João Carlos Gondim , a renowned speaker and entrepreneur with extensive experience in the real estate market, offers a comprehensive overview of the recent transformations in the sector. In his analysis, Gondim highlights the evolution of real estate quotas and the impact of high-end branded residences in Brazil. He also reflects on the importance of the Minha Casa Minha Vida program and its social contribution, especially after the 2023 changes. With a career that spans internationally, he discusses the challenges and lessons learned in expanding his investments abroad and how his education at renowned institutions such as MIT and Harvard influences his strategic approach. In addition, Gondim explores how technological innovation, including artificial intelligence, is shaping the future of real estate operations and offers valuable advice for new entrepreneurs in the sector.
How do you assess recent transformations in the real estate market, especially in the real estate quota segment?
The market has really undergone many recent transformations and has brought with it several new trends and innovations. Among them, I would like to highlight the high-end branded residences here in Brazil, that is, large developers in São Paulo, in the South and in various parts of Brazil, with projects signed by very famous architects both nationally and internationally, as well as by very famous brands, such as Lamborghini, Porsche, Fendi and others. Furthermore, the market has also become quite professional, especially in the real estate quota segment, which was a segment that was not very well worked, both by developers and by real estate agencies and brokers. Today, most mid- and high-end developers work on the issue of real estate quotas, the developers are in the SPE and the investors are in the SCP with a safe investment and excellent profitability. So, when we started investing in real estate quotas, one example we can give is Vitacom , which offered quotas starting at one million reais. So, today there are much more affordable quotas, from 500 thousand, 200, 100 thousand, even 50 thousand reais. So, the real estate quota market tends to develop more and more with the growth of the market itself.
What motivated you to focus on the Minha Casa Minha Vida program, and how do you see the social impact of the changes implemented in 2023?
I started out way back, almost 20 years ago, in real estate development, doing Minha Casa Minha Vida, in Fortaleza, since I’m from Ceará. And it’s a market that at that time made a lot of money and provided good profitability, and there was also the social aspect, of making dreams come true, the dream of families, the dream of owning their first home, the dream of owning their own home. So this creates a great sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Over time, the values were not adjusted and the margins of the Minha Casa Minha Vida real estate market became very tight. But last year, in 2023, the government increased the maximum value of Minha Casa Minha Vida to 350 thousand. So, it made sense again for us developers who like to do things economically as well. Today, we are more focused on high-end projects, here in São Paulo and Santa Catarina. But we already have two projects in the East Zone, three, in other words. one in Itaquera, another in Vila Matilde and another project in Nalha Franco, the main neighborhoods in the East Zone. It is a great satisfaction that we should launch these projects by the end of the year, by November, December. It has a very cool image, as we are able to carry out quality projects, and it is also a great satisfaction and achievement to see families being able to realize their dream of owning their own property.
What were the main challenges you faced when expanding JCG Incorporações’ investments to the international market?
The main challenges we faced in expanding our companies’ businesses, our real estate company, to the international market were the differences in culture, market and currency. You have to learn everything from scratch, make all the connections, network, meet builders, developers, investors, brokers, project approvals, because we have done several projects in the United States, so of course, we always need knowledge because we have had the attitude for a long time, but always the knowledge and relationship network, the contact network, the network, knowledge of local laws, the market, different interest rates, different financing, these were the main challenges for the international expansion of our business.
As his specializations in renowned institutions such as MIT, Harvard, and University of Tennessee influence your strategic approach to real estate?
The courses we took in the United States, mainly at MIT, at Harvard itself, which is one of the best universities in the world. I also did a postgraduate degree at the University of Tennessee. So, it provides a very macro, very strategic vision, a global vision. Of course, you can’t apply everything you see in the American real estate market here in Brazil. But what doesn’t apply, you simply leave aside, but many things certainly apply, such as the Brazilian real estate market and in other parts of the world as well. So the market is one, so there are many things that are repeated in all parts of the world. So knowledge is always the basis of everything, where everything begins. You have to have cutting-edge knowledge combined with technology and always forming the best team. So taking courses and specializations at the best universities in the world certainly makes a huge difference in our lives and in our professional and financial results.
