Ashley Ford
Province
CREDIT: Wayne Leidenfrost, Prov. Bob Rennie holds on to honours as top realtor.
Bob Rennie is “king” of the residential real-estate selling mountain for the second year running, according to Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver figures.
The head of Rennie Marketing systems beat out perennial championship contenders Malcolm Hasman of Angell Hasman and Ronald Antalek of RE/MAX Ridge Meadows Realty.
Rennie sold $126,838,735 worth of homes last year, just failing to eclipse his all-time record of 1996 when he sold $127 million worth.
Hasman sold $75,169,825 in homes, while Antalek weighed in with $66,955,577 in sales.
But Antalek listed and sold more units — 645 — compared to Rennie’s 609 units.
Rennie says he is confident he will create a new record this year and sees no dip in the market and a continuing high demand for housing.
“I think we are on track for our biggest year ever,” he says.
Rennie became one of the first realtors to specialize in marketing condominium projects and has performed consistently well over the past decade, backed by a small team of nine.
“I am no different to anyone in the top 10 — or any of my peers, really. We live and die by our Rolodex and would not survive without the support and loyalty of our clients and those who work with me,” he says.
One of his secrets to success is his willingness to work long hours and his company’s organization.
“My company is made up of just nine dedicated, highly organized individuals who are extremely hardworking and disciplined. That allows me to do what I do best — liaising and meeting with clients.”
Rennie is also acknowledged as being extremely professional.
“When I started out in this business in 1975, I decided it was a profession and have looked at it and practised it as one ever since,” he says.
While often portrayed as the “downtown condo czar,” the reality is that Rennie continues to spread his wings across the Lower Mainland and into the U.S.
He still works with Continental Bentall, the U.S. arm of the Bentall Group, Vancouver developer Ian Gillespie of Westbank and Land-lease of Australia on several developments in Seattle.
He has just taken on new projects at Simon Fraser University and in White Rock, where Rykon is developing four eight-storey towers with 153 suites.
The downtown core will remain particularly important, says Rennie, as increasing numbers of people relocate to new live/work suites that are now being built or about to begin construction.
Other major downtown projects for him include the first tower of Peter Wall‘s massive development on the former Maple Leaf site near Yaletown and the new Bing Thom-designed luxury hotel/apartment complex planned for the Hotel Georgia parking site.
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