Interview with Gilles Grimm: in this video we talk about apartment prospecting, how to negotiate well, what to do when an apartment is “squatted” and how to obtain a mortgage loan. Lots of gems not to be missed.
to find the Gilles Grimm website: https://gillesgrimm.com/
the new training courses of Gilles Grimm: https://gillesgrimm.com/coming-soon1/
💯 Receive the free book by email (the 6 mistakes that make you lose money) by joining my private group on Facebook 💯 https://bit.ly/2KRS5WK
(don't forget to enter your email to receive the bonus)
⚠️ Subscribe to this channel and 🔔 click on the bell 🔔 to stop saying to yourself: “what was the channel that gave good ideas on prices? » https://bit.ly/2OLq0lx
#jannoncecomplet #loueursaisonnier #revenuemanagement #pricing #airbnb #booking #prix #immobilier #rentalsaisonniere #airdna #gite #maisondhotes #rentability #eliseripoche #souslet #conciergerie
Hello and welcome to I'm showing Complete. I hope you're doing well. I display Complet is the chain of seasonal rental companies, professional sub-renters, and seasonal rental concierge services who help you with revenue management methods to increase your turnover. Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming a distinguished guest. If you didn't know, he started his professional life as a firefighter, then at age 33, he became interested in real estate with truly phenomenal success. Today he is a real estate tycoon. He owns several hundred properties. He also owns companies selling goods and works. He owned a network of real estate agencies. I am delighted and honored to welcome Gilles Grimm to my microphone today.
− Hello Gilles.
− Hello Élise.
− Thank you very much for accepting my invitation.
– You’re welcome. It is with great pleasure.
− What I can suggest to you, if you agree, is perhaps to tell us about your journey, for those who, perhaps, do not know you. I think they are rare, but I always enjoy hearing you talk about your background, because I find it extremely interesting. Can you tell us about it?
− Absolutely. I represent, in fact, the two dreams, thought: for boys, to be a firefighter, which is still, when we are children, we always say that we would like to be a firefighter, and one day, to be an owner, to have some money to spend. Well I did both. I returned, at the age of 18, after complicated studies, to do what was called military service at the time. So, I stayed there for fifteen years, because I didn't have the energy to do anything else in civilian life. However, during these 15 years when I was a firefighter, I evolved intellectually, and I began to understand that there were things happening outside, that there were not than the army, and I decided, at a certain point, at the age of thirty-three, to ask for retirement and go on an adventure in the civilian world. The problem was that I was still housed in barracks. I didn't have an apartment. I had a little bit of money saved, like 5,000 euros, and I said to myself: “Let me rent something, and it's complicated. With my retirement salary, it's too little. I need to find something to buy. » So, I prospected to buy. I went to see the banks, and one bank told me: “OK, we could lend you for 20 years. » So, I prospected, and I found nothing. I found, in fact, something that my financial level allowed, that is to say a very small ground floor with a cellar. So I said to myself: “Too bad, I'm going to live in a cellar in the meantime, but with a ground floor all the same. » But I really liked the cellars. So I signed a compromise, and at the same time, another real estate agent contacted me saying that he had a small two-room apartment that we could separate, which was also for sale. I went back to the bank and begged for a loan for both. I couldn't believe it, they said to me: "Come on, let's do it", given that apparently, if I rented, it could perhaps cover the rent, especially if I did work and cut in two. And that's what happened. Three months later, I found myself with three apartments, two of which were rented and which paid the three credits in full. I said to myself, “That’s it, I’ve found my way.” I absolutely have to find a job. I need to have a permanent contract. »And so, I left as a building caretaker. Very little salary to have a job, to have pay slips. I understood that I needed pay slips. And there, I went back to see other banks — because I didn't want to go see the first one, I didn't know anything about it — to try to buy something cheaper, and above all to try to make a heritage of a good father. So. Well I found some small batches that weren't very expensive. At the time, we paid the equivalent of 12,000 euros for that. Today it's worth 150 miles. And