I've been a REALTOR® in Toronto for over thirty years and, unlike most, I chose a slightly different path. I built and managed companies, and served as the president of the Toronto Real Estate Board, the largest real estate board in the world. While I liked selling and being "in the trenches", I preferred the big picture views of the industry that the board level provided me. I am, to this day, particularly interested in how technology can make housing better and more attainable.

Most people would say you can't time the real estate market, but for me, joining Key was perfect timing as housing moved from a place of relief (“I'm finally owning and building my net worth!”) to a place of fear (“I'll never be able to own. I'm going to rent forever.”). What I've learned over the past 30 years is that  REALTORS® adapt to the changes in their market. As entrepreneurs, they look for tools to help them sell or rent homes more efficiently and they stay on top of the latest technologies to create better customer experiences.

Today, REALTORS® face another challenge; an insatiable appetite for homes, very few listings and higher prices. More people are locked out of homeownership than ever before, so REALTORS® need to show homes and condos farther away, often in jurisdictions they've never worked in before or, they have to find different housing options for their clients. Key is firmly planted in the latter. We built Key as a new option for REALTORS® and consumers alike.

Key offers an innovative model for Canadians to get onto the property ladder. By lowering the barriers to entry of a large down payment and immediate mortgage qualification, Key makes it easier for renters to become owners.

These days my focus is on communicating Key's new ownership model to other REALTORS®. Real estate is above everything else, a relationship business. The work a REALTOR® does today may not pay off for five years, so staying engaged with their client base has never been more important. By working with Key, REALTORS® instantly saw the opportunity to help more clients onto the property ladder years sooner at significantly less stressful levels.

There's no question that in the next ten years the world will see many more housing and financing innovations and REALTORS® will play an important role in educating their clients and advancing these innovations. If you’re a REALTOR® who’s interested in Key as a solution for your client, I welcome you to reach out to our team.