Expert Interview: Kristen Dillon | Stilhavn Squamish

Foreign.

Parker here, you know, very grateful, very excited to have Kristen dealing with me. Kristen, thank you so much for joining me today.

You're welcome. This is fun.

Yeah. No, just a bit about Kristen. So Kristen is top real estate agent. She's with the Sea to Sky Dream team with which is located in Whistler and Squamish now as well have an office there. And she's sort of the Go to Squamish agent for the team, which is affiliated with Still Haven from a brokerage standpoint, and they're doing some really cool things. So, Kristen, thanks for being here.

Hey, thanks for having me.

So let's jump right in. What's one thing that not many people know about you?

Yeah, I mean, you know, if I'm, like, running the gamut of my life, I would say one thing that people don't normally know about me is that a number of years ago, I used to be a competitive Olympic weightlifter.

Wow.

And I kind of stumbled into that a little bit later in, you know, like in my 30s and then through a series of kind of different events. I just kept training and got better and stronger to a point where I was like, ah, you know, I really think I could go, like, I could start challenging some records on this. And so I did that for a number of years and ended up breaking one of the Canadian snatch records for my image.

And yeah, that's. That's the one that you pull it up and then push it up, too.

That's the clean and jerk.

Okay.

There's two lifts in Olympic weightlifting. One is exactly where you, like, put it on your shoulders and then punch it up. And the other one's, like, one swift motion.

Oh, that's probably the harder.

Yeah, overhead.

So that's the snatch.

That's the snatch.

Oh, my goodness. That's. That's pretty cool. Oh, my goodness. So I'm not going to the gym with you? Yeah, I'm not going to go to the gym. I'm not going to hit the gym with you. You'll just. It is embarrassment. That's funny.

Yeah. There's a lot of funny jokes around that because, you know, when Dana and I are together, she's always like, don't mess with her. She'll kick your ass. But I still love the gym. But honestly, like, once real estate really took over, it was almost impossible to be focused training for that many hours, e properly, recovering properly, all the different things that go into being an athlete, basically.

That's so cool, because did you and did you go to the Olympics?

No, no, I was too old by then. All the, the like main Olympic athletes that, you know, all the countries, they, they're young and I was a master's, a master's athlete, which is above 30, but it was still fun. And it was, you know, one of those things where like when you're a kid and you kind of always imagine, you know, being a professional athlete and it's never realized. I mean, I only did like dance and volleyball and all the other kind of extracurricular, you know, amateur things that people do. But once I started competing, I was like, oh yeah, this is exciting. Like I'm realizing one of my like childhood goals right now, being a competitor.

But like, what, what a good transition in, into a competitive environment, like real estate. Right. Which is, which is ultra competitive. And, and you know, I mean everyone knows a realtor or many. So I think that's perfect in terms of the drive and the work ethic is just perfect. Parallel.

True. Yeah, no, for sure. And then I used to joke, like we had all these like really funny, cheesy marketing ideas, you know, as I was transitioning out of competing, where it'd be like, I'll get you a gold medal deal, you know, stuff like that. But yeah, for sure. I mean, there's a lot of crossover. Totally. You have to be hardwired a certain way in order to be successful at both of them.

Yeah, very true. That's not a bad little marketing thing. So. No, thank you for sharing that. I appreciate that. It's always fun to learn something that, you know, we don't usually talk about on a day to day basis. So that's, that's really cool. Thanks for sharing that. So that, that being said then, so you're in the, you know, the professional or the, you know, athlete mindset. What made you want to transition over to real estate and sort of take this on?

