featured agent


Meet Maurice Horsten


of Horsten Estates In this issue, we talk to Maurice Horsten from Horsten Estates, and get to know what makes them so different.


How did you first get into the industry? First of all happy new year and that it may become a successful year for everybody! In 2003 I was busy buying a villa in Estepona via an agency but soon I discovered that the agency had no clue what they were selling and at the end, with wrong advise I lost the villa although I paid a reservation. In 2005 something similar happened through an agency in Marbella, that was for me the moment to study the property market myself and found out that there were many sales people walking around who were happy to have a job but did not understand anything about what they were selling, renting or promoting. Te Dutch buyers market started to grow and in 2008 I decided to start Horsten Estates and give people the service that I would expect when I would get in touch with an agency. Although 2008 was for the industry a very bad year due to the financial crisis, we did reasonably well and found a niche in long term rental market.


If you had the power, what would you change in the property industry, and why? Te property industry on the Costa del Sol is very difficult to understand for buyers and sellers. Everybody can call themselves real estate agent these days and you only need to subscribe to a web portal to put properties on your website and then it looks like they are all yours. Everybody is showing the same properties and sometimes even with different prices. I think the government should legislate the industry so that there are rules to follow


before calling yourself an agent. Tat makes it much easier for buyers and sellers and will do the trust in the market place a big favor.


What’s the strangest request you have received from a customer? Te perfect property is never build and buying a property is making concessions. At Horsten Estates we let the clients come to our office In San Pedro de Alcantara and make an inventory of the clients wishes. Tis makes the search much easier as you know what they are looking for. Unfortunately not everybody is listening to their clients’ needs and sometimes I receive requests to view one of our properties through another agent and then their clients were looking for a 4 bed and agent request to view a 3 bed or only ground floor and request to view penthouse. Tis is bad situation for all parties. We at Horsten Estates discuss first the properties with the buyer before we go out for a viewing so we don’t waste anybody’s time and effort.


What was your favorite sale and why? Our favorite sales are sales to referrals from previous buyers, than you know that you delivered the best service buyers can wish. It’s not only the sale what we provide, we provide the total package from A to Z.


As an agent that see’s a lot of different urbanizations, where would you most like to live?


We are specialized in San Pedro de Alcantara and close surroundings like Benahavis, Nueva Andalucia and New Golden Mile. Why? Because in these areas we receive our most requests. We researched these areas before we started, so we can tell our buyers information what will make them decide to buy there, we still keep a close eye in these areas so we can inform our clients when something comes up.


How do you see the property market in the short and long terms? Te last few years have been great year new builds investments and the resale market has stabilized. We think that aſter Brexit this will change more in favour of the resale market. Costa del Sol will always be the place for the Europeans to enjoy their holidays, that’s why we foresee a strong market for buyers and sellers!


Who has been your biggest influence in business and why? My family has been the biggest influence and has made me the person I am today. I grew up in a loving and hard working family where time was never from 9 till 6 mentality. I learned that when you want to achieve something, you have to work hard for it. So every day I wake up and say to myself - today is a new day to be successful.


Plaza de la iglesia, Calle Dependiente,


2, 29670 San Pedro Alcántara, Málaga


PROPERTYMAIL / 27


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