Hispania Homes is located in the most beautiful village in the Levante: Moraira. This is how Zoila Sanz, our CEO at Hispania Homes, began her interview with Pere Maymi for SIRA on 23 April.
Self-taught and pioneering, Zoila is known for her firm commitment to ethics and continuing education, both for herself and her team. That is why, on 23 April, she was chosen by SIRA to inspire with her unique approach to the real estate industry. Let’s review some of the highlights we were able to enjoy in the interview.
how do you combine domestic and foreign clients?
90% of the clients we have at Hispania Homes are foreigners. This is due to the high price of properties in the area, around 700,000 euros. Foreign clients tend to enjoy a higher standard of living, so they have more facilities when it comes to investing on the Costa Blanca.
>> I want to make my property profitable <<
In Moraira we are fortunate to enjoy a tourist model with tourists all year round. Since Covid, many foreigners have decided to come to the Costa Blanca to spend the winter months, so we do not have a purely seasonal tourism.
In addition to the high-end properties, perhaps more in demand by foreign clients, at Hispania Homes we also have more conventional properties. At the end of the day, both types of clients are equally demanding and the key to being able to work with both profiles is to treat people as they deserve, to be transparent with what we do and also with what we transmit.
How do you compete with the big franchises?
Behind the big brands there are estate agents like the ones we have at Hispania Homes. It is the good way of doing things that makes the difference, not the brand itself.
At Hispania Homes we collaborate with colleagues in the sector regardless of how big or small their brand is, the only thing that matters to us is the way they work. That’s why we don’t see the big franchises as mere competitors, but work with them to achieve the same goals for our clients.
What is the Hispania Homes business model?
In our real estate agency we have very little staff turnover , we are like a family. Personally, I am very clear that my agents are the ones who are on the front line, and that work has to be recognised. The manager of a real estate agency has to attract business, but that business has to be passed on to his agents.
Managers and agents cannot compete with each other, as managers we have to know how to delegate in order to be able to focus on other types of work.
Why do clients choose Hispania?
One of the things I am most proud of is that if I open a door today, I know that they will open it for me. You have to know how to take care of relationships, this is an inheritance that I have received from my parents and that I want my children to inherit as well.
We are chosen because we work, we know how to communicate well what we do and we are determined to show our willingness to do things.
What do you think of the Register of Estate Agents?
I think it is a positive thing for the sector, a way of being able to train and a good starting point. However, I think that the criteria for working as an estate agent in the Valencian Community should be even more demanding. Furthermore, I believe that the regulation of the sector should be done at a state level, not simply at a regional level.
The sector has changed a lot in recent years. Today we are a long way from what the sector was during the real estate boom, but we still have a long way to go. For example, I don’t understand my work without collaboration, even if we have the capacity to do it, it would be going against my beginnings.
How do you manage to have a good flow of leads?
International portals are our main source of leads, but we have to bear in mind that these are cold leads. We are in a time of product shortage right now, so we are focused on that.
Collaborations with other real estate agencies also open many doors for us. The companies we collaborate with know that with Hispania they won’t have any problems, and that if we have what they need, whether it’s a client or a product, we will give it to them.
Another fundamental aspect is the work our agents do with the contacts we have in our database. We try to maintain a living database, cultivated over more than ten years, in which the aim is to nurture both national and international relations with our clients.
How do you integrate technology in your agency?
We invest a lot in technology, but every day is something new, what works for you today will no longer work for you tomorrow, everything evolves very quickly.
At Hispania Homes we are not afraid of technology because what we offer in a real estate agency is a service, and a service can never be replaced, at least with the same quality, by a machine. Technology can speed up certain processes, but in the end it can never replace us. Buying/selling a house is too important a decision to leave everything in the hands of a simple machine.
Technology and real estate should be on the same line, relying on technology to do our job better, but not basing our entire strategy on it.
If you are thinking of buying, selling or investing on the Costa Blanca, at Hispania Homes we have the advice you need.
