Cohen Handler Founder & CEO: Simon Cohen – Real Estate, Risk, and Reinventing the Rules

30:11Would I rather have gone through all the heartache I went through? Or would I rather be the guy slapping the sign on the door today and I can tell you without hesitation, without question, i'd rather be the guy in 2009 because for me i can sit here proud knowing that you know i had some influence in an industry and two or be whatever i said before i know i'm i'm original i haven't copied someone else and I think whilst they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery I would hate to imitate anyone else yeah that would be a low point in my life and when someone

31:01The Gstaad Guy:steps in and imitates all you can really do is elevate and innovate at that point you have no idea how much more motivated I got when people started opening by Zanz's before I was just competing with myself now is competing with everyone else and so we had to double down on everything we had to get much better staff they had to be way more experienced our customer experience had to be 10 times better everything we did was then not only measured by what we did but by what everyone else was doing and it's so interesting what competition does for you so many people say they hate competition but for me it's the greatest thing you know i believe that unless i'm moving forwards i'm moving backwards and i also believe to this day that i did you know think of this industry first and so there is a part of me that is responsible for keeping it a great industry and setting the bar and setting the standard for all the copycats to follow i love that i love what you're saying and i really resonate a lot with that i started stad guy which again is a very different business very different industry but when i started this the reels feature didn't even exist on instagram yeah so i was one of the very few first accounts on instagram that was purely focused on video so much so that instagram actually had reached out to me and asked me to help them push their new reels feature so cool which is a very cool thing.

32:43The Gstaad Guy:You're first to market on so many things. It's a blessing and a curse at the same time. No, it's always a blessing. I think it's a big blessing for the most part. But when a lot of people felt inspired to tell similar stories or tell stories of their own inspired by Stadgai, of course, naturally, at first I felt a bit of resentment. Like, oh my God, I can't believe this person is telling a similar story to me. and then I realized that actually they're slowly doing me a favor because they're turning my niche into a category where actually that competition you're talking about where I can outshine them there's now actually an arena where we're competing there's actually these many storytellers telling this sort of like rich kid story and that guy can play among them and I think competition breeds innovation and every point in time when a new player entered my space, now there's about six or seven that I think are telling similar stories to the Stadgai story.

33:52The Gstaad Guy:I had to innovate and elevate in some way and the most recent innovation and elevation was to speak about things that are beyond the obvious for the world of stadgai right it used to be very much like this product this experience but now it's even more so about how to live within those products and those experiences to keep elevating beyond and i don't think i could have done that without these copycats and that completely right they push you yeah they absolutely push you firstly you're the only one I know. So I don't know who these other six are. And secondly, you know, I could still be educating the market.

34:34I want to buy as agent was, if it wasn't for these people, they've helped me make Australia know that you need a buyer's agent when you buy a house. And so I think competition's a beautiful thing. It really pushes you out of your boundaries, keeps you on your toes. It doesn't let you get complacent and it actually helps your market get bigger and bigger and bigger, which is an entrepreneur, which you clearly are, is a great thing for business. I appreciate that.

35:02The Gstaad Guy:This podcast is brought to you by Pubelle by The Stard Guy, bringing you charms hand-painted with enamel on 925 sterling silver, allowing you to express all the things you love and all the things you might question, from river bateaux to baggammon board and caviar tins to paddle rackets. There is a Pubelle charm or completed set for everyone in the know thank you so much for watching and enjoy the pod cast so if i move to australia tomorrow which i might have to do after going there with you you'll be sold once you have a tour with me yeah i've heard i've heard i'll be sold and i now want to buy a property i call up your your firm yep what does that process look like and what does that timeline look like so if you're just you know an average person because there's some people we buy properties for outside of australia but if you're someone who's just looking in australia only you'll call my office you'll speak to someone you'll give them your brief and you'll get connected to an area expert in the area that you're looking in obviously if you're happy with what we offer.

