Welcome to another episode of our series, SLG Meetups, by Super Luxury Group, where we connect with some of the most interesting players in the Luxury Market. My name is Avaro, and today we'll be having with us a very special guest. His name is Nick Niaksu. He's the top Vancouver Luxury real estate agent with over $700 million sold at Niaksu then a real estate group, and he will be talking about the current and future real estate market in Canada and how his company has improved the processes during a challenging year.
Nick also shares with us how the unique approach to their video production by advertising what the buyer will want to see. Nick also mentions how important mentorship has been and what he does to keep himself motivated. For Christmas, Niaksu then a real estate group is working with a charity program, presence of peace to support local families in need. So if you would like to support, we will also put the link below.
I hope you enjoy the conversation. All right, what's happening Nick? How are you doing? Thank you for having me on your live show.
This is great. No, I mean the pleasure is mine. Thank you for joining. Awesome.
And you're currently in Cold Vancouver. How is it? Yeah, it's everything's Celsius here. So I don't know what's going to be as close to freezing.
I think it's supposed to know this weekend. It's actually the opposite to Miami. Well, we're getting quite chill weather. You know, for us it's like, oh my God, it's so cold.
But in reality, it's amazing weather. No, but this is not stopping you from keeping the business going. And I mean, you're doing phenomenal over there. I'm just curious to know, how are you currently adapting to what is going on in the world there over in Canada?
Yeah, it's definitely something new. It's funny, when we went to a complete lockdown back in March, a lot of my realtor colleagues, we started doing these Zoom conference calls, just trying to keep each other in checker. You know, this is not even gloom. Business will go on.
The forecast was for everything in the craft. We're going to be in a long, long state of recession and depression and whatever comes along with a pandemic. So we just kept on doing what we do. We closed in March, a $17 million deal, a record sale in a certain area.
Yeah, you'll think it was during pandemic, we sold $35 million in real estate. But you're still being very active when it comes to social media, videography, because everything nowadays is so visual and you can put the information out there so easily. One of the things that really stood out from everything that I've seen you doing so far is the amazing production that you do for every property. Tell me a little bit about how your business model evolved for this year.
The business model actually is terrible what happened in COVID, but actually it's cleaned up the business a lot. So in luxury real estate, especially in Vancouver, we have licensed realtor in Vancouver, we have duties and whatever duties is duties to show. So we do qualify, but effectively, if everybody goes through our checks, we have to show the property. If we're not able to show the property, we have to take it off the market.
So the social media, you kind of now get a glimpse into those lives and it's kind of fun. It's hard as you know. Right. But once you start getting the habit of it and you do it consistently, it really brings resource.
I mean, I really like seeing the fire that you bring into your properties by doing this production and getting life. And I think it adds a lot of value when it comes to people that are either looking to get a new property or trying to sell a property or just curious, you know, because the industry itself is attractive. I'm doing this time. Everybody wants to put their head into something that will give them some comfort, luxury homes, and especially with the landscape and everything that you guys have over there in Vancouver.
So engaging, I can dreamy. I was trying to pull out the video, but for some reason it wasn't working. So I'll put it in the comments. You know, I'll put the link in the description.
Sure. Well, one thing about the video is this, anybody can hire a videographer, anybody can hire a photographer, but honestly, the difference is is caring. So we're like DJ and I, my partner, DJ Dener, we're at the properties for every single video shoot, every single photo shoot, it doesn't matter what price point and we're directing the whole thing. Knowing, you know, knowing what the buyer would want to see and also bringing it to the next level in terms of, you know, an advertisement has really, it becomes a video advertisement and that's put on social media.
But more importantly on YouTube, which is, you know, the second largest search engine in the world, right? Right. It's a new version and we optimize it and we've sold properties from, you know, off of our videos. One of the tools that we use on this very effective.
Another thing Nick has realized is that realtors can become, you know, the face of a property by promoting it efficiently and there's so many ways to do it nowadays. But a lot of people are either afraid or uncomfortable to put their face out there. What will be something that you can recommend to get out of the fear? Well, so yeah, that's great.
Me too. I was as well. It's like door knocking. It's like, even when, you know, once you don't do it as often now, but back in the day, I was like scared to do it.
So you just do it. You're not going to get it right the first time. You're probably not going to get it right the last time. But just, but it's probably not as bad as you think.
And because we're hyper critical about ourselves to get out there and just do it. And who cares if you screw up? It happens. We're human.
And it's an as an element, especially live or, or stories. It has an element of humbleness and, and connection to your audience. So why is something that you keep challenging yourself with every morning? So it's a good thing and a bad thing.
It's probably more of a bad thing than a good thing. I am never satisfied. And yeah, so I have a hard time sitting back and enjoying successes. It's hard to enjoy the successes when you're when you're focused in on a bigger, I guess a bigger goal.
I never forget my first sale for $225,000. Never forget it. I painted it myself with my client. I did everything.
I babied it because I knew that was going to feed me for the next month if I could sell it. Yeah. And that's the same mindset I have now for every listing. I babysat my listings and make sure that they're taken care of.
Yeah. Because we see nowadays in a lot of property owners wanting to work with some of the best agents because of their results. But at the same time, some of those agents or brokers have been taking too many listings where they've lost some of the attention to those listings. And I like the point you said to take each listing, like its own business, to be the CEO of that property.
