Our housing specialist Bjorn Cocquyt has been visiting leading properties and real estate projects at home and abroad for more than 10 years. In our Pureliving section, he gives his vision of exclusive living.
Most of the more than 3,000 Belgians who buy a home in Spain each year opt for a new build. Because the construction site of their second home is some 2,000 km away from home, it is impossible to keep track of them. “That is why it is so important to work with 100% reliable partners,” emphasises Koen De Vos of My Dream Property.
They still exist, the stories of foreigners who are swindled while pursuing their Spanish housing dream. At the beginning of this year, filmmaker Jan Verheyen testified about how he lost a lot of money when he mislaid a building plot. “In Spain, anyone can call themselves a real estate agent and real estate firms rarely have exclusivity for a project. So anybody can sell anything. So there are bound to be some cowboys hoping to make a quick buck off the buyers’ backs. For those who are planning to buy a second home, I have only one piece of advice: look for a reliable, qualified estate agent who also has a certain amount of experience”, says Koen De Vos.
The Antwerp native himself has been living and working in Spain since 2010, initially on the Costa Blanca, but for many years now on the Costa del Sol where everything is just a little bit more: more quality in all respects, more nature and more style. So it is logical that everything costs a bit more there too. During his real estate studies, De Vos got to know the world as property manager. Taking owners to and from the airport, cleaning and maintaining their house, chilling the bottle of cava upon their arrival, doing odd jobs, …
De Vos did it all and soon he had a hundred customers and ten staff. “I came into contact with a lot of people who are directly or indirectly involved in second homes. By screening everyone thoroughly and only surrounding myself with those who I could really count on, I built up a strong reputation. Admittedly, like everyone else, it was a process of trial and error.
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His unique approach also continued when De Vos left the business and began to focus on and specialise in property sales with My Dream Property. “Whether someone buys a flat of 200,000 euros or a villa of 4 million euros: both work very hard for every euro and it is my job to make sure it is well spent. I think that is the most normal thing in the world. In concrete terms, I have a law firm check each developer beforehand. What is the state of their finances, have they ever had a lawsuit against them, how well do they live up to agreements, and so on.
Just as De Vos does not join forces with every developer, he also does not offer every project for sale. “There are 400 projects under construction on the Costa de Sol in Spain. I have 180 of them in my portfolio, and with those the customer can rest easy in all respects. Of course, with any construction, things sometimes go wrong, but with this one it is limited and everything is solved properly.
“Whether someone buys a flat of 200,000 euros or a villa of 4 million euros: both worked very hard for every euro and it is my job to make sure it is well spent”. – Koen De Vos of My Dream Property
Customisation
His clients don’t have to search among dozens of ads to find a property that is suitable for them, because there My Dream Property differs from other brokers. “Based on an intensive conversation, I compose a profile with the specific wishes of the buyers, because everyone is different. With that input, I usually look for a five projects that are tailor-made. That is usually new construction, but with DVS Luxury Building I also have my own company that specialises in total renovation to restore the grandeur of outdated houses in desirable locations. It was the last link that was missing to complete our circle and we noticed a clear interest. Whether it’s a house that has yet to be built or a house that needs to be renovated, we always start from the proposed projects to fine tune them in order to ultimately realise the client’s Spanish dream.
More info:www.my-dream-property. com
You can discuss your project directly with Koen De Vos in this way:
Telephone Koen De Vos: +34 677 69 60 92
E-mail Koen De Vos: koen@my-dream-property.com
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