Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:06 Good morning, Fort McMurray. How are you doing today? My name is Elliot. Pierre, your host for the Mac city morning show. I want to thank you once again for tuning in, um, I'm blown away. We were looking at some of the stats yesterday of the amount of people who've tuned in to watch a show. And from the bottom of my heart, I say it every day. I appreciate everybody who tunes in. Maybe if you're tuning in live watching the recording, or what I've seen is people are really into the mini clips that we're putting out. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um, I have an awesome guest here today. Um, obviously as per usual, he will introduce himself, but first we're going to hit you with the intro. So Tanner hit him with the intro.
Speaker 1 00:00:46 Welcome to the Mac Sydney morning show.
Speaker 0 00:00:55 Awesome. There we go. I got to say that intro tantrum. I'm really feeling the new intro. All right, so let's get started. So thank you very much. My friend for coming in today, I'm going to let you introduce yourself to the lovely people watching at home. Who are you? What do you do? What are you about?
Speaker 2 00:01:12 Uh, my name is Colin Hartigan. I'm the broker owner of Coldwell banker Fort McMurry here in the community. Uh, Fort memory, our, our city. We both love so much. Uh, I've been here in the community since 1986 and, uh, it's home.
Speaker 0 00:01:25 That's awesome. 1986. So you've been here for quite a long time. You've seen a lot of changes in the community. Oh,
Speaker 2 00:01:31 Well, I, I tell people all the time, my junior high school that I attended in grade seven is the parking lot at Superstore now. So, uh, and that school wasn't that old, uh, at the time. So, uh, a lot has changed.
Speaker 0 00:01:42 Yeah. So in regards to, uh, talking about downtown and real estate, I want to talk a little bit about your office. You guys have a newer place that you're in right now. Um, and then there's something that used to be across the street of where your office is that we'll get into. But first and foremost, let's talk about like the new location that you have, what it's all about and why you decided to pick that location in,
Speaker 2 00:02:07 Right? Yeah, I think in real estate, it's all about marketing. So that location works really well for us. It's high at a high visibility along the highway, 63, going North. Um, we bought the building in 2017. Uh, did a major renovation, as many have seen, and then, uh, it's our new home and, uh, we're here to stay. I think that's the most important message we were hoping to send as a, as a business is that, uh, we're trying to solidify being in the downtown and then, uh, trying to bring some life back to the downtown, obviously as well. But, uh, obviously it's location was selected mainly because of the profile. It puts us in a marketing perspective and we try to be marketing experts in our business
Speaker 0 00:02:44 Right now from a marketing standpoint, I've noticed something recently, as well as, uh, your signage, your logo has changed a little bit. Can you tell me a little bit more?
Speaker 2 00:02:52 You bet our franchise, uh, mandated a new, uh, logo. Uh, our company's over 110 years old. The same logo was used over a hundred years. Uh, so they've come up with a new look. Uh, it hasn't hit our lawn signs yet to Elliot, but in 2021, we hope to pull that off and you'll see our new lawn signs and our new look, uh, throughout the city on our lawn signs, hopefully in 2021, COVID put a little bit of damper on supply chain and making that happen last year as we had hoped. And, uh, we hope to launch it this year if things improve.
Speaker 0 00:03:20 Okay. Now on that note of COVID, uh, as people are watching at home, we're wearing masks right now, it's definitely changing landscape of how we conduct all forms of business. As far as the real estate market is concerned. How has COVID affected what you guys do in regards to showing houses, engaging with people? What does that look like?
Speaker 2 00:03:40 A really interesting process actually. And I think it starts with our team. We've got a great staff and we have, uh, you know, 32 full-time sales people that are committed to being as safe as they can, uh, still while doing our jobs. You know, people say, Oh, are you an essential service? And really we are. Cause when COVID locked down first hit, you have to imagine, you know, we had a bylaw officer attend our office and, um, basically was wondering why we were still open. And I said, well, before the lockdown, you know, we had several transactions with families moving across country, leaving the community, coming into the community and all kinds of midstream. So, so, you know, obviously our provincial association got to work very quickly. And now we're at a point where, you know, master mandatory, of course, on any indoors. There's no public open houses at this time, uh, to try to improve that safety and as well, the sellers, uh, when you go to look at a house, the seller, it's still their home.
