Adapting to an economic market downturn is never easy.

But one firm of island estate agents – Fuerteventura Residences in Caleta de Fuste, or Castillo as the resort is locally known – can rest assured that it has successfully weathered the worst storm the property sector has experienced for many years.

In fact, husband and wife owners Galliano Morani and Veronique Van Essche both agree that the green shoots of recovery are beginning to burst into life – a welcome contrast to what they describe as a ‘very hard’ 2009.

The couple (Galliano is Italian, while Veronique hails from Belgium) set up Fuerteventura Residences six years ago after a holiday visit persuaded them that the island – the last of the Canaries to be developed – had tremendous business potential.

And with more than 30 years of real estate experience under their belt, including spells in France and on Spain’s Costa del Sol – latterly with their own company in Marbella – they felt more than happy to take the plunge.

“We realised that this island was fantastic with its white beaches, calm environment, no crime, no traffic problems, and fell in love with it,” explained Veronique, who controls the commercial side of the company.

“Of course we also saw a business potential,” she added. “It’s only a four-hour flight from most of the European capitals and has a fantastic climate – great weather all year round, including fresh nights.”

She is adamant that Fuerteventura ticks all the boxes for anyone hunting for a holiday home or planning to retire in the sun, in particular Caleta de Fuste.

Conveniently situated only minutes away from the airport and the capital Puerto del Rosario in the north of the island, the popular resort boasts two pristine golf courses, modern hotels, bars and restaurants plus a sandy horseshoe bay which is due to be extended and developed into a top class beach early next year.

“There is never a problem. You can come over to Fuerteventura just for a weekend, stay here for a few months, or even live here all year round. In only four hours you can be back in your own country,” said Veronique.

“When people get older they don’t particularly like long flights and may for example want to get back quickly to their country to see their children or maybe grandchildren!”

Fuerteventura Residences places great emphasis on customer care and the art of communication.

“One of our most important qualities is the fact that we try to make friends with our clients. We do absolutely everything, thanks to the fact that we speak perfect Spanish,” said Galliano, who focuses on the company’s administration work.

“We arrange notary appointments, electricity and water connections, verify payments of town and waste collection taxes, as well as community fees etc.

“I am absolutely convinced that one has to speak the language of the country he or she is living in, otherwise it is impossible to give a perfect service to clients.

“We also speak fluent Spanish, English, French, German, Dutch and Italian. We know that clients feel much more comfortable speaking in their own language.”

So far this year, Fuerteventura Residences has seen a notable increase in the number of prospective buyers, mainly thanks to low interest rates, a rising pound (making property purchase more attractive for visitors from the United Kingdom) and an abundance of cheap flights to the island from the UK, Eire, Mainland Spain, Belgium, Italy and other European locations.

Most property hunters turn out to be cash buyers looking for a bargain, with some wanting to make a business investment, said Galliano.

“Due to the low interest rates, more and more people like to put their savings in real estate,” he added.

These buyers will ultimately benefit from their investments as property prices increase.

However, location, location, location is as important as ever, according to Veronique, with property around Caleta’s golf courses proving popular because of their affordable prices. Centrally situated apartments, near to the beach and restaurants, were also highly desirable but not essential because of low taxi fares.

The letting market appears to be gaining momentum, too. “A lot of people are now looking to rent out their properties,” said Veronique, “and as we now have a few really professional management companies, this seems to be working very well.

“Those companies told me that prices have been rising over the past few months. I, myself, had a real problem finding a villa for my family in July!” she added.

Reflecting on how Fuerteventura Residences has coped with the property slump, Veronique said that two of the company’s three offices were forced to close for economic reasons.

“We now have one, which keeps our expenses low, have several freelance sales people plus property valuers working for us when necessary. We are also working closely with a furniture company and we have a very professional management and rental company to cater for all our clients’ requirements.

“We are also working with several agents all over Europe, thanks to our language skills,” she added.

But perhaps one of the most important factors to the company’s ‘survival blueprint’ is its positive attitude towards clients.

“Helping people is very important to us. We are living in an ‘Internet world’ where often personal contact is forgotten,” said Veronique.

“Our tool is not only selling a property, we also want to have people coming back to us and telling how happy they are.

“We really try to calculate the little ‘extras’ people need, like: If they have children, is the development child friendly? Or if the buyers are in the older age group, could there be too many steps for them, or might the location too noisy?

“Sometimes people are lonely,” she concluded, “and they like a place where they can make friends. . .”

. . .and that

. . .and that’s where Fuerteventura Residences comes in.

You can contact Fuerteventura Residences on :
(00.34.928 16 00 06 / 04 or (0034) 607 50 17 50
E-mail : info@fuerteventuraresidences.com
Website : www.fuerteventuraresidences.com