Share your individual upbringings and how that shaped your future and sparked your love for the industry.
Joel Romero’s passion for boating at an early age led him to open his first shop in Sydney, Australia, at the age of 20. His experience and connections grew rapidly as a leader in luxury yachting, representing brands such as Sunseeker, Ferretti, Pershing, Riva, Custom Line, and most recently Uniesse and Ocean Craft Marine.
Edward Rodriguez’s passion for real estate began when he worked in the banking industry and realized the dynamics of real estate investing. After buying his first residential investment and quickly flipping it for a considerable profit, his interest led him to expanding his portfolio in commercial properties. Experiencing success in the industry, his passion led him to assist friends and clients in buying their own properties.
Tell us about your business from concept to execution. How did you start out in the business, taking a passion and turning it into a successful career?
We have known each other for over 16 years, crossing each other’s paths multiple times while representing the same clients in different transactions. We originally partnered in developing a startup for docking yachts, called FindSlips. After numerous requests from our long list of international clients requesting that we either offer additional services or refer them to other qualified companies, we decided to merge our passion for our respective industries and create an internal group of asset experts, resulting in THE FINDGROUP. What started with only providing boat-slip rental services, has grown to offering yachts, real estate, aviation, and collectable and exotic vehicles. THE FINDGROUP offers a high level of experience in marketing, listing, selling, and closing both off- and on-market luxury assets.
82′ Sunseeker motor yacht by Quantum. Photo courtesy THE FINDGROUP.
What type of experience will a customer have with your company that makes you different from your competitors?
Clients will experience a team with a high level of expertise and knowledge within their respective assets at THE FINDGROUP. Each of our asset managers has 25+ years of experience and a wealth of knowledge. Rather than referring clients to other companies for other assets and losing control of the service levels, THE FINDGROUP is able to offer clients a consistent, high level of service internally, maintaining long-term relationships and satisfied clients.
82′ Sunseeker motor yacht by Quantum. Photo courtesy THE FINDGROUP.
What is your vision for the future of THE FINDGROUP?
As our clients demand additional services and assets, the vision is to continue to merge luxury industry experts into one full-service organization, offering clients access to one group and also offering assets that are unique and not available in the mainstream marketplace.
Where do you see the overlap between the industries that your brand combines?
Each asset that we represent is unique, but the process of the transaction can be very similar. As an example, between a yacht and a residential real estate transaction, each requires an offer, deposit, escrow period, inspection, and approval from both parties in order to proceed to closing. Another overlap that we’ve experienced is that of a client who purchases waterfront property. Typically the client is also looking to purchase a boat if they don’t already have one, or they might be looking to upgrade to a larger boat.
82′ Sunseeker motor yacht by Quantum. Photo courtesy THE FINDGROUP.
What is the most important thing you’ve learned during the process of founding your company?
We’ve learned that committing to our clients 100% and providing excellent service by putting the client first above all is primary. Both of us have a long history of providing clients with top-quality service levels and we require and expect the same of the asset managers who join THE FINDGROUP.
