Mila Moreno García de Torres (Tenerife, 1965) tells me: “I’m very sentimental, I get emotional right away”. And this for a real estate expert, who sells and rents flats, does not seem to marry much, because her goal will always be to sell. I mean. She has been a flight attendant, received a Germanic education, works tirelessly every day of the week and confesses that the 2008 crisis has not completely ended and that the immediate future is going to be very difficult for the sector, among other things ” because Santa Cruz has little land and because there is a real estate office on every corner”. Tired of working for others, Mila Moreno, whom I have known for many years, set up her own company, to which she incorporated a capitalist partner.
The real estate agency is called Mila&Campos and has a different way of working, according to what I have heard. And I believe it because if there is an enterprising, imaginative woman who is not afraid of hours in the office or serving clients, that is Mila Moreno. She has been in this for 22 years, which gives her the card of an expert because these years have been very intense, in which she has had everything. The most resounding example of her is her father, one of the three founders of one of the wholesale import companies that broke all the old Santa Cruz trade schemes: Pemoro, which is now history. Her father died very young and Mila and her brothers had to support their families through different companies: one of music technology, another pharmaceutical, another real estate, etc. Examples of overcoming
-The land released from Cepsa could be the solution for the capital.
“Yes, of course. With the new planning of those thousands of square meters, Santa Cruz breaks a barrier to the south. The same as, sooner or later, the other barrier, that of the lots attached to Las Teresitas, will have to respond to the need for expansion of the city”.
-It seems that Toscal is beginning to see the light. I am referring to the remodeling of Calle de La Rosa.
“I was delighted with this news. This remodeling will have an immediate knock-on effect”.
-Why do you maintain that the 2008 crisis has not ended?
“Well, because housing for sale becomes more expensive, it is difficult to find apartments for rent and the market is shrinking. Prices have risen a lot and, according to official data, rents are more than 10 euros per square meter. For people who earn, on average, a salary of 1,000 euros per month, this is unattainable. Fortunately, there are also other people with greater purchasing power.”
Are those precisely your clients?
“I have sold and rented everything, but yes, my clientele is quite exclusive and has a higher than average purchasing power.”
-What is the main problem of the real estate sector? And I know this is a recurring question.
“For me, perhaps the fact that there is a real estate agency on every corner. This destroys the quality of our activity a bit, but I think the main one is the lack of land, which is now somewhat sweetened by the future of Cepsa’s land. I am convinced that the problems that may exist in the subsoil will be solved with the new technologies in construction”.
-I’m going to insist. Why do you say that the crisis of 2008, that cursed year, has not ended?
“Well, because there are still problems with money, with the Euribor, with inflation and with people’s fear of taking money out of the bank or their sock or applying for a mortgage.”
– And why the excess of real estate does not encourage competition?
“By excess I mean real estate agencies/multinationals, which are within their right to exist, of course, but it harms us locally because, in addition, they charge very high commissions, between 3 and 6% of the value of the real estate. It’s a barbarity”.
-What differences are there between buying and selling in Santa Cruz and in the south of the island, for example?
“They are two worlds, they have nothing to do with each other. Neither in the public that buys, nor in the prices at which a place or a home can be sold. Prices in the south of the island skyrocket at the same rate as its profitability. We are facing very different demands.”
(I give Mila the example of Faro, in Portugal. There is an old city in Faro, in the Portuguese Algarve, similar to the Toscal neighborhood. A large city, which has been frozen in time, just like Toscal. And so the solution was to build another one next door, very modern.And then there is another model, in Valencia, on the Malvarrosa beach, whose neighborhood we are going to call it a seaside neighborhood has been remodeled and now it is beautiful, praised in all the architecture magazines in the world. world).
“Conceiving a city has many nuances. You can do, as you say, the Faro thing, building another city next to it. But the model of La Malvarrosa, in Valencia, is also very beautiful. Is the Toscal salvageable? Of course he is. And I highly appreciate the municipal decision to transform Calle de La Rosa, which is the main artery of the neighborhood, because it will undoubtedly have a knock-on effect. I was very happy when I read the news in the DIARY OF NOTICES. This is a great idea.”
-You, in terms of initiatives, have a great role model, your father’s.
