Who we are

StartGroup was founded by Christofer Fogelberg in 2003 and is owned together with partner Pascal van der Woude. Both owners started in the real estate sector in 2001 in what then was the biggest international estate agency in Spain, Interrealty. Both passed the ISO9001 certification in that company and had successful careers. However they wanted to go a step further and put the client in focus by giving them customer care and support not only before, but also after buying a property on the Costa del Sol.
That was the beginning of StartGroup that was founded on the basis of “Service from Start to Finish!”

Today after almost 20 years in business StartGroup has two offices on the Costa del Sol; Calahonda in Mijas Costa and Torrequebrada in Benalmadena. As well as several on site sales offices in our new developments. With those strategic locations we serve the area between Malaga to Estepona, including Fuengirola and Marbella.
We are not only specialists in international property sales – we also have our property management division, StartGroup PropertyCare, offering all kinds of aftersales services, rentals and property management for the clients that have bought a property with StartGroup. We believe to keep giving our customers service even years after the purchase is important, and we have a great track record on return clients.

Real Estate Marbella

Customer service is one of the four pillars of our company, the others are:

  • Multilingual service; we speak 9 different languages. Spanish, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, French, German, Russian and Ukrainian.
  • Training and certification; All our staff undergoes training by an external auditor when starting in the company and are then audited on a yearly basis. All staff are certified in European and Spanish AML procedures, GDPR & Spanish Data Protection, Andalusian Property law D.21872005.
    And in September 2021 StartGroup were the first company in the world to get fully certified in the new training program launched by the international association of property professionals, AIPP, that is based in London, UK.
    We also have four staff members that are GIPE associates.
  • Advertisement in several languages and countries in Europe and Internationally. We advertise our properties both in traditional printed media and use the latest technology to display our properties on all the mayor internet platforms and social media. With 20 years experience we feel that we have the perfect mix of new and old methods, and we are constantly investing in new technologies and platforms.

GIPE Real Estate Agents CEPI Real Estate Professionals

Client satisfaction

The StartGroup team is highly experienced and sits on a treasure of local knowledge, that you as a client will be welcome to take advantage of. Our goal is not only to find you the perfect property or the right buyer for your property for sale on the Costa del Sol – our true goal is to make you so happy with our service that you want to come back and tell all your friends, now and in the future!

Our goal is to be the best and most professional estate agency on the Costa del Sol. But don’t just take our word for it, see our client testimonials both recent and a decades back – track record. You can also see our 4.9 rating on Google, based on some 200 reviews and our rating on Facebook.

New developments on the Costa del Sol, Spain – Service for property developers

Since 2015 StartGroup offers a select master agency service to property developers. The services are tailor made to each developers needs and can include:

  • Marketing
    • graphic design
    • web design – custom made website in several languages
    • online marketing and social media presence
    • off line marketing in national and international press
  • Legal documentation
    • setting up AML procedures according to EU standard
    • all sales and marketing documentation in accordance to:
    • Andalusian Law, D.218/2005
    • Spanish Consumer law
    • GDPR
  • Client and customer care in 8 languages, from first visit, contracts and delivery = from start to finish!
  • Network of 800 vetted national and international agencies

 

We have worked both with small international developers that are new to Spain and huge Spanish developers such as Kronos Homes and Exxacon. Our service is extra important for international developers that are not familiar with all the red tape and bureaucracy present in Spain. A small mistake in the documentation can result in a hefty fine, so best to be on the safe side with an expert master agency.

Finished and delivered developments

Azalea, Jardinana

84 apartments & 10 houses
Sales volume 41 986 000€

Lotus, Jardinana

109 apartments
Sales volume 42 022 500€

Fairways La Cala Golf

54 apartments
Sales volume 20 000 000€

Ongoing

Ipanema, Calanova Golf

144 apartments
Sales volume 41 842 000€

   

Upcoming

Villas Lindomar

Luxury designer villas in Atalaya, Estepona

Magnolia, Jardinana

Apartments & Townhouses Magnolia, Jardinana fase 3 in La Cala de Mijas

Iris, Jardinana

Apartments & Townhouses Iris, Jardinana fase 4 in La Cala de Mijas

How to find us…

StartGroup La Cala

Christofer Fogelberg

Partner Agent

Christofer is from Gothenburg, Sweden and has been living in Spain since 1999. He has been a real estate agent since 2001 and founded Start Group in 2003. Besides the Scandinavian languages, Christofer speaks fluent Spanish and English. Christofer is a licensed estate agent by GIPE, and was recently featured on the prestigious American Top Agent Magazine. In November 2019 he was elected to the advisory board of the Association of International Property Professionals (AIPP), to help set the new standards for international estate agents. 

