In this episode of the JamesEdition Podcast, Eric Finnas Dahlstrom, CEO of JamesEdition, sits down with Jimmy Widen, founder of 3SA Estate in Marbella. Widen shares his journey from the Swedish media industry into luxury real estate, and how he built an agency spanning two markets while keeping his sights on a third.
Key Highlights
- A Transformed Buyer Profile: In Marbella, the pre-COVID buyer was a holiday-home purchaser averaging over 60 years old; today the average buyer is 46, often with children in local schools and choosing permanent residence — now 40% of transactions.
- Brand as Differentiator: Widen built 3SA — “three steps ahead” — around a recognizable identity and consistent lifestyle storytelling, treating brand-building the way luxury houses like Louis Vuitton or Rolex do.
- The Ecosystem Model: Rentals, concierge services, and long-term client relationships feed a self-sustaining cycle in which the same client buys, rents, resells, and reinvests over many years.
- A Long-Term Marathon: With roughly 2.7 sales per agent per year across the Costa del Sol, Widen stresses that success in Marbella demands patience, dedication, and years of relationship-building before profitability.
- Three Contrasting Destinations: Marbella, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi each offer a distinct proposition — slow-paced Mediterranean living, world-leading service and security, and an emerging old-money coastal alternative.
Jimmy WidenFounder, 3SA EstateDubai is quite the opposite of Marbella. Marbella is a small town with a lot of greenery and a very slow pace and easy living, but we lack the service. Dubai has the highest security in the world and the best service. And then you have Abu Dhabi growing — I would call it the French Riviera of the Middle East, more for old-money clients, which is the fundament of 3SA’s base in Marbella.
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Eric
Today we have a guest who I believe will give a lot of interesting insights into how to start an agency in a new market, launch several new markets, and grow. Jimmy Widen from 3SA Estate in Marbella. You have a very interesting background — you started the agency a few years ago but came from a completely different industry. How did you get into the business?
Jimmy
I started 10 years ago and moved here permanently nine years ago, but I come from the media industry. I worked in TV for almost 15 years — the first seven behind the camera, selling TV commercials and product placement at TV4, Sweden’s biggest channel, which is like the BBC in the UK. Then I started two production companies with business partners.
Jimmy
All that experience led into this, because I built a very good network with successful people. Between 2005 and 2012, most of the startups in Sweden came to TV4 to launch their business, and I was one of the people responsible for meeting these entrepreneurs and helping them build their businesses. I joke that it was like having a double Harvard education — while earning good money.
Jimmy
I moved here because I bought a holiday home, with no plans to relocate. But I had experience flipping apartments in Stockholm — 23 apartments in 13 years. I invested that money here, and through the experience of buying, I felt there was a gap in the market to represent buyers. And I had a good phone book.
Eric
This was quite a few years before COVID, and I’d assume COVID was a substantial accelerator for the area — Marbella and the surrounding cities. So there are more agents now, or different types of agents?
Jimmy
I’d put it like this. Before COVID, I sold 95% holiday homes to clients averaging above 60 years old. Since COVID, we now sell to an average age of 46, with two kids they put in school here, and 40% permanent living across all our transactions. On top of that, Marbella has grown from 140 nationalities to 155.
Jimmy
The main reason to buy has changed due to the growth of digital meetings that came from COVID. People can live wherever they want. You may be born in Stuttgart, but you don’t need to live there any longer, and you definitely don’t need to run your business there. This is the biggest game changer. Agents come and go — there were a lot then and a lot now. I don’t think the number of agents has changed much, or the number of transactions. But going from 95% holiday homes to 40% permanent living — that’s like flipping a coin completely, because the circumstances changed.
Eric
You moved from Sweden into a new country. You knew the market a bit, and the flipping side from Sweden. But what was the biggest challenge of launching an actual agency here?
Jimmy
I did a lot of due diligence and wrote a 15-page business plan. I gave it to four people I trusted and looked up to as successful entrepreneurs. All four came back and said, “This is very interesting, I’d love to invest.” I said thank you, but I only wanted their opinion — I didn’t want an investor at that moment. Still, it felt good to know I wasn’t in deep water. And I went all in.
