Interview with Stephanie Ostash - Kelowna Realtor - Royal LePage Kelowna

Hey, Matt Parker here. Super excited, very grateful to have Stephanie Austache with me today. Stephanie, thank you for joining us.

Yes, thank you so much for having me, Matt. I'm really excited to be here and to have a chat with you about what's been going on in the real estate biz here in the Kelowna area.

Lots to talk about, I'm sure. I. Steph's with this, the TJ and Steph Real estate group up in kelowna with Royal LePage and you know, their top producing team up there and you know, they're going to provide some, some wonderful insight to us for especially a lot of clients relocating up there because I know a lot of our clients are sort of from the greater Vancouver, so, you know, we're looking forward to it. Steph, what's. What's one thing that, that not many people know about you?

Oh, one thing that not many people know about me. I would say probably recently just that when I was young I was a really competitive athlete. So my mom was a ski instructor and I learned to ski when I was three. I was a national level gymnast and I played provincial soccer all through, all through high school. So I kind of have that competitive blood running through my veins, so to speak.

Very helpful in real estate and in a market like this, right, where you need to be super competitive and driven day in and day out. So that's cool. Thanks for sharing, I appreciate that.

Yeah, no problem.

So getting back to real estate, so sort of how did you, how did you find it, how did you get into it and what's that story?

Well, it's kind of interesting because looking back now, it makes perfect sense that I would have ended up in real estate. However, when I was younger, I never thought I would be here. So kind of rewinding all the way back to pre Stephanie days. My grandfather was actually a builder and a developer. So I grew up where my parents always had properties that they were buying and renovating. We always had tenants, a lot of things like that. However, being a soccer player, I always thought I would go to university, play soccer and I wanted to be a lawyer. Some people would say I like to argue, I would say I just like to have great conversations. So that was always what I thought my life plan would be. However, you know, sometimes things life plan can change. And my dad actually had a really bad accident back in 2000 and I took some time off from soccer to help him through his almost year journey in the hospital there. And When I was 19, my mom came across a home builder that was hiring and said, hey, you should apply. And I thought it was a joke. I was like, yeah, sure. And I did, and I got hired and I just loved it. And my career sort of blossomed and grew from there. And I actually bought my first property when I was 19. I then bought my first investment property in my early 20s and I was sort of off to the races, so to speak.

Very cool. Yeah, I always find it like, I always say this, like every time, you know, I do an interview or whatever. It's like I always find it fascinating how, you know, people find real estate as sort of something to do for a career because. Similar to mortgages too, because I know a lot of mortgage people and it's an interesting sort of path to find. And for me it was, it was. I grew up around it, so it's kind of like an easy transition and sounds like you have that sort of same family dynamic behind the scenes of being involved with it. So, you know, it's something of a passion. Which is. Which. Which is so cool. What do you love about it? So what do you love day to day? Getting up in the morning and doing it?

Everything. Almost everything, let's say, to be accurate there. But I think what it comes down to is I, as mentioned earlier, I've always been quite competitive. So I have to be honest and say I thoroughly enjoy the rush of negotiating a deal, getting the job done for a client. But that really ties back into what my true passion is, which is helping people from a young age. My mom said I've always been that way where I've always wanted to help other people. And I'm always maybe a true Sagittarius, standing up for what's truthful and justice. It's just I do a lot of charity work and there's nothing better than meeting a person who is in need of help and being able to help them fulfill whatever need that they have. And that's what we're able to do in real estate, because it's not just buying and selling properties. We deal with people who are going through some really interesting and sometimes challenging situations.

Yeah. And you made some very good points. And especially in a market like we've had this last year has created, I think, more opportunity to be helpful of service, to guide clients through the process. Because it's. Buying a home right now is pretty darn stressful, so. Always is, but it's even maybe a little bit ticked up a notch too. So when it comes to that, any advice that you have for anyone that's potentially looking to relocate to the Kelowna Market or that's already there and looking to buy or sell another property in that market. Any piece of advice that you have in sort of the current climate.