36:14You'll sign up. And then the buyer's agent's job is to go out and find you, kind of do three things. Their job one is to find you everything that exists in the marketplace. And in Australia, it's on market, it's off market, it's pre-market, it's post-market, it's price reduced. So to go out and find everything. 79 % of what our firm buys is unadvertised stock. So it's to find you all of those hidden treasures, things you can't find your own, all of the opportunities. Their job is to then shortlist all of the good ones and send them through to you. You're in a chat group, you're on email, however it might be.

36:55Then obviously any of the ones that you like, I'm giving you the abridged version or this podcast will go for a long, long time. Shortlist the ones you like and then any of the ones you like, it's to go into the due diligence phase. So is it a good street? Is it a bad street? Is it a good building is it a bad building can you ever get built out are they going to build a child care center next door or you know a hostel across the road can your views be impeded um what's a bargain what's fair market value what's a top dollar walk away price what's replacement costs what will it cost to renovate it to get it to what you want that's great what will it be worth once you do that all of that sort of stuff and then comes the fun bit the third bit the bit that that keeps me a buyer's agent still because to me i don't think i'll ever get this out of my blood it's putting that strategy in place to get it for you for the cheapest price possible so the job is to find everything that exists do all the due diligence and advise and get it for you at the cheapest

37:58The Gstaad Guy:price possible which is very rare in these transactions because usually people are trying to maximize the price of the property so that can take the most commission possible exactly so on your side is it a flat fee that they cut the buyers paying no it's a commission it's a commission but and you're incentivized just to get the deal closed versus closing it for the most possible because we're incentivized to do our job and what what's going to keep our client a client for life and to save them$500 ,000 is way more valuable to us than to cost them$500 ,000 and get the tiny bit of extra money that you would get on that$500 ,000.

38:38The Gstaad Guy:It seems so obvious when you say it but I think few people actually end up sharing that long-term vision. I don't know I've never understood short-term vision in people I've never understood why someone would want to do something to get a quick win, but forget about the fact, you know, I have clients today who have been clients of mine for 20 years and I have bought 20 or 30 properties for them. And if I thought back then, after the one transaction I do with them, that I'd never do another, it would have been one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Because if you win a customer over, they will be a customer for life and that's one of the greatest lessons i've learned i've never taken a short-term vision on anything because i just think it's dumb yeah i agree with that on this podcast and the start guy in general we really like to study the real life start guy this very big spender like the best of the best any costs they are they prioritize excellence and not what it's going to take.

39:52A man or woman after my own heart.

39:54The Gstaad Guy:Exactly. I'm sure you meet many of those people. How do they differ in all ways of being from a more typical high street buyer? What do they look for? What do they study and how do they behave? They know what they want and they make a decision straight away. That's it. And they don't play games. they get straight to the point we'll sit down and we'll have a meeting and we don't need to talk about the weather or how our christmas was or you know how pretty the leather on your shoes is we know we're we're here for a reason and we know what we want out of that meeting and they just get to the point and make it happen and that is one of the greatest things i've learned from from people highly successful like that they they value their time they value their knowledge and they just want to make it happen and is that your favorite sort of transaction to be involved in my favorite sort of transaction to be involved in as a decision maker.

41:12Someone who knows what they want and when it comes up, they say great and they're happy to be patient when it doesn't. What do you think it takes to become a buyer like that? Well, I think you've got to be born like that. Yeah. I don't think you can change a personality trait that big, that deep and that strong. I really think it's how you're born.

41:38The Gstaad Guy:Yeah. You don't think it's something that people grow into based on their budget as well, that they can make such fast decisions because they can afford to do so? Budget doesn't change your mentality. No. Money doesn't buy taste, nor does it buy quick decision making, nor does it buy the right decision making. I don't think it's actually about money at all. I think it's the way they're born and also the job they do. you know if you're a ceo or an entrepreneur and every day you're making decisions you're getting stuff done you know things are happening fast pace you know what you want and you make it happen and i think that's you know something very important when it comes to buying there's a very funny meme in australia um it's it's of an old man and there's there's words saying, I'm still waiting for the market to drop.

