Newly released from his position as CIO at Home Invest Belgium, Nicolas Vincent, founding shareholder and partner of Adrian Devos, returns to ‘his firm’: BuyerSide, the property consultants who specialise in assisting purchasers. He tells us about his ambitions…
“BuyerSide was set up four years ago when Adrian and I were still colleagues in the investment department of DTZ. At the time, Adrian resigned to devote himself fully to the BuyerSide project, while I continued at DTZ (now Cushman).”
Why is he coming back?
BuyerSide now generates a turnover that is more than sufficient to welcome its second founding shareholder. “The turnover doubles every year.” Nicolas Vincent tells us. The company, which sources property deals and advises private and professional investors on real-estate transactions from start to finish, currently operates mainly in the residential sector sought after by private and often affluent private investors. So one of his aims will be to develop the professional sector, which he knows well thanks to his time as an Associate Director at Cushman and CIO at HIB!”
An original working method
BuyerSide has quickly become a dossiers ‘receptacle’. “The real-estate agencies soon realised that by sending us their properties for sale, they would cover scores of potential buyers at a stroke. The agencies work for clients seeking to sell properties, with a mandate to sell. Our way of working is the reverse, because we focus on purchasers, clients who entrust us not with a mandate to sell, but a mission to search/buy.”
Reasonable growth
By developing the professional sector (retail, offices, rest homes, etc.), BuyerSide is expected to grow rapidly, even though the two partners say they want to maintain a small team of no more than ten people.