Staff Reporter
WHEN Louise and Martin Dell moved to Spain in 2003, they came like many expats to get away from the rat race in their lives back home.
Both working in stressful jobs in the city of London, they wanted to recharge their batteries and chance their arms at a career change.
After setting up a diving school, they quickly launched a property business, after countless frustrations and errors in buying homes in Spain.
Now, after just two decades of their arrival in Spain, their successful online portal Kyero has been bought by one of the giants of the property sector in Europe.
In an exciting tie up, just announced, the British-run real estate portal has been acquired by Idealista.
In an, as yet, undisclosed deal, the partnership will be finalised this spring, with the two companies merging while working independently.
It means the 8000 global estate agent clients of Kyero will benefit from the incredible high-tech platform of Idealista.
Launched from the charming seaside resort of Almunecar, in Andalucia, where the couple long owned a home, it grew from 5 to 33 staff based across six countries.
Headquartered now in Bath, in the UK, the team of professionals oversee a portal that offers over 850,000 properties around Europe, mainly in Spain, Portugal and France.
The Dells adventure began when they drove south from London to Spain in 2003 in a VW Combi van.
They fell in love with the country almost immediately and settled in the charming Costa Brava town of Begur.
But after buying a rural plot and attempting to launch a diving business, they hit a few snags. And it was also ‘quite a shock’ to find snow settling on the resort in winter, so they jumped back in their van and headed south, eventually arriving on the Costa Tropical of Granada.
It was there that Martin was able to pursue his love of diving in nearby La Herradura, and the couple had soon set up a watersports business.
But the myriad of issues buying a property led to them setting up a property business to help people find the right home for them in Spain.
This included lots of advice about how to avoid the pitfalls in Spain over legal issues and other common problems, and soon grew into one of the country’s most successful online portals.
Kyero is today the leading online platform for UK buyers looking for European overseas property.
“This partnership validates our team’s hard work and opens exciting new opportunities to further enhance the experience for our agents and property buyers,” said Louise.
“Idealista’s success as Southern Europe’s leading real estate marketplace is one we’ve admired for years, and we look forward to collaborating closely.”
Jesus Encinar, idealista’s founder and Chairman, added: “I am delighted to welcome Kyero, Louise, Martin, and their talented team to idealista.”
He continued: “Together, we can drive innovation and deliver even greater value to clients across all our active markets.”
