Episode 91: How Immigration Is Reshaping Canadian Real Estate with Andrew Carros

[00:00:00] Thank you so much for joining me on my podcast. Today I have the pleasure of inviting my friend, my new friend, Andrew, to join us here, Andrew Carros of Engel Volkers Vancouver. Welcome, Andrew.

[00:00:09] Thank you, Evelyn. I'm really, really happy to be here. Thank you so much.

[00:00:13] I appreciate it so much. Well, listen, I'm going to give our listeners a little bit of information about you. So, Andrew is the chief operating officer at Engel Volker Vancouver location and he has been the COO since 2019. He brings 23 years of real estate expertise to the forefront of this international property conversation and working with organizations like Volkers over the years. He has led operations throughout the Lower Mainland and he has successfully guided his team through significant market shifts and policy changes affecting investment in Canadian real estate, which we'll definitely talk about 'cause as it relates to immigration.

[00:00:54] Working with a globally recognized brand such as Engel and Volkers, Andrew specializes in developing collaboration frameworks that enhance value propositions for both individual advisers and brokers as a as a whole. His forward-thinking approach has been particularly valuable in addressing the challenges presented by the recent government regulations on foreign buyers and immigration policies. Andrew's perspective on the intersection of global mobility and immigration and real estate makes him an authoritative voice on how industry professionals can better serve clients navigating cross-border transactions in today's complex regulatory environment. Welcome.

[00:01:31] Yeah, I was just gonna say, wow, you made me sound very important.

[00:01:36] Well, you are very important to me and our listeners. You are.

[00:01:40] Yeah. I'm often surprised when I hear things like 23 years in the business and authority in the marketplace. It all seems so uh fast if I'm being honest with you. I mean, things are moving so fast.

[00:01:54] They are. Where's your office located? Where are you today?

[00:01:57] I'm right in Yaletown. So, we we're right located at 1152 Yale uh Mainland, which is right in the heart of Yaletown. And uh obviously with the nice brick in the background, you can see the most magnificent heritage buildings down here.

[00:02:12] So, tell me a little bit about your journey. I heard it when we first met and I thought it was really interesting because you come from a real estate family background. So, tell us about your journey into the field and what was the draw originally that brought you to real estate?

[00:02:26] Uh my perspective is quite interesting because I grew up in the business. My father ran a real estate brokerage. He's been in this real estate business for over 50 some odd years. Um he actually when I was young, like around 17, 18 years old, he moved to Europe and he kind of retired from the real estate business in Vancouver and he came back in 2022. And at that time when he came back, I was a young 20-some year old trying to figure out what my life was going to be and his coming back and getting back into real estate is a fresh start I suppose even though he didn't, I mean he had a head start which was helpful.

[00:03:07] But generally I just kind of decided, hey, why don't I come work for you, Dad? Let's do this together. He thought it was a great idea. Um the two of us have been working together ever since. Uh being around realtors my whole life, I think I have a true understanding and a unique perspective because I know how hard this job is. I know how much work people put into it. I know how important it is for people to have right connections and empathy and compassion, all the things that people don't think of in real estate. You know, they think that uh you know, there's a hustle that goes along with it. There is.

[00:03:41] Uh but I think my perspective is I've seen the people that have made long careers out of this business and they've done that through great relationships. And so I think I've come into it with the right frame of mind where it's hard work, it's relationships, it's being nice to people. It's about being informative. It's about uh making sure you show up uh and do your job really well. So, I think I've been trained by watching. And I never ever ever dream that I would ever get into real estate. I'll tell you what, if you ask the 17-year-old me, no way. Uh but I'm really thankful I did. I've had awesome guidance, excellent mentors, uh surrounded by just amazing people in Vancouver.

[00:04:22] And yes, we've gone through some really, really weird times in our life that none of us have ever experienced before. Uh we need to be very clear on that and we're all rolling into this uh with a bit of an unknown. And so having great people around you is the number one thing that uh people need right now. So thank you for being those people.

[00:04:42] Oh, well, I'm excited that we got to meet, we met. So Andrew and I met through a mutual friend and connection and one of his colleagues and uh I just love that the whole Angle Volkers community internationally, they're so collegial. They're so collaborative. They're working in high-end, high-touch, you know, high performance type of environment, which is just wonderful for us to be even remotely connected with.