Well, my main career at the time, or I'm a trained graphic designer and have a background in marketing and I was working at the Georgia street at the time, which is what actually afforded me the time to go train gym for two hours a day, is that I had like a part, a part time job and I did freelance graphic design work until I ran into our good friend Dina Friesen Smith, who as you know, is my partner in Whistler. And her and I had been friends for a long time and I knew she was starting to really take off in real estate. And we ran into each other in the parking lot of the grocery store and she said, God, I need an assistant. And the light bulb kind of went off. You know, I was at a point in graphic design where I either needed to go back and be trained kind of in the digital space because I was primarily focused in the print space and things were shifting. So I was like, you know, I probably could really help Dana. She, you know, we operate in a similar way. I know we like the same things and probably would be a good fit. So that's how I started. I, you know, kind of left the Georgia Strait and the print design world to be her exclusive, like, assistant slash marketer. Turns out, you know, I was trying to do her the, the paper, the real estate paperwork in the back end for her, and it just actually worked out better that I was a better marketer and graphic designer artist than I was, you know, the systems paperwork type. But she, as she got much busier through all of that, then it became an easy transition to where she was like, you know what? You're not really designed to be an assistant. You should actually just be an agent. And I was super passionate. I had always lived in Squamish. I'm super passionate about Squamish. So it just made sense that I would take over that market while she looked after Whistler and Pemberton.

Cool. No. Yeah. No, that's like parallel to you. It's like, I don't think I would have ended up in mortgages if I wasn't around. It grew up like, because our. My. My family had a mortgage company. So I was like, okay, this, this makes sense for me. So I think having that connection that can be sort of a mentor slash inspiration to get in, to get started and to, to. To get moving is, is. Is such an important thing. Right? So you're not just spinning your wheels.

Integral. It was really integral for me. I mean, I credit. So, I mean, I am where I am today because of Dana, because we created a partnership together that worked. Sometimes partnerships don't work. This one, I feel super grateful and blessed that we are kind of. We're a lot the same and we think about things the same, we value things in the same way. And so I always had a huge amount of respect around how she did business. And yeah, so moving into kind of the more agent realm to be partners with her made a ton of sense in the end.

Yeah. Cool. And, and what kept you here? Because obviously you got in. You were helping with the sort of marketing, back end administration, maybe the, you know, the, the, the, the behind the scenes stuff. So what, what about just sort of that kept you into wanting to become an agent, which now keeps you here and what, like, what keeps you loving what you do?

Oh man. You know, of course I love, and I think a lots of agents do love just being able to create their own schedules and have the flexibility. But I mean, always it's. For me it's about the connection with people. And I think that's a pretty cliche answer, but hard to be in this business if you don't like being around people and if you don't. For me, really genuinely trying to connect with people because I care about people and want the best for them. So always it starts out, you know, as a business relationship, but ultimately in the end it ends up being a friendship and especially being in a small town. These are people that I see, you know, maybe didn't know in the beginning. And then by the end we see each other in the grocery store, we go for beers, you know, so that definitely is. I think what brings the most value for me is. Yeah.

Yeah. I think you guys, you both align with, with my vision of just relationship and, and just truly providing value and giving and, and, and, and being there throughout the life of the home or the life of the mortgage in our case, or just home ownership in general. And not at all transaction based. Just really comes back to just being a person and a contact that you have an expertise in real estate and to just be there for them to help them achieve their goals, but then at the same time, you know, enjoy their life and, and be a fun person to be around too, which is probably totally.

And Dana really like that's. Dana is. And that was the business model and I knew that I could prescribe to that business model because that's who I am as well. And exactly like you said, like it's about being a professional. But her and I have both, both always say like we. Even though, you know, were categorized as salespeople, I don't really feel like that's my job. I don't think that's my job in this role. I think my job is to be more of a connector and an advisor and a matchmaker and. Oh, my battery's getting off. Sorry. Yeah. And. And that's the law. That's the long game always. You know, nobody wants a greasy car salesman those days that that style of sales is, I think is, should be obsolete.

Yeah, no, I mean, you see it out there. I don't think it's a, it's a successful way to have a, have a good life to, you know, fit, fit my Core values, probably your core values, too, of just being of service, being grateful and. And trying to be helpful and humble. And by doing that, I think that's from what I see is the most success, because it's not just about financial success. It's about achieving success for our clients and getting them where they want to be. And by doing that, making it a very enjoyable and simple process, which is kind of what I strive for, is how do I make this as simple and understandable as possible without creating confusion? So, no, I love that. So, yeah, I mean, if you weren't doing this, I guess you'd be maybe in marketing, maybe something else. But is there another field that you've always gone? I'd be really good at that.

