E4 - Jodi Gilmour

There is no question that one of real estate’s most recognizable symbols is the red, white and blue of the RE/MAX balloon.  For Jodi Gilmour, it’s a symbol that has defined much of her life - first as a child of one of the city’s most prominent realtors - and as an adult as an agent and now co-owner of one of South Mississauga’s successful brokerages. 

  In today’s episode, we sit down with Jodi to find out about the things she loves about the business, what she does to sometimes get away from her real estate filled life, and what she anticipates for the future for the Lorne Park market.

  This episode's Lorne Park Local Legends - The Admins and Moderators of two of our local Facebook Groups: Ladies of Lorne Park  and Clarkson, Lorne Park & Park Royal.

  Do you know someone from South Mississauga who would make a great guest on the show?  Send your suggestion to lorneparkliving@gmail.com.

  Also, make sure to subscribe, rate and review!

  Information from the Episode:

  RE/MAX Realty Enterprises: http://remaxrealtyenterprises.com/

  Tyler's Miracle Golf Day 2021: https://miraclegolfday.ca/event-4404765

  

Do you know someone from South Mississauga who would make a great guest on the show? Send your suggestion to anuja@anujapereira.com

Also, make sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Follow me at www.instagram.com/anujapereira.homes

Transcript

There is no question that one of real estate's most recognizable symbols is the red, white and blue of the REMAX balloon. For Jody Gilmore, it's a symbol that has defined much of her life. First as a child of one of the city's most prominent realtors, and then as an adult as an agent and now co owner of one of South Mississauga successful brokerages. In today's episode, we sit down with Jody to find out the thing she loves about the business, what she does to sometimes get away from her real estate filled life and what she anticipates for the future of the Lorne Park market.
Welcome to Lorne Park living. I am your host Anuja Pereira and each episode, I get to help tell the story of someone here in the Mississauga community who was the difference maker, making here such an incredible place to live. Growing up as the daughter of one of Mississauga's most successful real estate agents, Jody Gilmore was no stranger to the business of buying and selling properties. As an adult, she has served countless REMAX clients as a salesperson and broker. And now as co owner of a brokerage. She was on HDTV as a host of a real estate show, and is now using her wealth of experience to coach and mentor many successful agents serving this area. Welcome to learn Park living. Tony, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me in Asia. So I'm so glad that you're here. And there's so much we have to talk about. So we're just gonna get right into it. As I said in the intro, you grew up as the daughter of a very successful real estate agent in the 80s and 90s, here in South Mississauga. And so I'm wondering what it was like for you as a young person growing up in the industry?
Well, as a real estate brat, as we lovingly call ourselves, the children of Realtors, we actually lived all over Mississauga from Erin Mills to Streetsville. And it wasn't until high school. So we lived in 11th houses throughout Mississauga growing up, we sort of rode the wave of the 90s. And my dad just kept buying houses, I think he would come home and let my mom know. And we didn't land in South Mississauga until I was a teenager, and mostly away at boarding school or university. But you know, I think we really learned that home is where family is, and that you can make a home in a whole bunch of different spaces. We learned about how little you actually need have your own personal possessions. And you know, it's really big shoes to fail now that my brother and I have both come into the real estate business. You know, my dad sold 75 houses in his first year in real estate. And that's just astronomical numbers. So in a lot of ways we've been playing catch up.
Yeah, that's incredible. And I can imagine playing catch up is something that you feel like you're doing. I wonder though, if you've ever thought about leaving the industry, you know, being so immersed growing up? Did you ever feel like it was something that you maybe didn't want to do? Or were you always sure that this was the path for you?
That is an excellent question. And having been thrown on the front desk, answering phone calls, confirming appointments, typing up offers and submitting listings to the real estate boards. At 14, I was thrown onto the front desk at 14. And there was a long while where I really didn't think that the hectic and crazy life of a realtor was for me. And I thought I would go into you know, an art an art based career, maybe interior design or something where I was helping people on a deeper level, like some sort of a therapy type type job. And it turns out, my dad sort of conned me into getting my real estate license when I had an overseas boyfriend. He was like, if you get your real estate license, you could work half a year here and spend half the year somewhere else. It was a great con job. But here I am 22 years later, you know, still selling real estate.
So I'm wondering, then, do you think that you actually get to do some of that art and therapy and that deeper level work through your real estate as well?
100% I think I think every real estate agent comes at the role from a from a different perspective and they bring their own natural talents to their job. So when I was selling real estate a lot, for sure I became a therapist and change you know, and helping people through the change that is, you know, picking yourself up from one place you call home and moving to another one and I was quite an expert at it. Having moved so much as a kid. And I think in my role as a as a real estate broker when I'm coaching our agents on this, you know that the transitioning from other jobs into real estate or just the ups and downs of being in this business. I use that caring side all the time. And then the design side for sure. I mean, I built my own house as a spec house. I love working on the design of the offices, you know, making them very welcome environments for our agents and their clients to arrive at. So for sure, I get to use a lot of those creative sides. And the party planning, I do all the event planning for our offices and have a great time with that. So I get my creative juices flowing quite frequently in this role.
