Little Paper Town Meets: A local Estate Agency

Happy Expat - A Real Estate Agency​

Made up of Marion, Rossanna and Tania, we talked to the strong female team at Happy Expat, a local estate agency based in Olivella, Catalonia.

How long have you been in business?

Since 2018

Tell us more about your Happy Expat, what do you love most about it?

My business grew organically which I love the most of it. I didn’t have to force anything. I started helping Expats with NIE numbers and Driving Licenses and all the other awful bureaucracy in Catalonia. My clients trusted me and gave me their houses for sale. I grabbed that opportunity (because I always loved real estate!) and certified myself as a Spanish/Catalan real estate agency and here we are! With my lovely “Soulsisters” Tania and Rossana as colleagues and as we are all Expats in this country and we speak many languages, our speciality is delivering our real estate services to Expats.

But of course, we have local clients as well, which we love.

We operate in Sitges, Sant Pere de Ribes and Olivella.  

Did you start your business in your hometown or here in Catalunya? 

I started it here, in Olivella.

What has been the hardest part of running Happy Expat in a foreign town?

The local public institutions in the beginning (policia local, DGT oficina de trafico, hacienda). I was kicked out of the traffic office because I came 36 times in one year as an authorized person for a DL change and they said, I am not a “Gestor” and not allowed to come that often and a security guy guided me out.

But also, for a non-native speaker, the real estate course challenged me totally. All these laws and lawyers talk in Spanish… 😊

Did you make a rookie mistake, to help others avoid it?

I used someone to import my first car in 2008 without checking his reviews. I didn’t know anything about this person not even speaking English and he screwed me completely. He thought the stupid German would pay anything as she didn’t know any better. After many years I imported cars for my clients 😉

But the lesson would be: Always be informed about the people offering you services. Use only the ones who are transparent on their website and you know who you’ll be dealing with.

What’s your favourite productivity hack for entrepreneurs?

The tool “Quipu”. I love it. I have all my invoices and expenses in there. Very visual and for Excel dummies like me.

What do you love and hate about the digital world?

Love: for my business much easier to reach the right target group.

Hate: I have a 10-year-old daughter and I am constantly worrying about her playing enough “outside” the digital world. And some clients think we are online 24/7. 😉

Where was your Hometown, and why did you move to Olivella?
What do you love most about living there?

My hometown was/is Freising, Germany. Same distance from Freising to Munich as here Sant Pere to Barcelona. As well as the same size of town. I moved to Denia/Costa Blanca in 2004 because I left a long relationship and I wanted to go out of Germany for a year to learn Spanish and have a break from “normal”. I never came back. I met a Dutchman who took me to Holland but there it was too grey for me, and we came to Olivella in 2008. I love being close to the airport, to be at my parents’ place in less than 3 hours, Sitges and the sea next door but also the nature and the mountains. I think the Garraf area is the best European place to live. Sun, sea, mountains, great people, what else do we need?

If you had a bucket list for Olivella what would be your top 5 things to do?

1. See the food truck in the old part of the village. Have a Guacamole and enjoy the peace and the views.

2. Go to restaurant “Les Piques” to have a real traditional Catalan food.

3. Do a bike ride in the Garraf parc and search for the wild horses of the “Fundación Miranda”

4. Do another bike ride through the vineyards and stop at one of the bodegas for a wine tasting. Or just grab the car and do the wine tasting 😊

5. See the Buddha temple in Olivella in La Plana Novella

What is the thing you love the most about Olivella?

Being close to everything but living in nature in still affordable houses and the fantastic growing Expat community we have.

For any newcomers what would be your first piece of advice?

Join the next Expat meet-up and talk to people about tips and tricks and whatever you need to have sorted, ask a professional to help you. Don’t try to do it yourself.

Would you like to include a special offer or discount for our Little Paper Towners to use?

I can’t really offer a discount in my profession I am afraid. But maybe it’s worth mentioning that we are 3 moms in our team, and we are all happy to have healthy children. This is why we donate with every sale a percentage to “children with cancer” in Barcelona.  

That’s not really a discount for our clients but should count as a gesture with heart maybe :=>

Is there anything happening in your town that we should not miss out on?

Absolutely. Olivella is famous for some festivals and activities like the “Feel Chill” Festival this year on the 17th and 18th of June.

We have as well a Jazz night, theater night…. Etc…

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