Salah Belkenchir: leaving his job thanks to his successful subletting company.
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– https://www.appartintoulouse.com/
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https://www.appartintoulouse.com/investor-immobilier-toulouse-solutions-appartintoulouse/
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Hello and welcome to the J'poster Complet channel, the channel which helps seasonal rental companies, professional sub-renters, and seasonal rental concierge services to become serene and ultra-profitable entrepreneurs. Today, I welcome with us someone who has a journey, you will see, extremely rich, with unexpected things in his journey. You will see that his entire life as an employee has nourished him to now become a very successful sub-renter. Many events will inspire you, and help you if you want as much success. I am delighted to welcome Salah Belkenchir to my microphone.
− Hello Salah.
− Hello Élise.
− How are you?
− It’s going very well, thank you.
− It gives me great pleasure to welcome you today.
− Shared pleasure.
− I know that you have a lot to share with people who are going to help them, I know that in your journey, moreover, we can start with that, if you want, talk about your journey which began with law, and then commercial; salesman, who made you the sunny man who manages to convince lots of owners to sublet alongside you, and people who are ultra-loyal, because they love the way you work. So, can you tell us all about this?
− So indeed, I have a somewhat atypical path, since I started by studying law. And then, indeed, I took a job as a lawyer in the insurance field. And when I was in the insurance field, I slowly moved towards sales roles to ultimately be an employed commercial inspector in the construction field. So, already, with bridges that can be made in the world of real estate. And indeed, today, you are talking about success, I don't know if we can speak of success, but indeed, I manage to convince a few owners to entrust me with either their property or their property searches.
− It's true that you have the specificity of helping people from start to finish, in the end.
− Absolutely. In fact, we can actually offer investors who generally do not have the time to look for a property to take care of it. Whether in terms of research or in terms of management, we can offer them, indeed, a package which starts from the search for the property according to the criteria that the client gives us up to the notions of work, because sometimes, there are investor owners who want properties with work, for notions of taxation, land deficits in particular. On the other hand, there are investors who do not want properties with renovations. They have their reasons. So effectively, we look for the goods, we take care of the work, the furnishings, and then, via our subletting contract, we do the rental management, in parentheses, free of charge, since subletting is a form of management free rental. And there, we offer this global package. Overall, they have almost nothing to do. It's true that it's a term that comes up often, that they have nothing to do. But there, in fact, they really have nothing to do, apart from going to see their bankers to find out if they are financeable.
− Okay. So, your company, you said it, said it a little, it's called Appart in Toulouse.
− Absolutely.
− Do you work in the Toulouse area? Maybe a little wider?
− We are more specialized in the city center, but we do not exclude ourselves from going to the inner suburbs of Toulouse. But we are more specialized in hyper centers. And also, our customers like properties with character. So indeed, we have to see if in terms of profitability, it is feasible, because properties with Toulouse-type character can be had at significant prices, but it all depends. There are clients who are ready for their profitability to be reduced a little, to have properties with the potential to resell perhaps in ten or fifteen years. There are clients who simply want to see the economic and profitability part, so we can get out of Toulouse a little bit with better profitability and goods that are a little more standard, less sexy on paper.
− Yes. Okay.
− Profitability is sexy, but goodness is a little less so. But they are still quality goods.
− Interesting. Can you give us some figures about your company today? How many people helped you? How many apartments do you have today?
− Today, we support… I don’t say “we supported”, because all our clients are still with us today; we still have assets that we continue to manage with them. Today, the company has around ten investors, around ten clients with somewhat unique profiles. We have clients who simply entrust us with their property management, we have other clients who entrust us, as I told you, with the entire package part, that is to say from the search for the property to the to management. We also have clients who entrust us with a property with work to be carried out? In this case, we will do the work, the furnishing part, and finally, the management part. We really adapt to the customer's needs. Indeed, we may think that ten customers is not a lot, but in fact, if each customer brings us four or five goods, straight away, it could explode. There is a multiplier effect, is that what we say?
− Yes.
