Exclusive Interview Mr. Dale Thom of Royal LePage Exceptional

Personal:

Full Name:

Dale Thom

Date of Birth:

September 9, 1960

Birth Place:

London, Ontario

Education:

Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University, Ottawa

1985:

Sales Representative License

1990:

Broker License

1990:

Sales Manager with Montreal Trust Reality

1991-1993:

Sales Manager with Canada Trust Reality

1993-2011:

Broker/Owner Coldwell Banker Exceptional Real Estate Services

2011-Present:

Broker/Owner Royal LePage Exceptional Real Estate Services.

Interview

1. Where did you do your education and can you please shed some light on the importance of education in this day and age?

I achieved my Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University in Ottawa and later, I also took my real estate courses out of Ottawa as well.

2. How did you start your Real Estate career and who were your early inspirations?

I started out my career in real estate in 1985, at the age of 24, with a local office close to my house in Toronto. I chose real estate for the reasons that most people do, because I saw everyone else tha had a lot of money in the world had built wealth from real estate, or primarily in real estate.

3. What were some of the early struggles you faced in your career?

During the earlier years of my career, Ottawa was fairly sleepy at that time. The market there heavily relied, (and still does rely), on how the government was doing- if the government was laying off people, the market was poor, or if the government was hiring, the market was great. Ottawa became a kind of entirely homogenous area where everyone earns a similar amount, they all take transit to a government job, they all take transit home. Everyone fell into the same category and it was an environment which moved far too slowly. I knew there was only so well I could do in Ottawa. Hence the reason I made the move to Toronto in which I was able to explore the different neighbourhoods, their values, their communities, and the various types of housing designed for people who could both move up or move down with ease.

Additionally, that the interest rate was at an incredible high of 10%, and it remained so for some time. The average sale cycle was about 6 months- it would take 6 months to sell a house. A bungalow was worth between $111,000 and $113,000 in the East end of Toronto- if you were to price it at $119,000, it would not sell; if you were to price it at $115,000, it may sell- so that roughly 5 percent was all it took to overprice a listing. We would carry 150 listings in an office because it would take so long to sell a single house, which is something that is unheard of now. In today’s market, when you get a listing, it sells within days. There was some immigration at the time but not at the volumes at there is today; you were moving someone up, moving them down or moving them out and so you had to be creative in the way that each deal was approached.

4. How did you cope with the challenges presented by the Stock Market Crash of 1987?

1987 was the crash of the Stock Market, ours followed not long after, in 1990. At that time, I was employed at Montreal Trust as a sales manager and I was in a different capacity but it came with a big price. Everyone had walked in with ashen faces asking, ‘What happened?’ All of a sudden, things changed for the worse. That market crash took 35 percent of people’s market value off the table right away, in all walks of real estate. It didn’t change until Quebec wanted to separate in 1995, around the time of the ‘Oui ou Non’ Referendum and once it was decided that Quebec would remain part of Canada, things finally progressed. It took a long 5 years. It was a challenging time and we didn’t know Power of Sale business before then, so anybody that had a connection with a lawyer saw a lot of business. Nevertheless, I hung in because it’s the only thing I truly had training for and I was determined to figure out a way to earn a living, but it wasn’t easy.

5. What are the key things a realtor should focus to be in this career?

I think some important questions to ask are: What are your goals? What are your plans? Our business is planning, planning, planning and then executing that because you have to plan three times as much as you have to execute. Everyone has to know their numbers, what they need to survive, what they need to thrive, and what the ultimate goal is. Then you have to make a business plan around that, and some people will follow that plan, some will hide it in their desk and never look at it again but there is a percentage of our business that will succeed and do very.

6. How does one evaluate whether or not they’re fit to be a realtor?

In my opinion, you have to be a bit competitive- the type of young person who always wanted to get the highest marks in school or wanted to be in sports. Liking people is nice but it’s not the most important thing. I’ve seen some angry real estate agents that do very well at their job, and they clearly hate people which is unfortunate because you meet so many interesting people to talk to and it can be very fun. The main two qualities are: competitiveness and ethics- I can teach the rest, the nuts and bolts of real estate is not hard. Finding the client, however, is hard, so you need to be able to build relationships. For instance, I’m going to work with a certain lovely couple and they want to buy a house. When I’m done, I want two things to happen: make the client happy, and then later, casually discuss referral opportunities so that they would pass on my name. In this way, I’m able to build a book of business that snowballs overtime.

7. There are so many realtors nowadays. Is there still potential for newcomers?

One hundred percent. There is room for newcomers because they are able to bring a fresh new set of ideas to the table, and bring new enthusiasm. The jaded person that has been in real estate for 20+ years may think ‘oh that would not work’ but for instance, a young newcomer may put his own spin on the concept and make it work. I liken it to any sports team where there are the old guys that have been playing for a while but then come the younger ones have a little more jump in their step.

8. What are your views on Real Estate in the last two years and your reply for those worried about the future?

In my career, there have been three ‘reset’ periods: Around 1980, 2008, and 2017 after the recession. Every time there was a reset, prices went down but following that, prices would skyrocket way over what they had been before. My second house, for instance, was worth about $300,000, then worth $200,000, and then suddenly it was worth $1.5 million, then $1 million. That house will be worth $3 million one day; I just haven’t gotten to that day yet. People should know that it may be an opportune time to buy, that’s what I would take away from it.

9. What is your advice to first-time home buyers considering the _highs_ of the current market?

My advice would be to push yourself to get into the current markets because once you’re in, you’re in. People from outside who haven’t had opportunity come to our city will do anything to qualify and buy a house- so we all have to be competitive now, you can’t sit back. Ultimately, home ownership should be the basis of the security of your life. Everyone should force themselves into it and they should look for whatever help necessary to qualify for the house

10. What is the role of technology? How has technology in this field affected you? Do you foresee future challenges for this profession and as a consumer?

Earlier in my career, it was very different times than now. The computer was new at this time and there was no internet, it was like hitting rocks together. Our listings would come printed and you’d have to wait with bated breath to have the daily listing be delivered by the courier overnight, which would later be compiled in a weekly booklet. We would then have to pour through these booklets to find some product for your client. There’s no doubt that there will be a lot of different business models going forward. I believe in the end however, there will still be a need for a real estate sales person. Somebody is going to have to physically go to a house and facilitate a showing, and connect the seller with the buyer. Will there be different ways to go about the process? 100%. Will our jobs disappear? No.

11. Why Royal LePage?

I wanted to align myself with a company that was growing. Royal LePage is a Canadian-owned brand with over 18,000 salespeople and over 600 locations in Canada. It’s a premium brand, and I call it that due to the investment that is made into our company every day. Ours is the biggest website of any real estate company in Canada which means more opportunities and more listings for our buyers and sellers. For our salespeople, that means more eyes on your listings and more potential leads. Over 27% of residential real estate business is done with Royal LePage. Our leadership is second to none; not only are we seen as the voice of real estate nationwide but we are also in every sound bite in the media.

13. How do you like spending your time away from work? Do you have any hobbies personal interests you would like to share with our readers?

I’m a family first type of guy. I enjoy very much everything with my family and our two dogs. I like playing men’s recreational hockey in the winter season. We have a cottage up north so we’re really enjoying that. Other than that, I have two beautiful university- aged young adults of mine that I am trying to launch into the world successfully, which would entirely be my focus.