Ep 48 – Reality+ Conference & Real Estate Affordability w/ Tim Hudak | Broker’s Playbook

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Ep 48 - Reality+ Conference & Real Estate Affordability w/ Tim Hudak | Broker's Playbook
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In this episode of the Broker’s Playbook Podcast, special guest Tim Hudak, President of the Ontario Real Estate Association, chats with host Simeon Papilias about the Reality+ Conference. They discuss the highlights of the event, including the panels and networking opportunities, and what attendees can expect. Hudak also shares his insights on the real estate market in Ontario and offers advice for brokers who are looking to succeed in today’s competitive environment.

Transcribed

Simeon Papailias: Good afternoon from the Brokers Playbook studios. This is your boy, Simeon. Papailias and I have a very distinguished guest with me today, a guest who is no stranger to Broker’s Playbook or to anyone in our business. It is Mr. Tim Hudak. Tim, welcome to Brokers Playbook podcast, my friend Simeon.

Tim Hudak: Awesome to see you again. Paul Great to be back here at the Brokers Playbook. You’re looking good.

Simeon: Thank you, my good friend. Thank you. I appreciate you. You’re looking fine as always, my friend.

Tim: You said that because I don’t this is my happy shirt. I’m in a good mood. I got my light colours on. It makes me feel cheerful.

Simeon: Well, I will tell you, you always look cheerful. You just have one of those cheerful faces. Like, even when angry. I think you look cheerful.

Tim: So there you go.

Simeon: Nice to have you on, my man. It’s timely and very strategic. Why invited you at this point to Brokers Playbook? We’re actually going to be airing this episode as you’re listening to it. This is not an evergreen episode. It is Friday, November the 11th. It is Remembrance Day. And we shall never forget the heroes who protect us and continue to do so every day out there. And to those who have fallen big respect and big, big vote of gratitude. We are here to talk about today with Tim a few very important and timely issues developing in the real estate industry. Lots of news breaking out with interest rates, and lots of news breaking out on crypto. Just a million things happening in the world. But what we’re not talking about amongst each other in the industry is what do we do about it? How do we shift our businesses? What kind of mindset do we need? What are the things that are happening that are going to impact our results as real estate brokers, both as counsellors to our clients? What are they to expect in the next year from a market outlook and how do we navigate them and create opportunities for them to have either more affordability or the opportunity to invest in housing, to create affordable housing? There are so many topics that I just want to really touch on that are very, very relevant. Tim, I want to start off with something that’s going down in the next few days here. The biggest real estate event in our country is coming. Give me the details for reality. Plus, why did Maria put this on? What do we expect this event to be?

Tim: You bet. Well, think of it this way. This is the best stage sitting in anywhere in Canada. They get a sneak preview of where the market is going and how you can create opportunities in this current transitional marketplace. We’re going to have some of the top real estate CEOs that we’re going to have top people in businesses associated with real estate marketing, some celebrity guests and all kinds of panels to give you the insight you need to create growth opportunities in the time ahead in a challenging market.

Simeon: When we talk about this event, are we talking about first and foremost, if you can show the details of when the event is taking place, where the event is taking place and kind of you can reference the grandeur of the event, this isn’t a 200 person event. What exactly? First and foremost, it’s live. That’s huge. Welcome back. Tell us a little bit about the venue itself.

Tim: A whole lot there. So let’s break it up into pieces. So the reality conference is always been the best stage to get a look at where things are going. Speakers that you don’t normally see in a real estate conference. And it’s Canada’s biggest, best real estate conference live in person. It’s in Toronto, on November 22nd and 23, so just over a week away. If you want tickets, reality conference. Okay, we’ll go in the speakers a little bit. I want to talk about networking as well. I mean, Simeon, we’ve been apart for two and one-half years, all of us, right? And realtors and those that are interested in real estate investment thrive on seeing human beings, having some networking, having the chance to meet new people or catching up with old friends. So we’re having several big cocktail parties and bashes as well for awesome networking opportunities. We anticipate over 1000 people leading real estate people in Ontario and across Canada descending on Toronto on November 22 to 23 at the Benfield Center. Again, reality conferences.

