Dominic Pickering, COO of MRI Overseas Property talks to the Orlando Business Digest

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(Free-Press-Release.com) January 22, 2010 -- Born and raised in London, he started his professional career managing and leading Telemarketing Departments, Marketing Departments and Call Centers. He moved here nearly a decade ago, and has witnessed both the highs and lows of the Florida Real Estate Market.
We caught up with Pickering at Timpanos Restaurant in Doctor Phillips for a light lunch and had a chat about what brought him to Florida in the first place, why he chose to make it home and his current position at MRI Overseas Property.

“My background is Finance. I worked for the largest Independent Finance Company in Britain for a few years and it gave me great grounding but I always knew I would eventually travel. I decided to emigrate and had planned on going to Seattle. Instead I got one of those life – changing calls from the President of the bank who asked me to launch a new mortgage program for Abbey National in Florida. I had never been to Florida at the time!”

Dominic Pickering can boast a Bachelors degree in Marketing and a Masters Degree in Leadership, so he decided he would take the plunge and head to Florida.

“The Florida market was great, and the spirit was great! There is an inbuilt confidence in people around here. It makes you feel that anybody can be successful – as long as you are willing to work hard, you´ll do ok.”

The project Pickering was tasked with delivering was to launch a mortgage program for Abbey National based in British Pounds to satisfy the demand of the huge numbers of British overseas property purchasers in Central Florida.

“It started really well”, Pickering explained, “but 9/11 took its toll on the market and it never really recovered.”

However, the product for Abbey National had served its purpose for Dominic who had adopted Orlando as his home, and had made many useful connections. One of them, Austin MacAnthony –father of Darragh, turned out to be significant.

Dominic Pickering´s career looks set to continue its rise, there is even talk that he will soon take over as Chief Executive Officer of MRI Overseas Property.

Does the downturn in the market worry him? “Certain aspects of it do. I hate to see peoples investments take a down-turn which inevitably some peoples will. But the market will bounce back. When all is said and done, all wealth is linked to Real Estate in one form or another, so it is never going to go out of fashion for long.”

Before we wrap up, I ask Dominic what his predictions are for Central Florida Real Estate.

“Let´s face it; most people buy Real Estate to live in as opposed to rent out. That means that attractive areas with a good infrastructure, decent weather, and quality housing are going to always be the most popular. Central Florida checks all those boxes."

It´s easy to see the infectious enthusiasm of Pickering and why he embodies the optimism of Orlando Business.

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