Real Estate Expo a resounding success

More than 1,000 people filled the Crowne Plaza Hotel in East Elmhurst for the First Queens Real Estate Expo, which was sponsored by many groups including The Queens Courier making it a resounding success, according to event organizer Anthony Kazazis.
&#8220It went very well. I got a lot of feedback from a tremendous amount of exhibitors from the first show,” Kazazis said. &#8220Everyone was very satisfied, and they all had plenty of business.”
Throughout the day on Saturday, September 16, more than 80 exhibitors including well-known banks and mortgage companies passed out information and interacted with those in attendance in order to give them information about the current real estate climate and helpful advice about the home-buying process.
&#8220We are always looking to create more contacts and to get people to understand the specialized products that we have,” said Patrick Avram, a home Mortgage Consultant for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, who was one of the exhibitors at the Expo. &#8220We want to be here for the people and help them get their dream home or even a start-up home.”
In addition to the 80 exhibitors, the Expo also featured seminars given by proven professionals on a variety of topics including buying or selling a home, choosing a mortgage program, title exchanges and investment property.
For others, the Expo provided an opportunity to showcase their businesses to the Queens community and inform Queens businesses and residents about their company.
&#8220We would like to let the developers know that we are in Queens,” said Robson Lemos, a vice president for the Corcoran Group, the largest residential real estate firm in New York City. &#8220We are here to connect to other business people in Queens. We are introducing our new developments and researching what buyers want.”
The Queens Expo also had seven &#8220mini expos” with representatives from Chase Manhattan, Citibank, Commerce Bank, HSBC, Mortgage World Bankers, SunTrust and Washington Mutual offering their own programs and lectures upstairs throughout the day.
&#8220Our goals were really to educate and make this something special each year,” Kazazis said. &#8220We really want to go out there and tell the people what is out there and what you can get.”
Although the first Queens Real Estate Expo just wrapped up, Kazazis says he has already begun plans for next year's Expo, which he hopes will be even bigger due to the good feedback he received from the inaugural one.
&#8220Next year we are shooting for even larger numbers,” he said with up to 200 or 300 exhibitors. However, he said that the event would still take place in Queens either at one of the area colleges or Terrace on the Park.