− It can be extremely important. So today the company has seventeen properties. We have three properties under construction to date. We have a goal: twenty properties in 2022, so I think we will end the year 2022 with around forty properties. We have a full-time manager, almost. We are in the process of recruiting a second manager; rental manager. This is a question of terrain. We have around ten cleaning service providers, we have one person who is almost full-time for the property maintenance part, that is real added value that we bring to our customers, to our owners. The assets are systematically maintained. The maintenance part is important for us, to provide, to give quality property to our travelers.
− Yes. And your owners are very loyal, from what I understand.
− We have loyal owners, indeed, who are quite satisfied with the services we offer them. They speak well of us, so they bring in even more customers. There is a real relationship of trust, as you said, with... I don't even want to say "clients", because there are some of them who are sometimes friends. There is a relationship which is very healthy, and which is very important for me, because it reflects a little of the way in which we work. We work in a relationship of trust, we tell each other things. We are not here to sell properties that would not be profitable, or in areas that would not be interesting from a real estate point of view. In fact, what I often say to my clients is that: “The good that I buy for you is a good that I would have bought for myself. It is a property that I could integrate into my real estate assets. This is what I propose to you. I'm researching it for you, but it would almost be research for me, so that's what they appreciate.
− Yes. Do you want to tell us about your real estate career, also, on a personal level?
− Let's say that I started real estate through my main residence. So.
− I am not going to criticize. I told Salah, just before, that I did the same thing.
− Yes. I bought my main residence, so indeed, I am not one of those who think that offering services in the main residence can be a problem, or at least, makes you a bad investor. Quite the contrary, since I am living proof. The fact of buying your main residence, I am not talking about the debt part, and the rental investment part, but I am talking about the knowledge part. It allowed me to realize that in the real estate field, as long as you know a sector very well, you can do excellent deals. After that, I tried to duplicate the level of rental investment for clients, that is to say, for example, in the hyper center, in Toulouse, certain neighborhoods, from one street to another , the price per square meter can vary from 20% to 40%. And that, for me, is extremely important, because with data, with data that allows us to know how much a given apartment was sold for, the price per square meter last year and the following year, we can manage to do excellent business. I try to bring this reflection to bear, to duplicate it for my clients. That is to say, I try to tell them: “Such an apartment, I know that you will get an excellent deal on the purchase, regardless of the fact that on the management side, it will cost zero euros”. They are extremely satisfied, because they tell me: “But it’s great! It's a profitable asset, and we know that in five or ten years, it will perhaps be worth 50% more than what it costs us today. » For me, that's what I appreciate, that's what I like, it's the part looking for properties, looking for good deals. It's my hunting side, a little. I'm not a hunter in real life, but in real estate.
− I know, and this is what I said at the very beginning, that you have enormous commercial skills. It was your job for a very long time, and it also serves you today. For example, for someone who would like to start subletting, or even an owner who is hesitant about subletting, and who says to himself: “It’s a bit scary, all the same, their subletting story” , what is the speech you are giving to reassure owners about this?
− What I can say to an owner who is hesitant today to sublet his property, and when we talk about subletting, we are talking about short-term rental, because it is one of the most effective management methods. practiced by sub-renters, because we can also have shared accommodation, which is less risky, but when we talk about short-term rental, what I could say to an owner, quite simply, is that its income will be guaranteed, its rents will be guaranteed. There is a whole piece of legislation in France that enormously benefits tenants. I'm not just talking about the verbal lease. Also, a property, when it is entrusted to a standard form of rental management via an agency, it can cost you very expensive, because you have the costs of the agency, you also have costs when you make the statement entry and exit locations. It can be very, very expensive. You do not, in any way, control the identity of the potential tenant. In short-term rental, you know who the travelers are coming. On the Airbnb page of your sub-renter, you can see, with the reviews that are given. We know if your mode is well managed, or poorly managed. If it is poorly managed, under sublease contracts, commercial leases, since the sublease contract is a short-term commercial lease, you can recover your property within two weeks. No other contract, no other lease can allow you to recover, in France, your property within two weeks. That's great.
− Yes.
− It’s magnificent.
− Yes.