Speaker 2 00:04:34 Um, if they're prepared to let people in it's by their rules, uh, we've set our Oregon as an organization, the minimum standard of two adults per showing only, uh, to minimize the number of people in the home and as well, if the seller adds additional protocols on top of that, we support that a hundred percent. And to be honest with you, everybody wants to be as safe as possible. And it's affected our business, making us much more cognizant of how a showing occurs and how we interact with our clients. Obviously we still use social media, media, video, virtual tours, and with social media and technology, it's made us look, made it a little bit easier to continue to do that. So, but there's definitely been some challenges along the way, but pause I've said to all my, all our staff and all of our associates who have been just fantastic, it's a marathon and a, it's a really long marathon and we haven't won the race yet. And along the way, three things we keep preaching is kindness, compassion. And most of all patients, because I think people's frustration levels are up and it's just not as easy as people think to stay calm and patient with the process and being kind. Right. So I think that's been our three words. We've tried to live by as an office and it's got us a long way through COVID
Speaker 0 00:05:41 So far. That's awesome. Oh, it definitely is a, it's a different world we're living in, but it's good. Like you said, that you're still able to show people's houses and move people in and out of the community,
Speaker 2 00:05:53 Especially with people with employment and jobs and relocation and their lives changing. Uh, COVID changed some people's lives in positive and or negative way. And uh, those transactions still happen. People, the world has not stopped, essentially. It stopped in other areas for sure. But
Speaker 0 00:06:09 Right now you said there was three words that you guys are going by. Yep. You guys are big on words. There's a few years ago. I'm not a big promoter of people creating their hashtags. Does it like hard to catch on when somebody approaches me from a client standpoint and says, Elliot, I want a hashtag let's do this. I always warn them about how hard it is to catch for that to catch on and what a hashtag means. But a few years ago you guys came up with one and it caught on like, boom. So let's talk about that a little bit. What is the hashtag that you guys came up with? How did it,
Speaker 2 00:06:39 Yeah, the hashtag is we love YMM and I think 2015 people may forget 2015 is when the economics of Fort McMurray from a real estate perspective. And overall economy started to shift downward in 2015. There was a lot of negativity. There was a lot, uh, you know, it's always fun going up. It's not as fun going down. So, so in 2015, uh, I noticed as an office, the tone had changed. The attitude had slightly changed and we thought, you know, it's time to kind of, we'll try to push something positive, which is our love for Fort McMurry, why we love Fort McMurray with so much negative conversation happening. So, and in 2016, you know, almost by accident, sort of the wildfire happened, which changed everybody's lives in Fort McMurray. Eh, there was nobody untouched from the wildfire. So it was there, it was a major event.
Speaker 2 00:07:29 So as leading up to the wildfire that we level, I am campaign that we had launched, um, uh, supporting local business and trying to increase the positivity really took hold after the wildfire because people were proud to call from Marie home and the negative kind of disappeared for a while. Cause we all, uh, Fort McMurray strong stick together. And, you know, Fort Murray is a very resilient community. And I think that the hashtag, we just really tried to keep pushing it, just push the love, push the positivity. It's not about selling a house. It's really about how much we love the community. And you know, it was wonderful to be honest.
Speaker 0 00:08:03 Yeah. Well, good on you for creating a hashtag cause that's like not creating the hashtag getting a hashtag to stick and work because I personally know like that is an uphill battle. So the fact that like there was a local organization that was able to pull that off. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:08:16 I, I have to give some credit to that hashtag because it wasn't all my idea and I can't ever take credit for a great idea. Brandon, from real picks Brennan Cooper, uh, had some play in, not in some, uh, when we meet him, did a photo shoot, uh, flying over the city in the fall. And some of the last pictures of the aerials that we have before the fire, uh, and me and Brandon had lots of conversations and the comp conversation came up about positivity. And so Brandon Cooper definitely gets some credit there for that. So I know there you go. Can't take, I can never own all the credit for everything. Okay.
Speaker 0 00:08:46 Now you said something a little bit earlier in regards to the industry that you're in being a marathon, not a sprint you're here for the longterm and have the business. The one thing that I've noticed about you throughout the years is you, you guys are extremely innovative in regards to like what you do from a real estate component perspective. Why do you think your company and your agents have gravitated so much and actually so well to social media?
Speaker 2 00:09:14 I think that's a fantastic question. Um, I think we have an exceptional group of people that work at Coldwell banker. Um, I say this all the time, I've worked for other companies in the past and real estate prior to opening my own business in 2006. And I find that, um, by T it's like a canoe, you put 12 people in a canoe and if everybody's paddling in the right direction, even though we may not always, even though we might be all individual competitors, but if we're all paddling together, we'll get up that river to get up down river way quicker, uh, and we'll have more success. So what happens? I think we feed off each other really well at our office. And I think that really bodes well for the individuals that work for us, that they're prepared to put their personal competitiveness aside at moments to, to grow together, but social media, for sure.
