The UnReal Estate Show

Our guest on the show this week is Brandon Harding of NAI Commercial who focus on multi-family and development in Vancouver. We're quick to judge landlords, developers and owners of multi-family properties here in Vancouver when in reality we need these people if we're going to solve the housing crisis. With each new tax and each new restriction, buying a rental building or becoming a landlord in Vancouver becomes more risky and more expensive. Here's why: More landlords equals more rental properties thus increasing the supply. More supply equals less demand. Less demand equals lower rents. And more security for renters. Though it's a basic economic principal we're not quite sure our municipal or provincial governments seem to understand. So housing prices continue to rise and renters continue to experience little security despite an influx of new taxes and restrictions. Clearly something is not working.

Money laundering. How do people do it? Why can’t we catch them? And is this actually something that’s increasing house values in Vancouver? Here to discuss that is former tax lawyer and current white collar crime investigator, Chris Thompson.  Links we talk about:https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000015f-6d73-d751-af7f-7f735cc70000 Quick disclaimer - Chris Thompson's views are his own and he is not speaking on behalf of the government.

A year ago we released our first Hawaii episode. At that time I was just starting the process of buying a home in Kona. A year later, we've made the purchase and have just finished spending 3 glorious months on the island. Here to talk about how I bought a home in Hawaii is my realtor, Kevin Walmsley. His episode last year was one of our most highly listened to episodes ever. So this one will not disappoint.

After traveling around the world we take the show back to real estate obsessed home town of Vancouver. Our guest this week is Greg Dent, Keith's best friend of 20+ years, real estate agent extraordinaire and the guy who's been running our team as Keith travels the world. In this episode we talk about: what happened in the market in 2018, what new government policies are effecting home values this week and what we expect to see in the market in 2019. Stuff we talk about in this episode - "An independent report done last year found excessive regulation in Vancouver, including taxes, zoning regulation and development charges, can add a staggering $600,000 to the cost of a new home."

Concluding our series on New Zealand real estate this week we sat down with Kiri Barfoot, Director of Barfoot and Thompson - recently awarded the title of Best Real Estate Agency in The World by International Property Awards in London, and agent Tim O'Shea. Barfoot and Thompson is an impressive company. Professional and established with probably the nicest office space we've ever seen. Weeks prior to this New Zealand announced it was banning all foreign ownership. As we've learnt from these interviews, there's a number of loopholes to this "ban" and it may not be having the desired effect, though it's still a bit too early to tell.

Happy 2019! We're continuing our real estate world tour and this week we're in New Zealand speaking with documentary film maker Bryan Bruce. I met Bryan two years ago when he interviewed me in Vancouver for his film Who Owns New Zealand Now. The story of New Zealand real estate is very similar to the story of real estate in Vancouver and other expensive and desirable locations in the world. So we've devoted two episodes to fully understanding how the industry works in New Zealand, the challenges they're facing now and what they're doing to address those issues. Only a few weeks before our trip to New Zealand the government decided to ban foreign ownership altogether in order to combat their affordability problem. Before making the change Bryan spoke to parliament about his findings. Though he denies it was because of his documentary alone, it was certainly something taken into consideration when the government made their decision. Enjoy.

We're back this week with the conclusion of our Australia series. This week on the show we're speaking to Buyer's Advocate Cate Bakos in Melbourne.

We're back this week with the conclusion of our Australia series. This week on the show we're speaking to Buyer's Advocate Cate Bakos in Melbourne.

G'day mate! We're in Australia this week where real estate might as well be the national sport. In this episode we sit down with award winning agent and real estate auctioneer, Glen Coutinho to discuss how real estate is transacted in Australia and the similarities between the Melbourne and Vancouver real estate markets. Here's a clip for Glen in action. Be sure to tune in next week when we sit down with a Buyer's Advocate to hear about what the auction process looks like from the buyer's perspective.

We're back in Canada this week checking out the other coast. In this episode I speak with Peter Brouwer with Royal LePage Atlantic. Peter has been selling real estate in Halifax for 20 years now and is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to all things Halifax. Yet somehow he knows very little about the lobster economy...

Let me start off by saying, if you are a real estate agent, especially if you’re a newer agent trying to grow a business you NEED to listen to this episode. If you’re something thinking of hiring an agent or want to know more about what makes a truly GREAT agent, this episode is also a must listen. The episode features Broker-Owner and Author, John Collopy of RE/MAX Results, which is consistently ranked as the most productive RE/MAX Franchise in the United States. After nearly 40 years in the business, his insight and advice is some of the most valuable I’ve heard on the show to date. His personal story of how he hit rock bottom, ended up in prison and then went on to create this amazingly successful business is, not only fascinating, but inspirational to anyone wanting to build a business of their own. A huge thank you to John and his team for bringing me in, yet again, to train their agents in Minnesota (still one of my favourite cities of all time).

