Meet the Agent: Taylor Hack, RE/MAX River City

Welcome to Meet the Agent, an ongoing series profiling real estate agents from across Canada. With more than 150,000 agents, brokers, and salespeople working in 75 different boards and associations across the country, we thought it was about time they had a place to properly introduce themselves. If you or someone you know deserves the same chance, email agents@storeys.com to apply.

THE DETAILS

THE INSIGHTS

Where did you grow up?

Melfort, Saskatchewan and then Sherwood Park, Alberta

What neighbourhood do you live in now?

Glen Allan, Sherwood Park

What made you want to become a real estate agent?

It was a great entry point for entrepreneurship, and I had already done well in mortgages and sales, so it seemed like a good fit.

What’s the biggest challenge you see facing the market today?

The biggest challenge facing the market today is information. Some markets were more inflated than others, and it’s tough for consumers to become informed on smaller markets when larger markets dominate the news cycle and are not having the same experience.

READ: Meet the Agent: Victoria Veniez, Right at Home Realty

What’s the single best advice you have for sellers?

Sellers should be talking to their mortgage lenders about options and strategy for their sale and their next house. Whether or not their mortgage is assumable and whether or not their mortgage is portable are going to be key conversations. With historically low-interest rates in the rear view mirror, offering your mortgage and its interest rate when you sell your house could give you a better resale value and more options if the mortgage isn’t portable to your next home.

What’s the single best advice you have for buyers?

All the money you ever make in real estate is when you purchase. When it’s time to sell, we are just monetizing this decision. With that in mind, buyers should make sure they are getting more information on the market value of the property they are buying because list prices could have been set with information that is now dated and inconsistent with the actual market.

What’s the best thing a realtor can invest in for their brand (a bus bench ad, a solid Instagram strategy, etc.)?

Right now, the best thing a realtor can invest in is creating helpful and valuable videos. Short-form vertical videos can be distributed to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube, and those platforms are very much where the online attention is right now for the largest group of active buyers and sellers.

Who do you look up to in the industry and why?

Justin Konikow is out of London, Ontario. Justin has done a great job elevating his profile in positive ways and becoming known as an industry expert.

Is there anything you wish people knew or understood about realtors that you think they’re constantly getting wrong?

I wish more people understood how agents help. Most people look for a house and the agent becomes secondary even though the agent would benefit that process greatly. It seems that the public opinion is that you find a house online and that a real estate agent opens the door and helps you complete the paperwork. Instead, a collaboration with a real estate agent about what’s important to your family, where they spend time, and the support that they need will result in a better decision. Great agents help people beyond their understanding, so don’t make the decision alone and then get an agent. Get an agent and make the decision with their insight included. Information is everywhere, but insight is becoming even less common.

Tell us about your favourite (or most memorable) sale.

My favourite sale was helping the family of an estate sell the property, with 100% of the proceeds going to a local animal charity. The story of the woman, who had passed, and how she lived a modest lifestyle and would have been unassuming, having such an incredibly selfless impact during her life and afterward, was something that left a mark on me. The people are my favourite parts, and winning with them is why I do real estate.

What are the three words you hope your clients use to describe you?
Exceptional. Trusted. Kind.

What’s your favourite thing to do outside of selling houses?

Downhill skiing with my family. Both my daughters are on a downhill race team, and we travel to the mountains regularly.

This interview may have been edited for both length and clarity. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of STOREYS.