Speaker 2 00:10:00 I think we're always testing new ideas. We've, uh, as you know, Elliot, we brought in professionals from outside the community and within the community to give us training and learn more and try to stay leading bleeding edge as I would call it, uh, especially with Facebook and Instagram, as that changes monthly, it appears these days, but, uh, I think the team has overall, they, they want to be the best. And I think, you know, our slogan has always been your real estate leader. And I think that mindset is built into our team and that's always been a positive thing. So I think we have an amazing group of, uh, associates and staff that, that, uh, caramel Fort McMurray. And I think that also means
Speaker 0 00:10:40 Right on, okay. So now based on your office, not many people will know this and that's why I'm excited for you to be here cause you know, four of them or you've been here forever. Um, there used to be a little go-kart track across the street from where you guys are located. Do you have any memories of that track whatsoever?
Speaker 2 00:10:54 Six, 1986. Me and my brother and my sister used to rip around that a golf cart. It's a, as obviously crossed from the, uh, the towers we call it the towers Syncrude towers, uh, which is river park Glen now, uh, right underneath the bridge almost. And you know, if for those that have been here a long time, that go-kart track was like was money and it was fun. It was fun. And then you had the blueberry festival, which was also, you know, it was almost a week of ripping on the carts and going to the blueberry festival and carnival and, and those were the good old days. Right. So
Speaker 0 00:11:24 Nice. Now you said something else right there. Cause this is something I know gets confused a lot. You said brother and sister, who is yours?
Speaker 2 00:11:31 Her sister. So my sister is Lisa Hart. Again, many people in the business think that Lisa is my wife and I'm sure she gets asked the same question. We actually joke about it quite a bit, but Lisa's obviously one of our top producing realtors and, and many people think she's my wife, but no, my wife is kind of behind the scenes. Uh, her name is Ron. She's wonderful. My high school sweetheart. I, I married, uh, from composite high school I to Merck. Uh, but uh, my, at least as my sister. Yep.
Speaker 0 00:11:56 Okay. There we go. All right. Uh, before we get into, uh, putting you on the hot seat with the Mac city minute. Yep. No problem. I'm addicted to real estate. I'm always on MLS. It's something like, like I said, I'm addicted to it 2021. It's a brand new year. What do you think the real estate market has to offer for people in this community?
Speaker 2 00:12:16 Uh, it's a great question, Elliot and I get asked that quite a lot. I think there's two things that have recently happened. One is the presidential us election. I think every time there's a change, a us president has a major impact on our local economy. The cancellation of Keystone have has, as people concerned. I think the best advice I've heard from someone in the business recently is Keystone is a nice to have trans mountain is a must have. So I think that that's a really, it stuck with me over the last couple of weeks since, uh, since learning a little bit more about it as we all evolve, but the crystal ball on the back of my car broke a few years back, uh, on doing predictions. But there's no question there that there's a with a vaccine with a new direction in the U S that there's hope in the economy.
Speaker 2 00:12:58 It's been a tough, tough five years on, uh, residents of Fort McMurry. I think that Q2 and Q3, we're going to see a lot more activity. Listing inventory is extremely low, which, uh, we haven't seen this in a long time, which typically is early signals or red flags of a turnaround, uh, interest rates, historic interest rates. Like I've never like there's good debt and bad debt. If you have a mortgage at one and a half percent, that's good debt in my opinion. So those are all good signs. The construction industry's been struggling to really catch any stride, uh, with the value of land and trying to get the right price to make it profitable for them. So we hope to see that turnaround this year, but there's some early warning signs that a turnaround is ahead possibly. Um, that'll depend on many, many factors of course, but I think there's, there's light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 2 00:13:45 And I still think that there's some hope rental rates are still decent in the community. Um, but there's real opportunity in the market to get back into the market of homeownership. And I think, uh, the more positive news that we hear, uh, out of this community, because there's a lot of people just like you Elliott that are working hard to send the right messages and, uh, just keep loving this place and things do get better. They always do get better. It may be not, uh, back to the numbers that we saw in the past. I'm $900,000 for a double house with a double car garage, but it's a new normal that I think is better for all of us longterm for the community as well.
Speaker 0 00:14:20 Awesome. So some positive outlooks for this year, I think so. Absolutely phenomenal. Yep. All right. So now we're going to put you a bit on the hot seat. It's called the Mac city minute. Tanner has done some research. He's going to ask you five quick questions. Just rattle off the top of your head. Yep. So Tanner let's hit them with the Mac CD minute, please.
Speaker 3 00:14:38 Alrighty. So some of these questions may or may not be brought to you by the Rozek clan. So people that uh, call-in knows very well. So our first question for you today is what is your favorite restaurant in town that no longer, Ooh
Speaker 2 00:14:52 Harpo's pizza? I think that would be one. If we went way back Harpo's pizza would be one of those spots that I think we all would miss at this point, a Boston pizza has been here just as long mind you, but, uh, for business that's no longer been around Harpo's pizza would probably be F
Speaker 3 00:15:08 Alrighty. And question number two. What was one area of town you hung out in it as a kid that people might not know about? Oh, that's
Speaker 2 00:15:16 Maybe not a tough one, but I think waterways the basketball courts in waterways behind the Legion, they still exist today. But we used to spend a lot of time there back in the day because obviously parts of Timberlee weren't developed like they are now, but the basketball courts, there were the best because it was fairly new back in the eighties, late eighties, early nineties, and the nets always had good nets on them. So we used to play basketball and hang out there. And, you know, there was no skate parks back then. So it was a great skateboard park too, at the same time.
