As a third-generation real estate professional with more than two decades of experience, Anita Springate-Renaud has built a successful business based on her exceptional market knowledge of Toronto area condominiums, residential homes, and commercial properties.
She has been recognized with several awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, Director’s Platinum Award, and a President’s Gold Award, and she is an active supporter in her community and has volunteered her time and resources to Rotary International, Human Rights Watch, Pathways to Education, The Psychology Foundation of Canada, the Shoebox Project, and the Regent Park School of Music.
She speaks both German and French fluently and resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with her husband and four children.
She has been recognized with several awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, Director’s Platinum Award, and a President’s Gold Award. She is an active supporter of her community. She has volunteered her time and resources to Rotary International, Human Rights Watch, Pathways to Education, The Psychology Foundation of Canada, the Shoebox Project, and the Regent Park School of Music.
She speaks both German and French fluently and resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with her husband and four children.
1.
Paul & Vince: What are the best things about living and working in your city?
Anita: Toronto is very diverse. It’s a multicultural city, a big city — most people don’t realize that it’s the 5th or 6th largest city in North America, depending on how you count, and that’s after Mexico City, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. But mostly, it’s a great place to live; very friendly people, very clean. We have little areas for everything: Little India, Little Italy, and Chinatown. Any food that you could ever imagine. I think we have more of that here than anywhere else.
We’ve also got great museums, CN Tower with great views over Lake Ontario, and a great waterfront and Centre Island. There’s a lot of stuff to do…
Paul & Vince: Yes, it’s known for its great quality of life, isn’t it?
Anita: Yes, it really is. If you drive half an hour out of the city, you can ride horses. We’re an hour and a half to Muskoka.
Paul & Vince: What is Muskoka?
Anita: Muskoka is an area with a bunch of lakes that are all connected…Lake Joe, Lake Muskoka, and Lake Rosseau. Many celebrities live there — Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have a cottage there. Tom Hanks is there regularly. Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber live there, too.
Paul & Vince: Is it a summer place or a weekend place?
Anita: Yes, summer places. Then we also have Collingwood, which is a ski area. So typically, people from Toronto will have a cottage in Muskoka and then a chalet in Collingwood.’
2.
Paul & Vince: How did you come into a career in real estate?
Anita: Well, I didn’t ever want to work in real estate at first. I really wanted nothing to do with it. I grew up in Toronto, my parents are both Swiss German, and my mother and grandmother had both been in real estate—
Paul & Vince: That’s interesting. You grew up in a real estate family but had a different career before real estate?
Anita: Well, I’ve always been in sales. Honestly, my mom’s office tried recruiting me right out of high school, but I always wanted to go into public relations. I am fluent in French. I’m fluent in German. I was actually going to go to Europe or find something with trade. But when I finished university, we were in a recession, and there was no trade going back and forth. So then I got a job at Hallmark [one of the world’s oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards.]
Paul & Vince: Hmmm…what did you do for Hallmark?
Anita: I was an internal sales rep. So, I dealt with the big Hallmark stores in Eastern Canada, French-speaking Eastern Canada. Then my mom wanted help, and I had kids, and as a real estate agent, you can make your own schedule. So I thought, finally, why not?
Paul & Vince: How many kids do you have?
Anita: Four. Two girls, 25 and 26, and the boys are 17, and one just turned 18.
Paul & Vince: That is a lot of people to be responsible for.
Anita: Yeah, they are a handful, let me tell you. I can tell you that the girls were easier to do real estate with than the boys.
Paul & Vince: Really?
Anita: Well, for instance, once I had to show this 10-acre property just north of the city. And they just opened this Costco nearby, and I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone. I’ll go early with the boys and stop at Costco to pick up eggs and milk. It was winter, and I thought, boys are the worst to take on showings; I’ll just leave them in the car…What can happen? I came back out, and they had thrown the eggs around the car. They were playing catch with eggs.
Paul & Vince: They were playing catch?
Anita: Yes, and we were supposed to drive to Florida on vacation the next day. It smelled like eggs the whole trip!
[Everyone laughs.]
Paul & Vince: That is so funny. Playing catch with eggs.
Anita: Where do they come up with this stuff?
3.
Paul & Vince: So, what’s happening in the Toronto real estate market right now?
Anita: Up until, basically, April of 2022, things were moving quite well. Now, things have softened slightly — new prices have come down. Depending on where it is in Toronto or the price point, you’re still getting multiple offers to buy. But maybe instead of having ten offers, you have three, and some things take longer to sell. I’m used to it. This is not a new market for me, and I started a long time ago where things actually took a minimum of two weeks to sell. In those days, it was very rare to get a multiple-offer situation.
