Last week, the real estate community came together for an evening of collaborative energy, industry insights, and future-facing conversation.
The latest edition of Telling STOREYS — “The Future of the Real Estate Brokerage Model” — took over the York Mills Gallery on Thursday evening. Hosted by STOREYS in partnership with Interac Verified, the event served as a rich exploration of how real estate can thrive in the modern digital landscape.
On arrival, guests enjoyed a vibrant networking hour; connecting over canapés and free-flowing drinks, the energy of over 100 industry-engaged attendees laid a sturdy foundation for the insights and discussions to come.
Part 1: The Panel
First to take the stage was the evening’s panel, comprised by industry leaders with a wide range of experience: Karen Yolevski, COO, Royal LePage; Steve Tabrizi, COO, RE/MAX Hallmark Realty; Vivian Risi, CEO, Royal LePage Your Community Realty; Evan Sage, VP Growth and Development, SAGE Real Estate; and Michael Kalles, President, Harvey Kalles Real Estate.
Moderated by Kevin Crigger, Associate CEO of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) and President of PropTx Innovations Inc., the panel explored the unique challenges and opportunities that stem from increased (and ongoing) digitization of the real estate industry, particularly for the brokerage model. Attendees learned about the customized digital solutions in use at each panelists’ brokerage, and the perspectives each leader holds about how to optimize such resources.
“Our industry is really suffering with adaptation,” Tabrizi told the room. “But I see the expectation of the modern consumers — they want the process, from the beginning to the end, to be very seamless.”
As such, Tabrizi describes that the next step for Hallmark Hub — RE/MAX Hallmark’s automated hub — is to ensure the tool addresses the needs of not only the agent, but also the consumer.
“Technology is a constant moving target,” noted Risi. She pointed out the benefits of leveraging tech to enhance communication and keep up with marketing trends, without getting lost in the fear that technology will “replace” agents. (“Absolutely not” going to happen, she said.)
For Yolevski, tech benefits directly come down to utility.
“Technology is only valuable if you use it,” she said. “Do you use it? Because if you don't use it, it doesn't matter what it said it could do, or what you thought it could do — it's doing nothing for you.”
It’s the adaptability and usability of an offering like AI, for example, that has created such a buzz around it, Yolevski says. For those agents who take the time to learn how to implement the tech, there’s an immediate return on investment, in the forms of ease, cost efficiency, and competitive edge.
But, even with this ROI considered, panelists didn’t skirt around the realities of a fast-changing industry; from regulatory updates to market fluctuations to new technology, it’s understandable that the speed of change can cause some stress — Kalles highlighted this as being top of mind for himself in today’s market.
“We have been hit with more changes in the last 12 months than I can remember in the last 33 years,” he said. “And I don’t mean numbers, I mean magnitude.”
But Yolevski noted that times of major change present major opportunities — particularly for industry leaders to step in as trailblazers. And Sage agreed.
“This change is exciting,” Sage said. “Any ‘chaos period’ is when you can look at it as an operator and say, ‘How can I help usher [this change] through? How can I get our agents to be on board with changing, adapting, and moving with it?’.”
Part 2: The Fireside
Following the panel discussion, STOREYS Publisher and CEO Danny Roth took to the stage for an intimate fireside chat with Giles Sutherland, VP of Business Development at Interac Corp., and Ryan Lambert, VP Data Strategy at FTC.
Together they explored innovative solutions Interac Verified offers industry professionals, providing ease and empowerment while keeping transactions safe in a digital landscape.
“You know who really likes to use AI?” Lambert quipped. “Fraudsters. They love it.” This is where digital resources come in, to support a more “foolproof” approach to information sharing.
“[At Interac Verified], we’re incrementally improving and digitizing the analog,” Sutherland said.
READ: The Best Way Agents Can Help Protect Clients From Real Estate Fraud
The fireside’s sentiment served to underscore a major theme of the evening — as real estate navigates a tech-filled future, innovation is key.
Part 3: The Gallery
STOREYS believes in the power of fostering meaningful, insightful, collaborative conversations to shape a resilient real estate future. And with esteemed leaders committed to embracing tech, enhancing trust, and exploring new frontiers, the path ahead is promising.
If you weren’t able to make it out to last week’s event, you’re invited to explore the gallery below — we hope it’ll inspire your attendance at the next one.
Telling STOREYS: The Future of the Brokerage Model
Welcome to Telling STOREYS: The Future of the Real Estate Brokerage Model
