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Realtors’ biz booming – with offspring BY NIKI HOPE REPORTER
Family ties: RE/MAX Realty Advantage co-owner and real estate agent Alison Hazelwood, right, brought son Jay Hazelwood onto her team a couple of years ago. She is one of a handful of established New West real estate agents whose child is following a parent into the business.
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here seems to be something of a baby boom in New West’s real estate business. A seemingly unusual number of children are following their parents into the often-fickle world of real estate. Thirty-year-old Jay Hazelwood is one of them. He made the move after working as a mortgage broker, saying he prefers the hustle and bustle of selling real estate. His mom is RE/MAX Realty Advantage co-owner and real estate agent Alison Hazelwood. She says it’s not unusual for the children of agents to follow their parents into the business, but in New West the recent influx is likely related to the age of the established realtors. Having Jay onboard has been ideal for Alison, especially as she expands her business with the recent purchase, along with her partners, of two offices in the TriCities. “It’s nice for our clients to be able to know if one of us goes away, the other one is fully up to speed and can handle any problems that should arise,” she says. The children of agents will succeed because they know how hard you have to work in the business, Alison says. “It is really cyclical, and that’s one of the most difficult aspects to get used to,” she says. “It’s not the business for somebody that is looking for something safe and reliable.” As for the real estate game, Alison says in the last year or so it was in a “soft spot,”
Larry Wright/
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but it’s picked up in recent months. One of the key differences between those who are successful and those who aren’t is being able to keep their heads down and work during the lean times. In fact, Alison and Jay say that’s when it’s time to work even harder. “A lot of people have a hard time
because they don’t keep the motor running,” Alison says. Evidently, it steadies the steering when family is helping manage that motor.
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wenty-year-old Kellie Vallee joined her dad, Dave Vallee, 58, a couple of years ago.
Despite watching him hustle to manage an extremely busy business, Kellie says she was always interested in real estate. “It’s not 9 to 5, and it’s never, ever boring … ever,” she says, laughing. For Dave, bringing Kellie in meant he could ponder retirement. ◗Realtors Page 9
City pushes for four-lane Pattullo with tolls tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com
No more than four – that’s the city’s stance on the number of lanes it will support on a new Pattullo Bridge. The City of New Westminster is calling for a new or rehabilitated four-lane tolled Pattullo Bridge, as well as proper connections from South Fraser Perimeter Road to
Highway 1 and the Port Mann Bridge, but neighbouring Surrey has been pressing for a new six-lane crossing. “We know that four lanes will work, but it has to have tolls on it so we can go back to livability,” Mayor Wayne Wright said at a press conference in council chambers on Wednesday. According to the city, replacement of Pattullo Bridge was proposed to address
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over the bridge, on major arterial streets and on our local streets, as drivers seek to find faster ways to avoid congestion – congestion because we have no streets on our side big enough to take the volumes coming over the bridge,” Wright said. “In fact, traffic on the bridge has increased by 8,000 trips per day, accompanied by a 75 per cent ◗Pattullo Page 3
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the structural integrity of the aging crossing – not to increase road capacity. City officials point out that traffic volumes on the Pattullo Bridge have been decreasing in recent years, but that changed when tolls were introduced on the new Port Mann Bridge and the Pattullo provided a free alternative. “These tolls have led to a significant increase of traffic, including truck traffic,
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