[00:05:10] So, listen, that's we've alluded to the changes. There have been so many changes since COVID, changes with the law, changes with tax, changes with everything. So, you've led your team through some of these transformative years in Vancouver real estate. And I'm from Vancouver originally, and I always say when people say, "Why don't you live there?" I'm like, "Because I'm from Vancouver." And getting, when you leave, coming back is so challenging and that's why I'm in Calgary. It's just a crazy market.

[00:05:43] So, do you want to tell people who aren't familiar with Vancouver a little bit first about what the market is like? Because people don't always realize it's like LA, it's like, you know, Silicon Valley, it's like New York.

[00:05:54] Thank you. Uh thank you for saying that because I think a lot of people don't, especially Vancouverites, uh very reluctant to um, um kind of admit, I suppose, that we are an international city and when international cities grow, uh they attract uh, they bring other people from other countries and that investment is what help grows those cities, right? Like if you look at New York and LA and you look at the history of them and I think one thing about Vancouver that everybody really forgets is we are a baby, we are a baby on this planet, we're not very old compared to other people.

[00:06:33] And so we've been discovered through, you know, go back to Expo 86, kind of global sort of opening and what that did is it brought a lot of people into our country that were looking for new homes, new places. Uh real drive from Hong Kong back in those times. Uh we have a very strong Asian community here in Vancouver. I would like to make it very clear that we've had that strong community from day one in Vancouver. This is not a new phenomenon. This is how our city's been built.

[00:07:05] Absolutely.

[00:07:06] So I think from a standpoint of what we're dealing with in Vancouver is we've been really spoiled because we went through a really long period of time where the arrow was just up like this. And uh demand is our pro is the why. Um there's no supply. We're a very low inventory city. We're blocked out by mountains to our north, to a border to our south, a valley to our east, and the ocean to our west. We've got nowhere to go. And so this city needs to start doing this.

[00:07:44] And I think we've been a little bit behind on the infrastructure that we needed because we weren't, like I said earlier, admitting that we were an international draw and then suddenly the whole country which is gigantic, right? Calgary is very different from Vancouver's very different from Calgary, right? Toronto is different from Montreal, they're all very different areas, very different populations, very different demographics and we have lumped the whole country together into bans and taxes and all these things and it's confusing, it is super confusing to try to figure out what you can and cannot do, where you need to go, what taxes you have to pay, how you're exempt, how you're not exempt, how much money you're allowed to spend, blah blah blah blah blah.

[00:08:35] It's a lot.

[00:08:36] It's a lot. And um so what we've had is a basic target put on our back in Vancouver. Uh started in 200, was it 17, when we put a foreign buyers tax just in the city of Vancouver. Uh at that time the market was already seeing its trail off for the very first time in uh like you could feel it, you know, less sales, the money was drifting out. There was a lot more um uh restrictions not in in Canada, but outside of Canada, bringing money into Canada. Now, all these things that were complications before that you know uh just as well as anybody else. Uh they were they were already happening and so we kind of slapped the market. It went down. That's okay. That's what they were looking to do. But then COVID hit and um that really shook the balance. Uh at that time nobody was traveling.

[00:09:40] Right? Uh and our market boomed, right? Everybody wanted more.

[00:09:47] It was mostly domestic buyers and sellers.

[00:09:50] And what was driving it was interest rates and it was across the platform in the world. Okay? It wasn't just Vancouver, it wasn't just Canada, it was the United States as well. So, what we're all dealing with right now is just the aftershocks of uh what COVID did to disturb uh the world and everybody's trying to fix it with solutions that don't take everybody into consideration and I think that we could do a much better job of helping the governments, it you know, explain what the real problems are.

[00:10:41] Real possible solutions and yes, it takes money and effort and all these things to do, it takes time. I have no problem with the market uh going up or down naturally, but it's very difficult when it gets manipulated because it takes away all the trust in why you're doing it, uh you don't know what's coming next. And we've had a lot of victims of that in Vancouver, a lot of investors that have left Vancouver, a lot of businesses that have had to leave Vancouver.

[00:11:15] And it's really sad because like we said, this is a draw city. Like people want to be here. And so, yes, it's had a drastic effect on our real estate market. Right now, though, uh we're coming out of it.

[00:11:32] Coming out. Good.

