It’s been an exciting month for us at Team Clarke! You may have noticed that we re-branded and we are with a new brokerage! We knew it was time to update our pictures and our look, but time flies with young children and a crazy couple of years in real estate, so it was finally time for us to do it! Our amazing marketing company helped us execute a full brand re-fresh, from photos to marketing materials and a shiny new website! We’re so proud of our fresh new look and from the comments we have received, it sounds like you like it too!
But it wasn’t enough just to update our branding, we decided to create a new real estate brokerage as well! After over 20 years with Re/Max, we have made the transition to a smaller boutique brokerage that we co-founded with some of Vancouver’s top real estate teams. Stilhavn Real Estate Services is the new face of Vancouver real estate.
So what is a real estate brokerage exactly? (If only we had a dollar for every time we’ve been asked that recently!) Stilhavn, like Re/Max is a real estate brokerage, commonly referred to as a real estate company. The brokerage employs a managing broker who has a higher license than a real estate sales person. That managing broker usually manages a whole office of real estate sales people. Their job is to oversee all of the sales people and make sure that they follow the rules of the real estate board and real estate council. They double check contracts and are the person that agents call when they have a question about an offer or real estate matter. All real estate sales people (what is commonly referred to as a real estate agent) must “hang” their real estate license with a real estate brokerage, meaning all realtors must work at (as opposed to work for, as we are all self-employed) a real estate brokerage. Some common real estate brokerages in our community are Re/Max, Royal LePage Sussex, MacDonald, Sotheby’s, Oakwyn, and now Stilhavn.
But how does Team Clarke fit into that puzzle? We continue to be the same team, at the same office in Edgemont Village. Our office is the North Vancouver office for Stilhavn, but only Team Clarke operates out of this space. There is a brand new Vancouver Stilhavn office in the Mt. Pleasant area at Quebec & E. 5th where our managing broker will be, along with 40 of Vancouver’s top realtors and teams. They all operate independently as teams or single realtors under the Stilhavn brokerage. Make sense?
Why? We have always marched to the beat of our own drum, carving our own unique path in this sea of realtors. Having formed some strong relationships with other like-minded real estate teams in the city, we came together with the idea of creating a new brokerage that would raise the standard of real estate in Vancouver, in a collaborative environment. It means a much wider advertising reach for our listings, cutting edge marketing, and a network of the city’s top realtors at our finger tips.
The next most asked question is what does our name mean? “Stilhavn” is a play on a number of words in English and Danish that evoke a sense of west coast lifestyle and sanctuary. In English, it can mean “Still Haven”, while in Danish, it can be loosely translated to “calm waters”. We wanted an approachable name everyone could get behind that spoke to the beauty of Vancouver and the importance of finding a sanctuary.
Ready to take the quiz yet? It’s a lot of change, and change is good. We know that Team Clarke is better than ever and we look forward to helping you with your real estate needs. Please contact us at any time if you have questions about anything, and if you still don’t get what a brokerage is, come in to our office, have a cup of coffee and we’ll go over it again.
