Hand on the MyHomes-heart

Based on the times we’re in right now, we interviewed our founder and CEO, Finn Christensen. We ask him 10 questions he doesn’t always get asked. In the interview, you’ll get Finn’s take on a number of key questions that relate to the MyHomes concept and the home-sharing market right now, and what’s important for MyHomes going forward.

1. What does the macro economy mean for Danes’ willingness to invest in holiday homes?

“In my experience, there is currently a general mood in society that puts a damper on people’s eagerness to realise their property dreams. It’s perhaps not what people are most focused on if they’re worried about their finances or societal developments in general. The climate crisis, the war in Ukraine and inflation are understandably putting people in a kind of ‘mental crisis’ and a natural restraint.”

2. What do you think about the prospects of getting out of the ‘mental crisis’?

“My belief is that things will calm down soon. We are already seeing gas prices falling, and despite the fact that the key interest rate got another boost this week, the interest rate development has generally calmed down a bit recently. Inflation is still rising, but at the same time, stock prices have started to move in a positive direction and unemployment is at a historically low level. I therefore choose to think positively. It doesn’t take much for the mood to turn around and for people to feel optimistic again. There are many people who still have plenty of room in their finances to make these kinds of investments, but they are affected by the general mood and therefore act more on emotions than reality. It’s a natural human reaction.”

3. What does the foreign property market look like right now?

“We go for hand-picked, sought-after locations in Europe, and in those markets there is still a lot of demand for good properties. Therefore, prices have not yet shown any signs of falling in the places where we buy homes. The most important thing for us is not to compromise on either location or type of property. We’d rather search a little longer to find the right property. Ultimately, this benefits the owners, who get a secure investment in both the short and long term. One of the clear advantages of a home-sharing concept is that you have the opportunity to buy from the top shelf, because you get more for your money.”

4. Is it still a good investment to buy into MyHomes?

“The short answer is yes. Firstly, investing in real estate is a good idea, as all historical data shows, and secondly, there is a growing market for this particular form of ownership. The demand for units is increasing, and when we have units for resale, they rarely stay on the market for very long – days rather than weeks. Even now that the traditional housing market has slowed down.”

5. Why do you think the demand for a sharing concept like MyHomes is increasing?

“I think it has to do with the fact that it hasn’t become easier for people to buy and transform homes due to rising prices of materials, lack of craftsmen, etc. It’s both time-consuming and laborious. My feeling is that there are many families who have been considering buying a home on their own for a long time. But with the current market uncertainty, they are looking into a shared concept where there is less risk involved in investing. Here you can buy luxury homes for DKK 1.5 – 2 million rather than having to pay DKK 6-7 million for just one home and therefore avoid having to take on the entire commitment yourself – both financially, but also having to run the whole thing and make it work. Therefore, there is a large market for a sharing concept like ours both now and in the future.”

6. Who is buying into MyHomes?

“There are still relatively few people in Denmark who know about the concept. However, we see that the target group is expanding – especially with younger people. In line with this development, there are more and more people with a core life philosophy that we should share because it makes sense.

This reinforces our desire for organisations to accommodate different types of owners in terms of age, family composition and demographics. Fortunately, this is also the case in our existing associations, and partly because the needs and wishes are different, there is plenty of room in the booking calendar, and the vast majority of people get their wishes fulfilled every time.”

7. How does it work owning a home with 28 other owners?

“It works smoothly because MyHomes has a well-defined concept with clear rules and agreements between the owners, which provides the security you need when you enter into a concept where you don’t already know each other. Time and time again, I hear owners say that they feel the properties are their own homes, and they don’t realise that there are other owners who feel the same way. This hits the nail on the head, which is why we call our concept MyHomes”.

8. What makes MyHomes different from other actors in the home-sharing market?

“There are different constellations of home-sharing concepts, and I think it’s an advantage that there are more of us spreading the idea of sharing economy and shared ownership. That said, we have one comparable actor that offers something similar. The main difference is that with us, you can own these types of homes for a significantly lower amount, and we can also run the associations with lower costs for the owners. That’s the financial part of it.

In terms of style, we make a big virtue of decorating the homes uniquely. We take into account where we are and the local environment. We source inventory and interior design from many different suppliers and manufacturers, which makes us independent and allows us to deliver the best product to the owners. Every time.

In addition, we have created a very simple and straightforward booking system that is intuitive to use and understand, and we get a lot of praise for that too.

We always work with full transparency. So, in addition to treating the owners’ money with great respect, the owners have full insight into how we spend their money at all times. They have access to the organisation’s minutes and accounts. In addition, each association has an owners’ committee that represents the association and that MyHomes is in close dialogue with while we develop the homes and when they are subsequently in operation.”

9. What is your ambition for MyHomes?

“Externally, the most important thing for us is to spread the word about how advantageous our concept is when you want to own shared homes in Europe. From the start, it has been a goal to organise our company so that it can scale to handle many associations, families and homes without necessarily needing many more employees. It is important that the owners are not affected by high administration costs and that they also experience maximum user-friendliness. That’s why processes and automation are crucial for us.

When I look internally at MyHomes, the most important thing is that we continue to develop. The pace of development we’ve gone through in the last 12 months alone has taken us a long way. This applies to people and our competences, but it also applies to systems and the way we run our business. We need to continue our automation and digitalisation so that we work as smart as possible.”

10. What has been important to you since you founded MyHomes?

“It has to be fun and challenging, and I can confirm that I find that every single day. My main idea has always been that it should be based on a genuine enthusiasm for what we do on a daily basis. Both for myself, but also for the team. When I think back, my philosophy from day one has been that it should be run in a super professional, honest and transparent way, and I think we’ve succeeded very well with that.”