[00:11:34] Yeah. Well, I don't mean that in a in a suddenly we're going to be like rolling uh No, 'cause there's still no supply.

[00:11:42] What I mean is that.

[00:11:43] The uncertainty uh that we all have felt over the last few years uh is still very valid, but people need to start moving on, right? So, you know, real estate always moves because people have to move. I mean, they have to adjust. They have to change to their life, their lifestyles. And that's really uh in Vancouver at least with all the mountain of different policies from civic, provincial, federal, they all kind of pile on top of each other. We've got a very confused marketplace that's in a stalemate.

[00:12:20] But the opportunities are huge for people that want to get out there because prices are still strong. You know, like you you're not um unless you bought a couple of years ago, um you know, you probably still have a good value on your property. Uh Vancouver is still very much in demand.

[00:12:42] It's going up and up and up, that's for sure.

[00:12:44] Yeah. It's just people are having a hard time making a decision and due to what we're talking about right now. Okay. So, Andrew, let's talk a little bit about the little I know about immigration as it relates to real estate is that the government has come down. First, I think it was just Vancouver, you know, and then now it's kind of across the main centers in Canada around the around the limitation of foreign ownership for properties that are owned independently by um by foreign owners that don't have immigration status in Canada, which means if they don't have a work permit with some validity, they can't buy. Like maybe like investors used to be able to disinvest but didn't have any immigration status. Can you expand on that and make sure I'm explaining it because it's kind of complicated?

[00:13:37] Well, I mean, here's you and I, two experts in the field admitting that it's kind of complicated. Okay, that's all you need to know. What we haven't gotten is good, clear, decisive uh information to help us. Okay. Um I think the government sees uh like real estate as an example and realtors as an example sometimes as the enemy and we're not. All we're doing is our job. Our job is to get the best value for our clients and make sure that they have the information they need to make great decisions, right? Like that's the job. So I can't help if somebody wants to pay a certain price for a certain property. We didn't drive the market up.

[00:14:23] But what I would say is that unfortunately prices are very high in Vancouver and that is unaffordable to many. And so the real sort of next step we need to take is figuring out how to build homes that are affordable. You know, different sort of concepts, different sort of areas. And I'm pleased uh by the fact that I'm noticing and I don't know if this is across the board or not, but our uh people in power uh government, city leaders and stuff, they're starting to reach out and trying to learn and they're trying to learn effect that happened and there's been a lot of people changed in those positions, of course, right?

[00:15:02] Because we've gone through cycles here and so you get a new opinion, a new policy, uh new voices, new heads and so it's really interesting. I've had the opportunity to talk to a few people in government and I've really appreciated their coffee talk, does that make sense?

[00:15:18] Yeah, it does.

[00:15:20] Neither of us are admitting we have the answer exactly because it's got to be a combination, you see. I think this is what's going on right now is that what we just said is that this is confusing. We don't know how to bring the money in. How can we work together to try to learn this better? We do stuff like this, right? We try to get the information out to the public. And right now, if I'm going to expand on it, right now you can buy real estate in Canada as a foreigner. It just can't be in the city centers. Okay.

[00:16:01] City centers.

[00:16:02] Exactly. So like Vancouver, Colona, the bigger cities, Calgary, you know, can't buy in those areas. Fine. But there's a huge market in this country for land. There's land everywhere. That's what we're full of. There's a great book called um Move. Okay. And uh I can't remember the author, I'm sorry, but adviser in my office gave it to me. And uh it talks about all of the kind of future sort of movements we could see in the planet, what countries are kind of building themselves up, uh who we should be paying attention to, like you know, you hear on the news, you know, China, Russia, USA right now. Right? But why is nobody talking about India and India has the biggest population? I mean they're a force, right?

[00:16:51] And so I think globally uh where people are going to move and how they're going to move and how shrunk our country our world has become, that's the key, right? Is to understand that people need to move around and we can much easier now than we used to. So we should be bringing that in to the smaller communities, trying to bring industry to the smaller communities. Right. Let's build out some of these towns. I I've started working a little bit more rurally because I have a I have a um a property up north uh in an area called the Caribou. And in that area, you can buy property like anybody could buy.

[00:17:33] Anybody can buy. Yeah. Anywhere major center.

