“Marbella – your investment, our passion” – interview in Forbes magazine
More and more Poles are choosing to buy luxury real estate abroad. Owning a second home is associated not only with a holiday destination, but also with an attractive investment, say Michal and Pawel Kusinski, founders of Marbella Houses, one of the best-performing Polish real estate agencies on the Costa del Sol.
Forbes: You operate in Marbella, one of the most visited resorts on the Costa del Sol. Why is it here that you should consider buying property?
Michal Kusinski, co-founder of Marbella Houses: Because of the unique climate, atmosphere and lifestyle. In Marbella you will find beautiful weather almost every day, and 320 sunny days a year are conducive to an active lifestyle. In the winter, you can go skiing in the Sierra Nevada mountains next door. Malaga airport is well connected with Poland. A flight from Warsaw takes less than 4 hours, and there is also a wide availability of flights allowing travel from virtually any major airport in Poland. Marbella is not just a city – it is a lifestyle. A place where culture, history, but also…. luxury.
Buying your own apartment in Spain can be a good investment?
M.K.: In addition to owning our own vacation property, we can make money from it. Among our clients there are people who live in Marbella for a few months and rent it out during the remaining period. With this practice, they not only enjoy the charms of this beautiful place, but also generate additional income. Rental prices for the most luxurious places during the summer season reach up to several thousand euros per week.
Pawel Kusinski, co-founder of Marbella Houses: Analyzing the Spanish real estate market, there is also one regularity. When prices were falling elsewhere, they remain high on the Costa del Sol. Homes and apartments are being bought here not only by Spanish citizens, but also by European and international customers. Americans increased their property purchases in 2023 by 36 percent compared to the previous year. This increase could also be an important signal to investors, suggesting that the U.S. market sees the benefits of investing in the region.
What kinds of transactions have you brokered?
P.K.: Very often clients start with a limited budget and end up with investments worth millions of euros. This was the case, for example, with a client from Poland, who planned to buy a property for about 700 thousand euros, and eventually decided on a total of six apartments for 7 million euros. We specialize in business consulting – this is our fundamental principle. We are happy to share our knowledge of the market by conducting a solid business analysis. In it, we forecast, among other things, revenue and return on investment. Such analysis helps our clients make informed investment decisions.
Who is this market for?
M.K.: Conscious investors. When clients call and ask us questions, we always encourage them to come here in person. We want every investment decision to be well thought out. Many people only notice the difference between Marbella and other locations when they arrive – the infrastructure, the architectural order, the lack of high-rise buildings, the proximity to the airport, the atmosphere, cleanliness or safety.
Do you need cash to buy a property?
P.K.: Loans are available in Spain for EU citizens, and the process of obtaining them is much simpler here than in Poland. Banks finance up to 70% of the net value of the property. If we are interested in a loan or co-financing the purchase of a property in this form, the whole procedure is simplified and takes up to 8 weeks at most. The interest rate is lower than in Poland, and banks provide loans even up to the age of 75.
As an agency, do you also help with these kinds of formalities?
P.K.: We not only opened a business here, but we moved from Poland with our families. We went through all the stages of buying a property ourselves. We benefit from our experiences with realtors, which did not always meet our expectations. As an agency, we not only reliably present all the necessary information, but also guide the client through the entire process so that he feels safe and comfortable.
What does this look like in practice?
M.K.: We put a lot of emphasis on making sure, for example, that all documents are translated into Polish. This gives the client a sense of security.
P.K.: We focus on transparency and reliability in all information provided. We don’t want to take an abbreviated or hasty approach. Buying abroad presents certain challenges. We are here to make this process transparent and reliable.
Is such an agency service expensive?
P.K.: It is completely free of charge. The fee for our service is paid by the developer or seller. If the client decides to abandon the reserved property, we do not charge any commission for our work. This is our business model.
What should you watch out for when deciding to buy property abroad?
M.K.: If we decide to buy a property and invest the accumulated capital outside Poland, there will probably be many questions accompanying the purchase. Imagine an agent who presses us to pay a deposit. The reservation agreement is either untranslated or we only get an abbreviation of it in Polish. Many agencies handle the sale, but already the after-sales service leaves much to be desired. We decided that it had to be done differently, and that’s how our agency was created. When buying abroad, you need to have someone you trust and who will reliably take care of your interests and invested capital.
Your agency is a family business. I guess that’s quite unusual in this industry?
M.K.: The structure in the company is based on our family members. This helps a lot in the decision-making process and the quality of services offered to our clients. Each of us is assigned tasks and is responsible for the segment of the business in which we feel most comfortable and which translates into the results of our work.
Interviewed by Pawel Zieliński
Forbes
Link ot the interview:
https://www.forbes.pl/biznes/marbella-twoja-inwestycja-nasza-pasja/2fhfpnv