Vee arts ein Deutschland! Just in time for Octoberfest, this week we’re talking all things German, from Germany with a guy who lives in Germany. Our guest this week is Allan Attridge, a man I’ve known my entire life. Allan and I grew up together in Richmond, but after falling in love with a German girl, Allan left the city and moved to a small village near Tübingen, Germany (about 30 minutes outside Stuttgart). Allan is a professional photographer and long time podcast host himself (check out The Two Hosers Photo Show). He’s taken nearly ever headshot I’ve ever used as a realtor plus his advice was instrumental in us setting up this show nearly two years ago. In this week’s episode we talk about why he moved to Germany when (if ever) he’s planning to come back to Canada and what his experience with life (and real estate) has been in Deutschland.

A few episodes ago we discussed the merits of leaving the city in favour of country life. Our guest on the show this week will argue that life in the city life is hands down the best way to go. This week we’re talking to Christian Huggett – Vice President of Development with Podium Developments in Toronto. Christian’s background is in city planning, so we’ll discuss why city planning is so important, plus how micro-suites may help solve many of the challenges facing modern cities today.

This week on the show we’re in Northern Ontario, a 14 hour drive away from Toronto, in the town of Thunder Bay. It’s the first stop on our Ontario real estate tour. In this episode we sit down with the legend of Thunder Bay real estate, Mr. Vince Mirabelli. If you ask just about any real estate agent in Canada who they’d recommend in Thunder Bay, Vince’s name is sure to come up. I know Vince through his work within the RE/MAX network. In addition to selling real estate, Vince is avid philanthropist who is known for giving back to his community. Like many RE/MAX agents, Vince works with the Children’s Miracle Network where he donates portion of all of his commission earned to helping children live better.

Ah Winnipeg. Try as I might, I cannot escape you. We all know someone who lives in (or is from) Winnipeg. One of the people I know in Winnipeg is the legendary Jesse Peters. Jesse is a Realtor with RE/MAX (aka. Mr. Social Savvy). Every time Steph and I come to town we try to visit with Jesse. One of the nicest guys you’ll meet, Jesse has carved out an awesome business in the city he grew up in, using social media and video to set him apart from other agents. In addition to selling real estate, Jesse is also a speaker and trainer in the real estate industry, running video bootcamps all over the world. We’ll see Jesse next in Amsterdam for the RE/MAX Europe convention this fall. In this episode, Jesse and I talk all things Winnipeg – what drives the market here, why people are moving back and how he runs his thriving business. We also pick Jesse’s brain about training and what’s next for his social media and video training series. An episode you don’t want to miss!

As more young people choose to leave Vancouver, one of the places they move to is Kelowna and the surrounding areas. Once thought of as a retirement town, Kelowna has changed significantly in the past decade (with the average age down from 67 to 41). Here to talk to us about what’s driving that change, and why Kelowna might be a good option for you, is Tamara Stone of The Stone Sisters Group with RE/MAX. The Stone Sisters are the #1 agents in Kelowna and Tamara’s team is consistently ranked in the top 5 RE/MAX teams in all of Western Canada. Our Realtor listeners will enjoy hearing how Tamara has build her thriving team, and what sets her business apart. Enjoy.

As prices continue to rise in Vancouver, more and more young families are making the decision to leave the city altogether. But it’s not just the cost of housing that’s prompting this mass exodus as we’ll learn in this week’s episode. This week on the show I sit down with a Michael Kaisaris, a good friend of mine and former client, who made the decision to leave the rat race of the city and move to a Penticton, BC about a year and a half ago. If you’re thinking about making the leap from city to country life, this is the episode for you.

Very excited to have our friend Braden Wheatcroft as a guest on the podcast this week. Braden is the Director of Career Development for RE/MAX Camosun on Vancouver Island and host of his own Facebook Live (and future podcast) show, The Vancouver Island Real Estate Show. He’s a long time fan of the show and a dear friend of both myself and Stephanie. He is also a real estate business coach with Richard Robbins International. As a licensed agent in Victoria, now in a managing role for the company, Braden has a unique top level view of real estate on the island, so it was really interesting to hear his perspective on the current state of the market. We also talk about what real estate will look like in the next 5-10 years and how the real estate landscape might look now that there’s been some major rule changes for agents in British Columbia.

Continuing the theme of becoming a real estate agent, this week I sit down with my managing broker, Broker/Owner Cory Raven of RE/MAX Select Realty to talk about all the steps agents need to take once they’ve joined a brokerage.

My guest this week is my sister, Kirstyn Hardy-Phipps! She's in the process of becoming and agent and joining my team. We talk about her experience in getting her real estate license, what the course is like and how relevant it actually is.