Liaison between property managers, owners and investors

Although graduating with a degree in marketing management, initially Duncan Nicolaas spent a few years helping out in his stepfather’s plumbing business. This experience and the following years in various functions in the mechanical engineering honed not only his technical knowhow but also his commercial skills. Both came in handy in his further career and last professional job as an asset manager at a large real estate firm. And it was there that he discovered a gap in the market for what he describes as ‘mobile landlords’. His company MobieleHuismeester.nl was launched soon after. Starting out with small jobs for homeowners’ associations, his clientele has since expanded to include large real estate players.

“We are the liaison between property managers, owners and investors”, is how Duncan explains what his company does. “Being on-site on a regular basis gives us a broad view on properties, so often we’ll see and can resolve issues before they’re even reported. MobieleHuismeester.nl jumped into a gap in the market that no one else had seen eight years ago. From starting out with a single van and landlord, now we employ sixteen people and work for various large international real estate management companies, supporting them with their building management on site. And for large healthcare institutions as well.”

MobieleHuismeester.nl has been growing at a steady clip and a large share of its employees are highly skilled men over the age of 50. “These guys come to us from all over, also through the UWV Employee Insurance Agency. Why should they have to sit at home, unemployed, when they’d love nothing better than to work, and have so much knowledge to offer? We’re happy to have them and typically it pays off. They are routinely on-site for a half or full day per week, or in some cases full time. This is much more economical for our clients than having a technician or contractor come round for every little issue. After all, you’re not going to call in expensive repairmen just to screw in ten light bulbs. At the end our added value by being frequently on location and carrying out small repairs at the same time, results in lower service costs and more comfort for tenants.”