Real estate can be hard to navigate, but Victoria Gousse manages to demystify it all in her blog the Gousse Guidebook. Victoria combines real estate with fashion to help New Yorkers understand the intricacies of the real estate around them. In the middle of a hectic workday, Victoria made time to meet with Her Campus to talk about her blog and give some advice.
HC: What drove you to start the blog?
VG: I started the blog at a time when I was unsure about my future in real estate. I was still in grad school and wanted to give myself an opportunity to learn more about different kinds of real estate. With the blog, I was able to do that on my own time and terms. I also wanted to play around creatively with photography and fashion – so much of photography and fashion is related to real estate and the spaces we occupy. It just made sense to combine them. The real estate is always my focus, but merging it together with creative concepts makes it worthwhile. it also just makes real estate fun and accessible for people. Without the creative aspect, I don’t know how many people would actually stop and read about the complexities of affordable housing.
HC: Who are some of your biggest fashion inspirations?
VG: I love Nina Garcia and Victoria Beckham. They’re so fabulous. I also love Elaine Welteroth. I think Nina and Victoria are my serious side, and Elaine is the fun me. I also love Kahlana Barfield, her style is always so fun and colorful, she’s also the fun me. I also like for my closet to be classy and timeless. My least favorite things are trendy pieces. I remember when crop tops were big and now no one wears them anymore! Also, things like chokers and reflective glasses were just a one-year-trend. Trends can be fun, but I want my clothes to last a long time. I make sure everything is well stitched and fits right. I also look for good fabrics. I love a quality leather, suede, velvet, wool, heavy-duty cotton, and silk! I love silk.
HC: Has the blog ever played a factor or helped out with potential employers in real estate?
VG: I’m sure some employers have seen the blog and they encourage it, which is nice, but I don’t use it as a recruiting tool. That’s just not what it’s for; it’s a tool of inspiration and learning for other people. When it comes to my professional life and employers, I have my experience and need to talk real numbers. The blog is really growing right now and has a great audience, but it’s something more personal to me than professional.
HC: I loved the blog post about what we can take from China’s urban villages to have more affordable housing in major U.S. cities – are there any other international real estate policies/strategies you think we could benefit from?
VG: I actually think the United States does affordable housing really effectively. It just takes a lot of tools and resources to incentivize landlords to make affordable housing. I think we have a pretty good model that works, however, I do think that it has a lot of shortcomings. It’s often tied to the price of land in urban areas where people can have the most economic opportunity. It’s just becoming more and more expensive to build and there’s still a lot of work to do. I’m always out there trying to look, which is what made the China policy so interesting and forward thinking
HC: What do you wish you knew when you were just starting out?
VG: There are so many things I wish I’d done differently, but mostly, I wish I started the blog a lot earlier. I only started it two and half years ago. I should’ve started in college because I had a lot more time and energy to dedicate to it, and it could’ve grown into something completely different. I definitely wish I had taken on real estate earlier too; time is something you don’t get back.
HC: How has your voice/perspective developed along with the blog?
VG: I think now I’m more focused on the audience. What can I teach the audience? How can they be inspired by what they see? Before it was about how do I get myself out there; I had all this passion and interest and no one to share it with, so the blog became an outlet. Now that it’s here, I’ve been focusing on how do I look at what’s around me and make it a teachable moment.
Like look at this lobby we’re in – this may be a private building, but this lobby is public space. The city mandates a private building like this to have public space. They could have made an outdoor area or something, but this area is so dense. There’s also just no money in the open sky for them, it’s just empty space they can’t rent out. With the lobby as the public space, they have a café and this tall building to rent out. From the ceiling up is all money for them.
This lobby is public, day or night you can stay here. It doesn’t matter if you’re homeless or rich, as long as you don’t disturb the peace, you can stay. There’s usually a small tree symbol to signify a public space, but it’s easy to miss. This is valuable space people can use, but if you don’t know these things you just never know. This is why I do the blog – there are so many resources and interesting background to every space you are in, whether it’s the Nike across the street, a park, or the Starbucks around the corner. Everything has a story or piece of drama; all you need is a little bit of research.
HC: Are there any other passions of yours that you thought about incorporating into the blog?
VG: I think when you look at real estate you start to appreciate all the different aspects of a property that makes its value. A big one is the architecture and design. So, if I rolled in a third topic it would definitely be spatial design and architecture. Some people want a Victorian style house over a ranch style house and pay a lot more for it or vice versa. Sometimes it’s about a certain detail like columns or the pitched roof that someone might be willing to pay a premium for. Because what I do is find value in space, finding value in property design is a huge factor of that.
Another aspect I’ve thought about is the economics market. I like to see how it’s moving and its’ effect on when people decide to buy homes versus rent or what type of financing an investor puts on a particular property. That might be boring for most people, but personally, its something I read a lot about.
HC: Any underrated neighborhoods in NYC you think deserve more love and attention?
VG: New York is just so gentrified all around; I think Brooklyn is at its peak of trendiness right now. The places that I think have potential are neighborhoods in Queens, like Flushing and Sunnyside. They’re super charming, they’re accessible, and they’re not saturated the same way other neighborhoods are right now. They’re also neighborhoods with a deep cultural association, particularly Flushing with its huge Asian population. They have incredible food and it’s a pretty great place for someone just coming in. It’s not too expensive yet. I almost don’t want to say all this. Now people will probably flock there, and one day you’ll just be walking around and there’ll be a Whole Foods – you know it’s over when Whole Foods moves in.
HC: What do you hope for when looking into the blog’s / your future?
VG: I would hope that the blog grows into a place where people can go when they are looking for real estate trends. I want to have a better understanding of what neighborhoods are booming and why they are so popular. What are businesses doing? Why are they looking to expand in other areas? What is happening in demographics that are causing these changes? It’s funny because I see fashion trends as just the quick, fun, cool thing for now – but when its long-term in real estate, you have to see where the trends are. People who make smart investments understand but also go beyond the trends.
One thing about how New York is changing, I want to look into is gas stations. Specifically, whether or not gas stations still make money and what kind of rent gas stations pay. With the very few that are left, how do they run their business so that it works? There are still so many things I don’t know and I want to use the blog to investigate, gain knowledge, and share it! The goal is always to help people understand.
HC: Any final advice for our readers?
VG: Thinking back on my regrets, if you feel passionate about something and you’re lucky enough to know the direction you want to go in – don’t delay it. Just work on your passions hard and consistently. Do it while you’re in college and still have time because once you graduate, the pressures on you are going to be different. It’ll be stuff like the pressure to find a job and paying bills. If you have a passion, pursue it. You have so many resources. You could start a club, a blog, do some writing, and put together a portfolio.
Make the best of your time.