Engel & Völkers, the leading real estate agency specialised in the sale of high-class residential and commercial properties in the most exclusive locations is offering Cyprus based investors the opportunity to become successful entrepreneurs by becoming a partner of the global firm.
Andreas Matsas, Managing Director of Engel & Völkers (Greece & Cyprus), the Master Licensing Franchise holders for Cyprus and Greece told the Financial Mirror that Cypriots by nature are entrepreneurs and many have indeed been highly successful, but now there is a golden opportunity to enter the exciting and promising real estate market by becoming an Engel & Völkers partner.
“By becoming an Engel & Völkers partner, a potential investor reduces the risk element with the safe knowledge that the global network and head quarters based in Germany will provide support to achieve high sales and profit.”
Jörg Buchen, Managing Director of Engel & Völkers who was in Cyprus last week told the Financial Mirror in an exclusive interview that Engel & Völkers strives to bring the entrepreneur in each potential applicant, expressing that Cyprus is an ideal base for the Group.
“People who join us continue to remain their own bosses, it’s a franchise, which is intended to inspire initiative and motivation,” said Buchen, adding that one great advantage of people joining the Engel & Völkers network is that they don’t need to have a background in real estate and no need to worry about securing the relevant license and permits.
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It could be you…
By encouraging initiative and motivation, a German partner of Engel & Völkers won the start-up entrepreneur prize of the year award in Germany and is the best proof that Engel & Völkers can deliver satisfactory results and return on investments for its partners spread around the globe.
“In Germany we are the biggest real estate company and we are truly a global player after our expansion into the US, the biggest real estate market in the world and recently in Australia/New Zealand,” said Buchen.
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Growing network
You may have the right property at the right price, but without quality people looking at it, your efforts are bound to fail. Enter Engel & Völkers and its international network.
In order to sell a property, the seller wants to achieve the highest price and sell it quickly. Two issues addressed by Engel & Völkers on a daily basis, which based on its extensive presence in 24 countries spanning four continents is made possible.
“By the end of 2006, Engel & Völkers shall have 320 license partners around the globe with the number seen rising to 500 by the end of 2007.”
“We are opening a new shop every 100 hours, or every 4-5 days, mostly in Europe, but also in Asia Pacific and soon expanding into the US.”
With 150 shops in Europe alone – mostly in
“Our internal referral business – where one partner feeds clients and properties to other partners located in various locations – generates a significant increase in the total annual revenue, which is a significant factor in helping drive up profit,” said Matsas, who added that the Cyprus partner thus becomes ideally positioned to profit from client business originating from abroad, and also from business generated abroad by Cypriots buying property in another country.
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Support
Engel & Völkers insist on developing the network based on the role model first established in Germany, which has now been expanded to cover 24 countries around the globe.
This is important for Engel & Völkers, since they rely on people and the quality of service that is the same in any of the 24 countries where the German based group is now operating.
“We achieve this through a highly rigorous training programme for our partners, which is an on-going process that continues for many years after the partner joins the network.
The Engel & Völkers brand is associated with superior property at the right location with the buyer knowing that if it is listed by Engel & Völkers , then it also meets certain criteria such as having all documentation and licensing in place.
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Engel & Völkers services for you the license partner:
Maintenance of the Engel & Völkers brand
Expanding international network
Central sales controlling
Implementation of the “Global Office” estate agent program
Support for public relations work
Access to Engel & Völkers marketing and property expertise via the Intranet
Training in the in-house Real Estate Academy
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The Engel & Völkers licensing partners are …
… entrepreneurial in character and strive for large profits.
… sales professionals who want to set up their own business.
… investors who are looking for an experienced partner.
… estate agents who want to take advantage of an international network.
… people who want to profit from a successful brand!
Become a licensing partner if entrepreneurial thinking is second nature to you and if you enjoy dealing with superior, demanding clients!
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Ideal for Cyprus
A strong international and local network has proved to be the key to success in the highly competitive but also highly lucrative property sector.
The Cyprus property market is very promising according to research made by Engel & Völkers and their global experience since it has a second home market, similar to Greece and Spain. By second home, Engel & Völkers mean holiday homes, which are used both by locals as well as foreigners who have become a major segment of the market.
Engel & Völkers not only helps the country move up-market and target middle to high income potential buyers (hence higher margins) but because of its strong network, now highly concentrated in Europe, it can feed through clients to the
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Exclusivity
In order to ensure that every partner has an equal opportunity to reach the international revenue targets, Engel & Völkers makes sure that the partners gain exclusivity in the areas where they operate, but also help in the exact location where they set up a shop.
Engel & Völkers provides an individual a useful market analysis to evaluate the optimum size of the exclusive license area as well as the ideal shop location.
Based on the highly successful model, Engel & Völkers have decided to allow the operation of 15 shops in Cyprus and about 80 in Greece.
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EU membership, euro adoption
People in Cyprus have yet to realise (though some are experiencing it daily on the stock market), that EU membership for Cyprus and even more importantly, plans to adopt the euro on January 1, 2008 are likely to lead to profound change, not imaginable until recently.
Similar to the price action on the stock market, where the best of Cyprus listed companies are now being grabbed up, Buchen and Matsas are confident that the same will occur in the real estate market.
“The best locations and new high quality property projects will be the target of foreigners.”
The question is who will be able to grab a bigger market share. The one-man real estate agent with limited resources, or companies and individuals who are part of an international group such as Engel & Völkers with a global presence in 24 countries and growing by the day.
“Experience has shown that other countries that passed a similar stage will see that the network companies eventually grab the upper hand. Engel & Völkers has done it in other places where it has launched operations and we are sure we will do it in Cyprus and Greece. The only unknown is who will be us and who will be sharing the benefit when it happens,” said Matsas.
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