It all began two-and-a-half years ago with an idea at a kitchen table in Plauen; it gained shape in the Vogtland area, continued to develop in Saxony and it will be possible to use the system across Germany by the middle of the year. This is the history of “Vogtlandimmobilien24”, in a very brief form. The man behind this story is Lars Rupprecht, together with his wife Stefanie.

Lars Rupprecht is a genuine native of the Vogtland region; he grew up in Plauen, where he still lives with his wife, son and daughter.

“I’ve got my circle of friends here and the Vogtland region has very attractive scenery. Big cities aren’t my scene, even if I often have to visit them on business. I’m happy to be back in the Vogtland region again every time,” says the 36-year-old, giving the reasons for his attachment to his home area.

Lars Rupprecht completed his training as a bank clerk and studied business management at Hof University of Applied Sciences while he was still working; he was employed at a bank in Chemnitz in the building loan department.

“At some stage, I really wanted to start something new,” he says, recalling the period about three years ago.

He came up with the idea of setting up a regional property portal at the kitchen table that has already been mentioned. The start-up company was founded in November 2015.

“Vogtlandimmobilien24” is a kind of syndicate with almost 90 brokers and we list the properties that they are offering. This means we have far more than there are on national portals and there is always a contact person available locally,” he says, describing the idea behind his company. It is also important to be able to establish links with local tradespeople.

The portal was programmed by the Plauen IT services company, pitcom. A separate housing loan platform has been set up alongside the portal as a second mainstay.

“We’d not expected the whole thing with the site to develop so quickly,”, the young entrepreneur confesses. As “Vogtlandimmobile24” works so well, similar portals followed for Zwickau, Leipzig, Chemnitz – and they always have a local office, like the one in Plauen at the Altmarkt. Overall, 27 employees in four regions are now working for the regional property portal. The company will have its own stand at the CEBIT fair in Hanover this year.

Lars Rupprecht not only invests his energy in his own company. He is involved in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry on a voluntary basis.

“People shouldn’t just get so upset – they need to get involved themselves. This helps me ensure that my children will have the opportunity of living a good life here,” he says, giving the reasons for his involvement.

The young father is concerned about the education opportunities for young people after they leave school in the Vogtland region.

“We don’t have a university of applied sciences and we need to extend what is available at the university of cooperative education in order to keep young people here and attract them to the region.”

He knows through his company that the number of those returning to the region has been increasing recently. He is convinced that the Vogtland region offers a great deal, particularly for young families, based on his own experience.

“You can still afford to build or buy your own house here, for example, with normal work,” he says, citing one advantage, and he refers to the many redeveloped properties and residential areas, affordable child care or the many leisure sports activities. He himself plays volleyball, tennis every now and again and enjoys cycling through the Vogtland region.
 
The next stage in the development of his start-up company is due in the middle of the year: more regional property portals will go live across Germany.