42:37And, you know, there's a saying, he who hesitates loses. And it's the people who constantly wait. They wait for prices to get cheaper or they wait because they think something's going to be better around the corner. They're typically the ones who buy a worse property for more money. Decision makers, they win in life. They get great outcomes because they know something's good and they strike one of my best clients. I mean, he's on the front cover of Time magazines as the deal maker, right? And we have an incredible relationship. He's one of the people I bought many, many, many properties for. And he has one line to me when I send him an opportunity and he just writes two words and he goes, deal it.

43:29he's one of those guys that he knows when there's an opportunity he just strikes and i say to him you have bought some of the best deals i've ever seen i mean we've bought things for three million that's worth 20 million 10 million that's worth 50 million one probably i bought him for 20 million it's worth 120 million right like he's got the best deals ever and i say i say you've got the magic touch but when i really think about it his greatest power his superpower his kryptonite is that he just knows he doesn't hesitate he strikes and i think that is a great gift then and it's seen him succeed in real estate so well i bring the opportunities to him and he knows the strike and he says you know what a great partnership it is and i say what a great eye he has i guess it's I love that.

44:22It just works well.

44:23The Gstaad Guy:There's one of these viral TikToks that came up in my feed recently. I think it was one of these white text ones that says, live like the CEO in every way that you exist. And it sounds corny and cheesy like one of these typical Instagram things. When you really think about it, it makes sense. And there was this girl talking about it in the video and saying that, think of your busiest friends and the doers. No matter how busy you are, you text them, they'll get the task done and they'll move on. They don't sit there pondering, is this the right reply? They just do it and move on. And 10 times out of 10, the most successful people around me that I admire, they're fast responders and they're fast movers.

45:10The Gstaad Guy:They're fast, quick decision makers. They make decisions well and they make them quickly. Not well and slowly and not poorly and quickly. either and i love what you're saying about this this friend of yours when you want something done give it to a busy person when i look at the most successful people in my office in my company in my industry in the world they're the people who get up every morning they have a routine they go to gym they go into the office and they they go there and they get done they don't stroll in at 10 a.m. with a coffee in their hand faff around three o 'clock comes they got nothing to do they complain they're not those people right they're people who get up with a purpose they go to work with a purpose and they get stuff done and um i i've always struggled with with you know the housewife who says ah you know my mom is the ceo of our business right she was our first employee.

46:14Oh, nice. She's an incredible asset to our company. She, she, she literally is the head of our whole group and she has friends who are very privileged and they don't work. And I mean, my mom gets to the office at 7am. I get angry at her. She's a very hard worker. Um, she'll tell you she's very busy. She'll have friends who will message her and say, ah, I can't make it. You know, I've got Pilates and then I've got to pick up one of the grandkids. my mom who works full-time runs a household has a family can make time to meet her friends and to me that's that's to the exact point we're talking a busy person gets something done and so to the point of the tiktok you watched it's so true get into the routine and the head and the lifestyle of who you eventually want to be because none of us started as the ceo i don't know about you but i started as a kicker i was getting coffee i was driving to open homes in areas i didn't even know existed you know it really was a far cry to where i am today but in my head i always woke up every day acting like who i wanted to be yeah and i think that turned me into who i am so you you

47:31The Gstaad Guy:started working in this industry at a very different time as well in terms of the tools that you have access to how has technology helped you scale your business and expand it well when i first started blackberries had just come out if you had a blackberry it was like the coolest thing ever you look a lot younger than you are thank you you're very flattering but i'm 41 and so black berries had just come out so thank god we could be on the road and get emails right because i I don't know what life would have been like before. But as Instagram and Facebook and SEO and SEM became more prevalent, it helped take our business, not only in a market, but to the world.