Absolutely. Do you have a favorite part? I mean, you've talked about, you know, the creative side, the personal side, and all the different roles you filled as an agent as a host on TV, and now mentor to so many agents. What is your favorite pocket part? If you had to pick out of all the parts of the industry? That is a really,
really hard question to answer because I love so many parts of this role. It's really fun helping buyers a, you know, make it make a change. I think my favorite, though, is the role I'm in right now, which is, which is coaching agents. And because this business is such a great opportunity, I like still 20% or 20% believe that this is the best business on the planet. And when you get to take someone and change, like help them change their life by becoming a real estate agent, and they get to change their clients lives. It's like it's very, very cool.
Well, I can say for sure that you're a very skilled at it. And as I would be one of those mentees, I would call them, you know, you are really able to hone in on what someone needs. And you're so good at knowing the business and the industry, because I think you've played so many parts in it. And I'm thankful to be you know, one of the beneficiaries of all your skills and experience what I think is so great,
thank you. Yeah, I find that it's what's really fun for me is figuring out what floats that agent's boat, you know, and what what their secondary skills or auxiliary skills can bring to the table. And so like for instance, with with you, there, you have so many other skills that you bring to the table. And so we're able to customize your business in such a way that it is authentic to you, which makes it more fun for you, which is going to make it more beneficial for your clients in the long run. So it's fun.
So I am wondering, I love HGTV. I love all home shows. And I always wonder you know how realistic they are, in terms of how much they're produced and all of those things. But I'm curious what your takeaways from the show where and when you were doing that show what you learned from it, and how you might apply that experience to your real life real estate work as well.
Yeah, that was a really special time in my life that I really value highly. And so I was the host of the TV show for rent on HGTV, which is now on slice. And it's it's all over the place. I will get text messages from people all the time. You know, I'm watching you, you're in my living room, which is super fun. I had I definitely because I was playing a realtor and designer but I had absolutely no design cred, I had a little bit of imposter syndrome when it came to the to the design side. And then they had someone else actually behind the seeds doing the design work. And so there were days, I had mascara down to my toes because I was just, you know, feeling like I wasn't being legit. or feeling. Yeah, just just feeling like they might take take my words and mince them, it took me a while to build trust in the production. So that was that was big for me. And then there were there are so so many takeaways. One was one that I use all the time in business is that showing up on video, like video is really important in online marketing these days for my agents, and a lot of people have personal anxiety about showing themselves on video and having that out there. And then I'm really able to use my experience as a coaching as coaching moments for them and to teach them how to find their on screen persona and try to be genuine on camera. So that has been completely invaluable. And I think the other the best lesson has been humility. You know, like you could be I felt like a minor star for a little while and that fades very, very quickly. You know, once in a while I get recognized often by my voice actually people will hear me speak first and they'll say I know that voice and then they'll see me and put two and two together. And so the humility I think is you know, being gracious I think was a really good lesson. But the one that I share with my agents the most is that if people have a positive experience with you You build trust so so easily that way. And I was able to do that through a TV screen. And the one difference I had was I looked at the lens. And most people, when they're on a reality television show, look at the director, like they're looking off camera, not making eye contact with the screen. And I chose to do that differently with my show. And people feel like they know me really well. So you can, what I learned was you can build so much trust with with a video that can be running when you're sleeping and for our agents. That's, that's one of the most important things they can they can really grow to trust you. And I think it's a tool that we're I'm really encouraging people to use.
And I imagine with COVID, and all the restrictions, you know, many agents would see that video has just only playing more and more of an important role. Did you find that as well, in your own work?
It most certainly did. And even even people who just chose to go on video with to entertain their community or to bring their community together. Like we have one agent James, who lives in Burlington, and he went out to the his children's school groups, and he started doing like a cooking show on Facebook, and it was adorable. He always had his girl his daughter's in the kitchen. And he would, you know, send out the recipe, the ingredients the day before the recipe the day of and he brought his community together by being bold enough to go on camera. And and then that yeah, it was a wonderful way that while everyone was being homeschooled, they could feel togetherness one night a week.
