I don’t know David from high school, nor did I play baseball on his team… talk about a boys club, right?

But not to worry, I worked in the heavy equipment industry for four years so I’m very well versed in what it means to voice the only female perspective in the room.

So, I guess it’s my turn now. 

Hello, I’m Tara Amina, also known as the most positive agent on the team!

Some agents joke, this is just a reflection of my time in the industry, but I don’t believe it. This is the best job, and as the rest of the team can attest, whenever someone checks in to see how I’m doing; my response has stayed the same  –  “I love it here”.. I honestly do. 

This is definitely not Netflix’s ‘Selling Sunset’… but the fast pace, the wins, the losses, the hectic offer nights, and of course the endless office banter and stories (as you can imagine sitting next to David is a never-ending ‘Blog’ post) are all part of what keeps me motivated and loving it! 

I’m also being supported by the best team around town, which certainly makes it easier, and I’m truly enjoying every moment.

I run the full gambit here and some days that means putting on my work overalls and switching out Swarovski light fixtures with Matt’s help… yes it was our first time doing this sort of ‘work’ and it was a test we millennials couldn’t back down from!

But how did I get here? 

Well, after finishing my undergrad, I worked as a marketing communications supervisor for an international heavy equipment manufacturer and learned a lot about sales and construction from my team there. We sold the world’s biggest dump trucks and largest cranes, and let me tell you, if you think the price tags in this industry are high, the sales stickers on this sort of machinery (somewhat ironically used to build the homes and condos I now sell) is massive in comparison. 

But real estate was always in the back of my mind throughout my time here and I think it was my family who planted that seed a long time ago.

My father immigrated to Toronto from Iran and met my mother who came from Germany as an au pair in the 80s. I am convinced this is the epitome of the multicultural Canadian love story. Two very different cultures, two very different languages, and a love for the city they now call home, Toronto. 

So I grew up in a multilingual household and my parents thought they’d confuse me just a little more and send me to French school.. and threw in some Spanish classes too, so all told, I now speak five languages.

Coming back to real estate though, this has always been the topic of dinner conversation in my household. My family has been investing, renovating, and building homes for years. Even before I was licensed as an agent, I’d been through the buying and selling process many times. You name it; pre-construction, investment condos, student rental houses, flips, flops, and everything in between – I’d seen it all. 

So I have always had an interest in the space but most importantly, I’m a Torontonian through and through, and as my team will tell you –  the Toronto guide you didn’t know you needed! And over time all of this seemed to be the perfect base to one day become the next top Toronto Agent – but who would possibly show me the ropes?! 

I knew it was going to be a lot of work and I’d decided I wanted to work and learn with a top-tier team and long story short; I was lucky enough to make the cut here at Toronto Realty Group. 

But the story doesn’t end there, after I had made the decision to start my new career and passed my exams, I thought it would make sense to take a vacation with my fiancee first – David had already joked I’d never get another chance once I fully started in real estate… (And although I haven’t to date.. I still hope he was at least half-joking)

So off I went to the Philippines and then the world shut down due to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The president of the Philippines declared a state of emergency and subsequently all the airports and seaports closed – we were stuck. It took months for the ports to open and flights to resume.. The team now likes to tease me about how “unfortunate” it was to get “stuck” on the beach in the Philippine sunshine… but it was actually quite stressful, I swear… 

In any case, I finally made it home and now in the middle of a global pandemic, the perfect time to start a new career, right? Everything was unknown at the time anyway; so why not add more to the chaos! I was ready to go so why not jump into the most dynamic real estate market on the planet!

The market was red hot by this time and it turned out to be the perfect time to get my feet wet. It only took a month before I made my first offer – I remember it like it was yesterday…it was a multiple offer situation and like many would be homeowners in this city, unfortunately, we weren’t successful that particular night. I was actually heartbroken, not for me (honest)..  but for my clients. 

These clients were new to the city and after narrowing down the neighbourhood that fit their lifestyle, and going through so many units to find the ‘perfect’ home for them…. this was it! Or so they (and I) thought. 

But alas, they would not be moving into that condo like we had all imagined.  

In the end, of course, only a few weeks later, I secured them an even better unit and that taught me a great lesson.

I’ve now seen it happen time and time again, and at least when it comes to real estate, the one that got away is truly a myth – I stand behind that. You certainly can’t wish your way into this market by any means, but very often in my experience, things happen for a reason. 

So where can you find me now – well my desk is parked just outside of Dave’s office and every weekend from 2-4pm, I’m usually hosting one of our open houses – which I love.

The pandemic had put a pause on open houses for the last two years so I hadn’t had much of a chance to get out there but I love to host a good party, and although open houses aren’t that rowdy, I try to make them fun. 

Of course, there’s always the odd character coming through, but every party needs a pooper right..I remember my very first open house, I got an angry text message from a neighbour who said my open house sign (that mind you, I only had up for two and a half hours) was littering the streets and threatened to take legal action – I thought the team was pranking me! 

Seriously, at my first open house I was convinced that David and Chris had hired actors to come through and test me – can you imagine.. – but some of the questions that day blew my mind! 

Overall though everyone is excited for open houses to be back and it’s great to be out there chatting with people again. Not to mention, they have already (re)proven their importance and success for our sellers as we’ve had a few offers come through buyers that toured through.

Just so you know; as Covid is slowly fading ‘behind us’ I’m still asking open house goers to wait outside while we allow one group to tour the house at a time and I think I’d like it to stay that way. 

It actually gives me a better chance to talk to ‘you’ and that’s the best part.

Either way, open houses are hopefully here to stay and I’m all for it!

I do have to agree with Chris and Matt; I have no idea where David finds the time to write blogs in such detail three times a week, while comfortably managing the business as usual. 

… but if you’re still reading this, 

THANK YOU  for sticking with us this week and  

GREAT NEWS, David is back tomorrow and I promise he will have a lot to say on Monday!