Chantal Vignola | Engel Völkers

Hey, Matt Parker here. Very excited, very, you know, very grateful to have Shantelle Vignulla with me today. Shantel, thank you so much for joining me. Almost messed your name up. Thank you.

Well, thanks for asking me to be here. It's a privilege. I'm honored.

I'm grateful. Shantelle is a wonderful resource. We're very lucky to have her. She's been in the real estate industry for over 13 years. She's sold over 500 million in real estate. She sold over 450 homes and she's been a medallion member for many years now. Again, Shantelle, thank you. We're gonna jump in more of a fun personal question before we get into the real estate stuff, but what's one thing that not many people would know about you?

Well, I would like to share that I auditioned for Canadian Idols. So back in, what would it have been, 2005, I went down to Metro Town and had my cute little outfit on and, you know, went in and did my audition and sang. It's a long story, but I made it through a couple of rounds and so that was fun. But I ended up singing the Little Mermaid on point and it was pretty embarrassing. But yeah, it was. It's a. It's a fun story to share. Needless to say, I didn't become the next Canadian Idol, but I made it through a few rounds. So.

Yeah, you might be doing better with real estate than you would be with that. So that's okay. That's okay.

Cocktail parties sometimes. Yeah, yeah.

We might have to end with it with the mermaid tune at the end of it.

Yeah. Yes.

Thanks for sharing. That's a. That's a great story. So then what got you into real estate then? How did you get started in the industry?

Both my parents are in commercial real estate. My mom is the VP of sales for Shape. She's doing the amazing Breadwood. So I've grown up in real estate. We lived in Yaletown. We were in one of the first buildings in Yaletown, 1288 Marina side Crescent, in 1998, before anyone had moved into that hood. And I saw the city develop around me. And so it was always very interesting to me and I kind of just went with it. So growing up in real estate and then being literally raised in the hub of the city brought me in this direction.

Yeah, same with me, really. Growing up around mortgages, it's such a. Such an easy trip. It's an easy transition in. It's very common. But it's like ingrained in you in the sense that you learn your whole time, and it's so valuable to have that, you know, even. Even with things changing all the time, technology, whatever the case is, the basics are still the basics. And. Yeah.

Yeah. And that's why I do focus on the downtown Vancouver real estate market, in the luxury market as well. I do do business on the North Shore, but my main focus is downtown. And just because I know it so well. Every building, every crevice, the whole thing, I just. I literally watch it build up around me. So I'm grateful for that. Yeah.

Wonderful. What do you love about serving clients and being in real estate?

The people and the city. We live in one of the most beautiful, amazing cities in the world. Obviously, that's why our real estate prices is where it is. And I just love with. Working with my people. I did. I worked at Earl's for, let's say, 10 years, and their motto is, great food, great people. And I kind of brought that into my own industry. Great real estate, great people. So, you know, I just love working with my clients. I take it very personally. The relationships that I've built over the years are very, you know, dear relationships. I don't just, you know, one off and then. And then I never speak to that person again. So I do value the relationship that I build with my clients. And. Yeah. I mean, how fun is it to set up a property tour and go check out properties with people? It's just. It's. It's. It's a fun job. I love what I do. I can't see myself in any other profession, and I would never change industry. So I'm. I'm. I misses real estate.

It's interesting, you know, if there's one industry that's. That's harder than, let's say, real estate, to get in and be successful. It's probably the restaurant world. And so learning from any company that has been able to grow within that space, I mean, they're obviously very smart people.

Yes. Stan Fuller took me under his wing, and I have. I learned, you know, the steps of sales through Earl's, and it took me to where I am today. The basics of their training program definitely worked. Worked in this industry for sure.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And if you weren't doing this, other than other than maybe singing on Canadian Idol, is there anything else you'd see yourself doing?

I have recently just gotten more and more into fashion. I just. I'm just loving, you know, dialing up my wardrobe, probably because I have three boys. And so I'm, like, really enjoying the fashion world right now. I don't think I'd go into fashion, but it's been become a hobby of mine. But maybe broadcast journalism. I think that that could be something that would be up my alley. I've got a fun, outgoing personality, so we've got to put that to use.