Simeon: For those who don’t know, Benfield Center is right downtown on the exhibition grounds, one of the biggest conference centers in the city and or in the country’s top world-class event and venue. So I expect it to be a good networking opportunity especially. With two and a half years of no conferences. I can speak to my own business, of course, and to many of those that I’m directly with on a consistent basis. We built our entire business, our firm, everything literally on actual wine and cheeses, and live networking events. And of course, I am one of the biggest proponents of collaboration. When you have 1000-plus people at a venue. The momentum in the energy that gets created is superb. It’s actually very difficult to describe the type of energy that can be created, especially when we’re talking about salespeople in a room because we are de facto more optimistic, more energy driven. So as far as I’m concerned, I did want you to come on the show today to promote this because I will be there both as a guest and I have the privilege, the massive privilege of moderating one of the biggest panels of the two-day event, the Disruption Panel. But I want people to be there. I want people to experience this. Can you tell us a little bit about some of the guests that are joining and speak to the calibre of guests that are coming? There’s one specific one maybe, you know, maybe you don’t, that’s my favourite. 

Tim: All right. So this is the third one we’ve done. You talked about energy. There are going to be three networking sessions and a 100th-anniversary bash. It’s OREA’s 100th birthday. How often does that come along? So that’s almost sold out, by the way. So you’re watching this. Get your ticket right away, because we’re almost sold out of that event that’s going to happen on the Tuesday night. The Young Professionals Network is going to take us back like a speakeasy theme. The Roaring Twenties in a real was born. That’s a great networking opportunity. Well, on the Monday night and there’s going to be a cocktail party on the Tuesday afternoon after our last speaker So those are the networking sessions top speakers I’m wondering I’ll give you a list and then I’ll see if I can figure out who you might be most excited about. All right. So then maybe we can talk with some of the panels, like the one that you’re running. Okay. So we’re going to have four of the top Canadian CEOs of real estate companies there on the stage to tell you what they think is going to be happening in the marketplace and also their tips for how you gain market share. I’ve heard from all of them that good agents grab more market share when there are more challenging markets 100%. There you go. You would say the same thing.

Tim: Phil Silver for Royal LePage, Chris Alexander from Remax, Joyce Pearl from Exit and Don Cotter from Sotheby’s all on the stage at the same time. Two American CEOs, Glen Sanford, I think he’s actually Canadian, but he’s moved the states he runs. Exp CP is the fastest-growing real estate brand in North America. He’s got his eyes on increasing business in Canada. So he’s going to talk about his model and what he sees in our country. And also we have Pamela Liebman. She’s a CEO of the Corcoran Group, a significant player herself and Border Corcoran. More on the luxury side now. They’re moving to Canada. Simeon, she’ll be the first stage in Canada for Corcoran and they’re going to tell us exactly what their plans are for the Canadian market. That’s the CEOs. Let me talk about some of the people with expertise. So the Chief Marketing Officer of the year in 2021, Bozoma Saint John, you may have heard of some of her companies, a couple of small companies like Netflix and Uber. You might have heard of them. So she knows marketing. She’s going to tell you how to connect with people. In today’s day and age, Probably the world’s most famous photographer is going to talk about capturing that right image. On the political side, advocacy. I get to interview President Bill Clinton. I’m super excited about that. Under you go. There you go.

Simeon: I love that.

Tim: Under President Clinton, the Americans had the highest rate of homeownership in their history. So I ask him what he did and how we can copy that. Here in Ontario and in Canada, we have Lisa LaFlamme, the Canadian journalist, probably Canada’s most famous journalist.

Simeon: You just made headlines, too, with leaving from the CTV. So this is her first I believe this is her first big, big appearance since leaving the CTV.

