About Martine
The first education I completed was at MEAO: the secretarial program. After that education, I started as a department secretary and after working as an executive secretary for several years, I was ready for a new challenge. I found this challenge in a job as accounts receivable manager at the Utrecht municipal housing company, which was of course engaged in renting housing in that municipality. I dealt with difficult collection cases and was responsible for implementing clear collection processes and procedures. Through this employer, I was given the opportunity to develop further, and in 1991 I started a two-year Real Estate Agent program that I completed with a diploma in 1993 within two years.
Meanwhile, a reorganization was carried out at the Utrecht municipal housing company in 1994. In 1995, I worked at a real estate agency for a year, but I did not feel in my element in that job. The reason for this was that I did not aspire to the short and limited contacts with clients in the real estate world. After one year, I started thinking about where my heart really lay. Managing housing and/or buildings for a longer period than the short, quick contacts in the real estate world was an environment that made me happy.
Managing Homeowners Associations
During my Real Estate Agent education, I had already come into contact with managing Homeowners Associations. I increasingly delved into the subject of managing Homeowners Associations and made myself proficient in this field. Especially the different facets and disciplines in managing HOAs proved to suit me perfectly. Ultimately, this led in 1996 to establishing a company specialized in managing Homeowners Associations.
Soon the office had multiple HOAs as clients. My partner, Roland Kruijer, also became a partner, and since then all work involved in managing HOAs has been carried out by us. This to the great satisfaction of our clients, as these HOAs have been clients of our office for years; 80% of our clients have been satisfied with our service for more than 20 years.
Besides my work, I naturally also have hobbies. Handicrafts, particularly crocheting and knitting, are a passion of mine. I also make a lot of clothing myself and wear it with great pleasure. I also enjoy reading and love traveling and short trips. Furthermore, Roland and I love traveling together, especially to Curaçao, where we enjoy exploring the entire island, swimming a lot, snorkeling, and enjoying to the fullest!
Because of our work for HOAs, Roland and I came into contact with Paul Bekkers. During conversations regarding legal issues of HOAs we managed, the topic of travel and Curaçao came up. We all three saw the possibilities to put our knowledge and skills regarding HOAs into practice in Curaçao. Especially because our joint ambition was to relieve clients of concerns, and we all three enjoy coming to Curaçao, the idea to develop a website with a knowledge base for HOAs together arose naturally.