48:20And so technology has been incredible in helping grow our brand and grow our business and grow you know our storytelling and so it's been really good at that and obviously tv shows and things like that help dramatically but i think it would be a much harder much more difficult much less exciting world without technology we get to share who we are as a business who we are as our brand who our clients are and we get to showcase to the world what we're all about and I think that's an incredibly powerful and incredibly fun thing to be able to do absolutely

49:10The Gstaad Guy:as you know as part of my job I'm studying this top customer of yours and how they live and how their habits and consumptions are changing and evolving over time possibly thanks to this technology that we're talking about and maybe just the way the world's moving I'm noticing lots of people leaving the cities and moving outside the cities and also living a more entirely remote lifestyle where they live between a few homes and remote places and it's this new way of living for the top 1%. Have you seen that change the way you do business with a more global desire? from your customers 100 life for the ultra rich is about lifestyle and if we if we did this podcast two years ago and no one at home even knows this i was getting flown around the world to look at houses for clients for this reason to have a place here to have a place there to be international it has certainly since covid and in more recent times become a way of living for the one percenters and i i do think it comes down to technology it comes down to how easy it is to now work from anywhere how you can just hop on facetime or zoom or teams and speak to your business your people your team and so people are all about lifestyle today they're about spending summer in one part of the world and summer in another part of the world and a bit of winter in one part of the world and having a lifestyle that you really enjoy life from rather than the 355 days a year people would stay in their country and then spend 10 days a year on holiday.

51:15The Gstaad Guy:And in terms of the homes these people look for, is what they look to get from a home, is that also changing? Lifestyle. Lifestyle is what people want from a home. If it's an apartment in New York City, it's to go downstairs and be in the hub of what New York offers. If it's Los Angeles, it's privacy. If it's Sydney, it's the harbor if it's the slopes it's ski in ski out yeah so it is a lifestyle in every facet of the imagination and i guess there must be some reoccurring destinations that you see over and over again or some themes sydney london new york la i would say are the the reoccurring yeah but i'm all up for mixing it up i mean london now is going through an interesting time where people are saying it's the best time in the past 30 years for a buyer yeah since we're in london today how do you feel about the market in london and how do you see it I'll say one thing I've said for years.

52:25Opportunity doesn't knock very often. And when down markets hit or prices drop in major cities in the world, like London, it doesn't last very long. And in my many, many years of doing this, albeit you think I look young, no one's ever said to me, thank God I waited. and so if the opportunity is showing itself in london now when london is a global city a city where people are always going to want and need to live it's a great time to buy and if you can if you buy blue chip assets and a blue chip city in a city that anyone on every corner of the earth knows about you're never going to go wrong as long as it's the right asset yeah have you seen anything good in london this trip yeah since people heard i was here i've been dragged to some pretty cool places yeah yeah i mean the prices though are when you convert them into australian dollars because it's double yeah it does make sydney look cheap i think now more than ever

53:36The Gstaad Guy:the desires of this top 1 % when it comes to their homes is becoming a global desire. The followers I study and the people on my extended network who live the real life, life of the Stadt guy, are looking to live more globally than ever. Locally, in each of their homes, very much globally. Yes. Where they feel like Londoners when they're in London, they feel Swiss when they're in Stade, they feel Australian in Sydney, but nevertheless, two months here, two months there, two months at sea, and so on. It sounds like you've made a big leap in your business to transition towards servicing that client, partially because that top 1 % has moved in that direction, but also because you're placing a bet on more and more people living that international life.

54:34The Gstaad Guy:Can you tell me more about that? Guess what I do just kind of morphed into that. I started working with a few of these people and then it just grew and grew. And as you so rightly say, one, they want to have the lifestyle, but two, they also realize the wealth that real estate creates. And so they'd only buy these assets for lifestyle, which is a big key part player in it, but they do it as wealth creation for themselves and for future generations also. And so I've been hired by many of these people to help them find these assets, whether they be around Australia or around the world. One, because I know what they're looking for and I get them.

55:19And I think that's a really important part of, of being good at what you do is being able to understand your customer.