I started buying with credits, I continued to work, and the adventure began there; so much so that at 33, I had zero apartments, at 34 I had three or four, at 35, I had 8, and at 36 I had 13 or 14. That's how the adventure began, without knowing what real estate was, and by making it as simple as possible; that is to say, I bought in my own name, I borrowed in my own name, I rented myself, I even did the work myself. I did not hesitate to ask a company to teach me how to work in construction, in exchange for my free work. I offered them my services for several months to work for the company. I learned to do plaster, plumbing, electricity, to learn the standards, to see the price of materials, to know where the wholesalers were to pay half price for materials, and to be able to make my own. studios. What I did next, but after three studios, I said to myself that maybe it was good to manage my time at that time to be able to move forward faster, and to employ companies at my place to work. And that's when I said to myself: "Now I have to find a really reliable technique." » You must not forget that I was a soldier. We must not forget that I was a structured person. So, I came up with a technique that was absolutely a winner. And even now, she is still there. And so, I invested. The challenge was this: when I had 20, I said to myself that it would be good to have 30; when I got 30, it's 50; When I got to 50, I told myself I could continue. The banks were still lending to me. I had 28 banks. It's also part of the techniques, the pooling of everything: one hundred, after, two hundred, after, three hundred, and so on. And today, happy life, we're going to say retirement for good, and everything is fine. I can finally afford what I want, but you have to know that the good life has lasted for 15 years anyway.
− This is good news.
− This, in short, is my journey.
− Very interesting, and very inspiring. That’s clear. I know you are very good at the prospecting part. This is also part of the power and strength of the expertise that you have built over the years. There is the fact of looking for the goods, finding the right goods. Can you tell us anything about that? Because when we sublet, in particular, obviously, it's not the same mode of operation, but I've seen some of your videos where you talk about going to see the concierges downstairs. building, as a trick, precisely to try to infiltrate the network, and so that we can keep you informed of the good apartments. Do you have anything to share on this, for people who are looking for apartments, prospecting?
− Absolutely. It's not just prospecting. There is a whole set that needs to be developed. There is prospecting, there is evaluation of the work. When you move into an apartment, you have to redo it to have peace of mind for around twenty years. I understood that I shouldn't come back twice. And I understood that the tenants were complainers. I experienced this, naturally, from the beginning. There are also negotiations. When you buy something, it's still good to buy it at the right price. I'm not going to say cheaper than the market, but if it's feasible, the purchase will be a good deal. And then there is the installation of the tenant, also, therefore, the rental management. And finally, tax knowledge, because taxes lie in wait and are there. So, as far as prospecting is concerned, naturally I have developed a whole system. At the time, there was no internet. So it was, let's say, manual, therefore visual prospecting. Small note in all mailboxes: “Hello. Young retired firefighter is looking for a studio for sale in your building. Cash payment at the notary. » Naturally, we always pay cash, whether we borrow or not. But the sentence to carry, here is a technique, for example. A little sentence of nothing at all. The ratio is 1 to 2%. It's huge. I distributed up to 1,200 flyers that I made myself on slightly fluorescent paper. I went to the print shop and everything to put them in the mailboxes myself, which allows you to know the sector. At the time, there was no digital code, there were concierges. So I never failed to go see the concierges, and tell them: “If you find a small property in the building or the building next door, I will pay you, like 500 euros. » I already had a little paper ready-made in advance: “I, Mr. Gilles Grimm, declare on my honor, given to Mrs. Thing, if she finds me a property, 500 euros. » And I gave him the paper. So there was this type of prospecting. There was also the prospecting of dirty windows, curtains, broken windows, even pigeons on the balconies. Who says pigeon on the balcony says empty apartment. And I went up. A little story, for example, of