+34 952 90 48 90 chris@startgroup.com

Pascal van der Woude

Partner Agent

Pascal is from Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has lived in Spain since 1995. He has been a real estate agent since 2001 and became a partner in Start Group in 2006 after being area manager of Interealty. Pascal speaks Dutch, German, French, English and Spanish.

+34 952 90 48 90 pascal@startgroup.com

David Hemmings

Property Valuer

David is a friendly soul and 100% dedicated to customer care. He is often the first contact for the clients and his calm approach makes everyone feel at ease.
He is a huge football fan and is one of the founders of an unofficial supporters club for Malaga FC. Having lived in Spain since 1985 he is fully bilingual and still conserves his Stoke sense of humour.

+34 952 90 48 90 sales@startgroup.com

Cecilia Bodén

Responsible for completions, qualtiy control and AML

Cecilia is from Sweden has lived in Spain since 1991. Cecilia speaks Swedish, Spanish and English and provides high efficiency for our executive team. Cecilia is responsible for quality control and AML compliance. 

+34 952 90 48 90 admin@startgroup.com

Jennifer Fogelberg-Clarke

Sales Manager

Jennifer is from Gothenburg, Sweden and has been living in Spain since 1993. She was working in the real estate industry on the Costa del Sol from 2001 to 2008 and after a few years in Sweden, she came back to Spain in 2011 and has worked at StartGroup since. Besides the Scandinavian languages, Jennifer speaks English, Spanish and German.

+34 952 90 48 90 jennifer@startgroup.com

Alexander Pak

PropertyCare

Alexander was born in Russia and has lived in Spain since the year 2000. Alexander is responsible for our Property management section; StartGroup PropertyCare. He speaks fluent English, Spanish and of course Russian.

+34 673 80 86 11 pak@startgroup.com

Leon Ruiz

Sales Executive

Leon was born in England by Dutch and Spanish parents. Having worked previously in property and automobile conveyancing for international clients, he is a great asset to our company. He is fluent in Spanish and English.

+34 673 28 95 11 ventas@startgroup.com

Benjamin Lartigue

Benjamin comes from Royan, France. He moved to Spain in 2014 and has been in the real estate business since. He is the new member of the team, hard working and he is an expert on new developments. He speaks French, Spanish and English.

+34 662 39 23 14 benjamin@startgroup.com

Natalia Corchado

Natalia is originally from Argentina and lived in Canada from 1998 until 2004 when she moved to Spain. Natalia speaks Spanish and English, she is the office co-ordiator in our new, contemporary Benalmadena office. Natalias hobbies includes traveling and she is a keen fan of the Carnival in Cadiz.

Ann-Kristin Haga

Ann-Kristin is from Norway and started off as a client of StartGroups when she bought a holiday home in Calahonda in 2011. She liked the Costa del Sol lifestyle so much she decided to move here and is now our social media manager. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see our latest properties and posts on the Costa lifestyle!

Kieran Lawson

Kieran is from Great Britain but grew up on the Cota del Sol , so he speaks both English and Spanish. He is currently heading the sales in our new development Ipanema by Kronos Homes in Calanova Golf.  He is a keen golfer and football fan!

Daniel Holmquist

Daniel is from Gothenburg in Sweden, and has lived over 20 years in Spain. He has a background in both IT and Real Estate and speaks English, Spanish and Swedish. Daniel responsable for property valuations in our office in Benalmadena.  Daniels main interests are computers and Real Madrid! 

Charlotte Cavendish

Charlotte is working with after sales services in our property management section StartGroup PropertyCare. Charlotte is from Sweden and has lived in Andalusia for most her life and speaks English, Swedish and Spanish.  

Sean Vosper

Sean is from Plymouth in Great Britain and has lived and worked on the Costa del Sol for the last 20 years. Sean has a background as a bank manager in TSB in the UK, before making the life changing decision to move to Spain.

+34 673 63 70 16 sean@startgroup.com

Nicole Melki

Nicole is originally from Sweden and moved to Spain with her family at the age of 8. She join our Property Management division PropertyCare  in September 2021. Nicole speaks Spanish, Swedish and English and always helps our clients with a big smile!

Oksana Heliuta

Oksana is from the Ukraine and has lived in Spain since 2013 . She joined our division of new developments in 2021. Oksana speaks English, Spanish, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish and German. Needless to say a great asset in our international team.

Peter Stilma

Peter was born in Soestdijk, the Netherlands. After finishing the economics school in Amsterdam he moved to Spain in 1994.
He started as a real estate agent in Spain in 1999, and has also worked two years in Berlin, Germany where he helped set up a property fund.
During 2008-10 represented a Buenos Aires based Polo & Country Club as a board member of the Argentinean – United Kingdom chamber of commerce.
Peter speaks Dutch, English, Spanish, German, as well as some Italian.
Wine tasting is his favorite hobby!

+34 666 99 23 02 peter@startgroup.com