How do you see the future of the real estate market in Brazil, especially in relation to accessibility for low-income families?
In my opinion, I am quite optimistic about the future of the Brazilian real estate market for the next two years, realistically optimistic, because interest rates are currently around 10.5%. It may drop in 2025, but with this interest rate I can already see growth, especially the entire market, but especially in the high-income, luxury and high-end segments, which are normally always booming, especially here in São Paulo, the South and most of Brazil, but also in Minha Casa Minha Vida, because values have increased substantially throughout Brazil to 350 thousand in 2023, and 90% of the demand in the Brazilian real estate market is for Minha Casa Minha Vida. So, the dream of every Brazilian is for the developer to have good projects in good locations, with fair and affordable prices and with quality workmanship. Minha Casa Minha Vida will certainly continue to be very strong, very booming for many, many years, because it is the great dream of the Brazilian family.
How does your experience as an international speaker contribute to growth and innovation within JCG Incorporações?
I call myself a developer, professionally, I am a developer and investor in the real estate market. There are several companies in Brazil, such as Alfa Inco, which is our high-end developer, with business here in São Paulo, Jericoacoara and Santa Catarina. But we also act as investors in several real estate projects in Brazil. Today, only in our projects, in the Ufa Inco projects and in our low-cost company, Casa Nova Empreendimentos. So, we are speakers both in Brazil and abroad, we gain knowledge. I am the speaker at my friends’ and partners’ events. We share the content, but during the breaks and everything, we exchange ideas with the participants, with the other speakers at the event and end up gaining knowledge as well. And one of the main things is the issue of networking , valuable networking. Every event I go to, I go to seek at least knowledge and networking. And the issue of networking is what really makes the difference, it is responsible for and is for over 80% of my results. So the lectures, the national and international events are also of great value for the issue of networking , knowledge, and this brings new businesses, new investors and new incorporations in the places where we operate.
Realty ‘s operations to stay ahead of market trends?
Technology is extremely important , especially in the real estate market, which is one of the most backward markets in the world, and in Brazil it is even more backward. Despite the progress we made during the pandemic, in my opinion, we made 10 years of progress in 2 years. So, for the real estate market, the pandemic brought a huge gain in productivity, growth and everything else. Today, the main technological innovations we are making are using artificial intelligence to serve our clients and brokers, to provide visits and offer the best project and product to potential buyers and investors. So, we are making a lot of use of artificial intelligence to serve our clients and we are also going to start testing artificial intelligence to develop our vertical projects. We have already connected with the largest company for this in Brazil and our next projects will have artificial intelligence and a real architect for us, instead of waiting sometimes 15 days or a month to receive a study, we will receive this study in one day or in a few hours. In other words, significantly increasing productivity and speed in analyzing new projects and new land.
What advice would you give to new entrepreneurs who want to pursue a successful career in the real estate sector?
The advice I always give is to invest in yourself. Invest in everything you can. One, in knowledge, because knowledge is the basis of everything. Now you have to invest in knowledge and put that knowledge into practice. Applied knowledge is power. Two, invest in your mindset, the growth mindset, which is the growth that transforms and evolves so many people. As for companies, mindset is fundamental. And networking is also one of the most important parts, it is responsible for a large part of our growth, but over 80% of our business is related to networking. You have to connect with the right people, in the right places, and who have the right knowledge. I always say, have several shark teams in the markets you operate in. That is the shark team, the team with the best professionals, the best brokers, developers, investors, builders, real estate agents and many other professionals who are part of the network of real estate developers. Using these three variables, the person will certainly have great success and great growth in the real estate market or in any market they want to operate in. Thanks.
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