− So, you have a kind of flexibility provided to you, via this form of subletting, which is not found anywhere else. And for me, this flexibility argument, plus the rent guarantee argument, these are two arguments that are very, very important. Apart from the fact that indeed, to the extent that you must provide travelers with quality goods, you will maintain the property, you will enhance the owner's property. And that is very important to them. I put myself in the owner's place. With these arguments, he says to himself: “It enhances my property, it will provide me with guarantees, I can recover my property whenever I want, that’s very good. It's magnificent, this person has a real professional approach. » We present ourselves as a professional. You really need to present yourself as a real estate professional, and not as someone who doesn't really know what they're talking about. If you have a speech that is constructed, that is solid, that is serene, I think that you will give off this feeling of confidence towards the owner.
− Yes. If I remember correctly, you started this subletting activity at the same time as your life as an employee, I believe, at the beginning.
− Yes.
− So, it forced you to put everything together so that there wasn't much need for you on a daily basis. Can you explain to us exactly how it works, this internal management that you have organized, which is super efficient, and which runs extremely well?
− What is good is that when I was an employee, our sales office was located in the very center of Toulouse. So, I could go visit the properties a little bit whenever I wanted, get out of the offices; I left for half an hour, came back. That's the big plus. Then, indeed, to the extent that I was an employee, obviously, I had to be in the office. Or when I wasn't in the office, I was in customer service, and when I'm in customer service, you can't say to customers: "Don't move, I'll be back in an hour, I have a traveler." » It's complicated. Obviously, it was necessary to organize a form of delegation, of automation. And we have a certain number of processes that actually allow us to automate all of this. You are part of it for the revenue management part and for the pricing part. So that still takes away some of our workload. And then, we actually work via channel managers, there are other IT tools, possibilities, automated things. What we cannot automate is the household service part. There, we call on cleaning service providers who take care of all that, and it goes very well. You really need to anticipate the possible difficulties that you may encounter: automate as much as possible, delegate to competent people who bring you real added value within the framework of your activity.
− Okay. Great. And there, how do you see your company in a year, for example?
− How do I see it? May we continue to grow, may we continue to provide satisfaction to our customers, may we continue to welcome travelers, may we continue to have excellent ratings, both on Airbnb and on booking! Simply grow slowly, slowly, but surely. As I just told you, the key word is our customers, our investors, the people who trust us.
− Yes, that’s what gives good sustainability. Do you have any advice to give to people who want to start subletting, in light of everything you have experienced, to do things right?
− The first advice that I give to a person, already, in the field of entrepreneurship, overall, you have to have an entrepreneurial mindset. It's something we hear a lot, but it's really true. You really have to think differently. The entrepreneur, when you have a mindset, I'm not saying to go for training, coaching, all that is learned slowly, but there is another way of understanding, in fact, the professional world. You really have to say to yourself that every relationship, every exchange brings you something in the case of your activity. All the meetings you can make bring you something within the framework of your activity. So, firstly, I would say: try to have an entrepreneurial mindset. Try to have a mindset of a person who is not going to stop at the first obstacle, who goes wrong, every time someone says to him: “Are you sure this is going to work? », have doubts. The seed of doubt, chase it away. Try to be hermetic about all these beliefs. You really have to listen to yourself. You have to be focused on your goals. That doesn't mean we have to rush headlong: we have to organize ourselves, have a strategy. That's the most important thing, actually. I think it was Warren Buffett or Steve Jobs, I don't remember, who said: "An intelligent person without a strategy doesn't go very far." On the other hand, a fool with a strategy goes much further. » What I mean by that is that the most important thing is to have a strategy, to have a mindset, and then everything else will follow. I didn't give you advice like: "You have to go text everyone." No. It’s more the mindset, it’s more the way of doing things; It is rather the strategic side which can bring you, which can enable you to go very far, and not stop at the first obstacle.
− What you are saying, if I understood correctly, is that no matter the methods, if we approach things with the right state of mind, the method will come by itself, in fact.
− Completely.
− We are going in the right direction, we are going in the right way, and that will do it.
