I am proud to announce this anniversary! For 15 years NOT being a real estate agent!

The last fifteen years I have brought together many tenants and home owners, and doing this with such a pleasure. For fifteen years I provide expats a home away from home. In this blog I share what I have learnt about this business and what I have discovered about myself. And how I, because of that process, could facilitate tenants and expats/ landlords better and better in their joy for living abroad/renting out their properties.

...but isn’t that called being a real estate agent?

A real estate agent for me was a symbol for smooth talking, making things better than they are and most of it all the fast money making business. That was a no-go from the first moment I started. I wanted to do something good. Bringing people together and making them happy. That isn’t about charging a fat commission but about providing the right services.

If I am a real estate agent, than I am one in bringing joy in living in the right home. A home owner puts a lot of effort in making their property ready to be rented out and to be lived in. They want appreciation for their efforts. By searching for the right tenant, who appreciate their new home and who would want to take care of their home. Tenants, on the other hand, want to know if they are taken seriously and if things are taken care of in case of problems with the property. By searching for the right match between home owner and tenant, I provide the right kind of joy of living. Being a matchmaker would maybe describe it better what I do day in day out.

Relationship broker

How do I bring the right people together you ask? Because I listen.

That is the main part of my job. I take the time to talk and listen to my clients. I listen to home owners and what expectations they have. I listen to tenants and what they are actually looking for in a home. After this time I have so much experience that, at the first meet up, I know exactly íf I want to work with you and which landlord and tenant are the best match.

One time there was a landlady who had a lovely loft apartment for rent and which she had done up with much love, tender and care and it showed! Whilst doing the viewings I noticed that some of the candidates couldn’t care less, which was a shame because the home owner took a lot of time doing up the place and had been placing nice furniture in it. And then a young woman entered the apartment. Her eyes widened and her face lit up. I could hear the click and felt the love from the woman for the property. This was someone who did not only just found her new home, but also somebody who appreciated all the work that was put into the place.  And I knew I had found the right match.

There was one time I left during an meet up with a potential client. The home owner and I couldn’t see eye to eye. He wanted a purely business transaction and didn’t care for his tenant. I believe that the right match between landlord and tenant makes a business transaction profitable. For both parties. He was not the landlord I wanted for my tenants, so instead I suggested that he looked for a different agent.

Was I always this clever? Nope. But after fifteen years I am expert in listening. Not just to my clients, but also to myself.

“I paid your invoice right away! Thank you so much for everything that you have done!” 

Returning customers

When I started my company I already saw it. The lack of personal service. As if we are merely dealing with bricks and mortar. As I already mentioned that is not my thing. Homes are more than just stones and square meters. Feeling at home, especially abroad, takes more than just a roof over your head.

I take care of more than only the right connection between landlord and tenant. I make sure both parties have a good relationship with me. Due to good personal service. I guide my clients, home owners and tenants, through every aspect of the renting process.  I even take care of the property management! And I do go a mile. In the beginning maybe even a bit too far. When one of my tenants called me in the middle of the night asking me where his socks were, I really needed to set some boundaries!

However I do a lot for my customers and I like doing it. That’s why my clients keep coming back, over and over again. One of my home owners has been with me since the start, fifteen years ago! Another one of my clients sends me a thank you email every month, ‘thanks for everything you do’, she writes.
 

The next fifteen years

In the last 15 years I developed myself into a service focussed matchmaker in the rental market. I bring people together and support them creating joy for living. Every satisfied customer fills me with love for the business and I am proud that I am in real estate. For NOT being a real estate agent.

I can’t think of anything other than doing this. Meaning something to house hunters, tenants, home owners and expats in The Hague and surroundings.  Are you interested what I can do for you? Contact me! I would like it very much to help you with finding you the right home or the right tenant and everything else I can help you with.

Except for your socks. Those you really need to find yourself.