VERTICA Realty Group - News - Details - Mohamad S. Sinno speaks up for Success to Business Journal

VERTICA Realty Group is a leading real estate consultancy firm offering its clients and investors a diverse portfolio of properties in some of the most sought-after countries of the world. Behind the success of this company, stands a young entrepreneur, Mr. Mohamad S. Sinno, who turned his dream into a reality.

The Business Journal met him:

Your Success Story
Thank you very much for your introduction.
Well, it is said that “When achieving your goals are more important than partying, and then welcome to the club of achievers”.
Nothing happened overnight, I have started to dive right in and learn the hard way at an early age. Faced tough times and failed so many times for every success.
It required a lot of patience, dedication and quality years of experience to be where I stand today.
Carrying all of the above, I was able to establish VERTICA Realty Group 6 years ago, in 2010, with a clear mission & vision and solid competences.

What have you offered VERTICA and what did VERTICA offer you?
VERTICA Realty Group is my baby. I have offered it a lot of dedication, passion and hard working. In return, the company offered me success, satisfaction and a great potential for the years to come.

When was VERTICA established? How did it develop throughout the last years?
VERTICA was launched in 2010 with two main objectives: to go into real estate development, and at the same time, to provide sales and marketing advisory and real estate services.

The above was based on my real estate development and investment experience that I have gained from mainly my work in Dubai, where I had the chance to participate in mega projects worldwide.
After the world financial crisis, I took the decision to resettle in Lebanon and started my own business.

Since inception, our core mission was to provide professional and transparent real estate services that were missing in the Lebanese market, as well as to foster the confidence of foreign investors in the market and attract the Lebanese Diaspora to invest in their home country.

Back in 2010, the company ran its business and operations from Beirut and our vision has been focused on being one of the region’s leading companies specialized in the Real Estate industry. After achieving excellent results in Lebanon with a lot of successful complex transactions, satisfied customers, more than 5000 properties in our database and a team of accomplished professionals, we have decided to expand our operations internationally and to open our investment division.

Today, we are a member of the Real Estate Syndicate of Lebanon whose mission is to regulate the real estate brokerage profession in Lebanon in accordance with the international rules and regulations and in compliance with the Ethics and Standards of the business. We are also a proud member of NAR, the National Association of Realtors in the US.

Which clients do you target? Why did you choose specific destinations to offer a choice of diverse properties for your clients?
Our target audience is divided into two types;

Demographically:
1- Under VERTICA Realty Group:
End-users and investors: interested to buy a property to live in or to own a second home
• Local Lebanese
• Expat Lebanese who live in the GCC and Africa

2- Under our new initiative VERTICA Investment:
Investors who are interested in the investment products
• Lebanese (Local and expats)
• GCC nationals
• All Arab nationals
• Financial institutions
• U/HNWI
• Family businesses

Geographically: MENA region

What about the other services you provide to your agents (real estate, investing consultancy)?
We have different types of services depending on our target audience:
For VERTICA Realty Group, we provide the following services: brokerage & consulting (property valuation, financial structuring, mortgage advisory in addition to sales and marketing strategies).

As for VERTICA Investment, we provide the following services:
Deal structuring, real estate development and real estate investment consultancy.

How do you evaluate the prices of your services?
If you are talking about brokerage, then we do abide by the rates indicated by the Lebanese Real Estate Syndicate. We charge the same thing as other agencies. For investment cases, we are keen on studying them case by case.

A word about The Arabian Property Awards for 2015-2016
Since the inception of VERTICA Realty Group and in order to be well known in international and regional markets; we always make sure to raise the bar and our standards and to position ourselves as a reference in the real estate industry.
We have started with the prestigious London-based OPP Awards for Excellence in 2014 where VERTICA Realty Group was recognized as the Best Real Estate Agency in the Middle East.
And we have received thereafter the Arabian Property Award for Real Estate 2015-2016 from the prestigious International Property Awards.
In 2016, we have made a double victory; we were honoured again at the International Property Awards and received the Arabian Property Award for Real Estate in Lebanon 2016-2017 in addition to being recognised for having the best real estate agency website.

The above awards are a testament to our unwavering commitment to serving the best property portfolio to our clients and investors with unparalleled advisory services that are on par with the best in the world.

In quest of new investment markets and opportunities? If yes, in which markets?
We are continuously seeking for new and innovative investment opportunities/ products in safe haven markets/ countries; focusing mainly on the international investment.

Our expansion decision is based on a detailed study about the market that meets the following criteria: stable and growing economy, transparency in regulations.

As for the new investment products, we make sure to choose them according to specific standards that will attract our target audience like operating assets that provide consistent income.

Where are now, for you, the promising investment opportunities or platforms-on an Arab level- beside the UAE?
Of course, we look at Lebanon and mainly Beirut as a hot destination, even though the Lebanese market has been quiet for the past 5 years. We still believe that there is a big potential for the Lebanese market since there is a scarcity of land in Beirut, which means that the demand will outgrow the supply. Once oil exploration will start, the economy cycle will move fast and the demand on real estate will increase. Hopefully, the conflict in Syria will end soon, and its reconstruction will positively reflect on the Lebanese Economy and the Lebanese Real Estate sector.

Does the Gulf Arena present to you the optimal working conditions you dream of?
Certainly, Dubai is my number one targeted destination in the Gulf Arena for having the best business infrastructure in the region; it competes with international standards, markets and cities.

Do you face competition from similar companies working in the same field?
My quote for that is: “Be a game changer the world is full of players”
We are always happy to look at competitors and to analyze how they do their business. But in fact, we approach our business differently. Our focus and services are totally different as we have innovatively created our own path, services and products. But at the end of the day every company does its business in its own way.
But, we are definitely inspired by some leading international companies in terms of professionalism, consistency and transparency and every successful firm should do the same. We always keep an eye on the international players, but we do it “The VERTICA Way”.
Your optimistic vision for the future of investments in Lebanon and the world
In times of crisis, we look at opportunities, and in times of prosperity we focus on how to add value.
At VERTICA Realty Group we are always optimistic, driven by positive energy and always looking at the filled part of the glass of water.

Are you in the process of developing advanced workshops for young business people showing –like you- similar interest in investment and Real Estate?
Frankly speaking, as this part of the world is suffering from deficiency of transparency, we have decided to start a thought leadership initiative to educate people about the market dynamics before stepping into any investment, through seminars, workshops and free advisory.
*How much your work was negatively influenced by regional military troubles and regional economic crisis?
As I told you, we always look at opportunities and at the positive side of the story. For sure such a crisis affected everybody, but there is always an innovative way to turn negativity into positivity.

Present your future vision in few words
I am determined to keep on developing the business through innovative solutions.
To position VERTICA Realty Group as a top player on the regional level.

Slogan in business/life
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”

Last word
I have been always inspired by 2 people in the Arab world:
HE. Rafic Harriri, late prime minister of Lebanon, & HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Ruler of Dubai. I have been always motivated by their remarkable achievements and success stories. They have proven that the word impossible doesn’t exist in their dictionary and mine too. So when there is a will, there is always a way 
Thank you.