It seems like a lifetime ago, but on July 6th 2016 I found out I passed the Real Estate Trading Services exam at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, a whole FIVE YEARS ago! What a five years it’s been, looking back I’m astonished by how much life has changed and almost overwhelmed by how much your support has meant. I say it every month in the newsletter, please believe me when I say, “we couldn’t do any of this without your ongoing support.”
I took some time this past month to consider some of the lessons learned over these last few years. One thing that blew me away was how certain mega-themes that were present at the start remain absolutely central to who we are and how we operate.
Home Is Where Our Stories Are Written
If you’ve seen one of our buyer or seller guides you’ll be familiar with this phrase, it’s how we start every conversation with our clients. I was sensitive to this fromthe beginning, and now with over 270 homes sold I’m thoroughly convinced it’s true. Of course, there’s more to life than where you live, but it sure does have a huge effect.
Over these last five years I’ve seen: downsizing couples weep as they close the door on the home they raised their family in; young couples bringing home their babies from the hospital; pictures of holiday celebrations in dream homes; and countless day-to-day moments – the stuff of life.
We also experienced it ourselves, purchasing our home in Walnut Grove after painfully leaving behind our townhome at the beginning of this whole journey. To this day I watch my kids playing in the garden or eating around the table and remember, ‘home is where our stories are written.’ I consider this one of the greatest privileges in our business, we help people find the backdrop to their story. That’s an incredibly precious thing and something we continue to treat with the respect it deserves.
Property In Community
Right from the beginning we featured the community around a home as part of our marketing plan but ‘Property in Community’ came to be about more than marketing. As our influence grew within the industry and in the communities we serve I realized we could use that influence to genuinely impact other people and tell their stories.
‘Property in Community’ took on a deeper meaning when it translated to three years of Realtor Monopoly, raising over $40,000 for New Hope Community Services, helping dozens of refugee families get settled in Canada; to raising another $40,000 for the ‘Bring Kevin Home’ project, allowing our friend who’d suffered a stroke to renovate his home so he could return to his family; to inspiring thousands of other agents to advocate for others on the main stage at Inman Connect in San Francisco; to sponsoring local events and fundraisers; to serving on multiple non-profit boards; and to telling stories of other local businesses asking for nothing in return.
We wanted to be careful not to constantly only tell our own stories, but to use our voice to tell others’ and I’m proud that we’ve been successful in doing that. It’s something I’d like to return to doing more as things open up in our communities and economy again. We feel incredibly fortunate to be part of such a wonderful community.
Collaborators Not Competitors
With over 20,000 Realtors in the Lower Mainland I had heard that real estate was a hyper-competitive industry that was full of sharks. Now, there are certainly some agents that are only in it for themselves, but one of the reasons I’m proud to own Royal LePage Wolstencroft and Wheeler Cheam with the Schreder Brothers is that our brokerages’ agents see themselves as collaborators not competitors, and that makes us all better.
I am so grateful to the other agents in my life that have helped me grow and serve our clients better. These are people who simply want to help. We are happy to share lessons learned, systems that improve our client experience, data that highlights market shifts, and support when we’re winning or losing. These colleagues have become our community and some of the most valuable friends I’ve ever had.
Teamwork Makes The Dream Work
Continuing the importance of community, how couldn’t I talk about the team? One of the benefits to working with the David Smith Homes Group is that we’re now a team of specialists rather than me just being a sole-proprietor generalist, as I was at the beginning. This has undoubtedly allowed us to improve our client experience.
Real estate is a tough business and without the support of a number of fantastic team members over the years I’m not sure we would have made it this far. The attrition rate in real estate is 70% of agents don’t make it through two years, and for good reason – the stress can be overwhelming, the expenses eye-watering, the workload and timeframes near impossible, but we’ve made it through as a team. I’m so thankful to work alongside such a gifted group of people.
People Over Property, Always
It’s not a coincidence that none of the above reflections were about how to decorate a home; when the best time to sell is; how to leverage equity to pick up an investment property; or anything else about the ‘property’. We know these things, of course, and we’re very good at serving our clients with their real estate needs… but the real estate itself has never been the focus and never will be for us.
When I look back at the last five years I’m most proud that we’ve not been derailed from our ‘People Over Property, Always’ approach. There were times it would have been easier and far more profitable to have jettisoned it, but we’ve held firm. Sacrifices were made along the way to do so, but I’ve never regretted them once.
The five year mark is a turning point for any real estate business, we’ve already begun seeing clients return to us for the second time, asking us to help them both sell their current home and purchase their next. We don’t take this for granted, and our commitment remains to try to place you, your family, and your needs at the heart of the process.
Thank you for being part of the first five years of the David Smith Homes Group. Nothing would make me happier than being able to spend many more years continuing to serve our friends and clients, sharing our influence, and benefitting our communities together.
Gratefully,
David