Paul & Vince: What properties are you selling around your shop location?
Anita: Everything really. We sell anything from small condos to luxury condos and penthouses, and we also sell homes. Executive homes up to $10 million, depending on where.
Paul & Vince: Is Toronto in a boom period right now?
Anita: It was, but now it’s plateaued. It’s not crazy like it was.
Paul & Vince: How does E&V fit into the whole market? Is E&V a relatively new player?
Anita: To be honest, we are very new. Toronto is a hard market because Toronto has a bunch of really big luxury brands. So we have Sotheby’s, obviously, we have other brands such as Chestnut Park, Harvey Kalles, Johnston & Daniel, and Berkshire Hathaway. But we’re becoming more visible here and abroad, making headway.
Paul & Vince: Why did you choose Engel & Voelkers instead of one of the bigger firms?
Anita: I joined Engel & Voelkers because it was very much a boutique brand and very cooperative, more of a “one for all, all for one” mentality.
And back when my mom and my grandmother were both in real estate, there were more boutique, small offices. It wasn’t about these big offices, with one hundred, two hundred agents that are so common now.
Paul & Vince: What did you learn from watching your mother’s boutiques that you wanted to bring into the new business?
Anita: It was my mom’s mentality that there’s more than enough to go around for everyone to be successful.
She always taught and mentored people. Whether they dealt with her brokerage or someone else’s didn’t matter. Her thought was, I’d rather be across the table from someone I know and trust to be honest.
For me, that kind of vibe in the office is huge. Just the family atmosphere, really, and the support and that kind of culture. When I’m recruiting an agent, I want someone who’s not afraid to help someone else or give advice. I’m not thinking that they’re going to take from my piece of the pie. There’s plenty of pie!… And I like to feed people. I have a Costco cupboard!
4.
Paul & Vince: Along those lines, what do you like most about your career in real estate right now?
Anita: Right now, it’s been challenging, so…I like the challenge. People joke that the market in the last few years was such that you would stick a sign on the lawn, and for the most part, it would sell.
But actually, there’s more to it than that. When the markets are tough that’s when you know who has been doing this business for a while. It’s funny…my mom preferred a recession market to a regular market because she knew her expertise would make more money in a recession market — when experience could really matter.
Paul & Vince: So, now you are a licensed partner and owner of your shop. How is your life different from when you were just an agent versus now, being in charge of the agency?
Anita: The biggest difference is that there is a lot more to handle. So now it’s not just my client base but also the advisors who are my clients.
Paul & Vince: What do you mean by that?
Anita: If I’m wearing my broker-licensed partner hat, the advisors are my clients. Supreme service is key. I’m there 24/7, whenever you need me. I will go on a listing presentation with an advisor. I’ll come out if they want me to, the dog and pony show.
For one advisor on my team, I attended this presentation in Owen Sound, two hours from our office. He ended up winning the $3.7 million listing, which was a huge price for that area. We ended up selling it, and then the sellers came to us to buy, primarily because they wanted to be associated with the Toronto office. We’re proud of that.
Paul & Vince: And do you still work with your own clients?
Anita: I do when I can. It’s a balance. I don’t want to compete with the agents, so any referrals that come into the office, unless they’re specifically asking for me, I give them out. I think it’s all in how you introduce your advisors to clients. If you show faith in that individual agent, I think there’s a way of managing everybody’s expectations.
…and one more, Just For Fun
Paul & Vince: Okay, Anita, now it’s time for our Just For Fun Question. What fictional place would you most like to be in charge of selling, and why?
Anita: I think the lost city of Atlantis because I like the water and the imagery of this Greek paradise.
Paul & Vince: Interesting…but how will you sell it? It’s underwater.
Anita: Well, I was thinking of Atlantis when it was still above ground.
Paul & Vince: Okay, that’s fine.
Anita: Pre-Sinking.
Paul & Vince: Yes, get those closings before the water rises!
[Everyone Laughs.]
Paul & Vince: Well, in your Atlantis, either above or below water, can you imagine what the top of the market would be, what would be the executive penthouse of Atlantis, or what would be the starter home?
Anita: The starter home would be the beach, the floor, and anything above closer to the light. Because you could see sunlight streaming through the water. Hmmm…I’m just imagining this now…It looks really lovely.
Paul & Vince: You could have some slogan like, you’re never far from the beach…
Anita: Yes! Or, “Roll right out of bed and into the ocean!”
Original artwork by Jolisa Robinson, Gavriani-Falcone Team Marketing