Yeah, that is really great. I am going to have to check those out with my kids, for sure. I am wondering, as a woman in real estate, how have you felt like your experience has been overall? And do you think there have been specific challenges for women in the real estate industry?
No, to be honest, we have one of the most gender accepting businesses on the planet. When I was, you know, in the 80s, when I was a little girl, a lot of the top producers were women. If you look at stats, you'll see the top the top two or three team leaders or whatever will be men. And then it is really 5050 with really, really highly successful women. And to some degree, real estate is such a juggling act, that the multitasking that moms do, it really plays well into this career. So I think, yeah, I think this has always been one of those careers where where ladies have have a really great opportunity. That one area is your safety. Of course, when you put a whole bunch of sign through a community that say like, Hey, single female hanging out in a house by herself, you know, towards open an open house. Obviously, we are always training our female brokers on on how to keep themselves safe at a open house, because that's the one. The one downside for women, as you're often on in one on one situations, in houses, there's great opportunity for someone who wants to do something nasty.
So you did allude to the fact that you co own the brokerage, both with your brother and your husband. And you know, we often hear and I was often told, you know, don't mix business with family and that that that's a bad idea. But I'm wondering how you were so successful at managing that both you and Ryan and what has it been like to work together? Or has there been any Have there been any challenges? And how have you been able to both bring your talents to the table, and also wondering if there's any sibling rivalry that has happened during your years of working together?
You know what, we had really great examples. So in my dad's business, so he owns ReMax Realty specialists, and Ryan and Ryan and I and my husband actually owned ReMax Realty enterprises that's here in South Mississauga. And my dad has run his brokerage with his sister as his as his CEO, if you will. And his brother is a property has been our property management more for him. So we, there's five siblings that work together. My generation, there's five of us that are all in real estate in some capacity. So we really had great leadership. And we've always, you know, prioritize the family over the business, I would say, And have there been moments. Absolutely. There's moments where, where we're, we're it's frustrating working with family or where people feel you know, someone's been treated unfairly. But we're pretty good at putting family first and if you're getting frustrated, just talking, talking about it. That
is wonderful. You know, it's one of those things where I think you get to have some really wonderful opportunities to be close to each other, which not everyone gets so it's so nice to see and you and Ryan have such great skill sets both of you but they're very different which is so lovely and creates such really great balance. Yeah, Ryan and I were able
to recognize that we both have the same goal. But we have really different skills. So we were early on, we said, you're really good at that. I'm really great at that. Now, we just are really reading our own, you know, our own parts of the ship. And, you know, it's working well, we really respect one another for the talents we bring to the table.
I am wondering, though, with so many people in the family in the business, what your big family dinners look like, and how do you temper the shoptalk? Like, how is it not all about real estate when your husband, your brother, your father, your uncle's, your cousins, everyone is in real estate, like how do you not talk about real estate all the time?
You talk about real estate all the time. You know, I remember, you know, family functions in the days of pagers, right. And you know, we'd all be like having fun and talking and celebrating Christmas, whatever, in someone's bedroom. Everybody would nod their head, you know, it was that's you just, it just becomes part of the language of the household. And and that's part of why my generation has this like wealth of knowledge. We've just talked real estate at the kitchen table, in the car and at bedtime. And it's a daily it's a daily part of our conversation. I think my my kids probably know more about real estate than people coming into the courses.
So like I said, with being so immersed in the industry, even just with your family, and it being such a huge part of your life, you know, agents coming to you for advice, often throughout the day, and probably in the evenings and on weekends. What do you do to get away from it? How do you take time away from your real estate filled life to have time to yourself?
I wake up earlier than the average realtor? Yeah, so I I steal time for myself. First thing in the morning when everyone else is sleeping. And that and I read books, I read a lot of fiction just to escape. I go for walks in Rattray Marsh we back on to Rattray marsh and I get out there a lot with my dog. And that's my sort of reconnection into, into me. And Jeff and I don't get very much time. Just the two of us not talking about the kids are real estate like that's, that's the fact right now. And it's just that's life right now.
So getting back to COVID. And when it hit last year, obviously many industries were impacted and some more than others, including the real estate market. What do you think that was like for agents in general? And do you see any benefits from the changes since the pandemic hit either for clients or for agents?
