John Lichtenwald with his wife and business partner Elaine.
By Susan Doran
About a year ago, an email arrived at the REM offices.
“The Vancouver real estate market is on fire, and buyers from mainland China are fanning the flames,” it trumpeted. The email then went on to suggest that REM do an interview with John Lichtenwald, principal owner of Re/Max Metro Vancouver Properties, a conglomerate of Re/Max offices in the Vancouver area.
Lichtenwald turned out to be considerably less prone to hyperbole than his emailing colleague.
“It’s hard to predict the future,” he said in a recent interview. “But just look around. Canada is the envy of the world. Our banks never over-lent. Our real estate industry is so organized. We’re lucky and things are solid. Very solid.”
They’re so solid, in fact, that Lichtenwald’s company achieved over $4.5 billion in sales last year. So solid that for three years running, the company has been named the top Re/Max sales group in the world.
With nine offices and almost 550 sales associates in the Metro Vancouver area, Re/Max Metro Vancouver Properties beat out thousands of other Re/Max entries worldwide for sales volumes in 2009, 2010 and 2011, for Re/Max International’s multi-office sales award. In 2010, Re/Max Western Canada named Lichtenwald owner/operator of the year.
So he’s no stranger to big-time sales awards. And he’s also the kind of guy who’ll try to save people from burning buildings …literally. He’s won several awards, including the Governor General’s Award for bravery, for doing just that. He once crawled under smoke to try to rescue a woman who was trapped. Between 2006 and 2008 he helped to rescue three people, including a man who had a heart attack after falling out of a kayak and another who needed CPR at an ice rink.
It’s clear Lichtenwald has a humanitarian streak, and some of the charity work his company does illustrates that, such as fundraising for the Children’s Miracle Network. Lichtenwald believes that Realtors should put their best faces forward in their business dealings with clients as well.
“I say treat everybody like family. When clients divorce, ask what we can do to help the family. That is part of our job too,” he says.
In the same vein, he’s keener on building relationships than on technology.
“Everyone is so far into technology, and technology is great. But let’s get back to the phone, to going for coffee with clients, to building relationships. Real estate is a relationship business, and with most of our top producers, that’s how they build their business,” he says. “Referrals are a huge part of our business.”
Lichtenwald is a strong believer in hard work. His theory on it has a unique twist, however, perhaps because he’s now in his early ’50s.
“I believe that for every hour you put in after an eight-hour day, you’ll retire that much earlier. It banks up. So do a little more work when you’re younger,” he says.
Lichtenwald has banked plenty of hours himself, having gone, during the past 25 years, from being an auto body repair shop owner, to a top-producing real estate sales rep, to marketing director for Re/Max of Western Canada, to an executive with Re/Max International, and then in 1995 becoming owner of Re/Max Metro Vancouver Properties. He views the upward trajectory of his career somewhat as he imagines professional athletes view theirs. “It’s like being on a baseball team, wanting to keep going to teams where you’ll learn more,” he says.
As any real estate professional worth his salt knows, the influx of wealthy international buyers, particularly those from mainland China, has had a significant impact on Vancouver’s residential real estate market. There’s been a huge surge in recent years, helped along by such blessings as the city’s stunning scenery; the attraction of a healthy lifestyle; and the global attention garnered after Vancouver hosted the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games.
Prices in luxurious West Vancouver, where Lichtenwald lives with his wife (and business partner) Elaine, are staggering, approaching an average of $2 million.
There’s a lot of speculation that the influx of rich foreigners is inflating prices and squeezing the local middle class, many of whom say they’re being priced out of the market.
It’s true “some (foreign investors) buy in cash,” says Lichtenwald. “It can make it hard for the average Canadian. But Canadian-born citizens who have had properties here for so long have seen appreciation of almost 10 per cent per year in most markets themselves, so it’s not just the mainland Chinese who are driving up prices.”
To put things in perspective, he tells people that Vancouver is rated the 75th most expensive city in the world in which to live. “We’ve got room to grow,” he says.
In his opinion, the best thing about Vancouver is how well all the different cultures get along. “It’s a good blend. We embrace it.”
Asked the secrets to success, his advice is to surround yourself with good people.
“We’re only as good as the people we hire,” he says. “When there’s a vacancy, I look to fill it with the best.”
Once he has the best people in place, he works hard to keep them.
“We give everyone who’s worked for us for 15 years or longer a week’s paid vacation in a property we own in Maui,” he says. “It’s retention, a thank you for helping us to build the business.”
He’s business savvy in multiple other ways as well.
“We’ve always believed in training and marketing,” he says. “We analyze where our Realtors’ business comes from, so that we know what’s not working. If 60 per cent of their business comes from family and friends, we’ll market to that sector.”
On the day we talk by phone, he tells me that he’s taken the day off and is enjoying the beauty of the surroundings there on the mountainside in west Vancouver. He mentions the birds, the beaches and mountains, and the admirable cleanliness and lack of graffiti. He’s a man who appreciates what he has.
“Life’s an apple. You can take a big bite or a little one. It’s all based on attitude, and on how we treat each other,” he says.
Photos: Darla Furlani Photography
