What It Means To Be A Real Estate Agent At Drumelia

By Artur Loginov April 10th, 2025 · 15m. reading time

Read more about Artur

There are many things that make a great agent: market knowledge, negotiation skill, client dedication. But behind all of that, there is something harder to define and even harder to build. A culture. A philosophy. A daily commitment to becoming better than you were yesterday.

At Drumelia Real Estate, we have spent years thinking about what that means in practice — not in theory, this felt like the right moment to stop and reflect on what it truly means to be a Drumelia agent.

This article is a look behind the curtains: into the structure of our team, the standards we hold, and the people who live them every day. We have also included six video speeches from members of our team, because some things are better heard than read.

Our beginnings were simple. The first office I worked in at Drumelia in 2009 was 15m² on C/Calvario in Marbella, with a rent of 300 euros per month, a figure we struggled to pay more months than I'd like to admit. The path to where we are now was full of obstacles. A path I would not dare take again if I knew what was ahead, but one I am deeply proud of having walked.

It is important never to forget where you come from. Not to take things for granted. Not to fall into the trap of thinking you know more than others. Consider yourself your most fierce competitor and keep pushing your boundaries further.

As with any company, it all starts with the founder. Sergey, 53 years old, has been working in Marbella since 1997 as a self-made successful real estate agent and co-owner of Drumelia. He could have taken a comfortable, passive role years ago. Instead, he remains at the forefront every day as a Senior Property Advisor — continuously surprising all of us with his results and his ability to create deep, lasting connections with every client. To this day, all of his business comes from referrals. That is not coincidence. That is what 25 years of genuine service looks like.

I, Artur, joined Drumelia 15 years ago and worked my way from real estate agent to CEO and co-owner. Recently, I switched my title to Team Leader — a more honest description of what I actually do every day. Our title should never be a source of pride. What we do each day is what matters. I have a passion for this industry. I owe it everything. My dream is that one day the real estate profession will be one I would proudly recommend to my daughter.

I have a passion for the real estate service industry. I owe everything I have to this job, yet there are things in this industry that sadden me. That’s why we have made the sole purpose of Drumelia to elevate the real estate industry. We create change for the better in all aspects of our job and inspire other companies to follow, together with a team of outstanding professionals joining our path. My dream is that one day, the real estate industry will be in a position that I proudly could recommend my 2-year-old daughter to join.

Our organizational chart has several layers of circles, and the first circle next to me is the Responsibles circle; these are the people I work with daily and who directly affect Drumelia’s future. Sergey – Founder and Senior Property Advisor, Yaroslav – Responsible for marketing strategy and performance, Ines - Responsible for sales, Bruna – Partner & Senior Property Advisor, and Borja – Lawyer and Responsible of legal and finance department. Only having so many key people in the company aligned is what allows me to lead the team and set the foundation for future solid growth.

I like to remind my colleagues from the responsible circle that they should never forget that they have two titles in this company. One title is what they do daily, for example, marketing operations. The second title of Responsible is far more important and represents that they are responsible for the company, not just for their own departments. Treat the company like it was yours, and believe you have no limits. This approach is very important and aligns with our value of collaboration. Without such an approach, we cannot create outstanding results to elevate the real estate industry.

Our sales team is deliberately international — a direct reflection of the global clientele we serve across Marbella, Benahavís, and Estepona. Each agent brings a different language, culture, and perspective. Together, they cover a market that requires exactly that range.

Behind every agent is a team of more than 25 professionals, handling listings, valuations, marketing, concierge, after-sale, legal, and finance,  so that our agents can dedicate themselves entirely to the client. The approach to everything is always quality, not quantity.

The Drumelia career path: earned, never given

The career of a Drumelia agent unfolds in clearly defined stages over a period of 10+ years. All promotions are based on sales results combined with performance growth,  the latter being the most important.

In our office, things move fast. The flow of information is constant. Learning to operate at that speed is not easy at first — but what feels like 100kg in week one becomes 15kg after months of genuine practice and resilience.

What a typical week looks like

• 3 sales meetings per week — one formal 60-minute session, two shorter 45-minute check-ins
• Listings meeting every two weeks — 60 minutes covering market activity, new properties, price changes and news
• Monthly general meeting — each department Responsible presents results and plans company-wide
• Weekly individual reports combined with a constant flow of emails, buyer leads, client tours and team viewings

Management supports agents' clients but does not attend to them directly. In the first quarter of 2025, the company delivered 101 qualified buyer leads to our agents from our website, with an average buyer budget of €6,321,782. Our agents categorised 50% of these as serious buyers with genuine purchase intent.

