In-House Interview: STLA´s Lizette Blanco talks about Real Estate and its projections in Latin America  

Lizette Blanco Varela is the General Manager of Secure Title Costa Rica and has been the Commercial Director of Secure Title Latin America since 2015.
The company has been in operation in the Real Estate market in Latin America for over 26 years and assists clients by helping file appropriate licenses, reviewing and finalizing documents, organizing transactional requirements, and coordinating with local attorneys, fideicomisos (bank trust), banks, realtors, lenders and notaries in Real Estate transactions in the region.
Lizette started her career working as a Closer in the company´s legal department, and worked her way up to become the Legal Department´s Manager. She currently sits on the board of directors of the company.

What were some of the goals achieved during 2022 at STLA?
Our great ability to adjust to the reality of the market we serve, reinvent ourselves as a company while remaining a market leader operating with absolute compliance with existing regulations, and what have been the key strategies for successful regional expansion? Consolidating a very talented and committed strategic team that allows us to replicate a successful model in the different markets where we identify a business opportunity.
Why is it important to have an impartial escrow services company in all real estate purchase and sale transactions?
Being an impartial third party whose north is to assist the parties with local regulatory compliance and escrow allows the transaction to be more balanced and all parties involved has their interests comprehensively protected.

As a professional woman in a senior management position, which have been the biggest challenges you have faced during your career at STLA?
My management within the organization has coincided with moments of financial crisis worldwide, which has had a significant impact on the niche we serve. This has entailed an extraordinary effort to preserve the company’s position in the market and a lot of mystique to retain what makes Secure Title great, its human capital.

What is your passion? Where do you find the motivation to grow at a personal and professional level, and how do you manage to communicate it to your collaborators?
I am extremely passionate about my work, and the best proof of this is that I have been working for the organization for 23 years now. I am a licensed lawyer in Costa Rica, but with the soul of a businesswoman and this allows me to have an impressive thirst for finding new business opportunities, which I try to spread it to my work team.
Globally we have lived through difficult times as a society and the Real Estate industry has been no exception. Could you describe what it was like to live through these times at STLA and from this, what are STLA’s business strategies to prepare for the future?
Like in all industries, we lived through days of great uncertainty which were disrupted by a significant volume of transactions which led us to face great challenges in retaining our team and finding new talent. These changes have made us adjust to the needs of the market at a new situation for mankind. As a company, we have adapted to a virtual model, to constant improvements in our systems and to robustly reinforce our information security policies. We only visualize a promising future, always focused on providing a differentiated service to our customers in which they feel a business partner that guarantees transparency and security in each of the services we provide for each of the markets we serve.