55:28The Gstaad Guy:Yeah. two i'm honest with them and three i know real estate and it's become a massive trend where people don't only want or want to own one home it's to have iconic homes in iconic locations around the globe and for me it's one of the most exciting parts of what i do because i get to find the most beautiful homes in the most beautiful places around the globe and I don't get to hear stories from my clients about how much they're enjoying them, but I get to see them go up in value. And that's really like a win-win. And that's the beautiful thing about real estate. You can double and triple and quadruple your money and also live in the most incredible place.

56:20It's really quite exciting.

56:23The Gstaad Guy:is there a market in particular where you're getting lots of inbound from for me right now it's the u.s my fastest growing subset of my audience and customers are americans u.s and germany are my biggest customers at the moment wow a lot of german billionaires buying in australia nice and around the world and the u.s a lot of people want to get out of the u.s and get into Australia. What do you think that is? On the flip side, people have wanted me to go to New York and buy for them. I think the thing about Australia is we're such a stable, safe place to live. And when I speak to a lot of these international billionaires, and I'm talking some of the most extraordinarily successful, powerful people in the world, they've said to me in their words if the world was going to end australia is where they want to be i have heard that and the doomsday prep doomsday right and so they all want to buy these properties on the water in sydney and have not only places for the doomsday but have a place to live part of the year which is really a magical place to live but also unlike so many places in the world the sydney luxury real estate market is unlike any other and the wealth creation from buying an iconic property is so incredible that that's where they want to put their money it's a great way to park some money i guess plus when you're going from there to from america or europe to australia it's like half price so yeah it's really great for them so are most of your clients buying for personal use or for investments i'd say 90 percent of personal use even if that personal use is one month a year and um 10 or just to to landlock i have a question for you sure one of the most reoccurring conversations among luxury business owners is the transfer of wealth happening right now between generations and also the amount of wealth creation taking place among the younger generation so more than ever younger and younger people have more and more crazy crazy spending power and they like to spend differently to how their parents did and how the older generation did Is that something you're already noticing in your industry?

59:06Absolutely. The amount of young wealth looking to buy property is crazy. And I think the older generation were way more modest. They were living in smaller homes, more modest homes. When I even look at generational wealth families that I deal with now, the parents who created the wealth live in way more modest homes than the kids, right yeah and they're the ones who made it exactly they're the ones who made it so i think the younger generation are far more flashy yeah they want to live in far better places they see home as a place to spend a lot of money in and so there is a a shift in that but especially in australia you know the australian dream has to always it's always been instilled in us growing up is to own a home own your own home and so people are brought up wanting to buy property they know what a great investment property is and so they're very into property and so that is that is absolutely something i'm seeing i see that a lot i mean you

1:00:18The Gstaad Guy:said that the leserelles hotels are some of your favorites yes that is a very start guy opinion yes i think an opinion that many of your best customers would share i'd love to know how important it is to you and your business to actually rub shoulders with that customer and and lead a similar lifestyle to your best customer in your free time i think it's so important to be able to relate to your customer i think when you work with someone number one is trust and you have to be able to find common ground. You have to be able to break bread. You have to be able to understand each other, get along with each other and, and really share stories and life experiences.

1:01:02Let's put aside, um, the fact that I was born in a way that I'm just obsessed with luxury and, you know, I love great hotels and great cars and great watches and all of those things. I think it's incredibly important that I do do those things or have those things or experience those experiences so that I can have those discussions with my customers. You know, where I go skiing at Christmas, I only ever started going skiing there was because one of my greatest customers told me I have to go. And one year I joined them and many of the hotels I've gone to and experiences I've done are because my clients have, have told me I need to try them out.

