(openPR) - SEATTLE – With the U.S. dollar’s value reaching record lows and home prices falling in some real-estate markets, domestic and international referrals are becoming much more important to U.S. brokers.

Many luxury brokers and agents don’t know how to tap into the vast referral market. Five relocation experts aim to solve this by moderating interactive roundtable discussions on referral issues at an upcoming event called the 6th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat. This LuxuryRealEstate.com event will be hosted in San Diego from April 15-18, 2008. Three hundred luxury experts are expected to attend.

The discussion leaders and their topics are listed below:

Outgoing Referrals
Tarin Patrick, vice president of relocation services with Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty in Boston.

International Referrals
Silvana Malpelli, Senior Vice President Of Relocation & Business Development with Brown Harris Stevens in New York.

Generating and Building Referral Business
Michi Olson, vice president and director of relocation with Alain Pinel Realtors in San Francisco.

Best Practices
Allison Harvey, relocation director with Arizona Best Properties in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Starting a Referral/Relocation Division – Why and How
Marie Montchal, senior vice president of relocation services with Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty in Long Island, N.Y.

“There is so much potential with international business,” said Malpelli, a 16-year veteran in the relocation field who will be discussing international referrals. “There are so many challenges. The more you know, the better the potential to be successful.”

Malpelli’s and the others’ discussions will be interactive, encouraging innovative ideas from listeners. By covering so many aspects of referrals, these experts hope that people in a variety of positions will find their information useful.

Patrick, who earned his real-estate license at the age of 18, said he will share referral tools that he has gained and used throughout his career. “My listeners will walk away with real tools that they can implement when they return back to their offices that will ultimately contribute towards the bottom line,” he said.

For more information on the 6th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat, visit www.luxuryrealestate.com/conference.

Luxury Real Estate
2110 Western Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121, USA

Press Contact: Robert Lockard
T: (800) 488-4066 Ext. 856
F: (206) 695-4837
E: rlockard@luxuryrealestate.com

www.LuxuryRealEstate.com is the most-viewed luxury real estate Web site in the world. The Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate network currently represents 1,641 of the world’s finest real-estate companies in more than 65 countries (representing luxury properties in more than 100 countries). Participation is strictly invitation-only by CEO/Publisher John Brian Losh. The network provides superb marketing and networking tools, including: global reciprocity, Web support and design, a globally distributed magazine, referrals, PR and several of the most-dynamic networking events in the real-estate industry. The Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate network is governed by the Board of Regents.