Exceeding expectations: With over 10 years in the market, OQ Managing Properties stands out through its highly personalised service

By: Cátia Matos

Essential Promotion

Currently, the company’s main focus is on expanding to the Algarve and Comporta regions

It was one of the first property management companies to establish itself in Portugal. Founded in 2013 by Rita Alves, OQ Managing Properties, previously known as O Quotidiano Managing Properties and based in Cascais, has been consolidating its position in the market through the excellence of the service it provides to its clients.

The desire to do things differently, combined with the need to address what were also Rita’s own needs at a time when she was an expatriate, led to the creation of the company that she now manages alongside her husband, Tiago Santos Pereira.

With a degree in management from Católica University and after a very successful career, which included nine years at British Petroleum in London as an oil trader and a stint as a board member of the Portuguese company Prio, also in the fuel sector, Rita decided to bring to life a dream that she had held for some time.

“I always had the desire to have my own company, and when I returned from London, I came with that goal in mind. I remember my colleagues asking me where I wanted to be in 10 years, and I would say that I wanted to run a boutique hotel. OQ Managing Properties is almost that.

This aspect of tourism, of houses, of properties, is something that fascinates me, something I love, and that makes all the difference,” Rita reveals.

When she decided to launch the company, she focused heavily on her own personal experience as an investor living abroad, and she admits that this firsthand knowledge turned out to be a valuable asset in meeting her clients’ expectations.

“We were expatriates, we made investments in Portugal and, at the time, we didn’t have anyone to take care of them. We ended up creating the company somewhat in the image of what we wanted as a service for those who invest in Portugal but can’t manage their investments. When we created this service, we thought that many of the real estate investments being made were the ones that could cause the most problems. So we decided that, in addition to the whole concierge and management side, and any other matters the client considered important, we would also manage properties. We immediately formed partnerships with various real estate agencies and gradually specialised in Cascais and the Lisbon coast, with a personalised service. Our service is not pretentious; it’s a friendly service, where we are available 24/7, but from the perspective that we know the clients and they delegate to us the tasks they consider important. From A to Z.”

Offering a wide range of services, from daily maintenance and the management of short- and long-term rentals to investment consulting, OQ Managing Properties works with carefully selected subcontracted services.

“Our service providers have to be perfectionists because we are perfectionists, and most of our clients are as well. If the client has high standards, we will demand even more than they do, and our role is to ensure that the service is not only well delivered but that it exceeds expectations.”

Rita mentions that the close relationship with clients and the total trust they place in them is the quality that most sets them apart, as well as their highly personalised services.

“If a client has a property and wants us to manage only that property and they come over once or twice a year, we take care of everything. If that client also has three or four other investments, like a house in the Algarve, an estate on the Alentejo coast and a building in Lisbon, we manage those as well. Our relationship is with the client. We want to have a certain number of clients with whom we can maintain that same personalised relationship, a relationship where we can provide a variety of services.”

This high level of service personalisation means that Rita’s ambition isn’t to increase their client base excessively.

“We prefer to have good clients who relate to our vision of customer service rather than something larger that doesn’t serve clients at a top level. The type of service we provide is what we want to continue providing. We don’t want to be one of those multinationals with 800 houses where everything is automated. We want to provide the same service, but in more locations.”

With a focus on Cascais, Lisbon and Ericeira until 2020, OQ Properties has since been expanding, first in Comporta and now in the Algarve.

“We wanted to expand to places we love, in fact, we ourselves are investors in these areas, and we would like to move to one of them soon. We believe that the Algarve, especially in areas like Loulé, Carvoeiro and Lagos, is a very interesting market. The companies operating here are usually large and personalised service doesn’t seem to be the norm, except when provided on an individual basis. Working with companies that manage 100 or 200 houses or apartments may not be the type of service that every client prefers. So naturally there’s a market for someone who offers the service in a different way.”

As for the future of the property management market in Portugal, Rita believes there will be some changes.

“Both the Algarve coast and the Alentejo coast are markets that, in our view, will still grow substantially,” says the founder.

“We continue to have our headquarters in Cascais, where we’ve been from the beginning, but if we want to maintain a strong presence in the market, we have to be where the clients are. Cascais, Comporta and Quinta do Lago will therefore be the major hubs for OQ Managing Properties in the future.”