An international real estate agency operating from Alto Minho

Focused on the buyer, with a turnkey service, speaking 13 languages, and with agents in the buyers' home countries, Fábio Neves is revolutionising the real estate market in the region.

Fábio Neves

Fábio Neves grew up, studied Marketing and Business Management, and began his professional career in Luxembourg. In 2022, he decided to return to Portugal and began settling in his wife Brigitte Tavares's hometown, Arcos de Valdevez. His ambitious goal is, admittedly, "to revolutionise the real estate market in the region."

In three years, he already has four agencies (one in Arcos de Valdevez, two in Ponte de Lima, and one, soon to open, in Ponte da Barca), which join the two real estate companies he owns in Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, and Villerupt, France.

"When we say we have clients abroad, there is a difference compared to the competition: we are actually there, with our doors open, but we also have strategic partners in several countries," says Fábio Neves.

The 42-year-old Portuguese-Luxembourgish businessman has been in the real estate business since he was 22 and came to Portugal eager to seize the opportunity available by the country's international appeal, but also with the ambition to bring new practices and ways of working that he learned abroad.

"Unlike usual, we do not recruit our consultants from those already in the market working for other agencies," he says.

"I prefer to look for people with the right profile, who have what I am looking for, even without experience. We provide training and this way we can be sure we have people aligned with the company's values and mission working with us," he adds.

One of the aspects he particularly values in recruiting is language proficiency. "Among the entire team, we speak 13 languages," notes Fábio Neves, who himself speaks eight languages and is currently studying Mandarin.

The real estate company's name—Fábio Neves—is the same as of the company’s founder, "not for egocentric reasons, but to take advantage of the fact that we already have an established name in the market," he explains.

A Three-Party Project

In fact, Fábio Neves, in Portugal, is based on three pillars (partners). In addition to the name-bearer and his wife and partner, Brigitte Tavares, there is also a third partner, Joel Barros, who joined the project from a major brand. Brigitte Tavares is a civil engineer and specializes in construction supervision. Joel Barros is responsible for the Arcos de Valdevez agency.

The service is organized so the client does not have to worry about a thing

Fábio Neves' service is turnkey, which is why having a civil engineer on staff is so important.

"The client buys the land and does not need to worry about anything else until the day they move into their new home. They can leave everything to us," he assures.

Fábio Neves is prepared to offer clients legal services through its loyal partners, including tax, accounting, credit, architecture, engineering, and construction supervision.

"It is very important to say that our clients are always taken care of and that, if they are not satisfied for any reason, they can speak directly to me," emphasizes Fábio Neves.

At Fábio Neves, there is a sense that Ponte de Lima and the Alto Minho region in general are becoming increasingly attractive. "The markets in Porto, Braga, and even Viana do Castelo are saturated. Prices are very high, and people are realizing that. In addition to better values, they can find an unparalleled quality of life here," he explains.

Fábio Neves' clients include Americans, Canadians, English, Germans, Dutch, French, and Israelis.

"We recently sold a rooftop with a pool in downtown Ponte de Lima to an American client for a record price. It is the kind of business you would only see in Porto or Lisbon, and we've managed to bring it here," he explains.

Contact with clients in their home countries

"It is important to mention that we support foreign clients before they come to Portugal, some for more than a year," he emphasizes.

"We have now reached a point where many clients, who are also sellers, are coming to us, and this is proof of the quality of our work," he adds.

Fábio Neves is clearly an international agency, with agents who speak some less common languages, but from regions where clients are starting to appear, or where interest is expected to grow in the future, such as Hindi, spoken in northern India and Pakistan, or Polish.

"We recently made three sales to Israel, and we know that, with the war, it is a market that will continue to grow, so we consider it very important to have local agents," says Fábio Neves.

Accustomed to working in a much more regulated market in Luxembourg, Fábio Neves was surprised by the lack of regulations in Portugal.

"One of the things that seriously harms the market, and especially clients who want to sell their homes, is the price inflation by agents to get listings," he assesses.

"It turns out that a property that sits unsold because of its price becomes increasingly difficult to transact. Furthermore, these agents are artificially inflating the market," he says. Fábio Neves works with realistic appraisals, based on technical assessments, and with serious commissions. The businessman argues that the sector should have a "board of brokers" with real authority to establish standards.

"We live in a paradox where there is more supply than demand, but the vast majority of homes for sale are inflated," he concludes.

Fábio Neves views the future with optimism

"We will expand to Monção, Valença, Vila Nova de Cerveira, and, in time, we will reach Viana do Castelo. We want to be not only one of the best, but also the largest real estate agency in Alto Minho," he projects.

Contact: https://www.fabioneves.pt/