Tim: No, you nailed it. So it’s the first one since leaving and B, her first stage and she’s going to talk about how you connect with your audience with authenticity and how you tell that story in today’s day and age. I’ll take a breath there. That’s just some of our speakers taking place, on the 22nd and 23rd of November.

Simeon: Yeah, so funny enough you never mentioned my favourite speaker of all.

Tim: I’ve got more.

Simeon: Coming. No, no, I just have I’m going to mention I want to actually hit a couple of the points that you made. But I will say David Goggins is a legend. He’s a warrior. He has one of the best stories, one of the best human stories that I’ve had the privilege of reading. Both his biography. I’ve heard the audiobook probably three times in my car. I just love the man. And the reason I love the man is that he is made of grit, which is something that I resonate with. I was never the smartest, best looking, best athlete, but I’ve outworked my competition my entire life.

Tim: I think he got the full package.

Simeon: And you’re too kind. But no, everybody knows kind of what they’ve had to deal with in their life. Everybody has their own hill to climb. But people resonate differently with others. And David Goggins is just by far one of the biggest influences per se, from an outside person that we have. We are nothing alike on anything, but we are everything alike here. So like I just resonate with this story. It inspires me and reminds me why I do everything that I do and I just can’t wait to see him. I can’t wait to see him speak. He’s just an inspiration.

Tim: That’s awesome.

Simeon: Everybody else I spoke to and I’ve seen you interview a past president before. It was at the Ontario Realtor party, maybe four or five or three or four years ago. Five years ago, perhaps. Time seems to be zipping by where you actually interviewed George W Bush. The Bush that that did that dealt with 911 as well as Prime Minister Christian. Yeah and that was such a great interview.  You are a very very good interviewer you really are. And the reason I say that is because I was always riddled with presumptions about George W Bush. And I’m not, I’m going to admit it, where they weren’t the best ones. Sure. And you were able to bring out a side of him with the questions that you asked that I was like, I’m a real ignorant ass. Like, I just prejudged him and just all the classic media ways. Do you know what I mean? You’re able to bring his human side out and his reasoning side out and kind of questions like, why did you do what you did? And the way he explained it, it’s like, okay, maybe there is more than one of you and you know what I mean? So you feel different and these conferences.

Simeon: Have the ability to give you that a higher calibre. Guest A higher calibre interviewer I’m not here to pump anyone’s tires, but I just want to tell our industry and our fellow brokers the truth. When you associate yourself with the best in the business, chances are something’s going to rub off. If you’re going to have the leading five six CEOs of the leading five six real estate companies in North America, forget Canada sitting on a panel sharing what they’re doing to gain market share. Chances are you’re going to get an idea from a guy like Phil Soper, a guy like Glenn Stanford, who has expanded globally on a digital platform in real estate. Whether you like EXP, you don’t like EXP or whether you like full-service Royal LePage or not, it’s irrelevant. These are the biggest brands in real estate. They have massive market share and they’re expanding and growing, and they all have the same objective to win.

Tim: Absolutely.

Simeon: We’re going to learn something.

Tim: Yeah, no doubt about it. And like we were saying earlier, to mean this is for people in the real estate business, Right? Going to be learning from top leaders across North America. We just started our list, by the way, you and I, but we knocked on a good number of them and also people outside of real estate like David Goggins. Right. His inspirational story and discipline, Bozoma St John on the marketing side, that Pamela Liebman story, at least in how you connect with people. So expertise in areas around real estate. But you tell me, I mean, you’ve got tons of followers here at the Broker’s Playbook. This is going to be attractive also to people who are real estate investors and just plain fans of real estate. They’re all welcome to join us as well. We got more non-members coming this year than I think the other previous reality conferences combined.

Simeon: That’s amazing. And we can definitely get the message out to our entire audiences of investors alike. And I do believe Aria did share with us a special link for special pricing as well. So a big shout out to Mr. Luigi Favaro, VP of Partnerships for giving us some amazing deals for our crew to join the event. It’s awesome.