[00:17:35] Exactly. And in that area, yes, it's rural. Okay. Like you need to like um you need to have a plan, right? You need to understand that you don't have a Costco around the corner all the time. You know, it's little things like that. But the communities are awesome and they're beautiful and we've got this amazing country that has so much space to be filled with so many great people from so many different countries. That is Canada.

[00:18:03] Yes, it is.

[00:18:04] And I think the worst thing the government did with all these policies is they've put out a very confusing message that's not understood. Why? Okay. The why is expensive real estate in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, right? Well, those are major centers. They're going to be expensive. That's the way it goes. But why are we not focusing on these other sort of areas and promoting that, right?

[00:18:31] Because right now we want smart people and there's a lot of smart people that want to be in other places than they are right now.

[00:18:39] Yes. I mean, you and I see that all the time, right? Like talking to people all the time and I'm totally consistently.

[00:18:49] Yeah. I mean, from an immigration perspective, the governments I'm seeing just in the last maybe year, year and a half, they've started really promoting rural areas, rural investment, rural immigration, but also rural entrepreneurs and rural investment where the small towns are saying like, you know, like Claire's home and Thunder Bay and all these places saying we need businesses to come to create jobs and we need immigrants to come and we need people who want to buy properties where you can buy properties there.

[00:19:20] So there's a bit of a push it's very recent to immigration to the outskirts because they're seeing that everybody's coming to the main centers where they feel like that's where my community is. I'm just going to live there. But it's not affordable for everybody and it's not even ideal for everybody. So, I'm really happy to see these small changes, but they're focusing more on investment and um entrepreneurs as opposed to come and buy a house here when you come as an immigrant. That's the next thing that needs to be is come and buy a house in small town.

[00:19:56] But they're promoting the immigration like crazy. I mean, under the Trudeau government, we had, I mean, how many per year? Almost 400,000 immigrants last year. That's more than usual. So, that's interesting, right? We're trying to bring housing down and so the effect in Vancouver here at least has been rental stock has gone through the roof, like not stock prices.

[00:20:25] Prices. The stock isn't there and so we're now creating the exact same problem in our rental communities which is where it needs to be affordable. Like that's the housing we can build that can be affordable if the government gets on board and starts helping us.

[00:20:43] So you know, at the end of the day what we want to do is we want to start pushing new ideas. We need to start thinking a little bit differently. We need to sort of come up with plans that do work specifically for certain communities and certain communities in metro areas. Okay? Because we need teachers, we need firemen, we need policemen, we need all these nurses, jobs. They can't afford to live in the city center. You know, the good schools in our city have to buy houses in order to get the teachers to work in these schools. Like we're talking the private schools, of course.

[00:21:20] Oh, yeah. Of course. Yeah.

[00:21:22] But at that, if you think about the nature of that, that's crazy.

[00:21:27] It is crazy. It is crazy.

[00:21:28] How can we find new innovative ways to put housing up that's really livable, really safe in great neighborhoods because we need more diversity in those communities. And I think the overall effect of this whole policy is that some of the communities in Vancouver you could see weren't as vibrant as they were before. And the thought or the idea behind that is that we've got all these foreign owners that are leaving these homes empty.

[00:21:58] Empty. Yeah.

[00:22:00] That wasn't very common. Okay. Like I mean, yes, it happens, but but the idea behind why it happens. So, let me tell you a story that I think is actually quite interesting, and this goes back to before we had a foreign buyer ban, but I remember selling a house and um when I was doing the inspection, uh this woman shows up in a very like luxurious car. I'm talking like her biggest concern was getting it into the parking stall and worried about the curb height and stuff like this. Okay. Very young. Um moving from another country, buying a house that's quite expensive, right?

[00:22:42] And so this is your typical like, you know, everybody says that's our problem. But then the father showed up and her father showed up because he's buying the house for her and he uh through a translator was explaining to me what Vancouver means to him. Okay? And it meant fresh food. It meant fresh fish. It meant he specifically talked about Granville Island which you walk into and just buy the freshest, nicest stuff around.

[00:23:17] He said, "My daughter deserves to live in the best place in the world, and that's what this is."

[00:23:22] Wow.

