Real Estate with Howard Drukarsh

Howard speaks with Andrew Fogliato about his career in the real estate industry, from starting out as an agent, becoming a trainer, and starting his own online marketing business for Realtors to his acquisition of Real Estate Magazine (REM) Canada’s premier monthly magazine for real estate professionals.

Andrew Fogliato has been in the real estate industry since you still had to physically print out 6 copies of an offer plus a clean one for the lawyer when the deal was done.

He’s worked as an agent, a trainer for one of the big brands, as a proptech consultant, a marketer, a speaker, and more.

Now he owns Just Sell Homes, a real estate marketing agency that specializes in helping Realtors grow their business, and RealEstateMagazine.ca, the premier source of news for Canadian Realtors. 

https://realestatemagazine.ca/

https://justsellhomes.com/

It’s the 50th episode of our podcast and we’re celebrating by bringing you an outstanding conversation with one of the foremost agents in luxury real estate. Join Howard and his guest Nicole Plaxen as they discuss her career and her experiences working in the highly competitive world of ultra-luxury real estate.

Nicole developed her real estate skills with one of the world’s most legendary luxury real estate figures: her mentor, Sally Forster Jones. Since 2007, Nicole, alongside Sally, has played a significant role in taking the SFJ Group to $9 billion+ in sales. She has participated in over 2,500 transactions including stratospheric sales such as the Spelling Manor for $85,000,000 and Minecraft creator Markus Persson’s Trousdale estate for $70,000,000.

Working in this high-profile environment, Nicole has gained priceless experience and exceptional leadership skills, perfected the art of negotiation, and has personally acquired a roster of clients packed with professional athletes and other high-net-worth individuals from around the globe.

Her confident skill in navigating the most complex transactions, along with her extensive knowledge of real estate contracts, has earned the admiration and trust of her prestigious clientele. Because her highest priority is protecting her buyers and sellers, she treats the full escrow process as a continuous negotiation in which she never stops working for her clients.

Nicole draws on a rare combination of intuition, creativity, and sharp business skills to consistently close deals. Her involvement in thousands of inspections has given her a keen understanding of property conditions, a critical advantage in guiding her clients through the escrow process.

Her love of real estate was born long before she joined the SFJ Group. As a child, she watched in fascination as her mother successfully bought and flipped homes throughout Los Angeles. Ten years later, she began her career as a title rep and later a mortgage account executive. In 2007, she left the mortgage industry to pursue her passion for real estate sales.

A long-time resident of Beverly Hills, Nicole is passionately dedicated to an array of charitable causes. She’s also a supporter of Worldvision.org.

Howard speaks with Jacob Cohen, COO of the Daniels Corporation, about his career, the Daniels commitment to community building, answering the challenges of an uncertain market through diversification, and his advice for people interested in real estate development as a career.

Jacob Cohen is the Chief Operating Officer at The Daniels Corporation, one of Canada’s largest and preeminent builders/developers.  Jacob oversees the company’s daily operations, with a special focus on ensuring all business strategies align with the company’s purpose-driven values. He is also responsible for People and Culture at Daniels, ensuring an inclusive, positive working environment exists and where all people feel seen, valued, and heard. Jacob prioritizes his relationships with people first and foremost, earning him great respect from his colleagues and industry peers. For the last 16 years, Jacob has worked in many roles, demonstrating effective leadership and utilizing his passion for his work to propel the company in a forward direction. He has a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University.

CEO of OREA Tim Hudak joins Howard to speak about the Reality + conference and the incredible lineup of speakers featured at this year’s event, including President Bill Clinton and Action Star Simu Liu. Tim also weighs in on housing supply, affordability, what is being done to address those issues, and more.

Visit realityconference.ca to learn more about this incredible event taking place November 23 to 23 in Toronto.

Tim Hudak is the CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association, Canada’s largest provincial real estate industry association representing 78,000 REALTORS®.

 Tim joined OREA after a distinguished 21 years of public service in the Ontario Legislature – including five years as Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.

Since becoming CEO in December 2016, he and his OREA team have focused on transforming OREA into Ontario’s most effective professional association that delivers high-impact advocacy on behalf of REALTORS® and consumers and provides quality services to members. During his first year as OREA CEO, he was named one of the most powerful people in residential real estate by Swanepoel Power 200 2017/18.

