Hélder Batista is a broker at Coldwell Banker City and has just signed a contract to publish his first book. In this interview with CASAFARI, Hélder speaks about his values and motivations as a real estate agent.
Portugal has been attracting a reputation as a great place to invest – in your opinion, how will this investment transform the market?
Everyone is talking about Portugal for the best reasons. It’s a very safe country with a particularly wonderful climate.
The real estate investment market put in place a number of measures that have helped to transform the country and Lisbon in particular, like tax benefits that have attracted a lot of national and international investment. With public works taking place too, the real estate renovation of the entire city is now a reality.
Investors in local or long-term housing now have a more comfortable yield, as there are still some adjustments being made to boost the market and long-term renting. Portugal and Lisbon are definitely seeing the best era they’ve ever had; when you come to Lisbon nowadays, you get a unique and extraordinary experience, and that’s what attracts people.
Are people only investing in the cities or in the surrounding areas too?
I’d say that while the cities are still attracting a lot of national and international investment, the surrounding areas are starting to get more attention: because of inflation in the city centres, people are beginning to look for alternatives in more favourable locations, at a better price and with a higher quality, which is kickstarting the market on the outskirts of the city.
Even international clients have begun to come to us looking at zones outside of Lisbon.
Proptech has arrived. How are you seeing its impact on the Portuguese real estate market?
I’ve been watching the evolution of Proptech for the past four years, and it is something I think it is something our industry needs. I’m optimistic about it and I think it will be a good thing for clients, while for brokers it will allow us to provide a better service and assign our less important tasks to Artificial Intelligence.
I think it took us by surprise at first, but we’ll end up embracing it. It will be help us to be more human, and the ones who will win from all of this will be our clients.
Why do you use CASAFARI in Coldwell Banker City? How has it changed the way you work?
We use CASAFARI to make our work easier. In just one platform, we can source properties and respond to our buyer clients more quickly and easily. We carry out market analysis about new properties that we put on the market, and the SWOT analysis is faster and more accurate.
This way, our agents can stand out from their competition by giving more precise data to their clients. The main difference is that we save time, which works in the favour of our clients. In other words, we can give more of our time to our client, which nowadays is worth a lot.
Tell us about your book. What is it about and why did you decide to launch this project?
My book is a true story that serves to inspire anyone to seeks to be a better person today than they were yesterday. With storytelling and real experiences at its core, this project is about inspiring people with positivity. It’s a book full of truth and soul, with no holding back.
Anyone who knows me knows that I like to live life with soul and passion for what I do. I do talk in the book about being a real estate agent, but that’s not what the book is about. People will come to know the story of Hélder Batista, which could be anyone’s story.
You have 27 thousand Instagram followers. As a real estate professional, how valuable is it to use social media to reach audiences? How does sharing your life make the difference when it comes to potential clients?
Across all of my social media, I have more than fifty thousand followers, but that’s not what inspires me. The fact that I’m able to show my work and my day-to-day genuinely and truly is what has meaning for me. The connection I have with people is what inspires me, as well as being able to share experiences, helpful information, answer questions in a friendly way.
These are what really make a difference – this is what clients what, as well as efficiency, warmth and quick responses. It’s my mission to give people what they want, in a genuine way, with passion, and I’m still happy doing this.
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