Tim: Well, I hope to see the Playbook fans down there. And then of course, Simeon, you’re on the stage. I want can I talk about some of the panels we have.

Simeon: For sure.

Tim: All right. So we talked about some of the individual speakers. Then we’re going to have panels that are going to bear down on particular topics and you’re going to be there leading a panel on what’s happening in disruption in tech, what’s hot and what’s not, because we want to hear from people like you and the leaders out there. If some news thing is a shiny bauble or something, it’s going to help you save time and save money and grow your business. That’s going to be a great panel right there.

Simeon: You bet. And I’m super excited about it. I actually know who the panellists are and they’re super exciting technologies that they’re working on. They’re very relevant. I’m not going to let the cat out of the bag here. What I will tell you is that I’m preparing my questions and my questions are going to be directly tied to them, explaining the value proposition directly to both the industry and to the consumer and excuse me, to the industry and the consumer, meaning the consumer has to win first. Always. The tech success relies on the adoption by the industry, though. So when you bridge industry, adoption with a consumer win is where you identify a winner. That’s kind of where I see Proptech. So don’t make my job harder. In order for the consumer to win, it has to be streamlined. You have to make both our lives easier. You have to give me a win at the same time. And these guys and gals are working on exactly that. They’re changing the way business is done. And I think the audience is going to be very excited about some of these technologies.

Tim: I’m sure be a great panel. And obviously, we picked the right guy to run that panel mean. So thanks for taking that on. Yet another panel I think is going to hit you know, you tell me the realtors that you’re talking to. But the number one thing I hear from realtors right now is it was a pretty good market in the last number of years and now the momentum has turned. So how are you going to actually keep your business and build at the time ahead? So a panel called Been there, done that. We have a number of veteran realtors who have been through ups and downs over their careers. They’re going to lay out their secrets of success. Like Frank Leo. We know him very well. Diane Usher is going to be part of that. We have an American leader as well who went through the downturn in 2008 and built her business from there. Simeon So if you really want to know how you can actually not only survive a grow in this kind of market, been there, done that as a panel for you.

Simeon: In, how timely could it possibly be? Right? How timely could it possibly be? Because there is going to be a shakeup in this market. There is absolutely no doubt about it.

Tim: And every single side or the other. Right. And these guys will tell you how to be on the right side of that.

Simeon: Correct. But it’s also a choice, I think, as an industry, as a realtor, as a team leader, you have to make a conscious choice. You’re either going to open your eyes to the reality of the marketplace or open your eyes to the reality of your value proposition to the marketplace when you attend reality. Plus you’re going to get the best branding advice, the best marketing advice, and the best anecdotal evidence from people who have lived and thrived through similar channels and circumstances to tell you what to do if you are doubting your future or if you’re doubting your ability or your skill set. This is the time to invest in yourself and give yourself the opportunity to listen and be coachable and take advice and implement. You have to take action in a market like this. No doubt about it. 

Tim: No doubt about it. Let me give you another one, too, that I’m excited about. To build from a panel. There is going to be a new open offer process starting in April of next year, right where you can share the contents of offers if buyers and sellers opt-in. So what the hell is that going to look like? That will be new in North America. So we’re going to bring in a couple of companies that are in this business that have done it in Australia, and we’re going to bring in a veteran, well, Sam McNasty, a veteran, experienced agent himself, to say this is how I think it’s going to go. So this could be a new tool in your toolkit as a realtor, as a broker. What’s it going to look like? You’ll get a sneak preview of reality as well.

Simeon: Yeah, because it’s for better or for worse unless you’re going to at least you’re going to have some expert opinion behind it. Like Sam McDadi, how many thousands of offers has that man gone through?  He represents clients in the hardest markets in Canada at the highest level. Yep. So this is who, again, like for me, I live my life from a coachable, everyday learning experience. And when people function and represent the industry at that level I just know better. I listen. That’s when I listen and I take what I can to put into my own value proposition. So I hope others do the same.

