A realtor on Texada Island is making waves in the local real estate market with unprecedented service.
After 35 years in the business, Dean Macdonald is changing the game for buyers and sellers on the small island, providing a level of attention not currently available, he says.
“I am the realtor on the rock,” adds Macdonald. “I am the only realtor who calls Texada home. Due to that, I can be present when there are showings on my listings.”
When his son and daughter-in-law bought their place on the upper Sunshine Coast four years ago, he says they never saw the listing agent.
“We looked at the property by ourselves with the help of a lock box,” explains Macdonald. “We did the inspection by ourselves without the listing agent being here, and when we actually got the keys and moved in, the keys were delivered by somebody else. The listing agent wasn’t present.”
His approach to real estate is simple: always be there for your clients.
“When I list in Powell River, it’s the same thing; I am there for every one of my showings. At first, it was really bizarre. I had realtors saying ‘why are you here?’ And I would say, ‘I’m just doing my job.’ I’m a salesperson, and if I’m not there, it’s really hard to sell it.”
Despite the challenging market, Macdonald has been successful in his business, doing 30 per cent of it throughout the qathet region and 70 per cent specifically on Texada. He attributes his success to creativity and a high level of service.
“The first place I sold up here, there were seven realtors competing on it; that was three years ago, and I prevailed,” he says. “I was creative. We didn’t win on price. We won in other aspects.”
An example of this creativity is how Macdonald handles this unique local problem: little to no access to property records and permits.
“There is so much information available in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland; you can go to the local government office and dissect any property,” he explains. “You can see everything from when the water mains were done to whether the electrical permit was pulled, but there is way less information available in this region.
“Most people don’t know when their septic tank or well was installed, or know what the quality of their water is like. It’s really bizarre to me how little information there is available here.”
So, Macdonald started organizing walkthroughs between outgoing sellers and new buyers to transfer knowledge about the property.
“I plan to organize a walkthrough between the outgoing seller and the buyer because there’s a lot of information that they’re going to have to learn on their own unless somebody’s willing to share that information.”
While the lack of information can be frustrating for buyers, Macdonald believes it presents an opportunity for real estate agents to differentiate themselves from the competition.
“By offering to organize walkthroughs and connect buyers with previous owners, we can provide valuable information that sets us apart from other agents.”
Over his three-decade-long career, Macdonald has been with three different real estate boards (Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley and Powell River Sunshine Coast), and he’s learned that in 80 per cent of what he does, any realtor can do. The 20 per cent that’s left separates him from the others.
“Sometimes people just turn to us and say, ‘We don’t know anything about anything. Please just look after us,’” says Macdonald. “It’s a huge honour to be put in that position of trust, and to make sure you know that you have to live up to it.”
For more information, call 604.786.2977, email [email protected], or go to realtorontherock.com.