I mean, it's all people based, right? Like, I've always said, if I wasn't doing this, I probably would be in fitness. And that's just something that I'm super passionate about. But again, there's quite a bit of crossover, you know, when you're dealing with people's emotions and their histories and, you know what, the risk thresholds and all those kinds of things. Just trying to figure out, like, how that person functions or thinks. I probably would be, yeah, doing that. And actually I simultaneously have signed myself up for, like, when I was doing real estate, I also was like, you know, I think I'm gonna go be a personal trainer just in case real estate doesn't pan out. I never actually finished that training. It was too many online courses all at the same time. But I always say, like, I should probably go back and finish that at some point.

You're just good to have, you know, just as a. As a side gig just for friends and family. So, you know, we're in a. I mean, we're in a unique time, obviously, you know, while we're talking it's mid September 2020 and, you know, getting into sort of schools opening and the market seems to be very active in. In many areas, you know, surprisingly, I mean, if you. If you would have said that three months ago, it's very, very difficult to say it would have been. Mortgage rates are the lowest they've ever been. I mean, it's such a. Such a unique time and probably a lot of uncertainty of the future or fear of the future. Some people may have. But in your, in your terms, what you're seeing in. In the squamish market, especially, because that's sort of where. Where you're focused is do you have any advice for anyone that's looking to maybe get in for the first time or sell and buy their next property in today's market.

I mean, definitely it's active right now. But I get really Pollyanna about Squamish because I think Squamish still has a ton of opportunity for growth. I always say we're sandwiched between Whistler and West bank, which are arguably some of the most expensive places. And Squamish has really like made a name off in the last five years or so. So my advice would be to just try to get into the market like where you can. And then as far as being competitive in the current market, well, that's just, I just gave it away. It's that, it's that, you know, you really need to have your ducks in a row. You have to have your financing locked in in order to, you know, jump on some of the properties that are really super sought after.

Yeah, no, it's, it's such an interesting thing and I talk to this about with clients all the time. It's more of be in the market so you can grow with the market because we just, I mean, no one knows where it's going to go, what's going to happen, especially in today's world. But you know, being in it, it's. I always like to say the value of the home really only matters a few times. Like if, if you buy it and it goes down in value, not, not the end of the world, like it really matters if you sell it or, or want to access funds out of it. Like what happens day to day, you know, everything will be just fine. So I think that you're bang on with just the fact of like get in the market or have a plan and be in place and be prepared for it, but also have, have the ability to, to achieve what you can and then from there grow with it, much like, you know, we did. My wife and I grew with the market and helped us achieve a few different properties and in a home, you know, in Vancouver, which, you know, asking me how would you do that? I had no clue until I started owning real estate and I was like, oh, these, you know, this, this is, this is the, this is the secret sauce, especially in, in our market. So I, I really like that. I think that in Squamish it sounds like it is very competitive. It is very needing to have their preparation done well ahead of time in terms of financing and, or just knowing what they want or, or can achieve. So yeah, no, I like that. Anything else you want to touch on the market in terms of what you're seeing out there with, with potentially pre sales. I know pre sales are an interesting animal these days or anything like that.

Yeah, I mean, so what we're kind of seeing in the Squamish market is either a mass exodus. I mean, Vancouver has always been a very strong feeder pool for us, but I would say it's been accelerated because of COVID you know, where people are kind of. They're looking at a three bedroom townhouse in North Van, or they're looking at a single detached in Squamish. And it seems like a priority for people these days is space, so. So you can have your home office so that your kids can play out in the yard. So I would say we're seeing like a huge influx of Vancouverites coming to Squamish. And on the flip side of that, we're seeing a lot of Squamish people who have been here for a number of years who bought in early, who now can sell their place, move on to something smaller and be mortgage free. So it's a super interesting time right now. The other thing about Squamish is that we are seeing a large proportion of young families. The median age is under 40, 65% of the population is actually under 40 with kids. So that, that's been pretty cool too, just to see the growth of the town. And then to address your pre sale question. Yeah, I mean there's so much development money here in Squamish for kind of all of those reasons. I just said, like Squamish has been undervalued for a while. Slowly. You know, we've got single family homes, we've got people coming up from Vancouver and then developers are, are investing in Squamish and we feel like we have maybe eight new condo buildings going in downtown. The waterfront, we have a waterfront that's been underutilized for a really long time, that's now just being kind of revitalized. There's huge development ideas for that and I think those, I would say the pre sale market right now is a good one to get into because we have so much of that product coming on. And also because the downtown core is a really great area to invest in Squamish just because of the park being revitalized and a lot of money being invested in that area. We just heard Harbor Air is coming to Squamish and you know, there's some other big ticket projects that could be happening as well that I think will just kind of push it into the over the threshold. So yeah, pre sales are a good one to get into right now.