You know, it was really interesting is our leadership like REMAX leadership? When it was stayed to the course and they were like, this is going to be okay, where they didn't change their fees. They didn't say the sky is falling, our next best competitor, I'll you guys fill in the blank, they're told all their agents, the sky is falling, we're going to reduce your fees for the rest of the year. You know, hunker down, sell your investments, and it was the wrong advice. So I really, really appreciated the leadership that came from our brand and the voice that came from our brand as opposed to the other brand. What it did for our aging population is our aging agents, or our agents who had any kind of vulnerability, physical vulnerability, who may have left the business after three to five years left immediately, like they really got pushed out of the business. It did some awesome things for our up and comers. The people who were brave enough healthy enough to get out there and show houses had killer record years and have reset the bar for the minimum in their business and it's been really exciting to watch. And so I think we kept going with with you can do this we can get through this. This is how we can sell like REMAX was like we already do DocuSign we already do. There's tons of things that we can already do. We had already been doing our training, our training was always available online, as well as in person. So we were really well set up to just make it happen aside from showing it out. So that you know we got everyone, facemasks and show bought safe home showing kits and you know did what we had to do to get agents out there able to show and sell houses. So but it was scary for that first month was really scary.
So I know we all wish we had a real estate crystal ball. But obviously we don't but if you had to anticipate the future of the Lauren, Lauren Park market, what would your guess be? What do you think it will look like moving forward?
Well, we definitely have a supply issue. So that's going to drive prices just like all the other areas in the GTA. We do have a bulk of our houses that are at the point where they've probably lived their life you know, they're pretty 60 years old, etc. So you're gonna see you're gonna continue to see more infill where, where people take down an older home and build something new and modern. I am hoping that we'll see more of that happen along the lakeshore. I mean, we have like Oakville downtown dreams. But that's not what I downtown like, like and clicks and village. So, you know, the more new buildings and and renovated buildings come in, the better our, you know, the better the look of Clarkson village. And the draw will be
so have you always lived in the Lauren Park area?
No, we only moved into the Lord Park area five and a half years ago when we were expecting our third child. And what happened with that law is was a lot like a lot with no house on it. And my dad saw it as to me to do the research on who owned it, he bought it and then hired me as the, you know, designer to design house for a family just like yours. And I consistently lowered the carrot until I was able to until my husband and I were like, oh, we can't afford it, but we must make it happen. So we lived on comfortably for three years in our mortgage. However, the lower on that particular property I got was so important to my dad because he lives you know, three minutes down the walking trail, also backing onto Rattray Marsh, as does my uncle. And then since my brother has moved on to onto the marsh as well. So there's the family connection again.
There you go. He had a very vested interest in you moving here, I guess. Oh, he sure did. Yes. Well, you know what it sounds like a beautiful place. So I don't think there were any losers in that situation. That's for sure.
For sure. Yeah, no, we definitely won in the long run. I was uncomfortable. But but here we are, you know, skating on the marsh in the winter, and, you know, running to the splash pad in the summer. So it's all good.
So those are some beautiful things, you know, skating on the marsh running to the splash pad. What do you think are some other great things about the Lorne Park area? What do you think is special about this neighborhood?
I think the thing that people buy down here for is the mature trees, the older wider lots, the meandering streets, you know, the fact that it's not cookie cutter, you know, developer developed communities. So the fact that you have to sort of wind your way in to get down to our area from the highway is the beauty of it. And I think that as a community. Like I know, all of my neighbors, I was in fact talking to one of my children about like, what would you do if something happened, and you and you couldn't, you know, it wasn't safe at our house. And he started rhyming awful. I go to Alana's or I'd go to a he started rhyming off, like 12 of our neighbors, which is like, that's the beauty, to be honest, that beauty, we know all of our neighbors, and my kids would feel comfortable knocking on all of their doors. And I would say that, that's what's gorgeous.
Yeah, that is incredible. And speaking of community, you know, in my time of knowing you, I know that giving back to the community is something that you hold very dear to your heart. You know, you don't just run the parties, but you help run a lot of community events through their brokerage. And I'm wondering, you know, of all of them. Which one's probably the most important to you? Or which one do you hold the closest to your heart?
Yeah, now some of them might just piggyback off of others, right like the clerk's NBAA Halloween in the village, I have a blast with that my kids love it. We really enjoy participating in that, we're able to do a tie in with treat accessibly, which is REMAX and Home Depot backed program that brings awareness to accessibility for trick or treating. So making sure that anyone who consider who identifies as having accessibility issues is able to participate in trick or treating. So that one's easy. We also do Santas for seniors. So we're drop off locations for sandals, sandals procedures. Our agents are you know, really, we have a near and dear and cozy feel about that whole that whole charity and we became a drop off location for the shoe box project, which is Jessica Mulrooney is a charity for for women who are going through hard times. And if you saw the donations that are coming in, I think there were over 150 boxes in my in my foyer at the office this morning. It was incredible.