[00:23:23] I happen to know, and that was a long time ago, that this woman still lives in that house. She's now older. She's a, you know, like she's a part of our community and she's lovely. You know, there's just because she drives a fancy car and they have money doesn't mean her father was really interesting gentleman that had this awesome background that he shared with me and he was fascinating. Okay. And those are the people we want. I'm sorry but I don't hear no.

[00:23:59] They love our city. They are so excited.

[00:24:00] Not to love. My god. I mean.

[00:24:02] Canada in general, right?

[00:24:03] I was just telling you like last time I talked to you that I brought a lawyer in to BC who was leaving California with his daughter and wife and we're just like we need to get out of here for the political changes that are happening and we've always loved BC and Vancouver and they started looking in Vancouver. So we got him a work permit for 3 years setting up his law firm here and then they looked on the island. So they're looking at Oak Bay, they're looking in North Van, West Van, looking at schools and he's just was he's just been so impressed with the quality of the realtors, the people he's been working with, talking to, and just trying to understand, you know, the choices are extensive. So it's like I can live anywhere in BC and have it be the most beautiful place, you know, in the world. And it makes me happy that this is what he's experiencing because that's the Canadian way, you know.

[00:25:00] That's and that. Thank you. That was the best comment. This is the Canadian way. The Canadian way is welcoming. You ask somebody from Canada where they're from, they don't typically say Canada, right? They say their country of origin, like where they came from, like I'm from England. I'm from China. I'm from Russia. They don't say I'm Canadian, right? And that's because a we're young.

[00:25:31] Uh But B uh the beautiful thing about our country is the acceptance of everybody. And if we get away from that and we give the signal to the world that that's the problem, that we don't want foreigners, well, who are we going to have around us? Nobody, right? Like where's the interesting people that make this country so great?

[00:25:52] So, um I'm uh I'm hoping um to see a little bit of either one of two things in the next near future year by our new prime minister is relaxations on the foreign buyers ban. I think it's time. I don't think that it's necessary, especially with the political climate around the world. Canada could greatly benefit by coming up with a policy that has to do with um entry into the country. Yes, maybe there's a cost to that. Okay. But let's just get creative with the idea of how we can bring good, smart people, loving families, people that can contribute to our communities to make them vibrant again.

[00:26:41] And I think that's our problem right now is that I think the whole world, not just Vancouver, but I talk to people all over the world. And that's one of the benefits of my company is that we get perspective and it's everywhere. Okay? So, we're not alone is what I try to tell people in my office. Like I look at the stats. This is not you're not your imagination, okay? But keep plugging along. And what we're noticing here, uh, you know, we've only got, um, you know, 160 people.

[00:27:12] Um, I don't just hire anybody to fill the seats. And so right now I'm very cautious about bringing anybody on because I think it's best just to focus on the people we have. But we've this year compared to last year we're way ahead as an office.

[00:27:32] Good. Okay. But nobody else is like the market's down.

[00:27:38] Tell me, tell me then how do you think that is? Why do you think that is that angle supports their clients? You know, how do you support your clients differently? How do you differentiate yourselves from the local or national market?

[00:27:54] So, we've already sort of hit on it a little bit and one of them is a part of a brokerage. The responsibility of a real estate brokerage, the same as a real as a law firm or whatever is that you get clients, right? Then your clients are you, right? 'Cause we are taking a fiduciary duty to take care of these people and our care and compassion and education and updating of each other and supporting of each other.

[00:28:22] Like I have a group chat all 160 people from my office are on this group chat and it's the most respectful group chat I've ever seen in my life because we know it's there when you need it, but it's not there just to make commentary. Okay? We don't need to hear about your politics. We're here to do business. Everybody has a different opinion and we have to respect that. Every client you have isn't going to have the exact same, you know, drive as you. And the one thing we do is that we focus on the service as the luxury.

[00:29:00] Instead of the property being the luxury. And so any property at any price range, we're we can handle any sort of property, any sort of title, any sort, we have experts. We will specifically direct you to those experts. If anybody ever calls our office, they get me and then I ask the questions as if I'm going to be their realtor in some way or another. Like, you know, we're going to be helping them. And then I find the right person. I don't just randomly throw it out there. There's no AI sending our lead leads to just the next person up. It's it's it's an actual like consideration for the person.

[00:29:43] And what they need and then having team of people like yourself, right? I I mean I can tell you like next week education, you are coming on to my uh my education system and we're doing a mastermind which I do every two weeks which I get different experts or I speak myself about a very valid comment or comment that we need to be educated on.