* Visibility score according to SEMrush    ** Ranking keywords count

Each client requires enormous attention, dedication and speed. Reaction times are measured. Routine emails are not acceptable. Every interaction must be purposeful — and a structured system of follow-ups and client categorisation is in place to guarantee exactly that.

When an agent is on a client tour — which happens constantly — their time is fully occupied. And yet, every other commitment must still be met. Our internal processes add real weight to the role. They are demanding by design, because excellence does not emerge from comfort.

A Drumelia agent is not a passive receiver of leads. We expect you to generate your own business, develop your own network, list properties, create relationships, and continuously grow your expertise in every direction. A sales agent at Drumelia is an entrepreneur.

What separates the agents who grow from those who got comfortable

Both Sergey and I started as real estate agents. Everything we have built, we built from that position. We understand every struggle our team faces — not theoretically, but from lived experience. That is why we support our agents every day. And that is also why we hold them to a standard that does not allow for excuses. In the end, it is always a question of wanting or not wanting. Growth requires daily effort. This environment is not for everyone — but for those who embrace it, it changes everything.

We could describe the Drumelia experience in a hundred different ways. But nothing captures it better than the people living it every day.

There is a version of a Drumelia agent that no job description can fully capture — someone who thinks deeply, reflects honestly, and speaks with conviction about what this profession truly demands. These six speeches are that version made visible. Six people, six different journeys, one shared standard of excellence.

What makes these speeches remarkable is not just what is said, but how it is said. Public speaking at this level — reflecting on real professional experiences, on values, on growth — requires the same qualities that make a great real estate agent: emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and the ability to connect genuinely with an audience.

Joaquin — Property Advisor

From serving mojitos in Cuba to negotiating multimillion-euro properties in Marbella Joaquin's journey is not a straight line, and that is exactly the point. His speech is about the one skill that makes everything else possible: the ability to read a situation, let go of what you planned, and adapt. In real estate, as in life, the most valuable thing you can offer is not what you know. It is how quickly you adjust when the situation changes.

Ralph — Property Advisor

What does football have to do with selling a €10 million villa? More than you might think. Ralph draws a precise and compelling parallel between the structure of a high-performance football team and what it takes to operate at the top of the luxury real estate market. Discipline, roles, trust, sacrifice, the same principles that win championships are the ones that close landmark deals.

Carmen — Property Manager

Most feedback focuses on what is wrong. Carmen's speech makes the case for a different approach — one that does not ignore mistakes, but corrects them by zooming in on exactly what needs to improve, with precision and without noise. The green pen still marks the page. But instead of highlighting failures, it points directly at the specific thing that, once changed, makes everything better. A small shift in perspective that has an outsized impact on how we grow, how we coach, and how we lead.

Vadym — Junior Property Consultant

Vadym arrived at this speech with something unusual: a collection of quotes. Not motivational placeholders, but carefully chosen words that reflect what this team actually lives every day. His talk is a meditation on what teamwork really means — not as a concept, but as a daily practice, delivered through the voices of thinkers who understood it long before any of us walked into this office.

Dexter — Junior Property Consultant

The most important battles in real estate are not fought in negotiation rooms. They are fought in your own head, at 7am, when everything in you wants to stay comfortable. Dexter's speech is a direct, honest account of what it means to push yourself through the positions that feel impossible  and why the people who do it consistently are the ones who last.

Merle — Junior Property Consultant

We all carry a version of ourselves in our heads. The question Merle asks is: who decided that version was true? Her speech goes to the root of performance — not tactics, not technique, but the thoughts we allow to define us. Quiet, precise and genuinely moving, it is a reminder that the most powerful decision any professional can make is to consciously choose how they see themselves  and to decide, deliberately, to be better.

With our structure and organization, we see a much bigger market share that we should be able to accommodate, and the number of sales agents is part of the key to this direction. We envision a team of 20sales agents capable of working without direct competition under one office within the areas of our expertise (Marbella, Benahavis, and Estepona).

But no matter the plans, we understand that growth needs to be handled without urgency, and every new member is handpicked. We must set our standards high, and only those who align with our values should be considered. Over these years, I have learned some things the hard way.

This company's success will be based on teamwork. This Blog is dedicated to Joaquin, Ralph, Gasper, Cinthia, Olga, and Bruna. When reading these lines, I invite you to take a moment to feel proud of your journey to get where you are and imagine where you can be in five years.