Robert Finniss

Robert sold his apartment in Midrand and moved to Cape Town to start again, later moving to Barcelona and then the beautiful Costa Brava, where he has lived since 2011.

Arriving in Barcelona, Spain, was an absolute shock—discovering a property market that had been turned upside down. While working in several real estate companies doing rentals, he learned that value is truly what someone is willing to pay. Coming from South Africa and being introduced to a consumer market where the value of something is literally determined by the amount of euros in your bank was eye-opening.

Seeing the deficiencies of other estate agencies in the way they manage homes, he started his own rental management company, called RENT & RELAX, later rebranding it to U Costa Brava. He built a team to better provide homeowners and holidaygoers with a high level of quality and service, along with the ability to have an active manager incentivized to rent homes to people willing to pay for personalized service.

As the crisis in Spain dragged on, Robert began to notice that certain areas remained unaffected while others were hit drastically. The problem was that people had unrealistic expectations based on past valuations. Homeowners were trying to sell their homes for much more than they were worth at the time, but there was no effective way to advise them. On the other end of the spectrum, there were properties so privileged in location that it was nearly impossible to accurately determine their price. The luxury market kept selling, while regular homeowners were left in the dark.

An argument could be made that the luxury market was also underselling. With cryptocurrencies taking off and more luxury buyers entering the market, many sellers had perhaps accepted lower prices simply due to the extended time their homes had been listed.

This is why Robert founded this platform. Auctioning is the only real way to determine value in an upside-down market. Auctions are used to determine the value of art and historic pieces, and a home is, in many ways, a combination of both. The idea behind UNiQUE Costa Brava is to give homeowners the opportunity not only to showcase their home but also to tell its story.

The best person to sell a home is the homeowner. By allowing sellers to communicate their intentions, highlight the unique aspects of their home, and provide all documentation and digital history, buyers can truly understand its value. Ultimately, buyers will offer what they can afford and conduct their own research to find their ideal home. This is precisely why there exists both a luxury market and a regular one—because we all have differing perceptions of value.

The goal was to help buyers and sellers determine an accurate value for a home and make a decision within a reasonable period of time.