Yeah, I think that's so. It's so interesting, especially with hardware coming to Squamish, having accessibility to the city if needed quickly. Um, that'll be. That'll be valuable for sure. I've always said that, you know, we've seen a lot of the transition from either Vancouver, the North Shore or wherever, Burnaby out east, but not as much earlier out west like your way, which was, you know, now it's starting to be very more normal and a lot of opportunity for. For Vancouverites or. Or Burnaby Ice. I don't know if that's their name, but you know, and have space. Not need to be in the office all the time and be able to, you know, work virtually, which is going to change, I think, just the shape of. Of the markets, which is absolutely such a. Such an interesting time, like we've said. But you'll see it, and I think we'll see it in Squamish, especially in terms of helping the market long term, which is. Which is, you know, just trending that direction. Is there a property or a situation that you've been involved with, you know, selling a bunch of homes and being involved in a lot of transactions that is the most memorable to you?

Oh, man. You know, like, I always tell clients that sometimes there's a bit of magic that gets infused with their properties when the odds are really stacked and, you know, it's a super complicated deal or it's a subject to sale or. I don't know, it just feels like sometimes there are these deals that are very complicated and very layered and probably don't have a huge success rate. But for some reason, of course, hard work, shading, you know, like putting your. Getting your ducks in a row, a couple of sleepless nights in there as well, it kind of all comes together. And so I do tell buyers that if it's really meant to be, if that property is really. Sometimes it feels like a property chooses them, I guess is what I'm getting at. And then all the pieces kind of fall to place around it. And I love those deals. Those are some of my favorite deals. I just finished one about a month ago where it was like, oh, she needed to sell her house that had already been on the market for eight months and likely wasn't going anywhere, you know, so getting the subject to sale last market accepted was, you know, one obstacle. Then the financing and the. All these different pieces that at any given time really could have squashed the deal. And didn't. And they all just kind of fell into place beautifully in the end. And some of those are my favorite deal. The ones that feel very complicated and tricky, that come together in the end.

Yeah. No, and I think that if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. Like, I truly believe that. I think that, you know, there is. There's something out there. There's a plan, there's an energy. There's something that just, you know, if you're going with that energy and that flow and things fall in place, it's like. It's hard to look away right.

From.

From those situations. So that's so cool.

Totally. And it works on the opposite side as well. Like, seemingly what should be a very straightforward deal just runs into obstacle after obstacle after obstacle and maybe doesn't come together. And then, you know, a month later, a different property comes along that actually is much better suited, has, you know, all the different pieces that make it a superior property to the previous one. And then in those moments, you're like, oh, yeah, okay. That's why that one didn't come together.

Yeah. It's so hard to see it in the moment. Like, in the moment's always so tricky. But it's like Hindsight, you know, is 22. It's like, oh, that's why. Because now I'm in this better place, one that fits. And it was a way better experience.

Yeah. And that, you know, I was pretty grateful that when I was purchasing my home, so I wasn't a realtor, I was still doing graphic design and marketing when I purchased. When we were looking for our first home, I put in a backup offer. And I didn't really understand. I mean, I didn't really understand. I'll just finish my thought what was happening and. Or what the actual chances of me getting that place were, and we didn't end up getting it. And I remember very clearly how emotional that was for me, losing out on that. And a realtor at the time said, oh, you know, like, this happens, and I'm sure something better will come along. And I absolutely didn't believe him. And it was kind of a rough experience with that relationship. But in the end, that served me so well because the right property did come along, a much better property, better suited for us in a better location. And so I kind of always try to remember that from the buyer's perspective of a. What that feels like, you know, to be disappointed, but then also to try to be gentle in reassuring them that, you know, we. That a Better property will come along.

