We found some cool Vintage FSBO House For Sale Signs at our latest project and decided to clean them up for the StackHaus office! 

Stackhaus Realty is excited to have our office in action for clients to drop by and talk shop. Real Estate is done mostly over the phone, on location of the listing or via authentisign, but sometimes my clients do need to meet in person, and we at StackHaus Realty encourage it! 

We’re talking confidential information and that’s sometimes easier face to face. Plus we can go over documents, options and inventory together, in person. It’s the in-person interactions that convey a lot in Real Estate. I love to present offers in person and of course do listing presentations face to face. It’s a dialogue, and you’re hiring us to negotiate in your best interest. 

In the next month we’re bringing 3 new houses to the market! Tomorrow we’re getting media ready, pics and videos for our new furnished house rental in Esquimalt. StackHaus is busy! 

Our construction and renovation side of the business has also taken off and we’re going to have to start an entirely new company to keep up. Again, what better than to have a physical office to go over finishes and plans? We’ve got plenty of coffee and a vary misbehaved corgi on retainer here on Wordsley St. in Esquimalt :) 

Meetings are by appointment only and we’d love to have you over - contact us anytime for any of your Real Estate needs! 

Big meeting in the big city calls for a round trip on Harbour Air & as someone who used to commute between Vic & Van for work, I know what a treat it is! I used to spend $$$$ a month on ferries, they knew me in the buffet! Ha. RIP Pacific Buffet, you are gone but not forgotten. 

✈️⛴️🏝️ Victoria to Vancouver is at least 4 hours via BC Ferries which would have been an 8-9hr commute, cut down to 2 x 35 minute flights - just the best.

Living in Esquimalt I’m only a $12 cab ride away from the Inner Harbour Seaplane Terminal, so nice to be home so fast! We truly do live in paradise, and so awesome to see those gorgeous North Shore mountains and gulf island farms sprinkled in snow.

Check out my trip over our snowy wonderland via my personal reels via instagram below. 

A few weeks back it was halloween and I was about to purchase 2 wigs to do a Milli Vanilli short video for some funny social media content, one of my listings had sold and in the video I was going to be singing “Girl I’m gonna miss you” as a goodbye to my listing…..

Welp, my husband reminded me that I’m a Managing Broker, Award winning 15+ year Realtor, Property Manager, Broker Owner, And Entrepreneur for 20 years. He basically told me I was selling myself short and far too professional to be making a video for cheap laughs with a wig. 

At first I was mad that he stopped me from humiliating myself (lol) but after a couple of months I get it. I AM a boss and I don’t need to be making shorts for cheap likes. People hire me for my expertise, and I don’t need to make videos begging for likes based on my hotness or beauty. I prefer to be hired for my brain, my years and years of proven success, professional marketing expertise and general contracting knowledge.

It’s a fine line between being engaging and entertaining, and unless I’m marketing a listing I’m not dancing for my dinner. If you want to see my Milli Vanilla dance you’ll have to hire me as a Realtor, Property Manager or General Contractor :) 

Back to work - Christina 

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When I wrote my Broker’s exam and became an Associate Broker, my clients were confused. I still get people asking me if I can help them with their mortgage. Let me explain, I’m a Real Estate Broker, NOT a mortgage broker. 

What’s a managing broker? 

A managing broker's responsibilities apply to all activities of the brokerage that require licensing under RESA. The managing broker must be in active charge of the business of the brokerage and must ensure that there is an adequate level of supervision of the professionals engaged by the brokerage.

In short, I am a Realtor, who operates and owns my own Brokerage as Managing Broker. I am also a Licenced Property Manager. Because I hold both Real Estate Trading Services AND Property Management, as a Broker I am able to employ agents with either licence under my own brokerage. And will! 

Being a Broker means being held to a higher standard of responsibility. Period. I am invested in the future of Real Estate in Greater Victoria, celebrating 15 years of award winning service in Real Estate. I have been renovating and self-employed in a General Contractor capacity for over 20 years. 

Having been a member of the Victoria Real Estate board for 15 years I have experienced first hand the ups and downs of the Real Estate market, I’ve found dozens of buried oil tanks, lived through hundreds of shocking building inspections, and mitigated and negotiated hundreds of stressful offers and transactions. 

As managing broker of my own independent Real Estate firm I don’t send a single dollar to any non-Canadian franchise. All of my hard earned commission and renovation profits stay right here on Vancouver Island. 

We purchase Canadian materials, bank at local credit unions and have been fiercely supporting the local economy for the entire time I’ve been self-employed here in Victoria. I don’t buy fast fashion or shop on Amazon, it’s hyper local all the time - very Vancouver Island. I wouldn’t be celebrating 20 YEARS of entrepreneurship if I wasn’t so conscious to support my fellow island entrepreneurs. I appreciate them so much, and owe a great deal of my success to my fellow local self-employed businesses. 

8 years ago I was living in downtown Washington D.C., a foreign correspondent covering the Women’s march, Inauguration, and administration turnover. My German passport is still valid offering me EU Residency, and my US Green Card arrived in the mail last week. I’ve lived in England, New York, Melbourne for a total of 5 years outside of Canada, and travelled over 45+ countries. I speak English, broken German and Manhattan slang. 

The only place I want to be? Home. Home is Canada, and home is Vancouver Island. 

To be self employed in Canada vs. USA is a big difference. Universal healthcare in Canada fosters entrepreneurship. I am not tied to a job or company because of the ‘Golden Handcuffs’ of Health Insurance provided by employment like so many in the USA. I am free to work for myself and still have coverage. It’s something I don’t take for granted. 

Canada has been good to me, and I can say that as a First-Generation Canadian. I have no extended family here, have earned everything I have through sheer hard work and determination. There was no Mommy-Daddy start up fund given to me, no financial support from any family member or spouse, just me and my work ethic. 

If you’re thinking of starting a business or are interested in becoming a Realtor or Property Manager, please reach out! I’m always happy to help - collaborations, marketing advice, incorporating support, pep talks :)