Speaker 3 00:15:43 Alrighty. Question number three. What is the most significant change in Fort McMurray from when you were a kid to now?
Speaker 2 00:15:49 No question that the roadways through the community, like, uh, since I was a kid, uh, we all have these stories. You know, we used to the best bar or nightclub in the community was in Gregg wire. And most of us lived in Timberly or thick wood. We had to hitchhike home, uh, back then it would take about 10 minutes to get across town through the boom. It took up to an hour at times to get through this community, which is a struggle for all of us that had lived here a long time. But the biggest change, no question is the infrastructure and roadway through the community. We're back to 10 minute commutes, which is a pleasure. It's awesome for all of us really. So that would be the biggest change I think for us and, you know, the, the massive development that's occurred through the boom.
Speaker 3 00:16:27 Alrighty. Next question. Are you happy with your choice in selling houses over forestry?
Speaker 2 00:16:33 A trick question. So many of you may or may not know. I used to be a forest officer, uh, before I, before I turned to real estate and I have so many wonderful relationships, uh, back in the day, you know, local guys that are still here, like Bob Dunn, I think he's at CNRL now. And forestry is a passion of mine. Uh, I love the North. I love the, that the outdoor activities that we have here are awesome, but I think my choice to enter real estate was a good one. Um, definitely, uh, definitely excited about real estate. I love, I love houses. I love Fort Mac, but I also love helping people. I think that's, you know, not that for, she didn't get to do that, but I'm in control of my own destiny as an, uh, as my own owner employer and helping people is something that I really get a big rise out of. Um, especially when situations aren't always ideal, but helping people guide them through a process that can give them the best possible come and watch their life change as a result of it is super exciting for me.
Speaker 3 00:17:25 Alrighty. Good answer. And our last question for you, it was, what was it like in C class during forestry school at Nate? Oh,
Speaker 2 00:17:33 Oh, there we go. So that's a, that's definitely a Roseann question. I think that cause he may or may not know he went to forestry school with me. He's another local Fort memory guy. Uh, uh, it's a tough one to answer because there was, there was some mornings. I don't even know if I made, if I'm being perfectly honest, but no it's, uh, back then, those were fun times. And uh, you know, we spent our first year at Edmonton second year in Hinton and, and, uh, Nate, Nate was a great experience. And you know, for those kids that are in high school or trying to figure out what to do with life, I think pick something to start with. And then, uh, you're going to have five different careers possibly in your life. Um, I think going to school is always a wonderful experience and you learn how to grow up.
Speaker 2 00:18:15 Here we go. Awesome. You nailed those questions. You didn't miss a beat. Good job. All right. So it's a winding down now we're at the end of the show and it always blows my mind how most local business owners in town are so humble like yourself. Um, but this is the opportunity to actually do a little bit of, um, shouting out of your business. Who are you? Where can we find you? How can people get in contact? Let's hear all about your business, please. I think, uh, I think people need to know I'm still out there selling listing and selling homes, uh, still actively engaged in the community, uh, as a former United way board member. I, I, I love giving back to this community, but more so I love real estate. I love our team of individuals. We're located downtown beside Boston pizza, as many as you know, the big blue building we call it.
Speaker 2 00:19:00 Uh, uh, we've been here since 2006 operating as Coldwell banker. Uh, we take a lot of pride in trying to do things right and, uh, trying to best serve our clients, but more so I love our group of individuals that work at our office. We have all our agents are full-time sales professionals. Uh, we don't like to do things half way. We like to do it all the way and do it right. And I think, uh, with keeping ethics and taking pride in what we do, I think is more important. I think my motto has always been, you know, treat people with honesty and integrity and you will result will result in a windfall of good blessings. And I think, and those good blessings, isn't money, you know, in real estate, people think all commissions and fees and money, you know, but those good blessings can be in many, many other ways, which is really awesome.
Speaker 2 00:19:45 Awesome. All right, there you go. Well, Fort McMurray, once again, thank you very much for tuning into the Mac city morning show. Definitely appreciate it. One. Thank my guests, calling Colin. Hartigan. Thank you very much for coming in today. I really do appreciate it. So we got some more awesome guests coming in this week. So please continue to tune in and watch, watch the live stream, watch the recorded version and watch the mini clips once again from the bottom of my heart. Thank you very much for tuning in and supporting this. I really do appreciate it. Have a great day for Marie peace.
Speaker 1 00:20:16 <inaudible> talk about quenching your ugly thirst.
