Power
Kenneth Alting: 'It must be exceptional and not reproducible'
Honders/Alting Makelaars specializes in the sale and purchase of exclusive homes at home and abroad. Founder-owner and born Zeelander Kenneth Alting tells MASTERS about his love for his company, real estate, Oisterwijk in Brabant and the future plans. Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer
Online editing: Mical Joseph
Image: John van HelvertHigher segment | “I come from Zeeland and came to live in Oisterwijk in 2000 for love. I started working at this office that same year, initially as an employee. It could just as easily have been another place in Brabant, but I am so happy that it turned out to be Oisterwijk. Because anyone who knows Oisterwijk will agree that it is one of the nicest villages in Brabant. In 2004 I was given the opportunity to become a shareholder and co-name giver of our office. At that time we were an all-round real estate agency – we tackled everything. In 2005 and 2006 we started thinking about the future of real estate. Funda became stronger and there were more and more technologies that made access to the housing market more accessible. The offer became easier to find, more colleagues were added, margins came under pressure. We asked ourselves: what should we do to make a difference? We thought we would do the right thing by focusing on the top end of the market. We already had a considerable market share in that segment and the location where we are located helped. In 2008 we are fully committed to that higher segment. And then the lights went out… The timing couldn't have been worse. Many colleagues thought we were crazy: no one will ever buy a home worth more than a million again, will they? We have always kept the faith. A home is not a perishable commodity, it must be sold at some point. Even if it is for less money.”
Highlight | “It was an exciting time. We were forced to take a critical look at our business operations and become innovative again. We were one of the first to focus heavily on social media and to attach value to styling and good real estate photography. After all: you only make a first impression once. We were also quite progressive in making video clips around a home. Exclusive houses require an exclusive approach. The highlight was the film we made in 2016 and 2017 for the De Wielewaal estate, which was inhabited by the late Frits Philips from 1934 to 2005. That video has gone viral worldwide. We were trending on YouTube for two weeks, made every news item on television, newspaper and radio, were even contacted by The New York Times en The Moscow Times. Suddenly Honders/Alting was known. At 45 million, De Wielewaal is the most expensive project for sale in the Netherlands. The estate is located in the middle of the city, so it must be worth something for the municipality to do something with it. An example: at Eindhoven Airport, landing or take-off after eleven o'clock at night is no longer allowed, as Frits Philips once stipulated. If the airport wants more flying hours, that restriction must be removed and that is only possible if you own the estate. The municipality would be a fantastic party to develop that. If you were to use only 50 of the 150 hectares for housing, you could build a thousand homes. And that still leaves 100 hectares of park. A park that is currently inaccessible, but from which the entire community could benefit.”
Location | “The exceptional housing market, with a price from 3,5 million, is currently doing extremely well. In the first half of 2021 we completed around twenty transactions in that segment, while about five years ago there were five or six on an annual basis. We notice that the trend is exclusive: it must be exceptional and irreproducible. The superlative of superlatives. The largest, the safest, the most expensive… That. And I do not rule out that people in this segment do not buy a home of this caliber exclusively for themselves. They also want to show off their success a bit. And don't we all do that? Whether it's your house, your car or your clothes: look what I have! When buying a house, location is extremely important; you don't want to live on the 'wrong' side of the tracks. You have that in every city and village. We try to get to that: what is really your dream? And then let's look to see if we can fulfill it. Pure customization.”
Next step | “We are currently working on the next step: creating partnerships and making Honders/Alting more of a platform for exclusive offers in the Netherlands but also abroad. We have many collaborations in Belgium, Switzerland and Curaçao. Honders/Alting wants to be the spider in the web, the label you go to if you are looking for or have special homes to offer. Dot on the horizon? We have the ambition to further strengthen our position in the south of the country as the player for the top end of the market. That's where our strength lies, that's where we have the best contacts. We are now growing rapidly in Eindhoven, partly through the sale of a fantastic new construction project with international allure. We now also have an office in The Hague, Utrecht, Den Bosch and Eindhoven. If you live in Utrecht and want to move to the south, you do not have to go to Oisterwijk but go to our branch there. I would like to give those offices more substance over the next five years.”
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