Jimmy
I saw a gap because everyone here was focused on getting listings. I realized that as a buying agent representing the buyer, I didn’t need listings — I just needed buyers, and those I had. The biggest challenge was identifying where the gaps were and keeping that solid in the strategy. Beyond that, moving to a new country is ridiculously complicated — the bureaucracy in Spain, not speaking the language, no friends here. It was a bold move, but today I’m very grateful I did it.
Eric
You came down alone with your business plan and your phone book. How did you get the buyers back then, and how has that changed?
Jimmy
The phone book was essential. Without a big network, I’d never have succeeded, because the competition is too big. On top of that, I identified that no one had a cool brand behind their agency. So I built a brand I felt clients could identify with — the same way you do with a Louis Vuitton or Rolex logo. You don’t necessarily know what Rolex or Volvo mean; even Swedish people don’t know what IKEA actually means. You buy it for the product or the brand.
Jimmy
That’s why I came up with 3SA — “three steps ahead.” No one asks what it means until you’re sitting with a glass of champagne, celebrating an investment. When they ask and you tell them, the reaction is usually, “I like that.” Then you get a spin effect in sales, where clients feel they’ve been smart using something three steps ahead. The main purpose was to create marketing clients identify with, and to constantly show storytelling about the life quality here — that you can take your morning calls on the beach instead of running to the subway in London.
Eric
And it worked. What are the main channels you use today, and how do you think about scaling them?
Jimmy
The main channel is social media — not big on YouTube, we missed that race, but quite big on Instagram. We also have an enormous rental portfolio of luxury villas and apartments under a separate brand. Within 3SA, we have a big portfolio of luxury villas that I or my brokers have sold. Very successful people from all over the world come to Marbella and rent, and after a while most like it here and consider investing. Then it’s quite likely they reach out to us. That’s the most important marketing channel besides social media.
Eric
How do you acquire that rental portfolio?
Jimmy
From the phone book initially, and by nice marketing to clients who already knew me. They trusted me, they bought with me, and when they weren’t here, I suggested I could rent their properties out. The next step might be that they want to reform something or resell and buy something bigger. So you have the rental guest and the conversion from there.
Jimmy
What I created — and what’s still essential for 3SA — is an ecosystem to keep every client, build super relationships, and sell more products to them. I sometimes joke that you, me, and Elon Musk have one thing in common: we only have 24 hours per day. I try to identify how I can help my clients get as much out of every day by integrating them quicker into the amazing lifestyle here. So we also have a concierge — a full service for existing buyers and rental clients. We elevate their life quality, and then they hopefully want to invest more.
Eric
On social media, you have both the brand account and you’re very active yourself.
Jimmy
Yeah, my personal account. I try to show who I am, be as down to earth as possible, and inspire anyone to live a life in the sun. I believe in transparency. People buy with me because they trust me — they know I’ll be honest and work for their best interest. If you show a fake personality on social media, it’s not to your advantage. Better to show you have flaws, that you’re funny, that you like tennis. You need to be authentic. Of course, I have five full-time jobs within the company, so it’s quite hard to be funny every day.
Eric
When you look at resource allocation and budgets, how do you think about how much to spend on marketing and where — considering it’s hard to measure the effect?
Jimmy
Marketing is our most expensive cost — more than staff. You need to take a step back and understand that happy clients give you new clients. So the most important thing is to get happy clients. Where you find them changes every day. You need to be up to date on macroeconomics — the new rules in the Netherlands, what’s happening in the UK, the next trend, who the next buyers will be. You should focus on maybe one country, naturally the one you’re from, and build a brand there.
Jimmy
But you can’t build a brand in all countries. We have a brand in Sweden, and we invested a lot to get it. Doing the same in Germany, with 10 times the population, would cost 10 times the money — and I’d need to be German. So instead you hire a German person, invest in them step by step, scale in the German community, and build a snowball effect that way. But if you’re a broker starting out, just focus on the close ones around you and get happy clients who give referrals. The other thing that’s been successful — but costs a lot of money and time — is building the ecosystem, because it feeds itself after a while. I have clients who bought six products from us one and a half times over. So you earn money nine times on the same client. That’s a solid business.
Eric
The competition here is fierce — a fairly low number of transactions compared to the number of agents. How can a new agent even break in?