Tim: Perfect. One more and we can talk about other aspects of the conference. This is going to be a fun one. You know, think of a mixture kind of America’s Got Talent and Dragons Den. So we’re going to have three or four new technologies on the stage. They’re going to make their pitch and they’re going to have some experienced realtors and brokers who are going to say, you know, I buy that and invest in that. That’s going to come nowhere near my office and going to have the audience vote as well, which technology they think is actually going to pay off for them and growing their business, whether that’s a real estate or some other business.

Simeon: All right. Well, that’s going to get really tense out there. I bet. I like it. Some drama. I love it. That’s my jam right there.

Tim: Kevin Kreuger, the president of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, very successful, is going to be one of those judges, Kate Broderick, she’s with Ravello to Brantford, Marisa Arnold, she’s a broker out of Sudbury. So we got a good variety of judges with a lot of personalities, and they’re not afraid to call them as they see them.

Simeon: I just met in person for the first time and spent some time with Miss Broderick out of Brantford at the Kathleen Black event. Kathleen Black is a world-class coach. You were actually one of the speakers there as well.

Tim: I was. Yeah, I.

Simeon: Was. Yes.

Tim: She calls up the show so everybody would head off to the bar.

Simeon: I missed you by minutes. So we had just wrapped up on this on stage before maybe one speaker before you and I tried to actually catch you, but I didn’t. But I met Miss Broderick at that event, and she is a force of nature, my man. So. So I really look forward to her being a judge. But let’s see if she’s going to be reserved. She’s going to take gloves off and go nuts.

Tim: Yeah, a lot of experience, success and a lot of personalities.

Simeon: One more time, Tim. realityconference.ca. Is that what it is?

Tim: Reality conference. Okay, so realityconference.ca. It’ll be over 1000 leading real estate agents and investors and fans of real estate from across Canada. You sign up for the reality conference and do buy your ticket ahead of time because some of those networking opportunities they’re about to sell out. So snap them up 100%.

Simeon: It’s going to be worth every single dollar. I do want to cover a couple more hot, hot topics. As I said in the beginning when we were introducing the show, there are a few major things that I wanted your insight into the industry on so above and beyond the Reality Plus conference. Obviously, guys, we’re all passionate about this. We’re all passionate about the business, but there are things that everybody needs to know. And when I say everybody, this is a 100% industry and investment podcast and what Tim has been working on for years, what I have been trying to my very best ability to always assist him in getting the message out because we just so happen to believe in the very same thing. Housing affordability will never exist unless there is a significant change. Ontario has a housing supply crisis. And unless we fix the supply and we know that to be at almost 2 million homes province-wide, unless we address that supply these up and downs of an interest rate hike up and down or not, this is a Band-Aid. This is a circumstantial slowdown due to the physical limitations of the supply chain wars overseas and inflation going up after the pandemic. The actual fundamental problems of our real estate market not only have not changed, not only have they not been addressed. It is a matter of time. Whether it’s six months or a year, I don’t care if it’s two years as an investor, not a real estate agent. As an investor, I know is a fact that even if they were to bring in the cavalry, even if they were to bring in all the changes in the world in the next decade and based on the government bringing in half a million immigrants a year, I bet on Ontario real estate.

Simeon: As an investor, I know that prices ten years from today are going to be either double or almost double, just like they have four times in the last four decades of us keeping records of it. Why? Because Ontario enjoys decent weather. It’s like California. But we have decent four seasons. We have spectacular education, health, and highways for all the problems that we have as a country. Trust me, it’s a lot worse elsewhere. When we talk about greener grass, 500,000 people come here a year, they’re not coming because they expect it to be worse than when they’re leaving. And they know that it’s better. And I can say that I live in the best province on the planet, the best city on the planet. I love where we’re from. And I’m telling you that real estate in Ontario is a safe bet because we have not addressed a single issue to keep this market on a level playing field elsewhere. Whether it’s red tape, whether it’s this, whether it’s the other. Tim and his team at ARIA, amongst other government governing bodies, have been working together to change some legislation, to introduce legislation to make things easier. Tim, tell me how close you are to finally getting rid of this ridiculous, exclusionary, archaic zoning that’s been ravaging affordability in the city of Toronto.