− We don't realize how important what we release is. Me, the first apartment I got, the person then said to me: “You convinced me with your speech. Yes, you have a very good technical, commercial, real estate technical speech. That's very good, but it's also your conviction, your desire to have this apartment that convinced me. »
− It’s true.
− And that’s what’s very important. You have to convey the desire to take care of the person. She will feel somehow valued. It's certain that behind it, you have to take responsibility, you have to be professional, you have to have an organization, a back office, which can absorb all of this. But the most important thing, beyond the technical part, the commercial part, which for me, are almost prerequisites, but in a way, all of this, you can learn it through training, through books, but for me, I would say that the mindset, communication in a good state of mind, educating yourself, training, is very important. In fact, you just have to give yourself the time to be an entrepreneur. You have to give yourself time. We see a lot of videos on YouTube that tell us that we can, with the snap of our fingers, have a bunch of apartments, make money. No, you have to give yourself time. So.
− You are talking about the commercial part; there is also the part of being a manager who organizes his team. Was that part simple for you? Did you get it right away? Is it natural?
− No, I didn't get it straight away. No, it's not natural. Human management, for me, is something which, I'm not going to say difficult, but... I put aside the delegation part to structures like yours, which manage it very well. You are sure a niche sector, you are an expert in this sector, and there, we don't have too much to tell you, you work very well, you generate growth in turnover, so, this part- there, I don't consider it to be management. But actually, the cleaning service side, the maintenance part manager, the fact of trying to be, in a way, the conductor of this whole team, that requires organization, once again.
− Yes.
− It is necessary to adapt. And that is a question of human management. But this is management that could be duplicated for each business leader, that we could duplicate for each position. But there, beyond the management part, you are a business manager. So, you must have management that corresponds to your profile, and what you want to give as an image and also as a dynamic of your company. If you manage based on price, you want to have the lowest price, and you are going to have the worst service. That is certain and certain. So, beyond all that, management, once again, comes back to the notion of mindset and state of mind. If you have a good state of mind in your management, well, the people around you will want to support you in the growth of your activity, the development of your structure. If you have a management that reflects a state of mind that is not great, not necessarily unhealthy, but which is not good, inevitably, there is something that will break down after a while . You will stagnate.
− What you are saying is: be a leader, and not a boss, who makes people act; take people with you.
− You don't have to be a Care Bear manager. You really have to adapt, you have to listen to people. Housekeeping service providers are not sub-wives, you must communicate with them as you communicate with your customers. There is no such thing as a job, there is no sub-function. I speak the same way with investors and clients as I do with the person who cleans my apartment. Because I consider that without her, without him, my company does not function. In the same way as the investor, my client, without him, my company will not be able to operate. It's the same, it's the same thing. And if you come to this understanding, people will follow you, there is no problem.
− We were talking earlier about a subject, I think, which will also interest many people who are watching us. It's that when you have a company of a certain size, and you spoke to me about the ambitions for next year for your company, which are also very high, on development and growth. At the beginning, we talked about it with a smile, because we said to ourselves that for the different business leaders we know, we see that the business manager's temperament infuses into the company, and that it's really just like his way of being. And you shared with me an interesting conviction, you told me that at a given moment, when we develop, it is limited, in fact. And we can't stop there. Can you tell us about that? What, in your opinion, for development to be a success, must be done so that it is not limited? Maybe my question is a little lunar, I see in your eyes the side: “Élise, thank you for your question. Great. It's a pleasure. »
− No, but I totally see what you mean, because indeed, apart from the fact that our state of mind is reflected in the way of managing our company, indeed, we had a conversation earlier, and we said to ourselves that after a while, indeed, this part, this way of managing a team, it can be good, but then... It's also a challenge for me , for society; we learn something every day, I was talking to you earlier about education and training. I train every day, I read every day, I always try to imbue myself with a state of mind, to see certain entrepreneurs to find out a little bit whether I am on the right track, am I which I'm not on the right track. Because indeed, this company corresponds to us in terms of state of mind, which corresponds to us in terms of profiles. And a person who manages by terror will know that he manages by terror, that the cleaning service providers are a little oppressed, all that. With Salah, it might be a little different; at Julien's or yours, it's going to be a little different. But I think that all of us, our way of managing, whether it is… not good or bad, because there is no right or wrong way to manage, it is rather different ways of managing. After a while, I think that when we grow, when the company grows a little more, I think that we perhaps have to think about the way of managing that is more business-oriented. That's the discussion we had. You see, I refer your question to a broader question: shouldn't we think about a way of managing that is more business-oriented? While keeping, indeed, at the base, this management which corresponds somewhat to the personality of the creator, of the founder of the company. Does that more or less answer your question?