Yeah, I can imagine you on one of those things, that's for sure. I think it could fall right into place for you if this real estate thing. Well, it's working out, so let's just.

It's working out so I don't have to think about too many other options at this point, but. Chantel Newell coming to you live at CTV News. Sounds about right.

Yeah. Radio voice. And you can also be on camera. So it's a win. Win.

Oh yeah.

The current market. So we're kind of, I guess we're sort of. I mean, we're within Covid stuff, but I mean, we're getting through it as we're recording this. We are the beginning of June and things are starting to open. Things are starting to move a little bit more normal to whatever normal is today. Do you have any advice on the current market? I know before we got on here we were talking about the stats that just came out and still that there's a lot of activity in certain pockets and certain price points in general. Do you have any advice for anyone that's thinking of potentially getting in to list their property or potentially buy something currently?

Yeah. So if you're, if you're planning on listing, you really need to be serious about listing. The only properties that are selling in today's market are properties that are well priced. It's not a market to be testing the waters and seeing how the market's going to respond. What's getting interest is properties that are aggressively priced, like I said. So if you're planning on selling, listen to your realtor look at the comparables. Make an aggressive price choice so that you can get your property sold. Otherwise, just wait because you, you know, there's nothing worse than a property sitting on the market overpriced and buyers are interested in it and no one's coming together. It's just, it's hard on both parties. And it's hard on the stats too, because that listing's just sitting there stale. So as for sellers, I would say if you're, if you're into sell, let's get it sold and price your property aggressively. And for buyers, I would say, you know, get your ducks in a row. Make sure that your pre approval is up to date. Like, you know, mortgage rates are at an incredibly, well, historical low. So you know, get. And speak to Mr. Parker here and get your ducks in a row and be ready because those, the good properties are going quickly and if they are well priced, they're going multiple. So you really need to make sure that you're ready, know what you want, know what you need, make sure you're working with a good realtor and, and just get out there. There's low inventory and so that creates demand. And so, you know, it's just. What am I trying to say?

Yeah, no, I say it all the time.

So get, get, get ready, Be ready when the right property.

Exactly. I say to be as prepared as possible will make the process more simple. And that's exactly why we implemented a mortgage approval guarantee where it's like if we've reviewed your documents, we've reviewed your credit, we've done all that kind of stuff, we'll even present that to the sellers and say, hey, will back our approval. And if for some reason this deal falls through and it has something to do with us and the financing, we'll help relist and provide a certain $5,000 to the seller to relist because we stand behind that. So I think that what the big challenge is, people get pre approved but they don't actually understand what that difference of a pre approval is versus an approval versus a, you know, underwritten review, document approval, that kind of thing. So yeah, just questions, ask lots of questions, I think, and make sure that you understand as much as you need to, to prepare for it. But I think that a lot of our clients being probably have purchased homes before or whatever the case is, things have changed. Things continue to change. Things continue to get more challenging to get financing. So I think you said it perfectly. Just be prepared.

Right. And I don't think it's a market to be writing unconditional offers. Am I right? I mean, I wouldn't advise any of my clients to be going ahead and writing an unconditional offer without talking to you first and making sure that that financing is solid and ready for them because it's very easy for that to go askew in this market. Am I right?

You're exactly right. I mean, there's lenders now that want flexibility, full document packages right up front before they review a file. One thing that we do that has been super valuable is we actually do verbal confirmation of employment letters before it goes to a lender. A lot of the times that's what holds things up. It's these little things that can be back and forth. But if we've already confirmed every single thing or if your client has made sure that their broker or their bank has confirmed these things, that's the most important thing because then that way it should be a very smooth process. Once we get the. The offering, you can have shorter subject removal periods to be more aggressive and etc. Etc. The only thing that we don't know is the state of the property, the appraisal of the property, anything really to do with the home itself. And that's why inspections and your expertise are so valuable.

Of course. Yes.

Yeah. Well, thank you stuff. Wonderful advice. Thank you. Chantal, you've seen a lot of properties obviously sold many, many, many homes. Is there a most memorable property or transaction or situation that stands out to you over that time?