[00:30:15] And so we need to be educated on from you what somebody needs to do to prepare to get into the country because I'm getting that call a lot. And what we're finding is that people want but then they can't have and they disappear too quickly instead of trying a little harder and being a little bit more patient and having the right team of individuals around you. Right? That's a trick for business as a lawyer and a real, It's about knowing who to call when you need something.

[00:30:54] And like if you have a question about real estate, you call me.

[00:30:57] Absolutely.

[00:30:59] Answer always, you know, like uh but I also know the reciprocal is the same, right? And so.

[00:31:05] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:31:06] I don't know if I answered your question, Evelyn, but.

[00:31:08] You did. You did. You did. You know what I love about talking with you, Andrew, is just the passion you have for what you do. And I mean, it's clear everybody listening to this podcast will be like, "Oh my goodness, this man is so passionate." And it is true. And that's the right thing. That's what we should expect, right? When you work with a professional like yourself with all these decades of experience like myself, there's a passion there. We wouldn't be doing it still if we didn't.

[00:31:38] Not during this time.

[00:31:39] No, honestly.

[00:31:40] I mean, I I've said this to a few people that we we joined Brokers in 2016 and um I was we were made a lot of promises as you are when you're when you join a global company, you know, and I don't think I would have made it through this time without being a part of Angel Invokers. That's the truth.

[00:32:05] And it's because I have an adage that I shared with everybody and it's not mine. I stole it from somebody else. I just can't remember where. But it's never worry alone, right? And when you have a global perspective on things, you're not as worried because when I know that my friends in San Francisco like Michelle Pender, who we talked earlier, just throw her name out there just for Michelle Pender.

[00:32:32] She's so good.

[00:32:33] And she's the one that introduced us and She did that out of the goodness of her heart. She found me at a conference and she says, "Andrew, I've got somebody you need to meet." How cool is that? And that's what this company does is that it's unsolicited advice. You know, um, do you want me to tell you a like sort of off-the cuff sort of story, but how our network can kind of absolutely actually make change? Because I think that that's the other thing.

[00:33:10] Yeah.

[00:33:11] So, we have I have a colleague uh who I've met several times. His name is Fans Linds and he's in a He runs all our shops on the island. Uh Christian Volkers lives on that island and so we have I think 19 shops on this little island. Okay. So we have a dominance of this area. And so Hans is a real expert when it comes to uh the Spanish uh rules and real estate and so on and so forth.

[00:33:40] And so the parliament of Spain came to him and asked his advice on foreign buyers bans in Spain, specifically on the island of America and they brought up Canada as the shining example of how it works. So he called me, Andrew, I need to know, is this working or does this work or what do you think? What are the problems? Like they're asking my opinion and I can't speak to it at all. So he and I had about an hour and a half conversation about the things that they're doing, the things why they're doing it. I tried to be as level as I could as far as my opinion on it, you know, like I mean we're kind of.

[00:34:30] Right. And uh anyway, and then Hans and I started talking about kind of things we could do or things that could be thought of and so on and so forth. Anyway, about a year later, long time forgot about the conversation all together. I happen to be in Mallorca for an event that Enge Volkers has. Again, this is an event of the top 300 advisers in our company and we get together twice a year. Twice a year. That's amazing.

[00:35:05] Amazing.

[00:35:06] That we can just talk. There's no there's not an agenda. It's like a family reunion. It's like catching up with people. Anyway, so I see Hans at this event. Beautiful. Like I mean it was a stunning location. And he comes up to me and goes, "I got somebody I want to introduce you to." And this lady, the parliament, happened to be down the street. And so this government official came and shook my hand and said, "Thank you for all the information that I gave." Because the island of Mallorca decided to switch away from a ban. They realized that that wouldn't work. Uh the island is too. I mean, it's international more so than Canada. It's also very expensive even way in Vancouver.

[00:35:55] And so, basically what they did is they uh the government is donating land to developers. It's going to be leasehold. Okay? And then there so no cost for the land and the developer is going to be restricted on how much they're able to profit off of the development. And the sales of those apartments will be then restricted at a certain price and only sold to people who work in the local market.

[00:36:26] Oh my.

