Minna Honkanen could not have anticipated the seismic events that would grip Hong Kong after she decided to try her luck there in early 2019.

Two months after she arrived, unprecedented social unrest engulfed the city, followed immediately by the coronavirus pandemic, which shut borders and restricted travel for more than two years.

Least of all did the Finnish national imagine she would become a luxury property agent in one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets, securing exclusive deals typically reserved for local brokers with a language advantage.

Now a senior manager overseeing the Hong Kong market at Landscope Realty, Honkanen is busy marketing a penthouse duplex worth HK$238 million (US$30.45 million). The owners, who have held the property at The Arch above Kowloon Station for 10 years, granted Landscope an exclusive listing after four years of regular contact with her by text.

Before finding success in Hong Kong, Honkanen worked in Greece and Portugal, where she joined the sales team of a hotel group. She also had a stint in Thailand before visiting Shanghai at the suggestion of a Chinese friend based in Finland.