Edmonton Agent Knows the Key: Happy Clients

On a quiet street in one of Edmonton’s most prestigious neighbourhoods, a new 3,000 square-foot home is nothing out of the ordinary. Crestwood is one of the city’s most coveted neighbourhoods, but remained a well-kept se­cret until the late 1980s. These days, high-end new builds and dramatically renovated homes are typical of the area.

And yet even here, Kerri-lyn Holland’s house stands out. With its ultramodern stonework and dramatic entry, the home, which Holland and her husband, a professional hockey player, built from the ground up, has a certain sparkle. And in that sense, it’s reminiscent of Holland herself: A sparkling suc­cess in a crowded market.

Inspired into a Career

Since joining RE/MAX River City in 2006, the former marketer has worked hard to build her business. Already a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame, Holland has a database of contacts and former clients that constantly generates new opportunities. And she has the skills and systems in place to take advantage.

In some respects, Holland’s upward climb in real estate began with an unremarkable commercial building on the other side of the country.

Raised in St. Albert, Alberta, Holland moved to Mon­treal in the early 2000s to study marketing. On her walk to campus each morning, she’d pass a burned-out, va­cant brick building and wonder whether someone would ever fix it up. With a facelift, Holland mused, this build­ing could become a stylish condo complex. And eventu­ally it happened. “By the time I left Montreal, someone had purchased that building and turned it into condos. It was exciting that they took this older, dilapidated place and turned it into something fabulous,” she says. “That really piqued my interest in real estate.”

After moving back to the Edmonton area after univer­sity, Holland took a marketing job but retained her curi­osity about pursuing a real estate career. She earned her license and quickly realized that her marketing savvy, social skills and business mind would serve her well.

Detailed Preparation

Holland joined RE/MAX River City at the start of the housing boom in Edmonton, where RE/MAX brokerages hold more than 40 percent market share in listings sold and outsell the next four competitors combined.

“Many buyers who move to Edmonton because of the area’s oil industry already know the RE/MAX name in other parts of the world,” Holland says. “The brand-name recognition helps generate calls from prospective buyers and sellers.”

Her first year in real estate was demanding, especially since she was doing everything herself. She attended as many networking events as possible, helped fellow Real­tors constantly and effectively worked open houses. As more and more transactions closed successfully and her database expanded, her stream of referrals grew as well.

Eventually, when she reached the point where she was referring would-be clients to her colleagues, Holland brought a licensed assistant/office manager, Catherine Evasiuk, on board. The position entails running the operation, organizing the flow of buyers and sellers, and helping coordinate daily activities.

“Catherine is licensed, and has the knowledge, education and experience to meet with clients and assist with open houses,” Holland says. “She also works on creating and executing my marketing activities. Essentially, she acts as a representative of my business whenever necessary and frees me up to spend face-to-face time with clients.”

Her group also includes a home stager and profes­sional photographer.

“Everyone’s busy with their own life, so we need to make it easy for buyers to picture themselves in a proper­ty,” says Holland, who often works from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. “With good staging and photos, they love it online first, book a showing, and are excited to come and look at it.”

Of course, the real thing must live up to the promise. “I won’t list a property until it’s ready because we have one chance to make a first impression,” she says. “If we don’t do the hard work before­hand, it won’t sell. I know how particular buyers are. Whether they’re spending $200,000 or $2 million, they expect a lot. And they should.”

At this point in her career, Holland has strong relationships with every major bank in the community and with other business­es related to real estate, including builders, land developers, and condo developers. More importantly, her systems include constant communication with buyers and sellers to help ensure their satisfaction.

“Satisfied clients turn into referrals,” she says. “If you make one person happy, you can make 10 more people happy.”

Above and Beyond

For repeat client Karen Breakey, Holland’s accessibility and willingness to guide her purchasing decisions have been invalu­able. After renovating and selling her own home last year, the Edmontonian is now rehabbing a second home and has relied on Holland’s advice throughout the process. “She’s helped me find cleaners and contractors. She’ll go and get the Real Property Report done or surveys. Both times I’ve worked with her, she’s had additional appraisals done so we had our own ballpark figure going in,” Breakey says.

Adds Shami Sandhu, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX River City: “I highly encourage my agents to conduct business in a manner that can’t be replaced by a website. A website can’t serve a client the way a skilled profes­sional, especially a skilled RE/MAX profes­sional, can.” Holland exemplifies this, says Sandhu: “She excels in her ability to go the extra mile for her clients.”

That extra mile is sometimes a world away. When Holland is visiting her husband in Europe, where he plays in the German Elite League (DEL), she continues to work on transactions – even though she’s often up at 3 a.m. to chat with clients and agents back home.

Fortunately, this juggling act will end when her husband winds down his hockey season – and career – and returns to Edmonton. But rather than enjoy some time off, he’ll be jump­ing right into Holland’s real estate practice alongside her. “He loves real estate almost as much as I do,” she says.

Holland’s “Tech”nique

Holland uses new technolo­gies to market her business, including social media and ConnectCode Media QR codes on her marketing materials. “This is a very use­ful and increasingly popular marketing tool,” says assist­ant Catherine Evasiuk.

Find out how Holland leverages social media on Facebook (Kerri-lyn Holland & Associates); on Twitter (@KerrilynHolland); or on LinkedIn (Kerri-lyn Holland).