The story of ROELANN

The real estate investment company, ROELANN, began in 2016 when owner Christopher Roelann became curious about how the passive income and investment world works. Christopher had for a number of years made a profit in the IT company CRMarketing, and therefore it made sense to find out how the profit could be invested in properties and thus ensure a passive and more secure income.

Off the ramp

After careful research, interest fell on a new building in Carlsberg Byen, where it was possible to buy apartments without a residence requirement. The idea was to buy an apartment and rent it out via AirBnB (short-term rental). Christopher had already discussed the idea with friends and family, but to gain further knowledge about property management and investment, he contacted accountant, Kim Stryhn, to turn over the prospectus and business plan.

De første år

The following years offered a number of challenges – both with the bank, with getting a personal guarantee and with maintaining the spark. “You’ve had some good years, but we don’t know what the future holds,” they said at the bank to the then 21-year-old Christopher Roelann, who had run the business for six years. However, the accountant, Kim Stryhn, still believed in Christopher and the project: “Properties always go up in the sky,” he used to say, “it’s just a matter of time, and of getting started and not waiting. Once you’ve bought, you can always refinance later on your terms – it’s much easier”. And so it turned out.

Shortly afterwards, the domicile at Vesterbrogade 41B was purchased. A change of bank was also necessary. It was the beginning of a more serious real estate business for Christopher. The choice fell on Nykredit in Glostrup, which, thanks to business advisor and sparring partner, Jonathan Rudolf Keler, became a constructive partner in the years to come. Thus, the foundation was laid for the company and the implementation of a long-term strategy was set in motion.

AirBnB – good months, bad months and late check-ins

Letting out via AirBnB immediately seemed like a promising business. Christopher quickly learned that if you understand a little about interior design, theme, branding and know-how in operating short-term rentals, you can relatively easily earn DKK 50,000 in a month in the high season. However, you could not call it passive property investment. There was a lot of work in the operation, and in addition it was uncomfortably quiet in the low season. It became even more problematic when bad reviews from building alarms started rolling in.

Christopher therefore began to look around for more traditional rental projects – preferably of a professional nature and preferably entire properties. Kim Stryhn came back on the field. This time Christopher wanted an assessment of a new prospect of townhouses near Gilleleje. However, unlike the first time, Kim pointed out that Christopher should rather focus on location, the size of the project and reducing the risk. As a result, it ended up that Christopher instead bought Helsingørsgade 54A and 52B in Hillerød from Kim Stryhn. It turned out to be a stable and promising property with reasonable and permanent tenants. The deal was signed at Café Victor in Copenhagen – just to celebrate the collaboration and get a fun little memory of the relatively simple deal that was to be the start of something bigger.

A friendship arises

Samarbejdet mellem Kim Stryhn og Christopher udviklede sig i de kommende år til et nært venskab med en fælles passion for ejendomsinvestering. Begge var meget begejstrede over dynamikkerne i branchen, og deres synergi var uden tvivl en stor årsag til virksomhedens kommende vækst. Desværre var der også en anden grund til, at Christopher snart fik endnu en ejendom i sin portefølje.

I sommeren 2020 fik Kim konstateret en aggressiv form for kræft – en oplysning, der naturligvis kom som et stort chok for alle omkring ham. Men Kims optimisme og kærlighed til hans familie og venner gav ham styrken til fortsætte arbejdet så lang tid som muligt.

Illness leads to acquisition

In order to help both his family and his good friend, he wanted Christopher to take over Helsingørsgade 21 in Hillerød. Liquidity was found through the sale of Christopher’s two apartments in Carlsberg Byen, and the price was agreed relatively quickly, as before. In the following months, the paperwork was sorted out by lawyer, Lund Elmer Sandager, while Kim continued to work diligently from the hospital bed and between hospitalizations.

On November 9, 2020, Kim left this world – just 10 days after the signing of the final deal between him and Christopher. Kim left behind a wife and daughters who, thanks to his tenacity and hard work, were now financially secure in the future. And he left Christopher with two good and healthy properties in Hillerød and not least the memories of a friendship that Christopher will never forget.