Karen Graham
In his previous career as an Operations Executive for a major international retailer, Greg Ret racked up lots of travel points, taking 60 flights per year visiting stores for his employer. With a growing family, the stress of being away from home began to weigh heavy on him, so he decided to shift gears and find a way to work closer to home. Having invested in rental properties on the side, and flipped some of them for profit, he decided to try real estate.
Kathie Lycett welcomes Greg Ret who has joined the Re/Max team. Photo: Karen Graham.
For several years, Ret has operated as a Sales Rep for the Peterborough office of Flat Rate Realty, a discount brokerage offering a commission rate of 3.75% on the sale of homes. He believed that there was a trend in that direction. With the real estate market being so hot, many sellers had come to believe that their houses would “sell themselves”, leading to the conclusion that an agent was not entitled to traditional commission levels. In the meantime, while selling real estate for others, Ret continued to find unappreciated gems for his own investment purposes, that he would fix and flip.
With his “house flipping” experience, Ret brings an investment sensitivity to real estate transactions, and particularly enjoys helping clients find properties with potential that can be improved and updated without breaking the bank. Having renovated on his own dime, he understands the costs of many home improvement projects and can steer a customer who falls in love with a money pit property away from financial disaster with realistic estimates of renovation costs.
Ret’s view of the market has also changed with experience. He now believes that sellers expect more than the bare bone service offered by many discount agents when they sell their most valuable asset. Customers want to be kept informed, they want professional representation and they want their home to be associated with a prestigious brand. This message was brought home to him when one of his customers who had listed their home with him refused to allow him to put his sign on their lawn. The client believed that perception associated with using a discount brokerage would be detrimental to obtaining the price the house deserved. Ret concluded that needed to move up to a premium brand.
In seeking a new company, Ret recalled meeting local realtor Kathie Lycett in Oshawa while they were taking the final real estate course to obtain their license, and contacted her. Her firm, Re/Max, has the best market share in Canada, selling more homes than any other company with the highest volume of referral sales from agents and clients, which speaks to the loyalty and professionalism of the company. Lycett arranged for Ret to meet Dominic Cole, the Broker of Record and Manager of the Eastern Re/Max branch in Peterborough. With a common corporate background, they had an instant connection, and Ret signed up to join the firm last week.
Dominic Cole was delighted to have Greg join their Re/Max team. “I believe Greg is a fantastic fit for us and we are a fantastic fit for Greg. With our corporate operations background, we had an instant connection and from the start it was clear Greg is a quality individual who will serve the residents of the Millbrook and Cavan area extremely well.” Cole also noted that the area sits in an ideal location with its proximity to excellent transportation and the city of Peterborough, while still holding onto that small town charm. We couldn’t agree more.