“Yeah, and don’t get me excited. My father was an entrepreneur, a man with extraordinary business acumen. And he and his partners managed to make Pemoro a model company, which collaborated a lot in the progress of the island. And, indeed, he is my reference and from him I have inherited the ability to fight that I hope will never abandon me”.
-You have made your first steps in the media, in the past, publicizing the best houses in the Canary Islands.
“Well, one has stages. I also traveled the world when I flew with airlines and met wonderful people and have kept many friends here and abroad. I perfected languages and my trajectory prior to these last 22 years helped me to broaden my culture and a little to analyze people. All of that came in handy.”
How has the Internet changed your profession?
“A lot, but on the Internet there is also a lot of fiasco. Networks cannot replace personal contact, differentiated treatment and having someone by your side who advises you professionally”.
-And what has been your greatest professional achievement?
“Well, I don’t like advertising myself, let the clients speak”.
I don’t know your clients, sorry.
“Well, maybe when I sold Honorio Socas, may he rest in peace, 500 apartments in just six months. There I was very lucky… or a lot of merit, let the judge be the one who has to judge.”
-You’ve earned a bundle.
“Less than you are thinking, for sure”.
-I’m still on the Internet. Has everything changed?
“Forms have changed a great deal, but I can already tell you that when one is in the field of exclusivity and a certain standing, the client prefers not to speak to a machine but rather to a person. There is no doubt that the networks are a gigantic showcase worldwide, both to buy a pencil at an auction and to go to a hotel and dispute the price of the room with another. But not everything is Internet, there are more things. It’s like in your profession: digital newspapers or paper diaries? I love to read the paper newspaper, but I’m not disgusted by a digital newspaper, it would be stupid to deny progress. And the Internet is there to stay, although it may also be modified in the future”.
-What is the treasure of the real estate world?
“I believe that in Spain, as is the case in the most advanced Europe, it is legal certainty. Notaries and registrars do an extraordinary job and perhaps what could be improved would be the cadastre, which has a large amount of data that should be more usable. I manage very well with the paperwork, which is less and less, fortunately, and more and more is better computerized, which improves that consolidated legal guarantee”.
-You have always worked for others. One day you decided to become independent. More responsibility?
“Yes of course. Some friends helped me, but I was tired of my effort ending up in other hands. I am, in a way, a seller of illusions because there is nothing more exciting than people finding their homes and entrepreneurs finding their premises. And that the farmer her farm. And let the businessman a ship. And in this work I recognize that I am privileged. And if, on top of that, I don’t have to share the effort, my work, with anyone, well, all the better”.
-But you have a partner, right?
“That gives me absolute freedom. We have not yet distributed benefits, with that I tell you everything.
-Put on a medal.
“I think straightness. That’s how my parents raised me.”
-How long does it take to sell a flat to a pejiguera client?
“No, there are no such clients. Call them, better, special, perhaps demanding, but never pejigueras”.
-Mila, you don’t have to hide. There are very boring, I know.
“I disagree, but in any case, in the face of difficulties you have to arm yourself with patience, because everyone has an illusion in what is going to be their home. And it is not a matter of disillusioning people, but of providing them with information and being honest with the client, without trying to deceive anyone because that would be very unprofessional”.
(Mila Moreno insists that a house is also a person’s dream and that it is not good to play with their feelings. Sometimes the pretensions may seem crazy, “but everyone has a reason when buying a property and those reasons are they must respect, as all people’s dreams must be respected”. He does not have hours to work in the office, or showing properties to future buyers. He is pleasant and knows his trade, thanks to those 22 years of work, day after day She repeats that she considers herself very sentimental and that her greatest treasure is her son Pedro She has come to Los Limoneros for the interview accompanied by her sister Ia, who is a pharmacist, but who has retired and has left the management of the pharmacy to her son. Mariano Ramos gives them some cookies from El Masapé, which they have brought to his mother, who is in poor health).
Do you dream of running a large company?
“No way. I know that my roof is more romantic than financial. I mean, managing sales in an artisanal way almost has its charm. That is why I am happy with what I have achieved and I am very grateful for what all the people who have helped me have done. Everyone has their aspirations and the most remain in this company, made in my image and likeness. I will never regret taking the step and creating a small business that is doing very well and that I practically run alone. So mission accomplished and keep working”.
-Well, good luck, friend.
