Happy Anniversary! 20 years of Private Property Mallorca
To mark this year’s anniversary, we have the pleasure of giving you a glimpse behind the scenes of our 20th anniversary with a short interview with owner and CEO Andreas Dinges:
Andreas, what motivated you to set up Private Property?
My own experience of looking for a property in Palma led me to realise, that none of the estate agents I approached took the time to listen to me and learn about my needs. After sharing this with many friends, I got 100% agreement on this experience, which led me to the decision to maybe do it myself and do it a little better. After a few successful placements, I drew up a concept with my partner at the time in 2004 and founded the company.
That’s how PPM came into being in 2004 and that’s where the slogan “WE LISTEN” comes from - and we live it!
What happened after the company was founded?
Acceptance by our customers was initially hesitant because nobody could understand that a broker would really take the time to understand their needs. A change in my private life and the involvement of my current wife in the company actually led to an explosive development. This was all handled in our penthouse flat in Cas Catala until we were expecting our daughter Ayana and therefore needed all the space. A new office was needed - the first office was opened in Bendinat!
My wife took over the back office, website and marketing and I took care of customer acquisition and property listings. The development quickly required additional employees and at peak times our team consisted of up to 24 people.
The premises in our first office in Bendinat soon reached their limits and we moved the company headquarters to Santa Ponsa, where we are based today. We also wanted to work more intensively in Palma and decided to open an office in the old town, very close to the cathedral. Both still exist today.
How has private property developed in recent years?
Fortunately, there has been an ever-increasing proportion of “repeat offenders”, which was a strong vote of confidence. During the pandemic, we completed a number of sales worth several million due to the strong relationship of trust, even without a viewing.
We know exactly how important our customers are to us, but our customers also know that they can rely on us 100%.
In the 20 years of our existence, we have never knowingly presented a property as being better than it actually is and if a property has illegal components, our customers are informed of this before a viewing with all the consequences. Thanks to this transparent communication, we have hardly ever lost a sale.
Of course, this development has not been all upwards for 20 years, we have also had to face challenges such as the banking crisis or the coronavirus pandemic and it is a constant challenge to maintain and motivate such a high-quality team. However, we believe that we don’t ask anything of our employees that we are not prepared to do ourselves.
What makes Private Property special?
One of the most important decisions in our company was to separate the purchasing (listing) and sales areas, because I believe that a good seller should be focused on their customers and a good buyer (listing agent) should be involved in the market and observe the market in order to pick out the cherries. It was always important for us to live our concept, not primarily to make money, but to do it as well as possible and to build a personal relationship with our customers.
What gave us a particular boost was the high proportion of recommendation customers, because nothing is more credible in advertising and marketing than a satisfied customer who can say: “I bought my property with Private Property and everything went smoothly”. In contrast, 10 glossy brochures are not worth half as much.
What is particularly important to you for your customers?
No viewing should take place without us taking the time to talk to the customer about their wishes and needs, as this is the only way we can avoid time-consuming and unnecessary viewings for everyone involved. WE LISTEN!
What are your plans for the future of Private Property?
The thoughts for further expansion are there, but we need to resolve the issue of succession in the company in the foreseeable future before further expansion can be realised. Here too, we are pursuing the guiding principle of quality over quantity.
My wife and I identify 100% with our company and would like to lead and accompany it on this successful path for a long time to come.
We would like to thank you for your loyalty and would be delighted if you continue to accompany us on this journey as our customers. WE LISTEN!
