Bill Bailey is celebrating 10 years in the real estate business, and is planning for many more.
After retiring from a successful 30-year career as a teacher and school principal in the qathet region, he was ready for a new challenge.
Real estate seemed like an exciting thing to do, says Bailey, but it was far from a hobby. It was a steep learning curve, but along with the skills and talent he developed over the many years prior, he honed skills for problem-solving, getting the best results for those entering the real estate market.
“It’s a competitive business, which is very motivating,” explains Bailey. “I’ve learned my craft through the mentorship of others and through my 10 years of varied experiences as my business has continued to grow.”
After working with a larger brokerage until a year and a half ago, he and four others decided to start fresh, opening a brokerage through Vancouver-Island based 460 Realty.
“We feel as a small independent brokerage that we can pivot quickly, move and change with the market as we need to, and suit our clients as best we can,” he adds. “We can be quite adaptive to their needs.”
He has tried to focus on the “long game” since day one, putting clients’ needs and interests at the forefront of his work.
“It’s a long game because more and more of my business is coming from past clients who have remained loyal to me and my business practices over the years,” says Bailey.
He enjoys working with people the most, and loves meeting new people and learning their stories and needs as they work together, either through seeing a variety of possible new homes or deciding on the best marketing strategies for selling their current property. His objective for each person who calls is to answer their questions quickly and thoroughly in a friendly manner that helps them feel comfortable about the big decision ahead.
“My goal is to have clients happy and satisfied with their transaction by providing them with all the information they need,” he says, “allowing them the time to consider all aspects of their decision and finally make a decision that is truly right for them at the time.”
Looking back on the last 10 years, Bailey says a lot has changed in real estate and being competitive requires opening up to new ideas and ways of doing business. He enjoys the industry’s technological changes and says he and the team at 460 Realty strive to be on the leading edge of new innovations to improve their services to clients.
“We lead the way with online virtual tours for marketing listings, and these have now become an industry standard. Our marketing team creates exceptional videos, now enhanced with drone photography, to keep right up to date with the explosion in the popularity of video on social media platforms.”
He says he’s happy that his business has grown the way it has over the past decade.
“At 10 years, I still look forward to going to work every day. At this point in my life, with my children grown, serving my real estate clients really is my work, my hobby and my passion.”
For more information, go to billbailey.ca or call 604.223.0811.
