One of the hottest real estate outfits in Europe is moving into Florida, cherry-picking choice U.S. sites, including Southwest Florida, to ensure an unending supply of high-end properties to Europeans flush with euros and pounds.

After making a name for itself on the Continent, the Hamburg, Germany-based Engel & Völkers plans to open hundreds of its 'property shops' aimed at well-heeled clients.

It is going into the Hamptons on Long Island and into Hyde Park, the upscale neighborhood in Tampa. A store on Main Street in Sarasota also is in the works, adding to the company's 270 residential property 'shops' worldwide.

Within the next decade, Engel & Völkers aims to open at least 200 offices in Florida.

That goal is in stark contrast to today's general view of the state and national real estate market, but speaks volumes about the long-term potential for Florida property.

Keen to satisfy wealthy European clients whose euros and pounds give them immense purchasing power in the struggling U.S. market, Engel & Völkers is pushing forward while other firms are retrenching. The company is moving in despite all of the talk of the crisis in subprime mortgages, high foreclosure rates and sagging home sales.

Timo Khammash, the Engel & Völkers executive driving the push into Florida, has worked for the company for more than a decade. His headquarters are in Naples but he has relatives in Sarasota; he even attended Sarasota High School for a few months. He's one of three managers on the road six days a week courting potential franchisees.

Khammash shrugs off the current state of the market.

'We had more and more of our clientele asking us, 'Why aren't you here?'' he said.

When they opened the doors to their Punta Gorda property shop in October, Martin and Hilde Block, along with partner Greg Loomis, became the first Florida franchisee of Engel & Völkers.

They also are setting up a storefront on Main Street in Sarasota.

Like the Engel & Völkers shops from Argentina to Dubai, the downtown Punta Gorda store is decked out with white wood trim on the outside, giving it somewhat of an old-world look. Inside, the store is modern and uncluttered, with furniture that is predominately white.

Engel & Völkers executives think they can train customers to be brand-conscious in picking a real estate firm.

All of their agents receive the same training and use identical software, both for keeping track of clients and for making and getting referrals from the other shops.

'If we sell the house to someone referred to us by the property shop in Prague, a percentage of our earnings goes to that shop,' Martin Block said.

The U.S. dollar has been in a gradual decline since the beginning of the decade, especially compared with the euro and the British pound.

While that is bad for Americans, eroding their global purchasing power, it makes U.S. properties look juicy to a European.

The primary competition for a piece of Florida beachfront might be coastal Spain. There, real estate has appreciated strongly and 'there are no currency discounts' for European buyers, said Lawrence Yun, senior economist of the National Association of Realtors.

In July, the dollar hit a 26-year low as measured against the British pound, and an all-time low against the euro. It takes roughly $1.37 to buy a euro and $2.05 to buy a British pound.

'From a British point of view, Florida real estate is selling at a 40 percent discount,' Yun said during a recent trip to Southwest Florida.

Maury Dailey, a broker and Engel & Völkers franchisee in Naples, knows the impact of the currency factor.

'In many cases, people from Europe or Great Britain can buy a million-dollar beachfront property for, in essence $500,000, when you consider the exchange rate discrepancies and the soft market,' Dailey said.

'They are more bullish on us than we are.'