− Completely. Super interesting. You mentioned earlier that we work together, so in fact, at J'poster Complet, we joined your team for the pricing part. Can you tell us what it was like before having this service in your business life? How was the pricing? How was it going?
− The pricing part, indeed, overall, pricing and occupancy, it refers, as you said, to notions of revenue management. So how have I been doing so far? With my channel manager, Beds24, I tried, day by day, to do a little bit of what you do. But it's not my job at all, so I was doing it wrong. I spent time on it. I didn't understand, sometimes there were people who booked three months in advance, four months in advance, on a specific date. When I went to look for this date, I realized that there was a specific event that made travelers say to themselves: “Great, we hit the jackpot!” We had two, three nights at 40% below the exact price. » If Élise were there, she would have said to me: “Salah, you are seriously ill!” What did you do that day? It wasn't necessary! » So, indeed, the activity was less. We didn't want to go down, we had a kind of electrocardiogram, something that went down and up. To summarize, I spent a lot of time, almost every morning, learning how to behave, with results that I thought were pretty decent. But in fact, today, looking back, and now you are by my side, the results were actually not the best. That was my life. And I spent time there. And what is most unpleasant is spending time on functions that are not mine, with results that are not what I expect. And I was very frustrated. Do you see what I mean?
– Yes, I see what you mean.
− And I say to myself, I need to find a solution so that we can optimize this part as much as possible, the pricing side, the revenue management side. Then I went to PriceLabs. It's a kind of big machine that you have to understand a little bit at first, it's in English, but hey, that's not the problem. But PriceLabs allows you to have a small turnover, but that's not it, yet. That's not it, because PriceLabs, for me, is not suited to what we do as a sublet. And one day, ah! I saw a YouTuber, in the field of subletting, who was talking about you, and I said to myself: “I'm going to go see what this person offers, what this structure offers. » Indeed, I looked. To be honest with you, when we talked and you offered me your services, since today, I believe that in terms of charges, we have the rents that we pay to the owners, then I believe that 'we have to have the whole cleaning services part, and I think you're the third. I said to myself: “Well, at worst, I have a little growth in turnover, and that will generate less expenses for me. » That's what I told myself, you see. But in fact, I was missing the point, because it went way beyond that. There is real growth in turnover, there are real exchanges taking place with the team, it's great. You implement strategies, not in relation to the recommendations that we give you, but in relation to the recommendations that you give to us. I find that there is a real synergy taking place. For me, today, I'm not going to say what I would do without her, but it's a bit like if all the cleaning service providers were taken away from me, I would be a little panicked, because there is a real added value that is brought by J'poster Complet, and I am very happy with it. It's really great.
− Top. So, you feel like you've expanded your team with us joining you.
− Completely, that's exactly it, because we're starting out, we have two apartments, three apartments. We tap, we tinker a little, and as we grow, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen apartments, there, I tell myself that I am laying the foundations of a structure which can continue to be done between apartments today. I have my channel manager who manages the calendar part very well, I have my revenue manager I display Complete who manages the pricing part very well. So, as soon as I bring in a new apartment, I bring this apartment into the overall Appart in Toulouse structure, with all the people to whom I delegate, and who manage to make the business of an apartment profitable, automatic, with a delegation towards effective structures. So for me today is really relaxing.
− Beyond I'm showing Complete, does the organization you've put in place mean that it's almost painless when you have a new apartment coming into your management portfolio?