Right. Well, I think it's sort of broken into two sectors as far as whether you're buying or selling, of course. But tying back to what you said about people who are relocating, I truly believe that you really have to take a systematic approach to purchasing your next property. And not to give away all of our secrets at TJ and Steph Real Estate Group, but we really did have to pivot our approach as far as, you know, how are we going to be able to get these properties for our buyers in such a competitive market? And one of the things that we've really started doing is approaching the majority of the buyer offers that we write as if they're foreclosures. So really taking a systematic approach up front to ensure we have all of our ducks in a row doing the large majority of the work that you would do after the deal is accepted, prior to it being accepted. Which gives us a better chance of winning in those multiple offer scenarios. Because although price is important, like, we can't argue that the price is not important, but a lot of people have the common misconception that it's always all about the price, and that's not necessarily the case. So it's obviously having a great agent, having great systems, doing, you know, pivoting your approach, doing a lot of the work up front, that can help give you a greater chance of being more successful. And I think on sort of the flip side of that, for sellers, we're seeing a lot of people who think, well, in a busy market, home sell themselves. And yes, homes sell quite quickly in a market that's hot. However, if you want to make sure that you get top dollar for your property, you have to make sure you take the time to do it right. And I could dive into that. We could talk about that all day, but I know you don't have all day here, so.

Awesome stuff. I think you hit on some very good points. It's like a lot of that, you know, it's almost become the norm if you have a true professional that it's like, let's do all of this now, like all that upfront preparation, prepare, move forward aggressively and confidently. And whereas in maybe a more normal environment or normal market, there's more time for that, it's not as time sensitive or there's not as much competition. So you can kind of do things as needed.

But.

But I think you hit on a good point, which is, which we've seen this last year is like always prepare every single time, which has created a lot of obviously work on your end because it's probably not just one offer going in because, you know, they're still competing against a lot of people. So, you know, getting up every morning and doing that over and over again has been sort of the day to day routine this year, if that makes sense. Just to prepare, try to get it, move on, prepare and then setting expectations as well, which in a market like this can be very challenging. Have you seen a lot of people relocating to the Kelowna market? Have you seen sort of an influx of new sort of buyers in that area from let's say Vancouver or even other parts of the province or Canada?

Yeah, we have for sure. Kelowna is actually one of the fastest growing cities in B.C. and we've seen a substantial increase in buyers who are moving in from, like you said, the coast or from Toronto or other places like in Alberta. In fact, my business, business partner and I have done a large number of deals this year. I think we were up to about 21 just this year so far. But people who have moved from out of town and purchased property sight unseen with us. So we've got some really good systems in place that not only allow people to do that, but to do it quite comfortably as well.

So, so interesting. So yeah, there's a shift of everything, right? Just in terms of the comfort level. I think it's like a comfort of the digital world now has just sort of moved so quickly from where it was to where it is, which has given a lot of opportunity for things like that to be able to purchase a home without actually stepping foot in it. It's very interesting. That's very interesting. Any properties or situations over the last year, over your career that would be sort of memorable to you or one that you want to share about an experience that you've had?

Yes, I've had. Well, I've had a lot of memorable moments in real estate for sure, but I think some of the ones that are probably my most favorite and if I had to tie back to one of the most recent sales that we did, we've become fairly known for taking on listings that have been previously listed and haven't been able to sell. And now a lot of people might say, well, Steph, the market's really busy. Isn't everything selling? Isn't everything flying off the shelves? But no that's not the case because here in Kelowna only about 78% of the listings that get listed are sold. So we had one particular luxury property they had tried selling with a number of agents previously. Couldn't get the job done. And they called us and said, what do we need to do? And I absolutely love going in and giving consults as far as renovations and home staging and that sort of stuff. And so luckily these amazing clients gave me a little bit of free rein to chop down a wall, put a window in, put some, some paint colors, like refresh flooring, everything, do a pretty good renovation. And after not having any success with their previous agents, we were able to get it sold within the first few hours and for a really good profit. And so it was really memorable because again, yes, it's great to get the home sold, but these clients were in a situation where this was sort of last ditch effort where they, they really needed to get the property sold. So it was really special for everybody involved.

