Carrboro has jokingly been called the "Paris of the Piedmont," but the former mill village is far more international than many people may realize.

Terra Nova, a real estate company in Carrboro, sells homes and properties locally just as any other real estate firm in the area. But one can also purchase a vacation home in the Dominican Republic or a house in Italy through the help of Terra Nova.

Mariana Fiorentino heads the international business for Terra Nova. She has a certified international property specialist degree (CIPS), and she is a member of the National and International Association of Realtors.

"I just came back from Italy," Fiorentino said. "Another realtor contacted me to market these beautiful condominiums. A similar thing happened with the Dominican. They were looking for someone with a CIPS degree. They called me."

Cap Cana, a new luxury development in the Dominican Republic, will eventually spread across 30,000 acres. The first phase will cover 6,000 acres. The developers have hired companies to market the development in Europe, South America and North America. Terra Nova was the first onboard in North America.

Agents Eric Miller, Chelsea Sebastian and Joseph Mathis have undergone training for the job.

"It has its own flavor, but with the right training we know how to present it," Miller said. "The main thing is we want folks who are interested to take a trip down there and see it. We can talk about it all we want, but we want them to take a trip down there because it is really an amazing place.

"It literally is the prettiest beaches I've ever been to because of the water, because they are very large and because the sand on that side of the Dominican Republic is so fine and powdery it is like baking flour."

All of this is especially exciting for Sebastian, who received an undergraduate degree from the University of Washington before traveling to North Carolina and deciding to make this her home.

"I came to Hatteras on vacation to go surfing and fishing for about a month," Sebastian said. "I'm here going on four years now."

She received a master's degree in international relations from N.C. State University after moving here. Along the way, she worked as an intern at Terra Nova. She received her real estate license earlier this year and became a full-time agent with the company.

Her first job is selling homes locally, even though she is excited about the international opportunities.

"I love the people, and I love houses," Sebastian said. "I did my undergraduate work in architecture. And the people, getting to know the clients, the marketing, the creative aspects of it, there is so much potential, so much growth."

None of the agents plans to make a living selling international property. The local housing market will remain their base, but marketing Cap Cana allows them to expand their knowledge across borders.

"It's opened up the idea that you can invest in places all over the world," Miller said. "Even the real estate market is starting to get a little more global. ... As for Cap Cana, it's specifically not an all-inclusive resort. It's almost like they are building a city. There is a mixture, from five-star hotels and condos to bungalows to $3- or $4-million building lots."

The residents of Cap Cana will be from all over the world, Miller said.

"You go to some resorts, and they cater to one or two European countries or focus on North America," he said. "The great part of this is there are people buying from all over the world."

The entry-level price is around $350,000, and it rises quickly from there. The plan is for 350 luxury homes. The community will eventually have five golf courses, three designed by famous U.S. professional golfer Jack Nicklaus. The designer for the other two has not yet been chosen, Fiorentino said.

"The marina, which is the Caribbean's largest inland marina, is like the downtown area, with stores, doctors and everything," Sebastian said. "It holds mega-yachts."

Terra Nova chief job will be marketing. An agent, such as Sebastian, may travel with a client to the island, or she can make arrangements for the real estate agents on site to host the prospective buyer and show the resort. Terra Nova's job is to create interest in the United States.

Fiorentino said that Terra Nova will eventually hold some informational evenings in which it will educate prospective buyers on many of the project's details.

"We're very excited," Fiorentino said. "It's such an opportunity for us, to be a small boutique kind of company in Carrboro. But we have the background, and we've been there twice. We understand the development.

It's an exciting time, Fiorentino added.

"We're not by any means abandoning our local real estate," she said. "This is what we do best, here. It's just sort of another avenue to pursue and provide a service for people who want to spread out a little bit more and invest in international properties."