And that's an approach that I've seen in more recent years, more agents to go towards that, more like the super high-end properties. So more quality instead of quantity. What's your thought on that? Absolutely.
I'm not in the volume game. I'm in the higher transaction, average transaction game. So I don't know if DJ and I are at 47 sales this year. We're 161 million sold.
So average transaction is quite high. But I just sold a property for $600,000. But it was great because I helped first time buyers achieve their goal. But then if you look at my Instagram, I just do chronologically as I do my business.
And the one before that is $7 million. So it's a level of service. So it's like going to the four seasons and you want to stay in a one bedroom or you want to stay in the penthouse. We're talking to the same people.
Now with you saying about the $7 million property. I mean, I got to tell you, I've seen this with you in the videos and amazing properties that you've been working on. What really looks really to you? Luxury, I would say, it's a really good question.
Even if you go into a house that's brand new and you know how to have some of those houses just don't look good. It's just like this is kind of tacky. I don't really consider it luxury because you can't buy a class. A class is something that you just can't buy, something that you create with a vision.
So luxury would be, I don't know, it's like really good architecture, really good design, nice finishes, nice features like what's behind the walls, like solidly built smart home systems, like also a really nice place. I don't really invest in the garage because people who go for these big houses, they want to keep their toys. When you walk into a house, you know it. It's like, wow, this is special.
I mean, it's special. It's a special piece of property. So it looks really equal special. I think that's a lot of stuff.
Yeah. Something that for me, it's something that allows me, like, whoa. That's a good factor. I mean, nowadays nowadays is difficult to get surprised or to get wild because, you know, we've seen it all and everything, you know, it's showcased through the perfection online that you no longer get surprised.
But sometimes when you walk into these incredible properties, you're like, wow, I could not believe that this is real. The other thing I wanted to ask you because obviously you're in Vancouver and I'm curious about what do you expect for the upcoming year? I think the real estate market is going to really pick up in the new year. As vaccines are implemented, we're going to see the trouble more.
Interest rates are incredibly low in Canada. You know, I'm getting, I'm seeing 0.99% right now. Interest rates. That's free money.
It's allowing people to enter the market or allowing people to borrow money to buy big property. You drop that perfect scenario and comments right there because it's exactly what's happening. You know, we're here in Miami and we've seen that huge migration from the North coming down here looking for a better lifestyle, you know, even the big company, like Goldman Sachs already looking into South Florida. And this is due to the quality of life that one can find.
What are some of the things that keep you so enlightened? Is there any books that you recommend or do you have any mentors? Yeah, books are good for, I'd say they're good for overall business. It's hard to, like you can think of a rich or awesome because it's a mindset.
It puts you in a mindset of, you know, action and result. But mentorship I think is the most important thing is get, if you're struggling the business or you're stepping into the business for the first time, try to get a mentor that is, that's achieved what you want to achieve. Anything else you would like to share? You know, just keep on learning, working hard.
Don't ever stop adapting. Look at the next big trend. You know, set your goals. These are all my goals.
And they change, but you know, write down your goals and review them every day. And that's your big why. Without your big why? What are you doing?
Yeah, and just get inspiration from other people that are doing really well because there's no need to reinvent the wheel. You can just improve it. My God, it seems like you're taking the words out of what I'm thinking because I'm so connected to what you're saying. And it's so inspiring.
I really love hearing you. This is phenomenal, Nick. And I think it's also not just source of knowledge but also inspiration. And I think a lot of people listening and tuning in today are going to find tremendous change if they apply what you were saying.
So thank you so much for sharing. And for everybody that is watching or listening, please make sure to follow him. It's great guy. Nick always posting the great stuff.
And if they can find out more about how to collaborate or reach out to you, they need anything. Best way, what would it be? Instagram or? Yeah, Instagram is great.
Yeah, I just do Instagram DM. That's the easiest way to get a hold of me. Real quick, because it's Christmas. I need to only plug this off.
It's going to be a charity that we're working with. It's called Presence of Peace. If you want to help out, we have a link in my bio. We're trying to, we're trying to, we have five families that we're supporting that try to bring them a good Christmas.
There's many are, you know, single mothers are family's in distress. But this time of year, they have, it's even worse. So, you know, $20 donation would help a ton. But don't it what you could, if you could, that would be great to provide some of these kids a proper Christmas that they really do deserve.
Okay. That's a lot of it. No, but that's so beautiful. And this is really what we do this for, you know, just to give back, it's not all about what we can do for ourselves, but that's what we do for others.
This is your wife. Right. So, yeah, very, very nice hearing that. And definitely, you know, I'll be supporting and everybody else.
I appreciate it. Thank you. Once they'll be part of it, please go ahead. And thank you again, Nick, for your time, for your knowledge.
And I look forward to seeing you whether in Vancouver, which I'm, you know, dying to get to see or if you get tired of the cold, you can come to Miami. I want to take you up on that. I figured I'm vaccinated first plane to Miami. There you go.
Hey, there you go. Bring the fire. Bring your fire. You always are so energetic.
I love it. So, thank you again. Best of luck. Keep the beautiful successes.
Enjoy some of them. Come on. It's good to enjoy some of their successes. Yeah, of course.
I know. I know. I got to work on things too. No one's perfect.
No, but thank you again for everything. We'll talk soon. We'll talk about it tuning in today. We hope you enjoyed it.
And remember, embrace it's beautiful, success in life. My name is Alvaro and I'll see you next time.