David Martín Darby, CEO of Strata Investment and co-founder of Orangestate
“Buena Vista Hills, the best real estate offer on the Costa del Sol in terms of price, quality and location.”
Featuring 19 years of experience in the real estate market of Costa del Sol, Orangestate has been able to cope with a crisis and come out stronger with the creation of a new line of business, Strata Investment. Strata is a project manager that builds turnkey villas like the 26 ones of the exclusive Buena Vista Hills real estate offer, located in the skirt of Sierra de Mijas, with spectacular panoramic views of the sea.
What are the differences between Orangestate and Strata Investment?
Orangestate is a real estate agency dedicated to residential tourism, focused on the sale of second homes to foreign markets. Our main clients come from the Nordic countries and Central Europe. Currently, we have two offices – in Marbella and Fuengirola – with which we cover the entire Costa del Sol, from Benalmadena to Estepona. Coming out of a crisis, we began to specialize in new projects called “turnkey homes,” especially in the production of contemporary single-family villas. We realized that in Costa del Sol, there was a large inventory of houses with classic Mediterranean architecture but there was no real estate offer of contemporary properties, and that is why we launched Strata Investment, a brand that is dedicated to project management and promotion. We developed our own technical team of architects and started to design villas projects in carefully selected plots. At that time, there was an important real estate offer that featured very good locations, overlooking the sea, including everything the foreign market demanded at affordable prices. Now, with the launch of Buena Vista Hills, we offer what three years ago was relatively easy to find: properties with excellent features in terms of price, quality and locations.
What do your turnkey projects offer?
We take care of everything, from looking for plots of land and purchasing, with all the legal, technical and financial advice this process entails, until the final “keys” delivery. We manage the whole process as a “project manager” comprehensively, which doesn’t need the intervention of the client. Prices are already closed and negotiated under very advantageous conditions. The client becomes a self-promoter; that is to say, he is legally protected since the fact of owning the plot guarantees that his investment is safe from the beginning to the end of the work and the delivery of keys.
What sets you apart from your competitors?
Fundamentally, the price-quality relation and the special treatment that we give our clients, but, above all, the way we manage the whole procedure. We have the know-how and experience that allows us to provide the customer with a very professional service. Therefore, our main route of entry of customers is the recommendation of other customers.
What major projects do you have under development now?
Strata is currently planning 14 luxury villas located in different areas of the Costa del Sol. We have just launched Buena Vista Hills, a real estate offer of 26 villas in a beautiful setting on the slopes of Sierra de Mijas, in the Higuerón area. It has panoramic sea views and is integrated in a forest environment very close to all the important amenities: fifteen minutes from the Malaga airport, five restaurants and supermarkets and 10 minutes from the center of Fuengirola and its beaches. The location is one of the most important factors of this offer, of which the whole team feel especially proud. It is a product designed to respond to the demands of the Nordic and Central European markets, which do not look for very large properties because, even though they have a great purchasing power, they do not want properties that require much maintenance. That is why we think this project is going to have a very successful short-term outing.
What part of the process are you currently in?
After the purchase of the main plot in partnership with a Danish investor, we have designed and launched the most appropriate project to fit the self-promotion model. There are 26 projects of similar architecture, each adapted to its plot (with surfaces between 700 and 850 square meters), and with prices ranging between 495,000 and 720,000 euros, all inclusive. We already booked some of these villas and we estimate that, in four months, we will have 80% of them sold, so that by the end of October we are planning to start construction. Currently, it is the best offer on the Costa del Sol in terms of price, quality and location.
Why is this offer better than the others?
First, the other promotions are 20% more expensive and are situated in less-privileged locations. Secondly, if the self-promoter client is purely an investor, this is a very attractive product since we would be seeing a minimum profitability at 18 months of 25%, in addition to having a very high holiday rental potential since we can opt to exploit it in the medium term and sell it even more profitably. In the case of guests who want a property to live in, it is an idyllic place with privileged connections to other areas making it an ideal project for family enjoyment.