Filipe Miguel is a 28 years old young Portuguese entrepreneur born and raised in Évora, Portugal that moved to Lisbon to start college at the age of 18. Filipe studied Geography for his Undergrad and International Cooperation for his Master's. During his first year as a Master's Student, he did an exchange program in Maribor, Slovenia, the 2nd largest city in the country. Once he finished his Masters, he started his professional career at Inlife, a Lisbon-based start-up founded by one of his friends to help students find accommodation during their journey abroad. Filipe worked there for 2,5 years. After stepping down from Inlife, he ran short-term rentals in Lisbon with another friend for six months. His third and last experience was at NomadX, a real-estate technology platform providing middle to long-term housing to Remote Workers. Filipe ran the Sales and stayed around for nearly a year. When the pandemic hit, he was transitioned out from NomadX and decided to fully commit to owning a project - Coolivin - which was like a side hustle for him.
In today's post of our Interview Series, Filipe will talk about his feelings and expectations about midterm rentals, the rental market's future, and his experience so far with Flatio.
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Flatio: When did you start to be a landlord, and what has brought you to it?
Filipe: I became a landlord back in August 2018, Teresa (my girlfriend) and I launched our 1st Coolivin space in Carcavelos, next to the beach.
We decided to do it because I was working in the industry, and I felt like I wanted to have my project as I love taking risks, hosting people, and meeting new people.
Flatio: What do you think about the current shift the market has seen from short-term rentals to midterm rentals being very popular due to pandemia? Do you think it benefits landlords like you?
Filipe: I see it as a massive opportunity for landlords like me. The longer the stay, the better. In all the spaces we run, we prioritize stability and steadiness above all, so this shift in the market does fit us like a glove.
Flatio: What were the main challenges you faced when trying to find the right platform to advertise your accommodation?
Filipe: The main challenge is getting to know my guests and tenants. As we target students and young professionals, it's vital to me to provide a great environment amongst the residents in all the spaces we run. Knowing that everyone in the apartment gets along is the bottom line for us.
Flatio: Why did you choose Flatio?
Filipe: I chose Flatio due to the excellent customer support and handling of the deposits for stays up to 6 months. I've noticed paying a deposit is sometimes a big deal for the guests/tenants, so this solution is a win-win for landlords and tenants.
Flatio: What are the main benefits for landlords renting through Flatio, in your opinion?
Filipe: Flatio's platform is highly user-friendly, the support team is very responsive, and they have tenants for all sorts of lengths.
Flatio: How was the experience with tenants you received from Flatio so far?
Filipe: I've only hosted one person from Flatio, but everything went super well and smoothly. The guest was super easygoing, clean, and responsive, so all in all, it was a great start.
Flatio: What do you expect from the rental market in the next coming months as the world gets ready to start recovering from the pandemic?
Filipe: I think for landlords targeting younger demographics, the scenario is very optimistic as the younger generations are more sceptical about the outbreak and will continue travelling no matter what.
I believe the pandemia will be over by the end of this year, so in 2022, all the travels will resume, hopefully.
Flatio’s biggest mission is to allow people to live borderless in a sustainable way while also offering the possibility to landlords to earn some extra money and meet interesting people from all over the world. We are actively adding more inventory to the main European cities and Capitals; if you have an accommodation that you would like to rent out to working professionals, Digital nomads, and remote workers, please use this link to join our platform now.
