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BUSINESS BASICS
Started as a Realtor in: 2006, but has worked in related industries since graduating from UBC in 2002.
Specialization: East & West Vancouver, North Shore and Downtown.
One-piece of advice for your clients: Be patient, but pounce the second you find something that meets all of your criteria.
Why RE/MAX? Rob started at a boutique firm, but found that it didn’t give a strong brand name behind him when it came to selling higher priced properties. RE/MAX allowed Rob to step into higher-end properties and enabled him to be surrounded by the best of the best.
“Beyond his expertise in the lower mainland real estate market, which I seriously needed in a volatile and fluctuating economy, I found Rob to be a genuinely caring human being. His patience, determination and commitment to meeting my needs rose above and beyond what I could have hoped for. He is bar none a great realtor and more important to me, an integral and hard working person that shows up, does the work and gets the job done.” -L. Johnson, Ubber Happy Client.
Q & A
1.What differentiates you from the 11,000 licensed real estate agents in the Greater Vancouver area? A combo of factors:
- I studied urban geography, which is the pre-requisite to urban planning
- My OCD mentality with customer service
- Finally, my work ethic
2. Who has been your most interesting client? One client tested me more than anyone; they were extremely diligent and worked Finance and Law. I worked with them for well over a year to find their perfect new house, then was hired to sell their older townhouse. They analyzed every part of my contract, requested multiple inspections and took their time to look at over 100 homes in multiple areas. Although it tested me, it also validated the level of my knowledge, will, and patience as a Realtor.
3. What was your favorite success story? I sold a 3-story sky loft in the Woodwards building. We put it for sale during the downturn in ’08. It was an impressive home, but limited to a particular seller. It was essentially a 1 bedroom, with lots of stairs, 2000 square feet and a 1.5 Million price tag. It was challenging to find the right person. After 5 months, with no sale, the owner who had an investing partner gave them an ultimatum to fire me or to lose their investment money. I was fired for the first time in my career. The owner hired another Realtor, the leading Realtor in the downtown market at the time. They couldn’t sell it. The owner came back to me and I encouraged them to rent it for a year before we put it back on the market. Once I was again hired to relist the property, we were able to sell it for over $100,000 more than our previous listed price. It was nice to have a client compare what I was doing versus an industry powerhouse, and clearly see the benefits of what I brought to the table.
4. What inspired you to be a Realtor? It was a situation of circumstance. Growing up my dad built architectural models for some of the best developers in North America. From school, my urban geography developed to an internship with Concert Properties where I realize I wasn’t meant for the corporate world. I was much more entrepreneurial. I started a real estate magazine with a couple of my friends in 2001. I ran it until 2007. In the last year, I stepped away after I got my license. It made me realize that this is what I was meant to do.
“Of the 1100 plus Realtors in town, Rob is definitely one of my favourites to work with. He’s smart, professional, hardworking and he really cares about his clients.” -Gina Rossi, Relator
PERSONAL SNAP SHOT
About: Rob’s wife is a massage therapist and they have two kids. He lives along Main Street (which was a home he jumped on the second he saw it. From the moment it was listed until his offer to purchase was agreed upon, only 90 minutes transpired).
Likes (If you had more time, what would you do more of): This past holiday season Rob had the opportunity to spend some quality time with family for nearly a month straight. He realized that value that he brings to his family when he is around more. With that he candidly noted his needs to limit the time he devotes to his work. He understands the importance of working with clients who value and appreciate his time and the work he does. He wants to focus his time to working with people that he wants to work with.
Rob wants to give more time to his family, get more social hours in with friends and spend quality working hours with his clients.
Loves (can’t live without): The guy stuff: electronics, cars, and photography. In particular, photography is a personal passion. Originating from his job as Realtor and wanting to capture the right pictures for his clients. He has been working on his art for the past 5 years and has enlisted friends to give him private lessons on specific aspects and perspectives. He’s appreciating that photography is become much more mainstream these days.
Thoughts on the current market: After seeing the run up, he thinks it’s nice to see a pull back. The market has been very inconsistent for both the buying and selling. The media is feeding the misconceptions, however, the stats are supporting what is happening. It’s a slow market, but there is little to choose from, the market is flooded with poor quality listings. The goods listing are selling quickly. There are a lot of buyers that are nervous and waiting for others to flinch. It’s a game of who looses patience first, the buyers or the sellers?
THE EXTRAS
Rob believes that clients are looking for someone to do their job in an ethical way. They want customer service and advice without being pushed. They need someone who can discern different patterns and developing neighbourhoods for future values. A person with neighbourhood and construction knowledge. Ultimately, they want an expert.
He thinks clients perceive him as a nice guy that works his ass off – who also has their best interest in mind, with a mentality to never give up.
Rob’s typical client tends to be young couples with kids. It’s an ideal client as he can relate as he has been through it and can provide recommendations on what to stay away from.
Rob enjoys working with great people and loves that no two days are the same. He reflected back on showing a float house in Ladner, a penthouse suite in downtown and a waterfront property in Indian River (North of Deep Cove) all in one day.
There are challenging days, which include dealing with highly emotional and stressful situations. In a buying situation, clients sometimes need things to happen instantly that are next to impossible, but Rob has built a network of contacts to manage and support their needs.
More than that, Rob maintains strong relationships with top Realtors in the community, which he believes helps him and his clients gain invaluable information about the market.