[00:36:27] Being like the service, the staff.

[00:36:30] I love that.

[00:36:31] Like, talk about a solution. I mean, that's like the best solution I've ever heard.

[00:36:35] Well, it's so innovative, you know.

[00:36:38] Very Now, it wasn't I'm not saying that was my idea.

[00:36:40] That was all you, Andrew.

[00:36:41] It was not. That is not.

[00:36:43] Incredible.

[00:36:44] But the point is is that Hans knows he can call me. He knows that I'm going to give him a straightforward uh business-like not Like this is the trick to our business. Uh in real estate, it's not about me.

[00:37:00] Yes.

[00:37:01] Right. I mean, it's not it's about the community. It's about the other people. It's about your client. It's about everything other than you. And I think in our business, we get sometimes labeled with uh you're just trying to do this for yourself. Well, yeah, we work really hard to try to earn commissions and it is a commission-based business and so you're going to get a little bit of that.

[00:37:34] Up to the consumer to weed through it and find the right professional. And when you find that right professional, the success rate is phenomenal, right? And so if somebody's a foreign investor, back to what we're talking about, the very first thing they need to do is build a team. Okay? And the best place to go to build your team is the realtor that you choose to use.

[00:38:00] And then the realtor's job is not to take you out there and start showing you properties and waste your time. I'm going to introduce them to Evelyn for their you know, immigration for their uh knowledge for business permits. You're going to share with me what they need to do, what the timeline might be. You're going to say whether they can or cannot do what they're doing. Uh you may have more questions. We may have to shift areas. Like, who knows, right? But then we need to have a mortgage broker. And then the mortgage broker needs to now figure this out. Or if the money's coming from another place, we need their accountant. You know, we need the lawyer that they're going to be using because there's so many different pieces that come into play here. And there's a strategy. Okay. There's a timing.

[00:38:54] Yes.

[00:38:55] There's so many things that people want it just done done like it's easy. This is not easy.

[00:39:02] No, it's not.

[00:39:03] This is not something you want to do alone right now. That's all I can tell you. So.

[00:39:09] I agree. That's how we operate like you is the team approach for everything. We bring in all the people because I love that you agree and understand too that it's not like I'm going to do everything because I sir as hell can't do everything and I don't want to and we're not experts at everything. So I think, you know, right now I'm just thinking even of a potential client that I'm going to send your way moving from Australia to Vancouver has, you know, did very well financially and now this is where they want to be and so have to figure out how we're going to make that happen. And so I'll be thinking about how I can make that introduction because that's just easy because we're already doing the work permit. We're already figuring out the study permit or all the things with the family. So now it's like where are they going to live?

[00:39:56] And how they going to live? Does they talk to?

[00:39:58] Exactly. Do you guys also do like any leases like non-purchase properties only for like initial periods of time or you know I don't know six months or a year until they figure out where they want to buy?

[00:40:11] So we do have uh elements of property management uh in our office and in the city. Um I have to say that it is a little bit of the wild west in Vancouver when it comes to leasing. Um it is very difficult to um uh like get paid, I suppose, because it's so easy to lease it. And so most people just do it themselves, right?

[00:40:38] Um and so when somebody's coming from another place and they're like, "Can you help me find a rental?" The hardest thing is that yeah, we can help you, but it's not actually a business for us because there's no money on the other side. Uh and the relationship is still important to us. And so, yes, we will like there's lots of times I I just got a story recently actually where we had somebody move from Toronto. Uh they saw the prices and they went, "Uh-uh, I don't think we're ready to buy. I don't think this is a good idea. Let's see if my daughter likes school first before we."

[00:41:21] Exactly.

[00:41:22] All those things in all those things naturally, right? Our adviser says, "Good idea. She's got a daughter around the same age. She totally understands the circumstances. Everything's going on. So, she says, "I'll help you." Right? And so, she helps her find a rental. And then, of course, she's rented for a little while, falls in love with the city 'cause everybody never It's a trap.

[00:41:51] That's the That's the easy part. Yeah. You're trapped.

[00:41:53] And then uh but they they've now purchased.

[00:41:56] Oh god.

[00:41:57] Did it take a year and a half? Yeah, it took a year and a half. But that's the point is sometimes it takes three years. Sometimes it takes five years. I've got clients that are lifetime, right? Like the real estate relationship should never end once you find somebody that understands you.

