Investing Talks
Name: Miguel Garcia
Biographical note:
Miguel Garcia was born in Moura, Alentejo. He grew up in Moura until the age of 14
where he studied and played football for Moura Atlético Clube until he left for Sporting.
He was with Sporting for 10 years, four of which were in the first team, having spent until the age of 35 in the world of football. He is currently a partner in Global Pro Kick, a company more dedicated to projects involving ground-breaking and subdivisions.
Let's start our conversation by finding out a bit more about Miguel Garcia's story and career: childhood, youth, first steps towards a professional football career, first dreams...
I was born and grew up in Moura until I was 14, where I studied and played football for Moura Atlético Clube until I left for Sporting. I spent 10 years at Sporting, four of which in the first team. Ever since I was a child, I always dreamed of being a professional footballer and later I wanted to be a physical education teacher, but after joining the first team, I focused solely on football and had a career in the world of football until I was 35.
How did you come up with the idea to create Global Pro Kick? What services do you provide?
Global Pro Kick came about with the aim of professionalising what I was already doing informally. Nuno Garcia (partner) and I were already investing in and helping some athletes, so we created our own company and brand. We started with buying and reselling, later real estate brokerage, managing our assets and those of our clients, credit brokerage, building from scratch and we have a few more projects in mind.
"More business opportunities are arriving, but we need to be aware of the associated risks"
What is Global Pro Kick's vision for the future and how does it align with the company's mission?
GPK's vision is to grow gradually, as it has done in recent years. Nowadays, we're more dedicated to projects that involve building from scratch and subdivisions due to the lack of housing in Portugal.
As far as our clients are concerned, our aim is to help them find what they want when it comes to property for their own home and to make the most of it when we manage secondary housing, either through traditional rentals or local accommodation.
How does Global Pro Kick stand out from the competition in terms of the services it offers?
GPK stands out for having pioneered support for professional footballers. I felt this gap as a player, so at GPK we have this mediation service, credit and insurance intermediation and wealth management. There is still a lack of companies in Portugal that offer this complete service. There are mediation and credit intermediation companies, but it's hard to find one that promotes all the services. Our clients only have one contact for all the services.
What are the most significant challenges facing the company at the moment and how is it dealing with them?
Due to rising inflation and the ECB's reference rates, the property market is changing. Today we can see a slight correction in prices and fewer transactions on the market. More business opportunities are arriving, but you need to be aware of the associated risks, bearing in mind what I've mentioned above.
What is the company's focus when it comes to customer satisfaction and how do they measure success in this regard?
One of GPK's purposes is to advise professional footballers on buying their own home and also on investing in property for income, so our clients are mostly footballers. Our success is their success and when they come to us several times and pass the word on to other players, it means that they are satisfied with our services.
What current market trends do you see as investment opportunities or potential areas of concern?
Taking into account the law of supply and demand, I believe that we need more housing in our country, but on the other hand we have a "More Housing" package that doesn't help the investor, developer and other foreign investors. Bureaucracy and constantly changing laws don't help either. We're going to continue to have high prices and very expensive rents for years to come.
What role do you see continuing education and learning playing in optimising your investment decisions?
As the market is changing, we have to adapt quickly and make more assertive decisions and not make long-term plans, but investments of up to 18 months at the most. We're going to have elections next year and I think that could be positive for the property sector.
What advice would you give to novice investors who are taking their first steps in the world of investments?
The most important thing for those starting out at the moment is training and continuous learning, nowadays there's a lot of free information on social media. Consolidating the basics and going out into the field and executing what you've learnt, even if you make a few mistakes, is part of the process, but the important thing is to start as early as possible. I recommend fix & flip to create and accumulate wealth, only later buy & hold.
What are your long-term plans for your career?
The plan is to grow in a sustainable way, gain experience from what we've done and take risks on large, ambitious projects to add value to the needs that society faces, namely providing quality housing at competitive prices.
What was the most challenging project you've ever worked on and why? Would you like to share a specific aspect of that challenge?
The most challenging project so far is the construction of villas that are currently under construction. From finding the perfect plot of land, tailor-made architectural design for the clients we've designed for, choosing materials and details that we think are interesting and important for the final decision, to licensing with the town hall. Everything counts from the initial idea on paper to handing over the keys to the final client. It's challenging!
Would you like to leave a message for the stakeholders in the property sector who read this Investing Talks section of Invest 351?
There are many stakeholders in the property business, the important thing is that everyone adds value to their work in a professional and serious way. Only in this way can the property business become more transparent, professional and appealing when it comes to investment in our country.
