04/01/2024
April 1, 2024 marks 15 years since I joined Royal LePage to start a new Property Management business!
It has been a remarkably rewarding experience and a pleasure to be a business owner in this supportive community. Many people have asked lately how I got into owning property and that is a story to share another day. Suffice to say that I moved from living below the poverty line to being someone who can contribute to our community and beyond through hard work, taking calculated risks and ONLY because my brother Martin convinced me that if I did not want to be poor forever, it was something that I needed to do. He patiently guided me through the first few purchases and then I was on my way!
8 years later, I had more "doors" than I could comfortably manage and still have a job, so I took the leap to start a management business. I had set a goal to have 200 doors within 2 years and thought that I would be fine financially at that time, ready to slog it out in the meantime. I had 200 doors within 2 months! There was definitely a need in our community for someone new to do this work and I had a reputation from other community involvement of "doing things right".
My son Lucas was my handyman and every morning he would come to our house for a quick breakfast and we would strategize with John on how to fix things that came up. Lucas was a quick learner and developed a love for building. So much that he now has his own custom home construction company! Crafted Builders
We have been blessed to have Paul Rolfe with us as our handyman for most of the years since Lucas moved on. "Paul can fix anything" and is extremely loyal with a remarkable ability to ensure that tenants are happy while being extremely careful with owners' money.
Corrie Iles Sams was my first employee after Lucas and is still with us. Corrie's attention to the pennies is second to none. Her commitment to paying out on time to the owners is remarkable, we have now had 180 payouts and it has NEVER been late! Over the years, we have had various markets, starting with 16% vacancy in 2009 when I started the business (I saved that newspaper clipping!) What was I thinking?? To the pandemic where no one knew how the money was supposed to flow to pay mortgages (rental property mortgages did not have the same exceptions as personal homes); how were we to repair things in homes without going in? etc. We have a number of procedures out of that grand shakeup that are better now because we were forced to think in a new box.
One of our keys to success is to continuously review our processes and look for better ways to do things, considering that any change has a ripple effect out to so many players.
We also added doing condo management for 6 complexes, driven partly by my desire to give condo ownership a better profile in our community during a tough market and we are glad to have added that stream to our company.
Although we market extensively to find tenants (our goal is never to have a place vacant between tenants) and we have consistently had lower vacancy rates than the community at large, we have never marketed to attract new clients. Our best marketing is to do exceptional work. We have consistently managed about 700 doors for the last few years, taking new ones on at the same rate as owners decide to sell properties to exit the market. We have looked after over 1400 different places (yes, I likely can name all the addresses) for over 800 different owners. Currently our 700+ places are owned by 380 different owners.
Most people only own one or two. A client recently told me that he had always thought management was only for people who own many places and almost sold his 2 because he just didn't want to have the task anymore of looking after them. Since he came on with us, he says "I haven't lost a wink of sleep, nor a month rent like I used to." My favorite part is still bringing on new owners who are just getting into ownership of revenue properties because I know first hand how such an investment can change future income and net worth.
Over the years I have had owners who bought at 19 years old (my fave is the young ones) but also people who got into the game at retirement. Buying property is like planting trees, 20 years ago would be better, but today is also great. Just be sure that you have a good advisor on what kind of tree to plant or which property to buy.
Friends are starting to ask me when I am going to retire & I remind them of how active my parents still are and I learned my drive to serve others from them.... At 84 and 92 years old, this was the first winter that mom with my dad as her right hand, Lily & Hans Peters didn’t officially have the leadership role at Whispering Pines Ski Hill (Many of the 40 years as a full time volunteer)
I do look forward to spending less time working and am so grateful for every single person on our team of 16 staff, they are the best that we have ever had. Because of them, and a strong rental market currently, I am enjoying more leisure time than I have in the last 15 years.
Every single one of our team are exceptional and have a commitment to excellence. I won't tag you all here, maybe some of you will tag yourself or comment on the post of why you love being a part of our exceptional team if you care to do so.
I must add also (sorry, extremely long post now that I have started) that our success at being exceptional also took years to develop. This came with a lot of learning on my part, having many mentors both locally and from afar; countless hours of reading podcasts, attending conferences, signing into webinars; being a part of Royal LePage Canada with its dedication to continuous learning and their motto of "Helping you is what we do."; weekly staff huddles to hone our processes; providing staff time to grow their skills; and a group commitment to working well with one another.
I could only accomplish this success as well because of the support of my husband and business partner John Krol. John, your patience, support and the role you play in helping our buyers and sellers is so appreciated. Despite a very successful real estate business of your own where you are known to take whatever time it requires to serve every client with care, you make time for my business as well.
I am grateful to all of you who read this today for the part you have played in my success, whether as a friend, a client, a fellow Royal LePager somewhere else in the country, a fellow Rotarian, or simply someone who shares my love for this community...
I believe that every person we encounter helps us become who we are and I am proud of being exceptional.
