Toronto-area Canadians considering purchasing a second home in the southern U.S. now have a new option to learn about state-side resort developments—they can visit an interactive, permanent expo instead of resorting to hours of internet research or spending thousands of dollars jet-setting to various locales in the deep south.

Located in a ground-floor retail space in the Soho Metropolitan Hotel and conceived by marketing expert Harold Green, who has helped launch resort developments throughout North America, Central Showplace boasts beneficial relationships and affiliations with lenders, lawyers and accountants, as well as with Canadian real estate brokers. The expo’s staff have visited many of the featured resorts, making them an additional, though no less knowledgeable, resource. Central Showplace’s goals include answering buyers’ questions and concerns in a pressure-free environment, as well as providing U.S. developments with a valuable platform to get their name out to Canadian-based second home buyers. Ongoing events and seminars will supplement the permanent expo features.

Central Showplace’s Web site contains links to Arizona, Alabama, California, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas real estate, as well as many useful tools such as a mortgage calculator, real estate news and a currency converter.

 – Sarah Binder