rapid prospecting, I waited in the stairwell for someone to come down, and I said: "Hello, sir, it is indeed on the third floor that he is the apartment for sale? » And I waited for an answer. And the guy said to me: “No, it’s on the fourth floor. »And I had the information. “No, there is nothing for sale here. » I said, “I’m sorry, I must have got the address wrong.” » He said to me: “Next door, there is one, in fact, which is for sale. » And I found lots of apartments like that, by going there myself. I really did real estate prospecting crafts, even putting small pieces of paper on car windshields. I even wanted to hire sandwich men at the metro exit: “apartment search” marked the thing. I was going all out to work out a system where I could visit before anyone else. And there, I found something nice. I had found the first bookstore which is in a metro entrance, a path which opened before everyone else, because it was next to the Figaro. She was the one who opened first. So I was, I'm sure, the first of the first, to have the sales newspapers which at the time was the Parisian, Liberation. I settled in, breakfast at 6:30 a.m. in a café next door. With chips in my pocket — there were no telephones, there were public telephones, you needed chips, and so I had plenty of chips — I called at 7:30 a.m. – 8 a.m. whining, saying : “I'm a firefighter, I'll have to go on duty, I still have half an hour, if you can show me around right away, that would be great. I'm looking for an apartment, I'm a serious person. » Well it worked every other time. I have visited more than 1,000 buildings; hundreds, hundreds, and hundreds of apartments. I have climbed hundreds, thousands of floors. I wore out two cars, five hundred thousand kilometers, that's twice around the earth, just in Paris. Because I understood that you had to invest close to home, and close to home was Paris. This is for prospecting for example.
− What I find very interesting, don't hesitate to tell me what you think, but I find that today, this aspect of prospecting, we are too dazzled by digital, that is to say that we say to ourselves: “I’m just going to look on the sites and limit myself to that. » And then we want to do all our little calculations remotely, and above all not to get wet. And in fact, it's a huge flaw, because when we hear all the ideas you share, we say to ourselves that real estate is always a human business. And I find that what you share there are nuggets, because we say to ourselves: “In fact, it’s always about the network of humans, of people. » It always works like that, except that we forget it, because we have the websites.
− Totally. I had made a list of commercial real estate professionals. A goods dealer is someone who buys, cuts, and resells. And I called them all whining: “Don't you have an end of program, something you can't sell, a really bad idea, something that's complicated? I'm a taker. » I knew, I understood that in Paris, anything could be rented. Anything. And quickly! And it brought me luck.
− That’s it!
− I had a list of real estate agents. Every real estate agent who brought me a deal was paid in addition to their normal fees. I understood that we also had to pay people. And so, I refined this system over these several years to finally have a system that was super efficient. So successful that I opened real estate agencies to manage my own properties, and I myself instructed my guys in what I had learned so that they could bring back lots of properties for me. I didn't open a real estate agency to sell to others, I opened a real estate agency to be first served. Since real estate agencies, I saw how they worked. I figured they have great products, and they give them away to others. I keep them. And the ones I don't want, what do I do with them? I put classified ads in the newspapers. We sell them thanks to the real estate agency, which generates an income which allows me to set up a management system, and to control all my properties. That's the little prospecting story.
− Interesting. I know you also have a lot of experience on the negotiation side. I think this is a part that scares people who are just starting out, or even who have a little more experience, but certainly less than yours. When you are a seasonal renter, professional subletor or seasonal rental concierge, you are faced with this notion of negotiation, either with the banker or with the owners of the property. Do you have any tips or ideas to share with people who might be afraid of this part?
− Yes. I have developed techniques that allow prices to be lowered by 15 to 20% immediately, very gently, without anyone seeing it.
− Do you want to talk about it, or is it confidential?
