CASAFARI x Sérgio Vaz – The partnership with HCPro and forecasts for 2022

In this January 2022 interview, Sérgio Vaz discusses the integration between CASAFARI and HCPro, the second most used real estate CRM in Portugal. This integration enables thousands of property professionals to subscribe to and use CASAFARI’s property valuation tool and market data directly within their daily software, alongside his 2022 housing market recovery forecast.

CASAFARI is connected with HCPro, the real estate CRM, for all professionals at national level. What do you highlight from these months of partnership?

This partnership has been very positive because, although it is not an easy process to integrate a tool that is already developed (CASAFARI) in another tool (HCPro), the process ended up being smooth.

I must highlight the great harmony that there was and still is between the two technical departments, which made this integration as simple and effective as possible.

What is the feedback you have received from the teams that can now work in an integrated way with CASAFARI?

The feedback from our customers has been very positive, since at this moment they can subscribe to the CASAFARI service almost automatically through the real estate CRM HCPro.

This process came to simplify and save much time to thousands of users that daily use our software, both in the subscription process as in the whole process of using the CASAFARI tool.

In your vision, what is the greatest benefit that the real estate CRM HCPro can have by being present at CASAFARI?

The main benefit that HCPro has is to provide to its customers an important tool in the real estate business, that’s why we joined the best company in Portugal in this area.

However, I think it is also very important for CASAFARI to be associated with the second most used real estate software in Portugal.

Is there anything new in the pipeline that HCPro is about to launch that you would like to tell us about?

Our real estate software is under constant development. We listen to the inputs we receive from our clients, and we always try to meet their needs because, after all, they are the ones who know their day-to-day needs best. By working with them on a daily basis they end up helping us in the development process itself.

However, I can say that, in relation to the partnership with CASAFARI, this year we will integrate into HCPro some more tools that CASAFARI has and that will be pleasing to our customers.

In the midst of this pandemic moment, how do you see the behavior of the property market?

Incredible as it may seem and against all the odds, the housing market is managing to overcome this pandemic in a very resilient way.

It was one of the markets that recovered most quickly from the periods of confinement and managed to obtain good results in 2020 and 2021. The proof of this was the high number of transactions intermediated by real estate professionals, as well as the reduced number of insolvencies or closures of real estate companies in 2020 and 2021.

What do you foresee happening in 2022 at national and international level?

At a national level, and due to the fact that we are one of the countries in the world with the highest vaccination rate, I don’t believe that we will go back to confinement as happened in 2020 and 2021. That is why I predict that 2022 will be the year of full recovery of the property market.

To prevent this from happening, we have 2 variables that I find very worrying: the first is the possible increase in bank interest rates and, the second, the possible emergence of many corporate and private insolvencies, mainly from the end of the 1st quarter of 2022, resulting from the end of the credit moratoriums.

If these 2 variables occur, I think that it will be a big setback for the recovery of our economy and that it will be unfortunately at that time that we will see the size of the real crisis that was being camouflaged by the European Central Bank and by the support measures of our Government.

Internationally, everything will depend on how each country will react to the possible existence of new waves of COVID-19 and on its own vaccination rate, which could make the difference between a country having to completely confine again or not.

What advice would you give to new professionals arriving to the housing market?

Any professional who arrives now to the property market, regardless of having some experience or not in the business, must first have a good business plan.

Nowadays you can still earn good money in this area, but not like in the past when any good or bad professional had a guarantee of high earnings.

Nowadays, only good professionals manage to have good results. For this, and because currently 90% of contacts come from digital media, the business plan has to rely on the choice of a good real estate software, which is the basis of any real estate business.

And here, logically, I suggest CRM HCPro, which in only 6 years of existence managed to conquer a market share that places it as the second real estate CRM with more clients in Portugal.

It is also necessary to be represented in the real estate portals of reference, as well as it is important to subscribe to a tool like CASAFARI, which ends up helping a lot in the evaluation process of each property.

Frequently asked questions

How does the integration between CASAFARI and the HCPro real estate CRM work?

HCPro users can subscribe to the CASAFARI service almost automatically directly through their CRM. This allows real estate teams to work in an integrated manner within their daily workflow. The smooth connection saves time for thousands of daily users during both subscription and property analysis.

Why is combining property valuation data with a real estate CRM important for new estate agents?

With 90% of prospective client contacts coming from digital channels, estate agents require digital workflows to achieve consistent results. A reliable real estate CRM serves as the foundation of the business alongside presence on reference portals. Combining CRM management with property valuation tools gives agents the market insights needed to evaluate listings accurately.

What economic factors did Sérgio Vaz highlight for the Portuguese property market in 2022?

Sérgio Vaz predicted a full property market recovery in 2022 driven by high vaccination rates and sustained transaction volumes from previous years. However, he highlighted two primary economic risks that could affect market performance: potential increases in bank interest rates and emerging corporate or private insolvencies following the end of credit moratoriums in the first quarter of 2022.

How does CASAFARI support property valuations inside third-party CRMs and platforms?

CASAFARI provides comparative market analysis and property data that can be accessed directly on the web app or embedded into existing software via APIs. Real estate professionals can learn how to perform a property valuation with CASAFARI through interactive market reports. Software vendors can also review the CASAFARI Comparables and valuation API documentation to integrate these valuation models into third-party CRMs.

How can real estate platforms integrate CASAFARI’s property data into their own software?

Technical teams can explore CASAFARI’s developer documentation to learn how to integrate comprehensive property market data into custom real estate applications. Software developers and platforms can manage API access, account configurations, and self-serve plans on the CASAFARI platform. This allows platforms to deliver market insights directly within their native CRM interfaces.