Schloss Eugensberg above Salenstein has an eventful history. Built in 1820 by Napoleon's stepson, it was later the family seat of the Hippolyt Saurer family, then a public museum, recreation and holiday home, then the seat of Rolf Erb's family and finally part of Rolf Erb's bankrupt estate. It was sold by Ginesta Immobilien on 1 March 2019. Claude Ginesta, owner and CEO of Ginesta Immobilien AG and Vice President of the Swiss Chamber of Estate Agents, explains in an interview where the greatest challenges lay.

Mr. Ginesta, how does a real estate agent get a prestigious historical project like Schloss Eugensberg?
A certain reputation is certainly necessary to appear on the seller's radar at all. In this case, the seller was the bankruptcy office of the canton of Thurgau, which invited four brokers to pitch. As in every pitch, the aim was to submit a convincing dossier and a good offer. It was also important to us to demonstrate the complex interplay of various requirements and laws - from monument preservation to peasant land law. And because Eugensberg Castle was in bankruptcy, the SchKG also played a role. 

What were the difficulties?
In the beginning we stood in front of eighty hectares "en bloc" - there was no exemption, everything was in the agricultural area. So we had a product that was virtually unsaleable. No bank would have ever given a mortgage for it. The estate included a farm, a bathhouse by the lake, the castle and the hamlet of Sandegg with building land reserve, forests, waterways, public roads, agriculture, cultural-historical zones and park zones. We then managed to form parcels and were thus able to exempt the property from peasant land rights. This structuring at the beginning was decisive in order to create a marketable product at all. Subsequently, we had to evaluate, describe and document various properties for sale - in the event that no buyer could be found for the entire property. However, the buyer, Christian Schmid, ultimately took over a large part of the project as a historical unit. 

«The pressure was enormous, no one had had access to Eugensberg Castle for decades.»

The media interest was huge.  Did that bother you at work, or was it even helpful for sales?
A castle, a family of entrepreneurs known throughout Switzerland, a bankruptcy - we knew that the media would be interested in selling Schloss Eugensberg. The pressure was enormous because nobody had had had access to the castle for decades. In order to bring in some peace and quiet, we held an event for all media on 12 April 2018 and opened the ground floor for photo and film shoots. This brought an incredible range, and Schloss Eugensberg appeared in almost all media. This publicity of course also helped us in sales. However, we already had a list of potential buyers who had been interested in the castle for years. 

How did you organise the visits?​​​​​​​
Interested parties first received a PDF teaser with a description of the sales objects. Then they had to prove that they had at least 25 million Swiss francs at their disposal. In this region the estimated selling price for the castle was alone. Only those with the necessary financial strength were invited to an initial on-site visit, where we handed in an eighty-page book with historical facts, photos and legal information that we had produced especially for the sale. Interested parties who submitted an offer were then given access to a very extensive electronic data room. The individual visits were often very costly. There were interested parties who made up to six inspections - with the preservation of historical monuments, with various experts and valuers as well as experts who examined the building fabric. The main purpose was to estimate which obligations a purchase would entail and which changes and individualizations would be possible because the property was renovated for the last time in 1993, which is about 25 years of maintenance backlog.

Your company claim is "We love the special". Are castles your speciality?​​​​​​​
No, we are service providers and have different divisions. No broker in Switzerland can make a living from selling a castle. However, Ginesta has a lot of experience and the necessary specialist knowledge in the sale of locks - we know the laws and how to negotiate with the responsible authorities. Our job as service providers is to find compromises in dialogue so that a castle can be inhabited as comfortably as possible and according to the buyer's ideas. 

This sounds like a touch of sensitivity and diplomatic skill ...
These are the basic skills that distinguish a good broker - not only when selling a castle, but for every property. We mediate between buyer and seller, we negotiate and show possibilities, but also borders transparently. In the case of Schloss Eugensberg, for example, there were interested parties who were planning extensive changes. We immediately told them that this would not be possible. 

Do you get rich as a real estate agent with a project like Schloss Eugensberg?​​​​​​​
We have invested a total of two years in this sale, full of extensive clarifications with the authorities, extensive visits and a great deal of administration. In February/March 2017 we received the order, around Christmas 2018 we were able to conclude a preliminary contract. As this was a bankruptcy sale, the creditors had a further thirty days to make a higher offer as part of the sale by private treaty. In the media one could also read that at the end another bidder duel between two interested parties broke out. Even after the highest bid has been knocked down, there is a so-called freehand sale, which is written by the bankruptcy officer and only becomes legally binding after thirty days. The sale was then official at the beginning of March 2019. 

«No estate agent in Switzerland can make a living selling castles.»

But in the end you still earned something from Schloss Eugensberg? ​​​​​​​
Yes, the brokerage business is transaction-oriented, i.e. when a transaction takes place, the broker normally receives a good commission. The two years of upfront work were an immense investment and also a major entrepreneurial risk. Because if there hadn't been a sale, which can happen with locks in particular, we would have had to accept a considerable loss. All the work and time would not have been compensated, and we would at most have been reimbursed for the third-party costs. In order to carry out such a project, you need a good deal flow, a solid portfolio and good capacity utilisation. 

Looking back, what was the biggest challenge for you in this project?
Conversations with the preservation of historical monuments. We didn't have a room book, the property wasn't inventoried, and the preservation authorities had pretty clear ideas about what is possible and what is not. This meant larger "discovery phases". But in Christian Schmid we found a buyer who has a great deal of understanding for this building fabric. 

You are Vice President of the Swiss Chamber of Brokers - what does this connection to the SMK bring you?
The Chamber of Estate Agents is an obligation for every member and a guarantee for every client that the work is carried out cleanly. There are no half measures, no black money transactions and no crooked deals. Regardless of the size of a property or the selling price, SMK membership is a seal of quality because the Swiss Chamber of Estate Agents puts every member through their paces. I myself carry out regular audits, and we follow up negative feedback on our members immediately and comprehensively. We owe this to our clients.