Gary Wong, the accomplished author of “The Book on Vancouver Real Estate,” is a prominent figure in the world of real estate. He is also the proud owner of Vancouver’s Top Real Estate YouTube Channel, VancouverRealEstateTV.com, which boasts an impressive collection of over 700 videos covering a wide range of topics, including Real Estate, Real Estate Investing, Mindset, and Entrepreneurship.
With numerous accolades to his name, Gary is an award-winning REALTOR® who, along with his dedicated team, specializes in assisting families and investors in establishing sustainable wealth through the creation of a robust real estate portfolio.
Having grown up in a hard-working middle-class family, Gary deeply empathizes with individuals who feel trapped in the relentless rat race. Drawing from his invaluable experiences with mentors, masterminds, seminars, and academic education, he is determined to share all that he has learned, particularly in the realm of real estate investing.
Below are highlights of the interview:
How did you get started in the real estate industry, and what motivated you to pursue a leadership role in this field?
I got married in 2009, and I wanted my wife to have the option to be a stay-at-home mom, so I had to take my career and life a little more seriously. I tried studying for the GMAT (pre-MBA entrance exam), and I wrote the exam five times, but I failed it every single time. Finally, a local university, SFU, gave me the opportunity to enter an online business diploma program and said if I did well in that program, I could waive the GMAT requirement and transition into the MBA program while waiving some credits as well. I started studying online business, and at the time, I was tutoring a child whose father was a builder. The father said to me one day that if I got my real estate license, he might give me some homes to sell. I had always wanted to get into the real estate industry, and this was the window of opportunity I couldn’t miss. I started studying for my real estate trading license at the same time.
I did well in my online business program and transitioned into the MBA program, and when asked why I wanted to do my MBA, I said I wanted to be a realtor. I confused the admissions officer, as the prerequisite to being a realtor is a high school diploma, but I told him that I was going to take everything I learned in the MBA and tailor it towards my real estate career.
I completed my MBA and real estate trading and started my real estate career in the middle of 2012. I did well in my first year in real estate, but in 2014, I met my business mentor, who took my business and my mindset to the next level. In 2015, I saw a lack of transparency in the industry, so I wrote a book called The Book on Vancouver Real Estate to add value to the public, and I started a YouTube channel to share tips and advice on buying, selling, and investing in real estate.
Fast forward to 2017, when my mentor told me to expand and hire an assistant, and that was the start of my role as a leader. Since then, I have been growing the team, and it’s been a great and humbling experience to develop my leadership skills.
What do you consider to be the biggest challenges facing the real estate industry today, and how do you think they can be addressed?
I think one of the biggest challenges facing the real estate industry today is the perception of how the public views the Realtor profession. Because of a few bad apples here and there, we get labeled as people who are not that professional. I think Real Estate standards and barriers to entry to becoming a realtor need to be addressed in order to raise the reputation of the Realtors in the industry. I also believe stiffer fines and penalties may need to be imposed for those bad apples whose actions really tarnish the public’s perception of the real estate industry.
How do you see technology changing the real estate industry in the next 5-10 years, and what opportunities and challenges do you think this will create?
I think AI is helping Realtors operate their businesses more effectively and efficiently, and I see that Realtors who don’t keep adapting and changing with the new technology that’s coming about will find it harder and harder to compete in the real estate landscape.
Could you share a success story from your career in real estate, and what lessons did you learn from this experience?
We had a listing during COVID where we used a bidding war strategy to sell the property. We listed the property at $565,000. When we did a Market Analysis, it was worth in the high $500K range. We couldn’t stage it because the sellers still lived there, so we had to help them stage it using their own furniture. We had 35 privately scheduled showings over a period of four days. We aggressively followed up and solicited, and we ended up with 16 offers and sold for $650K, 15% over asking. The seller was ecstatic! We learned how important follow-up and the ability to solicit were. We had been using the same strategy for years, but this was a testament to the effectiveness of our strategy.
How do you approach team building and talent management in your organization, and what qualities do you look for in potential hires?
I’m always looking for the right people to join my team. It’s less about the skills and more about the character. Skills can be learned, but character is hard to change. I have 2 requirements for people who want to join my team. The first is that they must be loving people. If they’re not loving people, that’s hard to change. The other is that they must be coachable and willing to learn and grow. Then I can help them. It’s an uphill battle if they don’t have these two basic character traits.
What advice would you give to young professionals just starting out in the real estate industry and looking to build a successful career?
Join a team and learn to add value to others. Ask, “What can I do to add value? How can I help? How can I give?” instead of asking, “What’s in it for me?”
Be a sponge and put in the time to build the foundations. So many people rush their real estate careers and think they can be an overnight success in one year. While there are unicorns out there, most people are not. Understand your own strengths and weaknesses, and one of the best ways to grow is by joining a team where you can learn from not just the team leader but the other team members.
What is your vision for the future of the real estate industry, and how do you see your leadership contributing to this vision?
I see that with the advent of AI and more and more technology to support real estate agents, many of the skills and duties that real estate agents once had are being replaced. Therefore, it’s important that real estate agents continue to learn and adapt to better add value to the public and to their clients. I think my team and I are always looking for ways to improve our service offering to our clients. How can we be different? How can we innovate? How can we improve? Our team focuses on Kaizen and CANI (Constant and Never-Ending Improvement), which I believe are the ways to continue to stand out.
Website: https://garywongrealty.com/