Yeah. And you've been through it and you've experienced it, you've lived it. And you know, I can, I can sort of, I can just sort of parallel that to when we get our, when we got our last mortgage. It was like, man, that was not easy. And it's like I do this day in and day out, so it doesn't, it should have been, should be easy. But like, that's sort of, our goal is to shield all that sort of behind the, behind the scenes influx or chaos that, you know, lenders have to put on us, but, and then shield the client. But at the end of the day, it's, it's, it's the empathy of knowing. Like, I've done this, I've been there. Yes, I know how you're feeling. I know, I think I know how you're feeling, but I know how I felt. And, and it'll be okay, you know, it's. Yeah, everything will be just fine, for sure.

I mean, that's the other. You just touched on something else, which I think is the other part of this job is really just trying to be the equalizer as far as emotions go around it, you know, and like you said, like, being a shield is a perfect way to describe it where you're trying to keep your clients from riding the emotional roller coaster. But behind the scenes, it is an emotional roller coaster. It can be.

Yeah, yeah. And, and, and it's an important thing. You know, it's your home. It's a lot, most of the time, where you want to live, where you want to, you know, raise your kids, where you want to retire, whatever, whatever the, the it is, it's, it's a big deal and to be able to help people achieve that is pretty, it's pretty darn special. So I like to say house rich. You know, I'm, I'm, it's kind of just a fun little thing where it's like utilizing and creating tax efficient debt, you know, utilizing equity in the home to either a, you know, get to the next property, the next level of home that you're looking for, buy revenue properties, vacation homes, anything like that. Just sort of make it, make it work for you. When I say house rich or think along those lines, what do you think of? What does that mean to you?

That's exactly what you just said. Like, I just finished a deal. This was case in point for me about being house rich, where these young buyers bought into a pretty old property, kind of the less desirable properties here in S. Let's say most affordable and sat on it for a year and a half while they paid into their own equity and ultimately we were able to sell that and move them into, you know, not house of their dreams. That's going to be probably another five years away from now. But it's just making those steps along the way, those manageable steps along the way and they were totally able to do that by just getting into the market and paying themselves through that. Yeah, taking that money and investing it elsewhere.

I love that because I mean you don't need to be in the dream home right away. You know, you don't probably don't need that much space, you probably don't need that much headache, that much, you know, stress, all that or risk.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Totally manageable steps. So that to me I really, you know, have just been advising a lot of people or it kind of goes back full circle to how we started where it's like, you know, just get into the market. Just try to get yourself into the market and paying your own investment so that you can use that a little bit later on to make you know, some great investment steps or some financial steps moving forward and, and creating security for yourself.

Yeah. And you know, I always tell clients, you know, if this, you're looking for quick wins, like that's not my, that's not my world. It's, you know, real estate to me is long term. Doesn't mean you're going to own the place long term. But just look at the, the overall portfolio, overall plan as this is a long term game and we want to be able to plan for that too while we're doing this. So it's a lot about planning and figuring out and avoiding future expenses and things like that. But yeah, I think there's so much opportunity, especially in the squamish market. There's just so much activity, so much interest. It's beautiful. It's. Yeah, as you said, packaged right between, you know, Whistler West, Van close to Vancouver. You know, it's, it's, it's hard to, hard to argue against it. So I really appreciate, you know, your insight, your expertise, all, all your just sort of wisdom. Where would be Kristen? Where's the best place to, for people to reach out to you? Is it your website or where's the best place for people to find you?

For sure they can find us@Kristenitisky. Dreamteam.com is my email and our website is Sky Dream Team. And of course like I love all things squamish. So anybody ever has questions about, you know, how far their dollar can go, or just questions about the community, I. I'll talk about it ad nauseam, so never hesitate to reach out.

Wonderful. Well, thank you again. I wish you the best.

Thank you.

And we'll be in touch very soon.

Sounds good.