In keeping with the new direction, two years ago Canada was recognized as IREM Region 14, with Chrystal Skead, CPM, ARM, assuming the Regional Vice President (RVP) position.
Outreach through FIABCI, into Singapore and Spain
A second answer to "When did IREM go international?" pivots around the time that IREM first became involved in the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI). In 1976, then-IREM President Joseph T. Aveni, CPM, presciently saw that the world IREM belonged to was getting smaller. As a result, he took steps for IREM to join FIABCI and began a dialogue with real estate practitioners and associations beyond North America. It was through FIABCI--in which IREM continues to be a principal member--that deep relationships were formed that would help shape the future global arena.
Other early entries on the international scene came in the 1990s in countries as far away as Singapore and Spain. In the early 1990s, IREM instructors traveled to Singapore to deliver the CPM curriculum through courses sponsored by Real Estate Developers and Appraisers of Singapore (REDAS). Some 147 practitioners in Singapore matriculated through one or more of the week long CPM courses between 1990 and 1995. While all the Singapore courses were taught in English, Spain was the first country to translate and deliver IREM's course material in a language other than English. As a result of a relationship built through FIABCI with the Consejo General de Colegias de Administradores de Fincas (CAF), the CPM curriculum was presented in Spanish to more than 160 students.
A pioneer in bringing the CPM program to Spain was Jose "Pepe" Gutierrez, CPM, who also would become IREM's first instructor outside of North America. Not only had he instructed for IREM in Spain, but Gutierrez taught for IREM in Guatemala and Argentina, as well as in Chile, where he was instrumental in connecting IREM with Consejo de Gestion y Administracion Inmobiliaria de Chile, A.G. (CGAI). IREM today has a partner agreement with CGAI and several ARM Members as a result of course offerings presented there.
On the other side of the Andes Mountains from Chile is Brazil, where IREM has a strong partner in SECOVI-SP (Sindicato das Empresas de Compra, Venda, Locacao e Administracao de Imoveis Residenciais de Sao Paulo). Courses offered from 2000 to 2004 resulted in a cadre of ARM and CPM Members and the formation of Brazil Chapter No. 11.
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Meanwhile, revolutionary change was rapidly occurring in Eastern Europe. In The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman cited the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, as Flattener No. 1--an event that started a chain reaction that ultimately would lead to the end of the Soviet Empire. With the demise of communism, capitalism quickly filled the void. It was at this time, in 1992, that the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS [R] (NAR) established the independent nonprofit Eastern European Real Property Foundation (EERPF) to help in the transition from centrally planned authoritarian rule under communism to market-driven economies in Central and Eastern Europe and the newly Independent states of the former Soviet Union.
In the early 1990s real estate markets in Central and Eastern Europe were unstructured and undeveloped. Practitioners lacked skills and knowledge about the real estate business and its technical specialties, including real estate management--laws governing titling, property rights and ownership were nonexistent or not clearly defined. While the property market was becoming more active, it was also unstable and unethical practices were widespread.
This was the situation as IREM, through EERPF, entered the picture in Eastern and Central Europe. Initial reconnaissance missions were conducted by a team of CPM Members to Russia, Poland and Hungary to assess the real estate market and the status of the property management in these countries. These assessments were shortly followed by introductory-level education presented by IREM faculty, most notably Franz Janicek, CPM. Together, these assessments and early training programs created the framework for introducing professional real estate management standards, operations and training in the form of the CPM program into these emerging markets.
By the mid-1990s, IREM had entered into protocol agreements and later licensing agreements with the Russian Guild of Realtors (RGR), the Polish Real Estate Federation (PREF) and the Hungarian Association of Real Estate Management (HAREM)--all enabled by EERPF. For each of these three markets, IREM translated course materials, incorporated modifications into the curriculum and delivered CPM education through U.S. instructors working through interpreters. In short order, the first and most qualified CPM Members in these countries were selected to attend IREM faculty training. The groundwork was laid.
15 Years Later
In Russia, IREM has a robust presence through its strong partnership with the RGR and IREM Russia Chapter No. 109 with its newly elected president, Konstantin Aprelev, CPM. In 2007 alone, 21 IREM course offerings were conducted in Russia--in Vladivostok as well as Moscow--with 712 total enrollments. In June of this year, IREM President Regina Mullins, CPM, participated in Moscow for the RGR Congress. While there, she pinned the CPM key on 25 members, bringing the number of CPM designees there to 104, with more in the wings.
In Hungary, after several years of disengagement, IREM reconnected with HAREM. A renewed agreement was signed in June 2008 between IREM and HAREM, whose president is one of the early CPM designees in Hungary, signaling hope that IREM's presence in this market may soon be rejuvenated.
Poland is the home of IREM's first chapter outside of North America. It's a small but active chapter, led by Lidia Henclewski, CPM. IREM Poland Chapter No. 108 is a member of the Polish Federation of Real Estate Management Associations (PFSZN), through which it connects with the broader real estate management industry. This year, after a brief lull in activity, IREM Poland introduced the updated CPM curriculum to the Polish real estate management market, relaunched its Web site and is positioned to help IREM grow in numbers and stature.
Currently living in Warsaw and working for Apollo Rida Poland Sp. z.o.o., one of Poland's largest retail real estate owners is Joseph Karp, CPM. As a field operator for EERPF during the late 1990s, Karp played an instrumental role in solidifying the role of real associations in Central and Eastern Europe and advancing IREM's position in those markets.
IREM's latest entry into Eastern Europe occurred just two years ago in Ukraine, when IREM had the opportunity to leverage its Russian-translated course materials into a new market. Although IREM already had a handful of CPM Members in Ukraine--they had completed the CPM program in Moscow several years earlier--21 new CPM Members received their certificates and pins this spring, marking the first designees to be recognized as a result of IREM's relationship with the Ukraine Realtors Association (URA).
Japan, South Korea Emerge
Meanwhile, Asia's real estate management profession was coming onto IREM's radar. Evolving out of a mutual interest to enhance the profession in Japan, IREM entered into protocol agreements with the Japan Property Man agement Association (JPMA), and soon after with Japan Real Estate Management and Human Resource Management Association (JREM). Interest in IREM's educational curriculum and the CPM designation was high. Initially, Japanese real estate managers traveled to the United States to attend special offerings of IREM courses taught in Japanese. Before long, JREM dissolved and became IREM Japan Chapter No. 112. The chapter also became licensed to sponsor IREM education in Japan. As the number of CPM designees in Japan began to grow, three of the early students--Mark Fujisawa, Sim Sadamura and Yasanouri (Tiger) Yamamoto--became IREM faculty. These instructors will likely be joined by five additional colleagues who are in the process of becoming approved as IREM instructors.
Discussions also are taking place about modifying course material and the MPSA to transition the Japan program from a U.S.-centric curriculum to one that is more relevant to the Japanese market. In May of this year, President Mullins presented 11 CPM certificates to new members, and the IREM Japan chapter today boasts 115 CPM Members and three candidates organized within subchapters.
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