When industry veteran Stephen Wong started his storied real estate career, agents still relied on pagers.
“This was before cell phones – even the big, bulky ones,” the leading Greater Toronto Area (GTA) real estate professional says with a reflective laugh. Wong is now the celebrated visionary behind the success story of The Living Group of Companies, one of the largest independent real estate organizations in the GTA.
Founded in 1980, the inspiration for The Living Group came from the heightened immigration of Asians to Canada – in particular, the GTA – in the late 1970s, says Wong, a Hong Kong native and son of Ontario immigrants.
Stephen Wong, Chairman, Living Group of Companies
“I saw an opportunity to focus my real estate business on helping immigrants navigate the local real estate market,” he says. “That was my initial strategy. Then, I built the company to include everyone.”
He also built what was once solely Living Realty Inc., Brokerage to include a family of real estate companies that now comprises two other divisions: Living Properties and Oracle Group Realty. The former is a property management company, and the latter specializes in marketing pre-construction homes. Add this to the real estate brokerage, and you have a thriving one-stop shop for all things GTA real estate.
A 'Bigger is Better' Approach to Business
Living Realty’s philosophy was different from the start, with Wong trailblazing a new path for “business as usual” in the real estate world. In short, this ethos can be summarized by two common sayings that ring true only when the circumstances are just right: 1) 'bigger is better' and 2) 'location matters.'
In this case, both proved true, contributing to The Living Group’s current employment of some 600 employees and salespersons — not to mention billions of dollars in annual real estate transactions.
“I recognize that technology is the future, but we don’t always know how many years we have to wait before things start developing and [we] aren’t necessarily all tech experts,” says Wong. “So, we focus on retention and getting young, tech-savvy people into the business.”
And that’s just one example of Wong’s strategy-minded approach.
“Instead of paying high rent for the company’s brick-and-mortar – which, in the early ‘80s, traditionally would have been a brokerage sharing a main floor with a retail space – we have prioritized bigger spaces for more people.” Wong explains that the company started in a true “office” space, at just 20% of the rent a retail space would have cost.
“I could afford to rent more space and have a bigger office to accommodate more agents, which was against tradition,” he says.
Due to this departure from the typical ground-level brokerage, Living Realty quickly gained a reputation of having more agents from the get-go. While office locations may have changed throughout the years, the core philosophy remains – and that includes location. “We also recognize that residential real estate needs to be close to potential clients,” Wong explains. “That’s why we have branch offices close and connected to the communities we want to service. The head office is in Markham, which was a little out of the way when we first started, but that’s where the future is for residential real estate.”
At the end of the day, for Wong, a real estate brokerage business needs the critical mass to achieve efficiency.
“In other words, you need a lot of agents to service large geographic communities,” says Wong. “For people, where they live is the best spot in the world to them. They’re so used to their neighbourhoods and their communities – where to shop, where to go to church, the shortcuts, when the bus arrives, where the hospital is. It’s very important to service your client based on where they’re comfortable, not where you think they should move. So, a bigger geographic location helps, with agents that specialize in certain areas. Still, I keep telling my agents, you may think you know a neighbourhood well, but nobody knows it as well as the people who live there.”
What's more, with strong multicultural roots, the Living Group’s agents speak a variety of languages and cater to every market segment in the GTA.
Image: The Living Group
Few Hats, Many Experts
While some entrepreneurs pride themselves in wearing many hats – and do so successfully – Wong has always taken a different approach.
“I believe in a corporate structure – I don’t believe in me wearing 20 hats,” says Wong of his leadership style. “I don’t try to be an expert in everything, so I hire the people who are considered to be respected professionals in their areas of expertise. For instance, that could be residential condo sales, low-rise sales – there’s all kinds of expertise in our business. We’ve hired the best of the best to work for us.”
From here, Living Realty has been able to streamline their professional services to clients over the years, which has led to the company’s successful vertical integration.
“Moving into property management was natural for us, because we service a lot of immigrants that invested their money in Canada to buy real estate, but they don’t necessarily live here year-round,” says Wong. “Someone needs to rent [a property] out and manage its tenants. So, in order for them to make smart long-term investment decisions, we provide them with the service they need, including property management. If you invest and buy a home with Living Realty, you can have this additional draw.” Living Properties Inc. currently manages a portfolio of over 300 residential and commercial properties in the GTA.
When it comes to Oracle Group Realty, Wong acknowledges that new home sales and marketing is a totally different business compared to the resale real estate business.
“We have to service builders and developers – people who are veterans in the marketplace – not necessarily homeowners, but business people,” he says. “We need special attention to their needs when it comes to pre-construction sales and marketing.” That’s where the aforementioned experts come into play, to help market and sell products before they build.
Image: The Living Group
Timing is Everything
While business is thriving, Wong is the first to recognize the volatility in the real estate market, and says it hasn't always been smooth sailing.
As a result, one of Wong’s biggest pieces of advice for up-and-comers in the real estate world is to plan for those volatile times.
“I’ve been through three or four recessions in my career,” says Wong. “Real estate is very sensitive to the general economy. Most of the time, it’s the biggest investment a person or family will make. Every fluctuation in interest rates affects people’s livelihood. So, we have to be sensitive.”
This means adequately planning corporate financing, he says.
“You have to be sure that you don’t overspend when things are good, and build up your reserve for not-so-good times,” Wong explains. “It’s important because real estate is service-oriented and a cash-flow business. Our asset is our time. We’re selling our time to provide service to our clients. Time can be valuable if you know how to use it. You need to plan, and timing is everything in real estate – and times aren’t always good.”
GTA Homes/Shutterstock
'Living' the Dream
While the real estate industry can indeed be challenging at times – and nobody knows this better than today’s agents – agents at Living Realty enjoy a solid setup, if Wong does say so himself. Perhaps that's why a handful of the current agents have been there since the very start.
Of unique note, part of the company’s philosophy includes an agent-centric approach, wherein agents are viewed equally as the Living Realty’s client. This perspective underpins a heavy investment in agent development and support — from comprehensive training programs and free startup kits through to robust infrastructure offerings, including bookkeeping, accounting, and branch management services — that ultimately serves their happiness and professional development.
Of course, these results can’t help but move downstream, translating to positive customer experiences and a general sense of health and well-being for the business — a well-being that’s furthered by Living Realty’s forward-facing succession planning, which lays roots for a stable future, regardless of changing market conditions.
All of these perks and priorities inevitably contribute to the success of The Living Group, as it continues to carve its legacy as a real estate firm that has long done things a little bit differently – and probably always will.
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This article was produced in partnership with STOREYS Custom Studio.