Jimmy
I get this question a lot, and I get 40 to 50 applications a month from all over the world. It’s flattering, but today we only recruit people with a minimum of four or five years of local knowledge — Marbella for Marbella, Dubai for Dubai. It’s very complicated. 80% fail, no matter how good a seller they are, how good their network, or how great at marketing. You need all three, and you can still fail, because it’s a challenging place to live. The sun is shining, there are a lot of parties, it’s easy to stay on a long lunch and drink more wine. You need to be very dedicated.
Jimmy
If you don’t have those three things and an enormous winning mentality, I wouldn’t try to go into this market — it’s very consuming in money, energy, and time, and you’ll likely fail. But if you have a solid plan, the money to invest, and you understand you won’t earn anything the first year or two, it’s a very lucrative market.
Eric
How many transactions happen on the Costa del Sol?
Jimmy
Over the last five years, there were between 55,000 and 58,000 transactions between Málaga and Sotogrande, divided among roughly 20,000 to 25,000 agents. That gives about 2.7 sales per year per agent — you can’t live on that. My serious guess is that 3% of agents earn around 70% of the commissions. That’s connected to a snowball effect. I’ve sold a lot of villas over the last nine years for between three and six and a half million euro. Those villas are worth much more now. When I resell them for nine or ten, the clients buy a new one for twelve.
Jimmy
You have to understand this is a long-term marathon strategy. You might not earn anything the first five years, but you get very happy clients, keep them, and one day they sell with you and buy again. Then you have three transactions in six or seven years, and you earn money. Coming here and thinking it’s an ATM machine is wrong. It’s very competitive, and you need to stay away from anything connected to partying — that’s also expensive here, and not what you want in startup mode.
Eric
As you scale, you have a substantial team now.
Jimmy
We’re 24 people in Marbella and three in Dubai — we were seven, but for strategic reasons we’re slower there now. Dubai will come back stronger than ever, I’m 100% sure. I just bought my first apartment in Dubai — it’s under construction. That was something I dreamt about when I started 3SA nine years ago. It was in the business plan from the beginning that we’d start in Dubai; we did four and a half years ago. It’s been the same roller coaster as Marbella, but the biggest difference is I’m not there permanently, so it’s even more complicated to build something remote. Now I’m happy I’ve fulfilled the dream of having properties in both destinations, which also shows trust to any client.
Eric
Each buyer is unique. How do you communicate with a buyer who’s selecting the right property for them?
Jimmy
You need to look at what’s best for the buyer, not your own commission. Most agents here select properties based on where they have the highest commission — that’s the worst mistake you can make. You need to give clients trust from the first contact until they move in, and the 10 months after. The big job actually starts once the client has moved in. The second biggest job starts after the reservation contract is signed, until title deed. Most agents misunderstand this — they think once the reservation contract is signed, the deal is done. It’s absolutely not.
Jimmy
Selecting properties is also a big knowledge. You need to know the developers — who you won’t sell from, who you might, how to put leverage and guarantees for your buyers, which listings you shouldn’t bring in because they could hurt your reputation. The same with lawyers. I met 42 lawyers; 41 failed. One communicated well, was trustworthy, and picked up the phone when I called. He’s now had maybe 400 or 500 sales from me. I’m loyal — you shouldn’t change a winning concept. The trick is finding it, so you get happy clients. Technical inspections and all these things matter, because if you sell something that doesn’t work out, it’s your reputation on the line.
Eric
This is a market with both buyer agents and listing agents. You were primarily on the buyer side, and now you’re transitioning. What was the thought process?
Jimmy
I’ll personally always be a buying agent. But since we’ve sold 500 properties in Marbella, we naturally become more of a listing agent, because those properties come back and owners want to sell. As we grow, I want my brokers to build their snowball on more of a 50/50 split, instead of me being 100% buying agent. We should diversify — knocking on doors, speaking with people at Marbella Club, whatever it takes to get listings, because listings are important. But the way I see it, our listings should be sold through other agents, while we focus on being buying agents for our own buyers, so there’s no conflict of interest. Many agencies in Marbella try to sell their own listings to direct clients for the highest commission. I see it as two different business areas.
Eric
How does the listing side look here — the market share distribution?
Jimmy
You have a top-one tier of about five agencies. They’re untouchable, extremely big, selling for more than 250 million euro per agency per year, very listing-oriented. Then a top-two tier of 10 agencies — that’s where 3SA is. Then a top-three tier of around 50 agencies, and a long tail of 3,000 agencies. That’s how I divide the market in my internal strategy and communication.