Well, just recently I had another child. His name is Jax. He's 10 months and after he was born, about a week after my husband, who's also a real estate agent, Tyler McDonald, we did, we bought a property for a good client of ours, good friend. She bought a home on Prairie in West Van and we got her a great deal, 6.3. Anyway, so she picked up all the furniture inside. The home was just unbelievable. Infinity pool, glass. The whole thing is glass. The high ceilings, just the detail in that home was spectacular. Great view of the ocean. She was so happy and I was so happy because I had this 10 day old baby in my arms and we all went for drinks. Well, a couple weeks after. But it was just, it was great because it felt really good. The market was down. She picked up a great property for an excellent price. The home was spectacular. She's a good friend. I did it with my husband. I just had a baby, you know. It all really felt really good. And those are the deals that we love to do where the seller was thrilled too and they actually met for drinks after. So you know, it was just one of those transactions where people are high fiving and everyone is on board and it just, it was, it was really good. So love doing those deals where sellers and buyers are happy, realtors are happy and everybody's just gung ho.

Everyone can win, I guess.

Everyone can win. You got it.

Yeah. You don't have to be the winner all of the time. That's so funny. That's a great story. Thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah. So I talk to clients about good debt versus bad debt and read danceable mortgages and, and tax deductible mortgages for. And then I use, I use a fun term called House rich, where it's like, hey, let's create good debt, let's create tax deductible mortgage, let's really pay this thing off to grow our portfolio, buy investment properties, whatever. When I say house rich to you in our market, because a lot of people look at it, oh, all the, everyone has big mortgages and they're cash strapped and you know, we see it very differently and we see the finances on our side. What do you think of when, when you hear the term house rich?

For me, that would mean that you have a lot of equity in your home, which is a good thing if you have money in your bank account to live off of at the same time. And so, you know, I advise my clients like, let's not make you house poor. So I don't want my clients to buy something that they can't afford and then they can't live life the way they should be and go on trips and do whatever it is that they want to do. So being house rich to me means that you would have a lot of equity in your home. That's only a good thing if you could still live your life the way you want to live. So not overspend and not over buy. My grandmother just sold her home and she'd been living there for 65 years and so she definitely was house rich, no mortgage. But I think buying a home for, for most people is about, you know, laying down your roots and creating memories there. So if you're house rich and bank account rich, well then you're, you're double rich. So then you're just in a good place. So. But yeah, I would, I always advise my clients like, listen, we, let's not push the boundary here. Let's make sure that you're, you're, you're, you're capable of doing everything else and buying a home that works for you.

Yeah, yeah. You still want to live life, have fun, do what you love. And especially in, in somewhere like Vancouver where we have so much that we can go do. Right. That you know, it's not all about, hey, I just need a house.

Well, it's not exactly, our pricing isn't exactly cheap so you know, it's amazing what you can do with the, you know, thousand square feet in the city. You don't, A lot of people that I work with are downsizers and they're, you know, they always say, oh I need 1500 square feet minim. Because they're used to living in a 3000 square foot home. But you know, when you're downtown and you're utilizing the seawall and the restaurants and, you know, everything that downtown has to offer. You don't need to go and spend or have that 1500 square feet. So, you know, I think it's about getting out there and getting into various spaces so that you can, you know, see what you're comfortable with.

Yeah, no, it's interesting. My wife and I's first loft in Vancouver many years ago was 690 square feet. Yeah, we loved it and we. And we used every single inch of it. Oh yeah. We have many, many more square feet than that. And it's. We only probably still only use a thousand square feet. And we have kids. Right. Of the actual house.

Yes. What are you making of it? Right? It's. It's exactly what space is mostly the kitchen anyway. Yeah.

Well, Shantel, I really, I really appreciate you being here. I appreciate your wisdom and your expertise. Where would be the best place that anyone looking to buy, sell or just talk about real estate to find you and get in touch?

Pick up the phone. You can call me anytime. My number is 604-417-4457. Or you can visit my website. It's just chantalvignola.com and all my contact information is there along with all my listings and previous sales. So I'd love to hear from you. So give me a call anytime.

Perfect. Thanks again. You take care and stay safe and we'll be in touch.

And to you. Thanks, Matt.