1:01:49And so we ended up having this commonality. We ended up having a relationship where we can relate to one another. and for me that just puts us on a totally different level because we're able to talk about similar interests similar passions similar experiences and we're able to say ah we went to that restaurant and the service was terrible we went to that hotel and we had the time of our lives and so i think it's really important if you're going to work in luxury to live luxury

1:02:27The Gstaad Guy:On this podcast, we always play a game of à la poubelle versus fantastique. Things you'd like to change in your industry or just the world that surrounds you and throw in the trash à la poubelle. You can name one or two of those things. And then a couple of things you love seeing and would love to see more of that we call fantastique. Can you help share first a couple of things you would throw à la poubelle? I think for me, there's one that really stands out and it's people, especially like the younger generation who just expect things will fall in their lap. They're kind of like what we were talking about before.

1:03:07They stroll in a 10, they leave at three. They think magic's going to happen. For me, that's just Alipopel. I need to see a lot of that change. I need to see people get back into the world and realize that unless you work hard for something, you're not going to get it.

1:03:27The Gstaad Guy:I agree with that. And I actually really look for that in a measure that I recently started to look for. It's when things go wrong. Which they often do. Which they often do. Does that person take two steps in or two steps out? You want to know what that person does? they blame everyone else and they look for every excuse under the sun yeah and i think that is the most revolting thing anyone can do because unless you take accountability i agree and step up and say you know what i could have done better yeah you're always going to go backwards and i actually think that applies to friendships relationships people who say by the way i could have done better yeah that's something i look for in every person i interact with i've really tried as i've gotten older and i hope i've gotten better at it to be that person to say you know what that was wrong or i didn't give it my best or i should have done better because that's what i would like not necessarily people to say but you know to think i agree with that i think the inverse is entitlement so entitlement a la poubelle absolute a la poubelle you say it's so much better than you say very well you just got back from paris you're good yeah um any other a la poubelle i think really that to me is the main one i mean i hate qr codes at restaurants i i agree i like we're not in covid anymore we're not i want to sit like the stade guy open a menu and look for a perfect Milanese.

1:05:08The Gstaad Guy:You know what's actually even more Stadge than a perfect menu? Tell me. It's telling the waiter you take care of it. A hundred percent. Or when you get on the plane and you're in a certain class and people want all of the free stuff. Tonight in the morning, I'll take the champagne. You know? They're like throwing the used pajamas in their bag and the toothbrush. Like Alipabel. You know? Don't be greedy. Stadge, throw them away. because I got to fly home, I'll get them again. Yeah, that's true. I agree with that. I like that. What about Fantastique? Fantastique. Things you want to celebrate. Great customer service.

1:05:48You know, a customer experience to me is just really one of the most wonderful things. Seeing people in the world succeed, I think that's fantastic. To me, that's so inspirational. It motivates me. It pushes me. I think when there's winners around you, you want to be a winner. When there's losers around you, it kind of makes you a loser. And so I draw great inspiration from that. And obviously, you know, a great pair of summer walks or, you know, something like that is always fun. It's always fun to speak.

1:06:27The Gstaad Guy:I agree with that. Absolutely. I agree. I think that people like you can help someone create a setup that just makes their life feel better and happier and more positive. It's absolutely a big part of that fantastique energy. I love that. For the real life shtad guy. I love that. Who likes to live in all different places. We've won. Exactly, I agree. Well, Simon, I really appreciate you taking the time today. It was my pleasure. The pleasure is mine. And I'm very excited to come see you in Sydney and hopefully become a client of yours and build up Constance's Pirataires around the world. I would love nothing more than to be Constance's buyer's agent.

1:07:11So I'll have the paperwork sent over. Let's do that. And I look very forward to seeing you in Sydney soon. We'll be Sydney before Stard. Okay, Sydney before Stard. We've got 12 months to Stard, right? Exactly. So Sydney before Stard.

1:07:25The Gstaad Guy:Deal. We'll have to make that deal. Deal. Thank you. Thank you, Simon. Thank you. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Start Guy podcast. If you're keen to learn more, please follow along by engaging with our social channels on Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, YouTube, and Apple podcasts. And we look forward to seeing you next week. Merci beaucoup. À la prochaine. And a big hug from the Start Guy.