− Yes. We'll say one: a little smile, always. Never say that an apartment has problems, not openly anyway. It has to be the seller who says to himself: “Ouch, he saw it. » That's all, but don't talk about it. When you visit an apartment, there are little things you can do to signal that there are problems. For example, in a bathroom, 80% of the time, there are tiles that are installed with small holes behind them. All you have to do is take a pen, tap the earthenware in front of the guy, and one of them goes: "plop, plop, plop", it's hollow. You say: “Ah”. That's all. He said to himself: “Damn, there’s a problem behind it. » “Well yes, it will perhaps fall one day we can say. » That's all. We do not demonstrate any more. We don't say: “It's rotten. " Never. Because the guy who sells; it's his baby. And the baby is always the most beautiful in the world. I understood that too. So, always kind to people, always affable and smiling. If I see that the floor is moving a little, I give a gentle kick to show that it is squeaking. “The guy, he didn’t say anything, he saw it. » I wouldn't say anything. And at the end, when I'm going to leave, I say: “Look, your apartment is very interesting. There are probably some small jobs, but I know how to do that. » He is relieved. The pressure is dropping for him. And then you tell him: “I’m interested. We're not going to argue. Give me your best price right away, so it's either yes or no. » The guy, straight up, he cuts you by 7 or 8%. Direct. Right away. He knows you're going to buy it, he feels it. He says to you: “Look, it’s okay, I’ll confirm that tomorrow. Goodbye sir. »And you leave. And when you reach the front door before going out, you turn around, you come back to him, and you say to him: “And if I pay cash, what price? » Ah yes, it's no longer the same thing. Well it will fall by another 5%.
− And what do you call “cash”?
− Cash.
− Yes.
− Well it will go down right away. There, we leave again, and at the door, you say: “I will confirm an offer to you in writing tomorrow morning. »And there, when you go home in the evening, you make your offer in writing, but it's not over. You put: “Following… you offered me a price, but given the work that needs to be done, there is the bathroom, there is tiling, there is no double window glazing, there is no ventilation, there is no VMC, the kitchen needs to be redone, I have the honor and pleasure to offer you the price of…” and you drop another 5 %.
− It makes you laugh Élise. But that's how it works. This is one of the techniques. I have others, of course. But this one is simple, easy, and effective. The other techniques then are to lower the price even further, but it works very well. Either way, it works every time. So.
− These are very good ideas.
− The most daring thing I did was that one day, there was an advert on Place de la République, 12 square meter studio at 12,000 euros. The appointment was at 7:30 a.m., I arrived at 7:15 a.m., keys in hand: “Sorry, sorry, sorry. » I went up to the top, the first one up, and I said, up top: “Gentlemen - ladies, I'm sorry, I'm the owner, it was sold last night. I can't show you around. » Everyone left screaming. Ten minutes later, the owner arrived. The guy arrived, he said to me: “I’m surprised, you’re all alone. There is no one there. However, I placed the ad. » I tell him: “I’ve been here for five minutes. There is no one there. » The guy opens the door for me, I knew that even without visiting, it was already worth 20 – 25% less. I knew it. It was a stroke of luck. By force, I had a nose. I had the check that was already written and signed, the 10% of reservations. Before, we gave the check straight away, but in the name of the notary. I wrote the check, gave it to him, said, “Here. That's for the notary. You can take it to your notary. » It’s done, and I say to him: “I invite you to have a coffee, sir, so that we can talk. » I didn't discuss the price. I invited him for a coffee so that we could go downstairs, so that he wouldn't meet anyone in the building, someone else who would come later. And we had a coffee much further away. I talked to him nicely, that I was a firefighter, that I was going to rent it for myself. And then there you have it, we signed the sale with the notary very quickly. I even took, I remember, a sales agreement with me which I had signed on the café table, because at the time, you could make your own compromises.
− Okay. You were really ready. You were very prepared.
− I had my suitcase. There was everything in my bag: the compromises, the purchase offers. There was only the guy's name left to put. The address, the lot, and it's over.
− Yes. In everything you share as an anecdote which is extremely interesting, once again, we also notice that one of your strengths is that you are very prepared. You are very methodical and organized.
