Home. What a beautiful, deeply significant word this is, especially this past year and a half when across the world we are all being asked to stay home as much as possible! Knowing how much I treasure my own home each day, makes it easy to love helping people find their first or next home in Victoria. My very favourite moments as a Realtor® are turning over the keys to happy Buyers excited to be entering their new home!
Assisting others to sell their home is a different kind of joy, as it can be hard for an owner to say goodbye to that phase of their life, but I know that the sale enables the Sellers to move on to the next positive steps of their future. Whether working with Buyers or Sellers, retirees, first-timers, or those looking for a good rental property, I love helping people accomplish their goals and dreams.
My past career experience…
Actually, my life has always been about being of assistance to others. For 20 years I worked internationally, with my most significant life contribution having been the wonderful years I spent playing a key role in initiating humanitarian projects to assist disadvantaged Iraqi Kurdish children. This was followed by my decision to take time for personal renewal by completing a Master’s Degree in Intercultural Studies in California. As my parents had moved to Vancouver Island from Montreal (where I grew up), I subsequently moved to BC in January 2001 and worked for almost thirteen years at three leading BC Universities in both Vancouver and Victoria, assisting senior management. That administrative work further honed my lifelong eye for detail, which is, of course, essential for the work of writing real estate contracts. From the moment I researched and purchased my first cozy condo in Port Moody, I became hooked on real estate, and dreamed of becoming a Realtor® myself.
My personal life…
Moving to beautiful Victoria in 2009 was certainly a life-changing decision! Gary Sims came into my life and in 2014 we celebrated a wonderful wedding together on a gorgeous June day! We love our condo home (with our beloved cat) in beautiful Cadboro Bay, and every day as I look out over the water and toward Mt. Baker, I am so thankful for the decision to have moved to this lovely island! In non-Covid times Gary and I normally especially enjoy being part of a wonderful ballroom dance community, and we are also members of an active local church. Lap swimming has always been my favourite exercise, and we both love music and travelling together. Although working with our real estate clients remains our top priority, in our free time Gary and I enjoy meeting new people through running our popular, fully legal vacation rental, as well as providing quality rental accommodation to various long term tenants in our own properties. We are members of Landlord BC and hold ourselves to high rental standards.
Our real estate service together…
This past year I was delighted when Gary, after 37 years as a senior software developer consultant, joined me as a licensed Realtor® with DFH Real Estate Ltd.! I had already made the plunge in 2014 to undertake the UBC licensing requirements and become a licensed Realtor®, and I continue to take numerous professional development courses so I can confidently face the challenges of this ever-changing industry. This is my 7th year of working with DFH Real Estate Ltd. and these years of assisting many wonderful clients have been an extremely interesting and satisfying period of my life. I am thankful to work with such a well-respected, locally-based, independent brokerage and with such a great group of trustworthy colleagues!
Gary and I believe that with our complementary skills and experience that we can together provide superb service to each of our clients. We both have lifelong endeavoured to be ethical people in all of our interactions with others and to consistently commit to high standards of excellence in all we do. Since first becoming a realtor, my tagline was always “I love people and I love homes!” Now we are both happy to say, “We love people and we love homes!”