Tim: Yeah, a big, big step forward. I mean, so let me give some background here. You said it really well where 1.5 million homes short. We need to build those in the next ten years if we want the keys to getting closer to hand for struggling millennials and newcomers to Canada, hardworking Canadians. And so and Real Estate Association did our homework. We put a bunch of ideas on the table for all political parties. Premier Ford one And the good news is he’s taken a lot of our book, a lot of our recipe there, and he’s put it on the table in new legislation. It’s called More Homes Built Faster. And that’s what it’s all about.

Tim: And that’s the name of the bill.

Tim: Tim That’s the name of the legislation. Exactly.

Simeon: Smart. That’s what it is.

Time: It’s pretty plain language, right? So you get more homes built and build them faster. The way they’re going to do that is tear down a lot of the red tape, the outdated rules that stand in the way that delay projects, take away some of the tools that NIMBY forces use to delay, to drive up prices, to get projects cancelled, and to give new housing opportunities, especially for first-time buyers and move up buyers when kids come along. You mentioned exclusionary zoning. That’s one of the issues that a real push that is in this bill. Finally, basically, here’s how it works. So picture a wartime bungalow in Vaughan or in Scarborough or in, say, Catharines and the owner today could knock that bungalow down and build a four-storey monster home for one family. And that’s their right. We support that. She’s worked hard, right? The family have saved up their money. God bless them. But if they want to knock that home down and build a duplex or a triplex where three young families could get a start right and get a home, holy crow, they go through this regulatory wringer, the NIMBYs come in, the lawyers come in and they just throw up their arms and they walk away. And who loses? It’s those three families that don’t get home in the first place. So this bill will allow you to go either way. You can build up as you can today, but also you can provide more affordable homes to be able to own or rent. And that’s a major step forward in every city in town in our province.

Simeon: Mr. Tim Hudak, let me remind you of this above and beyond the three families looking for an affordable home, above and beyond all the beautiful and noble causes that we’re looking to champion through where this legislation. I will also remind you that there is the investor, which is myself. I am a real estate investor. I always seek opportunities to create wealth using real estate by championing. So so this is the thing. We’re in a place so unique because it’s normally not like this, but in Ontario today, selfish investors make them look like me. I don’t care about characterizations and nonsense. It’s me. Let’s just say it’s me if I want to just make money off real estate. Ontario today, if that legislation goes through, it will allow me to do noble work, like create affordable housing while taking single-use properties and turning them into duplexes. Triplexes and more, depending on where how the location of the real estate is put in the city. So by the subways, obviously there’s going to be higher density as you go out. It’s going to be different. But while we do, this, not only are you going to be able to as an investor to profit, you’re actually going to be helping solve a housing crisis in one of the hardest markets on the globe.

Simeon: Toronto is suffering. So somebody who is not making a quarter million a year and has to make a salary of 60 can no longer afford to be in the city not to rent and not to buy. And we have a unique ability as investors today. To be able to create those doors, those suites inside existing real estate pockets where we take down a wartime bungalow, and build a fourplex that has two roommates inside each one. Sure. As an investor, you’re going to make more by retailing the doors than you ever would possibly make, creating cash flow and a profit for you while creating affordable doors for the market. These two things are not always hand in hand. And in this case, should legislation like this go through? Not only do you help protect and provide for a market that’s starving for affordable homes, but there’s also actually the opportunity for the investor to monetize it while doing work. That is amazing for his fellow man or woman. That’s what I really, really wanted to stress because it’s not every market that can afford this opportunity, this one uniquely does.