− I am motivated, above all. I'm super motivated. Because when I did real estate, I had to pay the bank reimbursement in full, and I knew I had to last 15 – 20 years. It was possible, I knew it. All I had to do was be behind the tenants for them to pay, and I would go knock on doors in the evening. If they didn't pay, I got the money back. I had a listing that was completely ready. I was motivated. I was sure it was going to increase. It couldn't stay like that, Paris, the city of lights, a superb city, very low prices. I could see it wasn't that expensive. And I was right on target, because real estate was multiplied by five, seven, eight, ten, twelve, fifteen. What I bought for 300 euros per square meter, today it is worth twelve thousand euros per square meter. Élise, 12,000 instead of 300, does the math.
− Yes.
− It’s huge.
− It’s colossal. Clearly. We talked a little beforehand, and we were talking about short-term rentals, in fact. You were telling me that to date, it may not be in your heritage in terms of operating methods, but it could be something that you are perhaps considering in the long term at some point. Do you want to tell us a little about it?
− I'm going to consider it for good. When I started, it didn't exist, there were only hotels. There was no company that did short-term rentals: it didn't exist. There was no law on this. There was no regulation, there was no lmp, there was no lmnp, there was nothing. You bought an empty apartment in your name or in the name of your company, you rented it and that's it. That's all. And it's certain that I saw the birth of Airbnb, I saw the birth of shared accommodation, but I had so much real estate at that time that it wasn't worth doing that to earn even more. Me, what interests me, what interested me, and what still interests me, is that the property, one day, will be paid for, and that if I want to sell it, I have the money to live with it, and I have the rent money! But now, yes, it interests me, because I have several buildings in the provinces that are rented like that, and I realized that this rental system was hyper Win-Win, and that there had an opening today. There is really a door that is open, because there is the authorization to do it, quite simply, and from a tax perspective, those who invest in LMP or LMNP still have good tax credits, especially when you are young. When you start at 20, 25 or 30, you have your whole life ahead of you, so no problem. You just need to be organized as best as possible by a concierge system, by a rental management system, by an accountant, also, why not, who will fill in, help with the accounting, so as not to be hassled. And above all I realized today, and fortunately, it's great, that with the internet, you can completely separate your professional life and your personal life. I could be in Tahiti right now, and I could do the same job as if I was in Paris. And that's great, because there's one important thing in life, it's time management, and it's also freedom. Especially today, with covid, we can see the value of freedom, even more than before.
− It’s true. Actually, covid is a good subject too. Obviously, the confinement and the pandemic have caused a lot of discussion, particularly for seasonal rental companies, because it has had an impact on trends. It forced us to reinvent ourselves a bit. This pandemic, for seasonal rentals, are you rather optimistic about that, or rather pessimistic about the fact that seasonal rentals, in general, will take a little time to come back?
− I think I have the answer. During my real estate adventure, I went through several crises, several wars: the Gulf War, for example. There were other crises. Well, I didn't change my mind: I waited for things to calm down. During this time, I improved myself, during the crisis, to bounce back even better. That's all. Here is the answer: nature will come back at a gallop. No worries.
− Great!
− I have been practicing it for years, and naturalness always comes back at a gallop. You don't change people like that. There will be other sectors, there will be other opportunities, there will be other systems. Naturally, the world will change. But the world has always changed, that's normal. It changes with the tools that are offered to us. Today, it is the communication tool, it is the travel tool, which did not exist as before. So, we can change from that. That's all. But we can keep the same common thread, and I think it will be a guaranteed success, without any problem. In any case, I believe in it.
− Great!
− If things go badly, we'll normally rent, and that's it. But we will always own the property. That's what's important. We will be able to renegotiate our loans, perhaps over a longer term; reduce the payment charge, sell one to repay a second. But we will survive. All those who are owners and who are listening to me today will survive the crisis without problem.
− Thank you for this message. It's a good, positive message for the people who listen to us. It's great. If we want to follow you, if we want to write to you, if it is possible to write to you, what do you recommend to people, where do you tell them to go, on what site, on which social networks, can you tell us, where can we find you?
