4 minute read
John Taylor
The luxury Real Estate Agent
JOHN TAYLOR
In 1864, 30-year-old John Taylor opened his real estate business in Cannes. His reputation and success lead to expansion along the southern French coast, where he managed an exceptional property portfolio for British, French, and American aristocratic and political classes.
Today John Taylor is the world’s oldest real estate company focusing on luxury properties, with offices in almost twenty countries. It’s now one of three companies in what’s known as The Group, which can fulfil the desires of the wealthy. The others are Artcurial (the top French auction house) and Arcana, which breeds and supplies Thoroughbreds to clients including Queen Elizabeth II and Middle Eastern royalty.
John Taylor’s office in the heart of Palma de Mallorca is the exclusive agent for E5 Living’s Palma Old Town homes. “Very personalized service is the reason for the brand’s longevity,” explains Irish-born Pierce Broderick, one of the branch’s two managing partners. “We are service providers – this is our vocation.” Pierce has worked in the luxury real estate sector for twenty years, including a year at John Taylor’s head office. He and Catalina Quetglas – a Mallorcan who came into real estate from twenty-five years in banking – opened their John Taylor franchise in Palma in March 2018. The two business partners refer to it as a ‘onestop shop’, offering services above and beyond finding the perfect property for their clients.
“We are primarily in the second-home market and understand that the vast majority of our clients may not speak Spanish,” Pierce says. The seven-strong multilingual John Taylor team will help their clients with lawyers, securing finance, builders, interior designers and even schools and doctors – using their extensive local knowledge and contacts.
Catalina’s experience and “very good contacts” in the banking sector enable her to introduce clients to banks able to deal with the specific requirements relating to mortgages for foreigners. “When it’s for a second residence, foreigners can borrow 70% of the purchase price,” Catalina says, adding that not everyone needs a mortgage. “Nowadays, if you have money in the bank, you have to pay to keep it there. Putting that money into property in Palma is a good investment.” Last year, Palma property transactions amounted to 43% of those for the entire island.
Mallorca’s appeal to diverse
nationalities is a bonus. “There are not many property markets in the world that are so levelled out with all these different nationalities,” Pierce explains. He says that British demand has dipped, as a result of Brexit uncertainty, “but we are buoyant with the Germans, Scandinavians, Italians, and Belgians. The reason so many people invest in Mallorca is because it’s a sure bet.”
And not just from an investment point of view. Foreigners value Mallorca for its high level of security, low crime rate, privacy and great infrastructure, which facilitates year-round travel between the island and other European cities. Pierce adds that Mallorca also has two royal residences: Almudaina (next to the Cathedral) and Marivent, on the city’s outskirts. “This means that Mallorca enjoys a level of security that’s equal only to that of Madrid – 365 days a year.”
Pierce and Catalina are excited about E5 Living’s Villa San Lorenzo: “It’s a complete, three-storey townhouse, restored to its former glory,” Pierce says. The trend in recent years has been for old houses to be redeveloped into apartments. “And the property is finished,” Catalina adds. “This isn’t easy to find in Palma, where there are lots of projects under development – but not ready.”
Its location – close to Es Baluard, Jaime III, the Borne, and the sea – is another factor. The home has a double garage and an elevator right up to the roof terrace – a rarity in the Old Town. “The cherry on the cake for me is the 85sqm terrace, with beautiful summer kitchen and lounge area, private pool, and spectacular direct views to the Cathedral,” Pierce says. For their first project in Palma, British company Harris Byrne Interiors designed and decorated this stunning home – another unique point.
John Taylor brought Can Fortuny and the
property in Calle de Cofradía de San Miguel to the attention of E5 Living’s President & Founder: Kevin Stevens. “When Catalina and I first met Kevin, my goal was to visualize what he wanted to achieve. We had long discussions and I built a clear picture. We searched for stand-out, star projects in superb locations for him and found these two.”
Can Fortuny is just off beautiful
Plaza Santa Eulàlia. The prime-location building has a lovely mallorquín patio and is a community of just five apartments. “What makes this redevelopment stand out is that it’s a duplex penthouse with a wrap-around terrace. It’s basically a villa sitting on top of a building – and that’s unique. And it’s the first time this property has come on the market in the last 50 years.”
The third property is another complete house, just behind the San Miguel church – with an amazing roof terrace and lots of space for relaxing and socializing. “All three properties allow for a very comfortable lifestyle, because everything can be done on foot – although all come with parking.”
“They’re in the middle of everything, but superquiet,” Catalina adds. “It’s something all our clients want.”
Like the 19th-century John Taylor, Pierce Broderick and Catalina Quetglas and their team are passionately committed to understanding and delivering – with highly personalized service – what their discerning clients want. It’s their vocation.