This episode is jam-packed with techie goodness. Join Howard and his guest Eric Bryant Director of North American Operations at Oppen, about the Openn offer management platform, the future of making offers on Realtor.ca, the blockchain, tokenization, fractional home ownership, and investment.

Eric Bryant leads Openn North America as Director of Operations. With over 25 years of experience in real estate services, strategy and technology, Eric has deep experience with real estate business development and extensive networks in the sector across North America.
 
Prior to joining Openn, Eric was the National Accounts Director with First American Data & Analytics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of First American Financial Corporation (NYSE: FAF). Previous to that, he led his own national real estate technology consultancy, a role that included several years as host of the radio talk show, “Keeping it Real Estate.” 
 
Eric is also the Southern CA Regional Chair for FIBREE.org (The Foundation for International Blockchain in Real Estate Expertise), an organization dedicated to empowering the real estate industry through the education of distributed ledger technology.

Jeff Hauswirth Vice Chairman at Ferguson Partners Corporate Talent Management Canada, speaks with Howard about the traits of great leaders, the importance of truly connecting with people, and his passion for working with Second Harvest food rescue.

Jeff has gained over 25 years of experience advising clients in boardrooms around the world and developing lasting relationships with leaders in many sectors. He is driven by purpose, naturally cultivates followership, and has demonstrated the ability to turn around and grow professional services businesses globally. Clients describe him as a creative, trusted advisor and his colleagues and teams are inspired by his ability to convey the upside in any given situation. 

Jeff joined Ferguson Partners, a boutique Chicago-headquartered global real estate and infrastructure firm in 2018. He serves as Vice Chairman and head of the North American business, based in the firm’s Toronto office. Jeff was recruited to work closely with the founder and leadership team to build the Canadian platform and to expand the firm’s global brand and footprint through refining and implementing new business strategies and service offerings and recruiting and mentoring consultants globally. He also leads the firm’s CEO Succession Practice and participates in both the Board Recruitment & Advisory Practice and the PE/REIM Practice. 

Prior, Jeff spent 25 years with Spencer Stuart, conducting over 100 CEO searches globally, over 50 board director searches and developing specialized expertise in the telecommunications and real estate sectors. He also held progressively more complex leadership roles alongside his client work. He joined SSI as a consultant in the Toronto office and was soon appointed Toronto Office Manager, then Country Manager Canada with P&L and national strategy for 10 years, including openingaCalgaryofficeandrebuildingMontreal. Revenuesgrewfromthetimehejoined,from$5M to $25M. Concurrent to this leadership role, he helped establish offices in Mumbai and Delhi where he spent 6 months, all the while still carrying a full search load with Canadian clients. Jeff was elected to the Spencer Stuart Board of Directors twice: in 2005 and 2008, and chaired its Compensation Committee. Jeff stepped off the Board at the start of his third term when asked by the CEO to relocate to Asia (Australia) to co-lead, along with a partner based in Hong Kong, the firm’s Asia Pacific 

Region. Different from his prior leadership experience establishing and growing the business across Canada and India, this mandate involved significant turnaround efforts and a deep understanding of the diverse business cultures in India, Japan, and Australia. Jeffbeganhiscareerbylaunchingseveral businesses in the retail and distribution sectors, gaining a firsthand understanding of the demands facing CEOs, boards, and senior executives. 

Renowned Canadian financial guru and CTV News’ former Chief Financial Commentator, Pattie Lovett-Reid chats to Howard about her start in broadcasting, embracing new opportunities, and the importance of being your genuine self.