− Indeed, from the reception of the apartment; reception means furnishing, that is to say that the apartment is ready to welcome travelers, we actually have a certain number of processes which are almost automatic which mean that it takes much less time than the first apartment that we entered, of course. Because right away, I call Élise, you set up the pricing policy based on a certain number of exchanges that we can have, also based on a liability: other apartments that are next door . It’s always this notion of data; we have data that allows us, once again, to accumulate, to have real expertise, real experience. Indeed, I told you, it goes very quickly. We can enter apartments, and from reception, ensure that everything is on Airbnb, on booking very quickly, ready to welcome travelers straight away. It takes an hour; we take the photos, and the same evening, it's settled, it's on the platforms, and the next day, we have travelers. It goes very quickly. It's effective.
− It’s great!
− We have put in place, I believe, a policy where as soon as you enter an apartment, you immediately get effective prices, and you try to adapt them as you go. We immediately have our processes, our automation, which make it perfect.
− All while respecting certain constraints that we sometimes have, because on the ground, we cannot necessarily do that so easily, the pricing of one night, two nights, three nights.
− Plus, you know how we work. I have worked as owners, I have a certain number of apartments which are in somewhat high-end residences, who don't really like short-term rentals, so what's great about you is that you know how to listen: “In these apartments, we don’t want one night, we want two nights, or even three nights minimum. » So, we try to adapt each apartment according to the wishes of the owners, so that the owners are not bothered by the condominium associations. Because in short-term rentals, there are still quite a few clichés, so obviously we try to adapt all that.
− Top. Super interesting. So, if there is an owner who looks at us in Toulouse, and says to himself: “This gentleman interests me. I really like the way he manages his business and his work, how he manages to find you. Are you currently still subletting apartments? How is it going?
− We take apartments. We continue to take it. We continue to support investors, we do it, we have the teams for it. We have a website: www.appartintoulouse.com . This site allows travelers to book, and it also allows potential investors or owners who wish to entrust us with their apartment management to see a little bit of the process, how the management part of the apartment works. . There are contact details on the website, perhaps you will provide them.
− Yes, I will put the links.
− Then, we are really demanding regarding the quality of the apartment. We have apartments that are rather pretty, rather nice, we'll say mid-range, high-end. So, we try to have things that are a bit nice, a bit pretty. This is also the reason why we have investors, owners who are somewhat attentive to the somewhat qualitative side of their apartment, that is to say that owners who do not agree with do the work, owners who don't want their property to have a certain type of decoration, it's true that it's a bit complicated. But overall, we manage to convince owners. Even if they don't really agree at first, we manage to convince them to invest a little more on the apartment. It's an investment. In the medium term, in the long term, it could be very interesting.
− And it always pays off in the end, that’s clear.
− Completely. Quite.
− And we can also remember that you can support people who are starting from zero, who just want to invest, who don't necessarily have an apartment at this stage, and who want your help, also, to know how to invest, that you help finding the apartment.
− Completely. We do the property search part. We can support investors who want to either expand their real estate assets or, indeed, start with real estate assets. We can support them in their search for properties, based on the criteria they communicate to us. We're going to bring them something that really suits them. We are full of suggestions. We also work with tax lawyers, we work with accountants, we work with asset managers, all of this to ensure that the real estate investment part is really one of the pillars of the whole in terms of investment, that is to say there is the tax part which is important, there is the accounting part. We really need to know what the person wants to do; the single person does not invest in the same way as a family with two or three children. We will try to really understand the client, and support them throughout their investment life.
− Top. Great.
Listen, don't hesitate to contact Salah. I'll put the link to his activity just below, in the information bar.
− I’ll leave you with the final words if you want. Do you want to share any final words about all of this?
− I am happy that you invited me to share a little bit of my experience, to present my structure. I am very satisfied with your services, and I am also very happy to present your structure too.
− Thank you.
− You bring me as much as I bring you, so I'm super happy, I'm super satisfied.
− Thank you Salah. I think it's also a good summary of how great it is to work with you. That’s a very good final word, thank you very much.
− Thank you, Élise.
Thank you for being with us, and don't hesitate to click on the link to find Salah's work. I'll see you soon for the next video. Take care of yourself.