Yeah, it's very cool. I think some good points there. It's like even in a market like this, it's like it's not always that simple. Right. In certain situations, depending on the property, maybe it has become a little bit easier to sell. Right. Just given the area and sort of the price point or whatever the case is. But in a situation like that, maybe it's a higher value property in a market that maybe you don't have as many people looking to buy in that price point or whatever the case is. That creativity of going in and say let's move some things around, let's, you know, actually do some work in here to prepare for the potential opportunity that this property has. Is, you know, thinking a little bit further down than I think a lot of potential agents may do, which is let's just list it and see what happens. So I think it speaks to the detail that you bring. And also that true sort of consultation factor of like, what's that? That's really formulate a plan of attack to create success for them.

Right, Wonderful. Exactly.

Yeah, no, that's great. I talk to clients a lot about, I use the term house rich. I think it's kind of fun. But what I talk mostly about is Smith Maneuver style strategies. So tax deductibility, creating tax deductible mortgage plans, being a Smith Maneuver certified consultant. So I look at that a lot of utilizing equity to create opportunity for the most part. When I say house rich to you, what does that, what do you think of or what do you Bring or what sort of comes to mind on your end?

Yeah, I think for me, being house rich, as I mentioned, sort of circling back to being a young investor myself, I made a lot of wise decisions and I also made a lot of mistakes. But my portfolio has grown to a point where, you know, it's, it's in a good spot for me. And being house rich, in my opinion, is having the ability to. To work because you want to, not necessarily because you have to through the use of real estate. And it really is this unique investment, in my opinion, because it is one of the necessities of life. You know, housing, it's something that everybody needs. Yet if you make wise purchases and invest in the right fashion and manner, whether it's the Smith maneuver or some other opportunities, you can actually build a life for yourself where you can have that financial freedom. And I think a lot of people get fearful of it because of course, you read, you know, the horror stories in the news of different things that can go wrong and it's like, well, yes, but nobody likes to report on. Just, you know, someone makes an investment and that investment does great. It's not exciting. Right. So you hear those horror stories, and I think my advice to people is don't let that scare you, because with the right professionals and the right contacts, if it's something you want to do, it's probably a lot more achievable and attainable than you realize.

Yeah, cryptocurrency, all that kind of stuff sounds exciting, probably is, but I'm not going to learn up on it day in and day out to dive into that. But I think what I like about real estate, like you said, is that it's tangible. I can actually go look at it, touch it, feel it. And it's a necessity, given the fact that you don't have any more land. But we sure have more people coming and everyone needs a place to live. And, you know, there's certain cities in the province that I would hand pick as, quote, unlike, more desirable. And I think Kelowna falls into my short list. And because of that factor and because of increasing housing prices, I think from a rental property point of view creates a lot of opportunity. I think obviously commercial real estate can create a lot of opportunity if you get to that point as well. But like you said, it's not that exciting really. If it's done well, it can be pretty, pretty, pretty boring at the end of the day, but over time it can work out to be very successful and position people very well. So, yeah, I love that. Thank you. Thank you for your insight, all your feedback and sort of expertise on your market. Anything else you want to leave with before, before we wrap up? Any other words of wisdom?

Words of wisdom? Well, probably just leave with one of my favorite things that my partner, TJ and I like to. To quote around the office, which you've probably heard before, which is don't wait to buy real estate. Buy real estate and wait.

Oh, I like that. Cool. I like that one. I think I've heard it, but I haven't heard it. Thank you for sharing again. Brings back to a good point. I always like to say to clients is being in the market is where you want to be because then you grow with it. You know what happens. You're isolated from all these different factors, but price points of, you know, getting priced out or whatever the case is. But being in the market is number one. That's the first step. And I like that. I think I like that little saying. Thank you. Where's the best place that you know anyone that's potentially relocating to Kelowna area already there that want to sort of chat with you and learn more about your services? Where's the best place for them to reach you?

Yeah, the best place to reach me either at our website, which is www.tj Steph.com or just on my cell phone. Give me a call anytime. 250-801-6467.

Well, thank you, Steph. Again, grateful to have you here. It's a pleasure. And we'll connect very soon.

Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Matt. Have a great one.