Liliana Paez is the sales and marketing director of Key International Sales in South Florida.

Every week, we ask a Miami real estate professional for their thoughts on the top stories in Miami real estate.

This week, we talked with Liliana Paez, the sales and marketing director of Key International Sales in South Florida. Paez, a licensed real estate broker, is responsible for more than $6 billion in South Florida condominium project sales. She is involved in all marketing aspects of condominium development including designing and creating concepts for project brochures, developing web site design concepts, collaborating on advertising campaigns and planning events. 

Prior to joining Key International Sales, Paez served as the director of sales and marketing for many of Fortune Development Sales’ projects and all of Edgardo Defortuna’s personal projects. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from Florida International University.

Miami Agent (MA): Miami is a popular destination for foreign homebuyers. What is it specifically about Miami that attracts them?

Liliana Paez (LP): Apart from the weather, beaches, shopping, nightlife and all of the fun aspects of Miami, I think one very important thing is that people from everywhere find their culture here. We have people from all over the world. If you’re from Brazil, you’ll find Brazillians; if you’re from Mexico, you’ll find Mexicans; if you’re from Columbia, you’ll find Columbians. You really can live all of this nightlife in the United States, feeling the security of the United States and experiencing of all the beautiful things Miami has to offer, yet still feel with your culture.

MA: What has new construction been like in your area?

LP: We are noticing a lot of it in the area, but it’s not as crazy as it was in the past, specifically in 2005. The good thing right now is that there are a lot more solid developers. Before, we used to find any developer who wanted to come to Miami. Now, the banking situation has changed, and developers are not getting financing as easily and not as much financing as they did before, which means that the developers we are using now are much more solid than they were before.

I definitely think this will continue into the next year. With the big fall we had after the markets crashed (not just the real estate market, but the financial market as well), people are really amazed how it built back up again so quickly. And not only did it build up, but it did with more solid buyers than before. Before, people just wanted to buy to re-sell, and they would have to give very little deposits (10 to 20 percent). Now, most developments are asking 50 percent deposits, so the buyers are really looking for a long-term investment and want to enjoy what Miami has to offer.

MA: Based on what you’re seeing this year, are there any trends in the housing market you predict we will be focusing on in the beginning of 2014?

LP: What we’re doing as a company is trying to focus on things that people really need. It’s not just about a cool name or a modern building, because there is plenty of that in the area. We want to focus on needs, or things that are missing in different areas.

For example, in Brickell, there are not a lot of places for families to go, and many parents are concerned about leaving their kids when they go to work. So at one of our developments in the area, 1010 Brickell, we are going to have a 1010 Club for the children to stay while their parents are working – it will include a bowling alley, ping pong, a basketball court, an indoor pool, arcade machines and other games to keep them entertained.

What we’re trying to do is provide something that Brickell needs. At the end of the day, we’re trying to target not just to investors, but somebody who is really going to want to live in the unit.