− There is a possibility today, because I am in the process of setting up a site called gillesgrimm.com. It's simple, it's my name.com, in which I now do courses, and training for beginners who don't know how to do it, to help them. So I have hundreds of thousands of people who are interested in it. It's free for now, and maybe chargeable one day. There are lots of videos that teach people how to do it, because I'm someone who has always helped people. My motto in the fire service was “save or die”. I kept this motto a bit in civilian clothes, where it is: help or perish. I think I was lucky enough to succeed. And so, if I can help others, I will help them. So, I do training on the site. We explain how to do it, how to present a 100% winning file to get a real estate loan, for example from a bank, how to prospect, how to organize yourself tax-wise, what are the best cities to invest in. And yes, there are cities to invest in. There are places. For example, I won't tell you that you have to go and buy in Monaco where you pay 60,000 euros per square meter. No. Ridiculous. There are better things to do in Beausoleil, which is 1.5 kilometers away, where you pay 6,000 per square meter, for example. This is an example. But there are cities where we can invest, there are cities where we cannot invest. There are places where it's not worth it, it's dead. But there are places like Rennes, Nantes, Toulouse, it’s a winner.
− Yes.
− Paris is a winner. We can turn the thinking in all directions, these cities are student cities, they are also business cities, there is a need for shared accommodation, there is a need for Airbnb, there is a need for this whole rental system when we are passing through as well.
− What you're telling me there still inspires something in me, one last question, perhaps, to ask yourself. In Paris, we always say to ourselves that this is it, we have reached the ceiling. We always have this feeling that this is it, we have reached the maximum. Do you think that Paris is still a winner, even today, with the amounts we achieve?
− You need to know one thing, Élise, and that is that to think is to cast a doubt. All the time, what you just said, I have always heard it.
− I imagine.
− I'm waiting for it to go down. Well everyone who told me that, and I can prove that, I still know them, they still haven't bought. And they will tell me: “Yes, but you are lucky. » No, I'm not lucky, I'm bold. It's not the same thing.
− I love this sentence. I really like this sentence. THANKS. You said a lot of inspiring things, but I think this sentence, I think I'm going to write it.
− You have to take the best and improve it.
− Yes.
− The whole context is there. When you see something, you analyze it, you say: “What can I do better?” What can I improve with what I see? » That's all.
− Thank you very much, Gilles, for everything you shared with us. It was extremely valuable, and as I was just saying, extremely inspiring. I am going to put all the elements, so your site which gives a link to the training courses that you offer, and we should clarify it, you say that these training courses are free to date. So, it's to your credit, and I thank you for having this kind of contribution, it's very interesting. We'll post the link.
− With great pleasure, but those who want to start today or who have already started really need to continue. And if there is a period of discouragement, it doesn't matter, you always have to move forward. Do you know what the definition of the horizon is?
− I want to say yes, but…
− Well the definition of the horizon is an imaginary line which recedes as we advance. It's the same for real estate.
− That’s interesting, too.
− It's important to take certain lines, it's important to also persuade yourself, because there are devil's advocates and polluters around us. As soon as we say that we are investing, we find: “Yes, but I don’t believe it… but what if they don’t pay? But what if there is a problem? What if there is an earthquake? What if there is an atomic bomb? » In this case, we find an island in the China or Philippines Sea. There are enough of them that are uninhabited, and we settle under a coconut tree. Everyone has their own choice, everyone has their own life.
− Very good. Thank you very much, Gilles. Thank you for the time you gave us.
− With great pleasure. Gillesgrimm.com for those who want to start the adventure too, or curiously, see what is happening there, and take some notes of a know-how which is somewhat recognized today we will say.
− Absolutely. And which has proven itself, when we see your journey.
− It has proven itself. That's for sure.
− Thank you very much, and I will put the links just below so that it is possible to find this site very easily. Thank you very much Gilles.
− With pleasure, Élise.
− With pleasure.