[00:42:12] Yep. You keep going back to the same person and that's how it is.

[00:42:15] Yeah. And that same person needs to stay updated. They need to stay on top. top of these things. And if they aren't on top of these things, they got to know who to go to.

[00:42:27] Yeah.

[00:42:28] Right. And so, I think that's our big problem in the industry right now is that we all are just as or we all are finding out as soon as everybody else finds out. And then we're expected to be the experts immediately.

[00:42:43] Just like that.

[00:42:44] Just like that. It's like is this possible. You're like, I don't know. Like there's a lot of things going on.

[00:42:49] The answer for you, right?

[00:42:50] Yeah. And so I think at the end of the day, Evelyn, what we want to do is we want to ate better. Uh we want to work together in a more compassionate way, understanding that not everything equals a sale. Okay? Sometimes you got to put in a bunch of work and it just doesn't work out because that's not the right decision to make.

[00:43:12] If we provide great disclosures and great information and great like kind of um just counsel, right? Like that's what we are. We're their counsel and then they make great decisions based on the information they've asked us to provide. And it's straightforward because we don't have to sell anything. All we got to do is provide.

[00:43:35] We have to be helpful. We have to smile. We have.

[00:43:37] I love it. I love it.

[00:43:38] We got to be approachable. We have to have some, you know, like there's got to be like some excitement. It should be a fun, especially when you're moving from another country. You need to know about schools. You need to know about doctors. You need to know about.

[00:43:53] Hairdressers, everything, everything.

[00:43:55] And so, that's what we do, you know, naturally. That's just what we do as a company. And we've tried to, you know, keep ourselves refined, uh, keep ourselves exclusive. Yeah. uh for just I can connect you anywhere in the world. I just connected somebody today to Tuscany. Um you know we for two years we didn't get it last year but for two years previous to that we were the number one referral office in our network and everybody goes.

[00:44:31] Why? How is that possible? You guys have a foreign buyer ban. Unfortunately it's possible because a lot of people were leaving Vancouver, but they still trusted us to connect them with people in other places. And when I connect people to people like Michelle and we're personal and we know each other and I could call her up and say, "Hey, listen, like they weren't very happy about this." And she doesn't take offense because she understands that betters her business. Now, that's a fictional story.

[00:45:06] Nobody ever goddess.

[00:45:08] Oh, well, thank you.

[00:45:09] But generally, that's the value that we can bring as a company is like this exclusivity of being able to manage um your relationship ship and put you in touch with people you can trust because trust is the hardest thing to find in today's market and I'd say kindness is the new luxury.

[00:45:33] Oh my god, tell me about it. I love that. I love that. What a wonderful note to end on, Andrew. I want to thank you so much for joining us. You brought such energy and passion and joy and information. Um, and I really hope that those people who are interested in real estate in Canada, specifically in BC even, but across the country internationally even will think of you and Engel Volkers and your incredible team and we'll have all your information so they can reach out, they can find you online if they have questions about what's next for them in Canada or anywhere else in the world. Thank you.

[00:46:17] And maybe I can just hit on that for one sec. If somebody wants to send me an email, what you want to do is you want to tell me a little bit about yourself, what you're thinking, kind of like I need I need a little bit of information, you need to kind of share with me a little bit, but I'm not going to be your realtor.

[00:46:39] I am not selling. I manage 160 people across the Lower Mainland that are unbelievable at what they do. And so I take your personal information and then I try to matchmake and make sure that you're getting the right advice from the right person that you're going to feel comfortable and want to hang out with.

[00:46:58] Exactly. I love that relationship. Thank you so much for joining us, Andrew. And I'm looking forward to seeing you. I'll be in Vancouver this summer, so I'll make sure I let you know. Lots of not we can get together, catch up in person. And.

[00:47:15] Can I just say thank you to you for all the like you've just been, we haven't known each other for a long time, but your openness, your willingness, uh all these collaborations. This is what the world needs, Evelyn. So, thank you so much. Thank you for your help and I look forward to working with you even.

[00:47:33] Thank you so much. All right, everybody. Thanks for joining the podcast, Ask Evelyn Ackah, immigration lawyer. If you have any questions, reach out to me or Andrew. And until next time, take care. Care of each other. Bye.