Marbella. Matias Concha changed football for life as a mediator and businessman in Marbella.
Here, the former national team player now sells luxury real estate to such sports personalities as Andreas Granqvist, Denis Shapovalov and Erling Braut Haaland.
– Many athletes have contacted me, says Concha.
Matthias Concha ended his football career after the Champions League match against Malmö FF in 2014. Since then he has been the sporting director of Osters IF and also works as a football commentator on TV4 and Cmore. But above all, he is invested in his job as a luxury broker in Marbella. Sneak into the job by accident in 2018.
– It really started with the fact that I had a friend who thought I would be a suitable mediator. It was after I resigned as sports director at Östers IF. In fact, it is on this path.
Why did you think you were a good fit as a mediator?
– It may have been in part because I speak many languages, have a great network of connections and drive as a person. Then I always had a great interest in real estate, which I myself bought and later rented. So it felt like a natural move.
– On this road it is. Then I slipped here in Marbella.
How do?
– I got a tip off and contacted people, quickly settled into life here and Marbella quickly felt right at home. Now I am a partner at Homerun Brokers. We are a good team of 12 people who sell, rent and work in real estate development.
Did you have to work hard at first, or what was it like?
I don’t belong in a classic sales job, but I do have a football background. And I imagine it helps me many times. It’s not like selling socks, it’s a lifelong investment for most people. And then you have to understand the processes, how they work, how the customer thinks and be able to close the deal. So it was obviously hard work the first few years to really understand everything.
Are there many fortune hunters and scammers in the industry here in Marbella. This is your prejudice, right?
– Yes, there are a lot of people who come here and try but don’t last long. Many people think to just come here and sell luxury homes. It is as easy as possible. But it is not. far from.
– There are many who come, but who also leave just as quickly. And life here with the lifestyle you can live, climate etc. attracts many people.
– but the challenge is to become sustainable over time.
What made you last so long?
– Perhaps this is partly due to the fact that we athletes have a special way of thinking and a wide network of contacts. In addition, I speak fluent Spanish and good German. There you notice that I am in the driver’s seat and I have a great advantage of languages.
Then you end up in the right environment and find an agency that has a good way of working and that there are good colleagues. It is, in a way, a team sport like soccer. If the combination is doing well, you will succeed too.
What is the hardest thing about the job?
The big challenge is finding the right item for the right customer and closing the deal until everyone is satisfied. Sometimes there are many difficult cases to work with.
– The phone goes all at once and you are always there. That’s what I love about the job, too. No business is the same as you build relationships. I love that.
– I wouldn’t have been able to get a nine to five job with fixed hours in the same place. You carry the job everywhere with you, so it becomes like a way of life that you must value and master.
It’s a lucrative industry, are you making a lot of money from it?
– If you’re good at it, you can make a lot of money, for sure.
Have you earned more as a mediator in five years or during your long career as a footballer at Bochum, MFF and Djurgården?
– No, I don’t have. Football has definitely given me more.
Many clients are major sports personalities. In addition to Concha helping two former Swedish national football stars, such as Andreas Granqvist, he has also helped tennis star Denis Shapovalov and Manchester City’s Norwegian striker Erling Braut Haaland buy and sell homes.
Erling and Father Alf Eng become good friends with Concha.
– We had a mutual friend where Erling called us and asked us to sell his current house and also help him buy his next one. You could say we made a nice double deal there. Both through new buying and selling. Erling was very happy.
– We got a good connection there. We managed to hang out a bit as well with daddy Alfie. We have already been invited to Manchester in March to watch the Champions League.
– We hang out sometimes when they come over here, too. Not only was it a bargain, it turned out to be more than that. We always have football as a common denominator too, which is fun.
What do you say about his progress?
– Yes, what should be said and not already said? It’s a beast. When he was about to sign for City, I told him all he needed to do was stay in the box. It barely forced out of the box. If you have this kind of quality player around you, you just have to stay on your toes in the penalty area. And see what it looks like. After all, he has a terrible ability to be in the right place at the right time and is mentally cold.
– It’s very interesting to watch.
What is he like as a person?
– very calm, his feet on the ground. His father helps him a lot and is in charge and is there to support him in all his decisions. I think this is very important to him.
How good can it be?
He could be absolutely dominant in world football for 15 years if he stayed injury free.
When you sell a house, do you sell it as if it were Haaland’s previous house or do you lie about it?
– No, you can promote that sometime. But it’s not something we sign off before selling, but once you’re in place with the customer you can mention it if necessary.
The house that Concha sold to Halland is located in one of the most sought after areas in Marbella. The house measures 981 square meters and cost 65 million SEK. Areas such as La Zagaleta, El Madronal and San Pedro are the most sought after and are teeming with soccer stars and sports highlights. Novak Djokovic, Gennaro Gattuso and Daniel Agger are just some of the stars who have homes there.
– What Erling told us was that he wanted it to be more private than his previous home. At his previous home, he noticed he had people who could look at him. He wanted a piece of grass where he could play ball, have “privacy” and even have a lot of security in and around the house.
– Having a rooftop terrace and a view of the sea, it was amazing.
There have been a number of break-ins of Premier League stars recently, do you feel the people you sell to are more security conscious now?
– Here in Marbella there are a lot of people who have money and where there is money there are unfortunately people who want to take risks. There is no escaping it. If you are a little careful of yourself and your surroundings and have a little security in your home, it is no worse than anywhere else.
In addition to mediation, Concha is also involved in a company developing an app that handles eco-friendly, water-free car washes and also reviews which he matches to C More once a month.
– They fit me like a glove. I’ll go to Stockholm in a few days and play as many matches as I can. It will be a way to keep in touch with football and I think it’s a lot of fun.
– I hope to continue to do so for many years to come.