Eric
Do you try to grow in tier or compete within the same one?
Jimmy
More compete in the same tier and below. I don’t necessarily need to take the company to tier one — if I wanted that, I’d have done it long ago by bringing in an investor. Instead, I own 100% of the company in both countries myself. That’s an advantage, because I can get funding at any time to grow or stay in my tier. Right now, we’re very happy where we are.
Eric
Why Dubai, and how did you make the first steps there?
Jimmy
Dubai is a big city — I see it as the new, modern New York, as the easiest comparison. You have fantastic service, a spectacular place, great climate, and very interesting, smart people. On top of that, the highest security in the world and the best service. It’s quite the opposite of Marbella. Marbella is a small town with a lot of greenery, a very slow pace, and easy living — but we lack the service. We have good food but lack the service. We have good schools and no car queues, but we don’t have great security. It’s okay, better than Sweden where I’m from, but still not like Dubai.
Jimmy
I want a company established in destinations I can sell to the same client. With my hand on my heart, I can sell a big base of our clients a property in Dubai too, because Dubai is so different. What I’ve been waiting for since I started is a direct flight between Málaga and Dubai. Before the war, they were close to starting it with Fly Dubai, owned by Emirates. Now it may be postponed. But I’ve never had luck handed to me, so I expect it to take even longer.
Eric
Despite the current conflict, you’ve had success this year in Dubai — one trophy sale.
Jimmy
Yeah, we sold a pile of sand, actually. Off-plan, through one of the most luxury developers in the world, Aman — if not the best, one of the top two or three. It’s in one of the best locations in Dubai, Jumeirah Second, where Rosewood will open, close to Bulgari and Four Seasons. It’s a penthouse of 2,000 square meters indoors and 900 square meters of rooftop terrace, for 110 million euro. I’ve had high ambitions since I started, but I didn’t think we’d sell something for that amount. It could give rings on the water, but it was probably the worst possible timing for that.
Jimmy
We got paid 10 days into the war — I didn’t sleep for nine of them. The deal started in October last year when we began working with the client, and it was done the day before Christmas. But the signatures, deposits, everything took time. I was in Dubai on the 25th of February with the developer, planning to celebrate that night, and asked if they could pay the invoice. They said next week. Then I flew home to Marbella and woke up Saturday with the airspace closed and a full invasion. I thought, this just can’t happen. But the developer paid 10 days later, so in the end it was fine. The buyer is very happy — it’s a five-year project and a landmark sale that will increase a lot in value.
Eric
So you have Marbella and Dubai. Have you decided on more markets?
Jimmy
As it feels right now, this is it. I had another market in mind in the business plan from the beginning, but I didn’t imagine how complicated it was to build something up in Marbella, then the same in Dubai. Going into a third market must wait until I have kids and am a couple of years more mature in both destinations. I have an interesting destination in mind that I can’t name — but it’s not even 50/50 that it’ll happen. I’m very happy as it is, and our destinations are solid.
Jimmy
In Dubai, you also have Abu Dhabi growing, and Abu Dhabi is the opposite of Dubai. I’d call it the French Riviera of the Middle East — more for old-money clients, which is the fundament of 3SA’s base in Marbella. Dubai is a bit more new money, tech money, maybe crypto; we don’t have so many clients like that. So I’m very interested to see how Abu Dhabi develops for our clientele. If I didn’t have the main business in Dubai, I’d invest in Abu Dhabi — it’s fantastic. The beaches are like the Maldives, clear water, dolphins. It’s very exciting what they’re doing.
Eric
The brand is weaker for Abu Dhabi than Dubai.
Jimmy
So far. But in seven years it’ll be a different, strong brand in a different way. On top of that, the biggest developer in Abu Dhabi, Modon, just bought La Zagaleta, which we have here, Europe’s most exclusive and secure community. In La Zagaleta I’ve sold 16 villas — I know it in my sleep. There’s high demand in the world for privacy and security, and I think Modon has interesting plans linking La Zagaleta with Abu Dhabi. So 3SA is quite well aligned with what’s going to happen over the next 10 years in these two markets.
Eric
Sounds great. Thanks a lot, Jimmy.
Jimmy
Thank you for having me.
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