Pattie Lovett-Reid is a highly respected Canadian financial guru. As CTV News’ former Chief Financial Commentator, Lovett-Reid is well experienced in coaching her audience on how to save money, stretch their income, and get the biggest bang for their hard-earned bucks. Her unique and skillful ability to translate complicated and detailed personal finance strategies into frank, savvy financial advice has transformed the lives of many Canadians. Lovett-Reid provided weekday financial updates for CTV News Channel, CP24, and regional CTV MORNING LIVE broadcasts across the country and remains a regular guest commentator on BNN Bloomberg, CTV’s YOUR MORNING, THE SOCIAL, NEWSTALK 1010, and other media platforms. Lovett-Reid's career journey is one filled with admiration, inspiration, and a strong sense of determination. Her career began right out of high school as a bank teller, and with no formal post-secondary education and a low glass ceiling for women in finance, her career was unlikely to blossom beyond branch management. However, Lovett-Reid climbed the ranks in the investment world, and after a very successful 30+ year career with TD Waterhouse Canada Inc., where she served as Senior Vice-President, she then took on the role of Chief Financial Commentator with CTV News in early 2012. Lovett-Reid is a Certified Financial Planner, co-author of several national bestselling books, and was awarded with an honorary degree in Applied Studies from Humber College in June 2010. The Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC) recognized Lovett-Reid with the 2009 Donald J. Johnston Award for her outstanding contribution to the profession of financial planning in Canada. In 2011, Lovett-Reid was awarded the Financial Planning Canada Fellow of Distinction, and in 2007 and received Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100™ Award in the Trailblazers and Trendsetters Category. Today, Pattie splits her time between Toronto and Muskoka, Canada, with her husband Jim Reid, their children, and a growing group of grandchildren. 

Howard speaks with Ahmer Rafiq Co-Founder and CEO of Souqh, Canada's
one-stop shop for real estate and home services nationwide. 

Souqh is Canada’s only all-in-one real estate and home services marketplace providing technology and services to help real estate professionals deliver unparalleled client experiences. With over 10,000+ unique monthly visitors, Souqh brings together clients, realtors, mortgage brokers, law firms, inspectors, and associated industry partners to deliver a complete digital experience for their client’s homeownership journey – all in one place.

Find Souqh on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/souqh/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/souqhteam/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClH1brV9v85OAt32B5_uLTg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SouqhTeam/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/souqhteam
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/souqhteam/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@souqhteam
www.souqh.ca

Howard speaks with Sherry Larjani, Founder and President of Spotlight Development, about her journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur and real estate developer. 

 Sherry Larjani is an experienced real estate developer and entrepreneur with a focus on creating beautifully designed spaces that bring her visions to life.  Sherry began her career working as a designer at a luxury architecture firm in Toronto and quickly progressed into building new single-home builds and renovation jobs. In 2010, Sherry created Spotlight Developments, specializing in the acquisition of properties for redevelopment into high density residential, commercial, and mixed-use projects. An advocate for collaboration, she champions inclusivity and teamwork as a foundation for a successful approach towards real estate development. 

In 2019, Sherry partnered with Urban Capital to create Reina, a project with Canada's first all-female development team to raise awareness of gender inequality in the industry and the many roles women can play. In recent years, Sherry has completed numerous projects and partnered with many major developers including Liberty Development, Urban Capital, and others, continuing her life-long legacy in the real estate industry.

Here is the link to the company website:

https://www.spotlightdevelopment.com/

Sherry’s new Charity Foundation:

https://ariafoundation.com/

Sherry's latest not-for-profit project:

https://theinclusivecondo.com/

Realtor and content creator Jas Takhar speaks with Howard about their mutual love of podcasting, helping buyers and sellers, and inspiring real estate agents to try creating their own video and audio content.  

Toronto native, Jas Takhar, has been in the sales and service industry for over 26 years. Soon after deciding to try his hand in real estate, he founded REC Canada under Royal LePage, and for over 5 years has successfully kept his team top 3 in the country.  

With 54 realtors and 11 support staff, the team advises and assists over 625 buyers, sellers and investors, yearly, across the Greater Toronto Area, resulting in a total of over $2.1B in transactions. Jas’ area of expertise is in helping investors build out their real estate portfolios. Wanting to share his knowledge and experience with the masses, he wrote a book titled, Real Estate Intelligence, which teaches anyone how to buy or sell real estate on their own.

Furthering his pursuit to educate and motivate, he developed a love for content creation, and now not only hosts one of the top business podcasts in North America – The Jas Takhar Podcast – but also founded his own media company, From The Ground Up Media where he helps other real estate agents produce quality content. His hope is to provide inspiring education through his guides, seminars, and content to aid others in removing the friction from their own life in order to help them get from where they are, to where they want to be. 

Find Jas on...

https://www.instagram.com/jastakhar13/
https://www.youtube.com/jastakhar
https://www.facebook.com/jastakhar13
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/jas-takhar-podcast/id1383371381?mt=2
https://open.spotify.com/show/4G8zDAoCNX9BP35tbt4N6V