By Kathy Bevan
Pat King cuts the cake (with his trademark red mansard roof made of icing) at his retirement party. (Photo: Ken Thompson)
Atlantic Canada real estate legend Pat King officially retired from the industry this year, marking the end to a career that began shortly after the Second World War.
King and his wife Hilda opened Pat King Insurance in downtown Dartmouth, N.S. in 1947. Soon afterward, King decided there were opportunities to expand his small business into real estate and with the simple addition of the words “And Real Estate” to the bottom of his home-made “Insurance” sign, King found his true calling.
“I had been doing a lot of insurance business with navy people and one day they asked me if I could look after their houses as well,” says King. “I didn’t charge them a nickel for my services back then – it was all just done as goodwill. And that’s how I got started in the real estate business.”
At its peak, Pat King Real Estate had over 30 offices with approximately 350 employees beneath his trademark red mansard rooftop buildings, spread throughout Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. King was one of the first in Nova Scotia’s real estate industry to computerize his operations. He was also a pioneer in pursuing and promoting education for Realtors in Atlantic Canada, gaining his FRI certification from the Real Estate Institute of Canada and his AACI from the Appraisal Institute of Canada. He became an MAI (Member of the Appraisal Institute) as well. King also supported further education for his staff, offering to pay 50 per cent of the costs of any courses his employees successfully completed.
Eventually, King’s operations included land development, house building – including multifamily dwellings – real estate appraisal, mortgage brokerage, financing, flooring and electrical and property management.
“This was unusual at the time, as most people focussed just on real estate,” says Sandy Rutledge, who started his real estate career with Pat King in 1978 and who now co-owns Domus Realty in Halifax/Dartmouth. “What I learned from Pat and have brought into my own business is his strong work ethic and business ethics – those values influenced a great many of us in the industry here.”
Throughout King’s long career, there were few positions he didn’t hold within organized real estate. King was president of the Halifax Dartmouth Real Estate Board three times and a founding member of the Canadian Association of Real Estate Boards (forerunner to CREA); he was president of the local chapter of the Real Estate Institute of Canada (which he also helped to found) and the local chapter of the Appraisal Institute of Canada; he was also a commissioner on the Nova Scotia Housing Commission. Outside of real estate, three of King’s more prominent positions were serving as an alderman and deputy mayor for the City of Dartmouth, as well as president of the Dartmouth Chamber of Commerce.
At a special retirement party in his honour this spring, 115 people turned out to show their appreciation for a man most of them had worked with at one time or another during their own real estate careers. A few attendees only knew of him by reputation.
“A number of people told me the only reason they came was they wanted to see if there was an actual person named Pat King – they knew of him more as a legend than a real person,” says Gail Morris, co-owner of Domus Realty and one of the party’s organizers.
King’s daughter, Joan MacLean, who now carries on his business under the Pat King (1995) Limited banner, said her dad was very touched by the event. “Dad always stressed that his people worked with him, not for him – the turnout at the party showed him how much people appreciated him.”
In 2003, King was inducted as the first honourary member of the Nova Scotia Association of Realtors; six years earlier, King had been honoured with the Distinguished Realtor of the Year Award, in recognition of his contributions to the real estate industry over his many years of service.
“No doubt about it, for 30 years Pat King was the ‘go to’ person for so many people in real estate here – he never minded putting his shoulder to the wheel and was very proud of the fact that he never asked anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself,” says Morris. “It was wonderful to have so many people turn out to show how much he’s meant to us over the years.”
