We lived in CT for 20 years and decided to move to Victoria. I looked up the top agents in Victoria on the internet and narrowed the list down to 5. I sent each an email. Two never responded. Three, including Neil, did. One asked us what we were looking for. She sent a follow-up email and we never heard back from her. Another one did a telephone interview and stuck us on an email blast and we never spoke to her again. Neil did a FaceTime interview and guided us on what was possible in Victoria and what wasn’t. He told us about the market and put us on an automated search. I asked an endless number of questions, most of which he answered quickly and promptly. Some he had to research. The odd few he said, “I don’t know. I don’t think anyone does”. He tried to guide us in our search steering us towards certain things and away from others. I am much too smart to listen to advise from some random person so of course I didn’t listen to him, only to learn that he was right, not that I ever told him that. In February, we decided to come out to visit Victoria. It just so happened that that was the week Neil was going to be away. He told us, “No worries. I’ll have one of my best agents help you”. Yeah right. I have heard that line before and was all set to meet the real estate reject of Victoria. Instead, we were met by Andrew Whidden, a bright, energetic, down to earth young man who showed us around Victoria, sometimes taking us more than once to see the same property. We touched base with Neil when we both returned to our respective homes, his in Victoria and ours in Westport, CT. We told him that Victoria was definitely in our future. He asked if we wanted to make an offer. We already owned two properties in the US and told him we’d like to sell at least one of those before we thought of buying another one. That was in February. Months went by with me constantly badgering Neil with one thousand and one questions, which he did his best to answer. When I felt his patience wearing thin, I told him I guarantee I’d eventually buy a place and it would be through him. He laughed and said,”no worries”. We needed a tax accountant who was familiar with Canada/US tax issues. Neil found us the perfect person. Then, in September, someone put in a bid for our house in Connecticut and they wanted us out in 30 days. Oh God, what had we done. Meanwhile, some of the places in Victoria that we were keeping an eye on, the ones Andrew had shown us, were starting to move. We decided to put in a bid sight unseen on a condo. We had Neil’s word, his annotated video and lots of pics. Andrew had shown us the building. We put in a financing clause we could use to exit the deal if we had to. But, we knew nothing about Victoria. We needed a lawyer, someone to review condo docs, a contractor, and on and on. Neil found them all and all willing to take us on. Then, we got an offer on our property in FL. We were now working on closing sales in CT and FL and a purchase in Victoria. It was a whirlwind of lawyers, bankers and agents. Then we came across a miracle by the name of Alisa Howlett, Neil’s office manager. On days when I didn’t know if I was coming or going, she kept us on track. In the end, we closed on the condo in Victoria. Of the three real estate transactions we were involved in at the same time, the one in Victoria was by far the smoothest. I have Neil Bosdet and his talented and hard working team to thank for that. As a bonus, ask him about “Funktional Art for the Kitchen”. You will be pleasantly surprised.
We lived in CT for 20 years and decided to move to Victoria. I looked up the top agents in Victoria on the internet and narrowed the list down to 5. I sent each an email. Two never responded. Three, including Neil, did. One asked us what we were looking for. She sent a follow-up email and we never heard back from her. Another one did a telephone interview and stuck us on an email blast and we never spoke to her again. Neil did a FaceTime interview and guided us on what was possible in Victoria and what wasn’t. He told us about the market and put us on an automated search. I asked an endless number of questions, most of which he answered quickly and promptly. Some he had to research. The odd few he said, “I don’t know. I don’t think anyone does”. He tried to guide us in our search steering us towards certain things and away from others. I am much too smart to listen to advise from some random person so of course I didn’t listen to him, only to learn that he was right, not that I ever told him that. In February, we decided to come out to visit Victoria. It just so happened that that was the week Neil was going to be away. He told us, “No worries. I’ll have one of my best agents help you”. Yeah right. I have heard that line before and was all set to meet the real estate reject of Victoria. Instead, we were met by Andrew Whidden, a bright, energetic, down to earth young man who showed us around Victoria, sometimes taking us more than once to see the same property. We touched base with Neil when we both returned to our respective homes, his in Victoria and ours in Westport, CT. We told him that Victoria was definitely in our future. He asked if we wanted to make an offer. We already owned two properties in the US and told him we’d like to sell at least one of those before we thought of buying another one. That was in February. Months went by with me constantly badgering Neil with one thousand and one questions, which he did his best to answer. When I felt his patience wearing thin, I told him I guarantee I’d eventually buy a place and it would be through him. He laughed and said,”no worries”. We needed a tax accountant who was familiar with Canada/US tax issues. Neil found us the perfect person. Then, in September, someone put in a bid for our house in Connecticut and they wanted us out in 30 days. Oh God, what had we done. Meanwhile, some of the places in Victoria that we were keeping an eye on, the ones Andrew had shown us, were starting to move. We decided to put in a bid sight unseen on a condo. We had Neil’s word, his annotated video and lots of pics. Andrew had shown us the building. We put in a financing clause we could use to exit the deal if we had to. But, we knew nothing about Victoria. We needed a lawyer, someone to review condo docs, a contractor, and on and on. Neil found them all and all willing to take us on. Then, we got an offer on our property in FL. We were now working on closing sales in CT and FL and a purchase in Victoria. It was a whirlwind of lawyers, bankers and agents. Then we came across a miracle by the name of Alisa Howlett, Neil’s office manager. On days when I didn’t know if I was coming or going, she kept us on track. In the end, we closed on the condo in Victoria. Of the three real estate transactions we were involved in at the same time, the one in Victoria was by far the smoothest. I have Neil Bosdet and his talented and hard working team to thank for that. As a bonus, ask him about “Funktional Art for the Kitchen”. You will be pleasantly surprised.