I did see the photo of those boxes. It was quite incredible.
It's really cool. My but what's near and dear to my heart is our miracle golf day. And this is a this is a day where we honor where we're where we support one single child from usually from our community. But but we know our grand community, right? So twice they've been from South Mississauga and we try to make a great impact on one child. So for instance, This year, we raised just shy of $40,000 for a little boy in Burlington, whose agent put his name forward. So that family, this child has cerebral palsy and so that family will be able to renovate their kitchen to accommodate their child and they'll be able to put the, the chair in that goes up this up and down the stairs. And they're going to create a ramp out of their garage so that their son can get in and out of the house on his own as he ages and becomes too heavy for them to carry. And, um, you know, his wheelchair is very heavy. So it's really cool to be able to make an impact on a single person, you know, rather than smaller impacts on whole bunch of people. So we try to approach your favorite ways, but that one I created and I'm quite proud of it.
Yeah, that's amazing. And to be able to see such a large impact on one family and to probably see it over time and the long term impact as he grows. is quite incredible, too.
Yes, for sure. We actually have one of the moms of we had Leila miracle was the second or third year, the third year, and we ended up hiring Lila's mom. So she Lila's from, from our community. She's on, like in the Bromsgrove sort of area. And we were, you know, I was just chit chatting with her about this year's event and found out she was looking for a job. So now one of our miracle child's moms is on our front desk.
Oh, I didn't know that. What a great connection. So Jody, having lived here in the area for some time. We are looking for some pro tips. I am curious about some of your favorite spots in this area. So what is your favorite spot in the area to just be alone on the Mars?
I mean, I love the marsh and I love to go down to the shale beach. That's sort of like I think it's a magic spot for a lot of residents of our of our great community. So that's like my favorite favorite spot to just go and reflect and see the water and yeah, I think it's my favorite. It's my dog's favorite too. So you know, works well.
What is your favorite place to eat?
My whole family's favorite wholehearted favorite. is mango rain. We think they have something so special going on there. NIMH is awesome. And, and I that I just think she does everything she everything they do is the best right. It's the best butter chicken. It's the best chicken Lizzie's it's the best Pad Thai. So, yeah, they're incomparable. And yeah, big shout out to them.
And your favorite place to grab a coffee
archtop My office is in downtown port credit. And we actually have space above the new archtop in a historic building that actually used to be a real page once upon a time. We have one of our team offices. The dance Timmons team rents the space above, above archtop. And they make a mean cappuccino. What can I say?
And where do you love to grab some ice cream?
scoops? You got to go to school for ice cream. Yeah.
My kids love scoops and love the birthday cake or Cookie Monster flavor. They're the blue one.
If it's blue, they like it right?
If it's blue or pink, they love it. Yeah, both are some great tips and some great places in the area. Thank you for those. So at the end of every episode, I guess every guest the same question and I'm sure the designer in you will appreciate this. If you were building a home and money were no issue. What is one design feature you would be sure to include?
You know what I wish I put into my house that I didn't because of money is those massive window doors that sort of twist to be to open?
I think those are the bee's knees love. Super duper cool. They're not the bee's knees because they're super modeling. But anyway, I think they're wicked. And I wish I felt when in my house but it wouldn't even fit.
You need a really big house. So I think like glass all across the back of the house is is really really cool. And those bigs those big twisty doors are great.
Not at all fun to clean, but I agree quite beautiful.
I imagine most people who have those doors are not actually doing the cleaning themselves.
Yes, I was just gonna say that you would likely have someone to clean them for you at that point. Anyhow, Jody, I just want to thank you so much for being here. It has been so great to chat with you in this way.
Thanks for having me a new job. We always have great conversations so hear other people have a sneak peek into our chats.
That's it for our interview today. But stick around for the shout out to this episode's Lorne Park local legends.
In each episode, we end with Lorne Park local legends, a chance to thank one or more people for their grassroots work that impacts this community. This time, I'm excited to send a shout out to the admins and moderators of our local Facebook groups. These groups are wonderful at bringing people together being a place where residents can get have answers to questions and our source of information of local events and happenings. To these very active groups include the ladies of Lauren Park, as well as the group called Clarkson, Lauren Park and park royal to the admins and moderators of these groups for your hard work at maintaining a positive atmosphere and managing these spaces for all of us to enjoy. We thank you. And thank you to all of you for joining us here today on Lauren Park living. I'm your host Anuja Pereira Be sure to subscribe so you can catch us next time when we get to hear the story of another difference maker of this community, making fear such an incredible place to live. See you next time.