(Stacey Falkwin/contributed)

Each Wednesday, Real Estate Magazine shares insights, experiences and advice from top-performing teams and agents across Canada. If you’d like to contribute or nominate a colleague or team, send us an email.

With a renovator’s grit and a builder’s mindset, Stacey Falkwin turned a rough first rental into a real estate career, and then a team. Today, Falkwin Group of Royal LePage Atlantic serves Halifax, pairing tight systems with in-house staging. After a tough 2024, the group rebounded: 156 transactions and $103.2 million volume by the fall of 2025, with Stacey now 75 per cent CEO/operations, 25 per cent sales, with plans to move out of sales in 2026.

Team: Six agents
Staff: One full-time admin; part-time marketing; full-time lead stager; staging assistant/runner
2024: 133 transactions; $80.0M volume
Fall 2025 YTD: 156 transactions; $103.3M volume

REM: How did you first get into real estate?
SF: A terrible university landlord pushed me to buy the least expensive place near downtown. I skipped the inspection (big mistake) and learned by doing with friends and library books. The equity from that first renovation hooked me. I started fixing distressed rentals, then got licensed to help friends and family. It grew from there.

REM: Why build a team?
SF: I was wearing too many hats and working ridiculous hours. I also wanted community and like-minded people to help me meet demand and add services without sacrificing quality.

REM: Who does what today?
SF: I’m 75 per cent CEO/operations, 25 per cent sales, on track to exit sales in 2026. We have four full-time Realtors (one now a part-owner as part of succession), one full-time admin, a part-time marketing specialist, a full-time lead stager and a staging assistant/runner.

REM: First hires that changed the business?
SF: A full-time admin, a second agent and a stager.

REM: Advice for a first hire?
SF: Get a coach. Hiring is foundation work. A good coach helps you avoid costly mistakes and build best-practice systems from day one.

REM: Top lead sources in 2025?
SF: Repeat/referral past clients (49 per cent), sphere (13 per cent) and strategic alliances (6 per cent).

REM: If one channel vanished, what would hurt most?
SF: Our repeat and referral engine. It’s the core of the business.

REM: How are new leads routed?
SF: Leads come to me; I assign based on the agent’s skill set and capacity.

REM: Core tech?
SF: Follow Up Boss, our website, Trello and Excel.

REM: What do you track on money/ROI?
SF: Per-deal profit and average commission.

REM: Time to first deal for a new agent?
SF: About 45 days.

REM: What separates a $500k to $750k net producer (on your team)?
SF: Flawless system use, extreme organization and showing up every time.

REM: What behaviours are rewarded, and what behaviours get you benched?
SF: We reward living our values and an unconditionally helpful spirit and bench anyone drifting from those values.

REM: Compliance approach?
SF: Our admin takes PD and courses (CASL, DNCL, PIPEDA, CREA/board rules), adapts them into our systems and trains the team.

REM: Next hire: ISA or transaction coordinator and why?
SF: Transaction coordinator. If you already have admin, a TC protects standards from accepted offer to close and frees capacity before you scale lead flow.

REM: Best use of $5,000/month for six to 12 months?
SF: Strengthen operations (TC, staging efficiency and database nurture) so added volume sticks.

REM: Minimum viable follow-up cadence?
SF: Same-day response, then tailored touches; consistency over gimmicks.

Lightning round

Canadian market insight… People prefer authentic communication and resist anything that looks like AI
One tech you’d fight to keep… Trello
Marketing hill you’ll die on… Showing real value through service and systems, not just ads
Agents fail because… they refuse to build systems or seek guidance that leads to success
Teams win because… they leverage the right people, processes and leadership for consistent, long-term results

Editor’s note: Stacey Falkwin answered our questions in the fall of 2025, as part of a feature in a special print edition of REM.