Here is the transcript of the video:
Hello and welcome to the I'm showing full . My name is Claire and today I'm going to tell you about my personal investment journey . Indeed, I work at J'annonce complet but also on a personal level I have chosen to invest in real estate to do short-term rentals .
It's not an easy journey, it was my first purchase, it's really challenging . But actually, I'm starting to take a step back, it's been a few months now that our property has been rented and I wanted to share with you a little my three points of difficulty and the three levers which really helped me to move forward with this project.
I start with the difficulties, as always. Of my three points of difficulty, the first point we had was linked to the work . Well, we're not going to lie, the work is often delayed. We were struck by this subject. The work was extremely late and faced with that, we had to adjust and arbitrate a little to move the project forward and not damage the project's profitability, in the way it was designed. and organized. The choice we made was to tell ourselves that it might not be perfect but at least we're starting, at least we're getting started.
And this is especially true since it was our first real estate purchase. So, I'll let you imagine, we wanted everything to be perfect, we wanted everything to be perfect, we wanted the first comment to be a 5/5, a 10/10. But in fact, we let go and said to ourselves: ok, it doesn't matter, the work is sufficiently done. Of course, there was heating, there was a bed, but in fact, there were not the blinds as we had imagined them, there were little things to be fixed, little finishes which were discreet but certainly not done. And in fact, we said to ourselves: stop, let's let go, let's go, we'll get started, we'll welcome our first travelers. We made a little message to also complete this, give meaning, explain. You should also know that often when you get started, you can offer promotions to launch the ad. And in the end, it went really well and looking back, I have no regrets about having made this decision, because certainly, we didn't start off perfect but we started, we moved forward. And we also realized that what we had planned was still relevant but there were also other things to do. In the end, it's never over, it's not the day we have our first traveler that everything is settled. Absolutely not, there are always things to review and repeat. So, that’s a very important point, feedback that I find very important.
The second point was on the entry of travelers . We absolutely wanted to do everything right, what is expected by travelers. So of course, we wanted to make an independent entrance and not without difficulty, because we also have constraints in relation to our purchase, also for the agreement of the co-ownership to provide means of access. We went with a connected lock . We had some hiccups, it was quite complicated, bad grades arrived and inevitably, the process was called into question. And at the same time, we were really stuck. So in summary, what I want to share with you on this point is to say that we were actually creative And I think that there is no choice but to be creative and that's where we sometimes find the best solutions, it's when we start to say to ourselves, well, let's think about everything and n whatever and finally, what could we consider. So, we considered contacting a business to drop off the keys. Well, in the end, it was a bit of a mistake because finding a business that is open 24 hours a day is quite rare. Because the idea was not to add a constraint to travelers by saying you can only arrive before 6 p.m., and that would have been regrettable. So here, we start with somewhat incongruous things like putting a lock in the mailbox. But ultimately, I also find it super interesting to say to ourselves, well, let's not put limits on ourselves, in fact, let's think about everything that is possible. Sometimes it's an unexpected idea that will solve the problem.
The third point which caused us concern, in any case which raised questions for us, was in relation to the cleaning company with which we work. We had a lot of trouble finding a cleaning company, but I don't think it's a secret, we all know it, it's not easy to find a service provider for cleaning and maintenance of the house. apartment. We are very far away, on a personal level, so obviously we also needed a team on whom we can rely on every day, a team which is also there to ensure the good condition of the apartment as a whole and not as well as its maintenance in terms of cleaning. And the service provider we found responded in all respects, with one negative point: no cleaning on Sundays. And in relation to that, it was quite complicated to say, well, damn, we know it's not ideal, no cleaning on Sunday. That is to say that of course, we can do a checkout on Sunday but there will only be a checkout on Monday. And it was a bit of regret once again but still in this same state of mind, we said to ourselves, well, in the end, it might not be perfect but let's move forward like that. And I don't know if we were right or wrong, maybe the future will tell us, I don't know. But we prioritized saying that it was still a service provider who was really structured, organized, who had good skills in maintenance and management also in LCD. We said to ourselves, it's better that we lose a few reservations because of that, but on the other hand, we have quality cleaning, quality notes. Once again, I don't know if this arbitration is perfect but in any case, the result is there, we have very good marks on the quality of cleaning. And at least we're moving forward and renting our apartment.
Then, I wanted to talk to you about three points, three levers which allowed us to move forward and overall, they all revolve around the same thing, we were very well supported. I'm going to draw the line a little but I almost want to tell you, we didn't do anything. And in fact, so much the better because I don't know if we would have been able to do it very well but we were so well surrounded. We were accompanied by someone on how to choose an apartment for the LCD because ultimately, we must not so much respond to the ideal project, we must above all meet the expectations of travelers because the challenge is to be rented and things, details ultimately that we wouldn't necessarily have thought of but the quality of access, the proximity of a business, ideally a large shopping center, the location. Well that, I think that overall, we all think about it but remembering in fact all these key points which mean that we will really be rented, having accommodation with character, it can indeed be extremely well placed but there is no cachet, it may also not promote sales. So there you have it, all these levers and it was really very interesting to have someone who is an expert in the sector who shared this information with us to do an informed apartment search.
The second point, we are supported on all aspects. We were accompanied on the work, we are also accompanied by a concierge , we are accompanied by a full price list and that, really, is a guarantee of serenity. And I think it's important to say that ultimately, there are actors who know how to do it very well and if we let them do it, they will do better than us. And certainly, it's a blow but in fact, it's a blow which brings so much added value, which indirectly brings so much profitability. It really is an investment . Besides, it's even more of a blow, it's an investment and there, we see it today, we're doing well and that's not trivial, it's also because we're really very well surrounded.
The last point I wanted to talk to you about was decoration . I knew it of course, I think we all know it too, it's important to have beautiful decoration but really, I realized how much decoration matters. And I'll even go to the end of the chain, that is to say that we were accompanied by a decorator who simply recreated the entire apartment. It was an apartment where we only had four walls so we were starting from scratch. She recreated the whole apartment, she simply created an atmosphere. We enter this apartment, there is something, finally, we feel that there is a universe that has been thought out. And we went through with the process by working with this decorator where every single object was chosen accordingly. And then, we worked with a photographer who gave us really good quality photos that knew how to highlight the property. And finally, that changes everything and it's true that we're not going to lie today, as consumers, we choose a lot on photos, we choose our objects on photos but we also choose our rentals on photos. So even if we can have somewhat blocking criteria, but well, that's not really the term, but we can have strong criteria to say to ourselves, well I have a car, I have no choice, it I definitely need a parking space or I have a train or something, I want to be near the station. But despite everything, we also choose a lot from photos and in fact, it's a very good bet to invest in that because hey, I'm not going to lie to you, decoration is not my job and to invest in that, to have a person who has real added value in the decoration, we created an apartment which has character with beautiful photos. Because having a beautiful decor but if you don't take good photos, well my goodness, it's useless with beautiful photos to really attract travelers. So there you have it, that was my return on my real estate investment. I really hope you too make great real estate investments. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask them in the comments, we remain available to answer them.