Uncategorized 9 May 2022

Know Your REALTOR®: Jamie Balogun

Why did you choose to become a REALTOR®?

In all honesty, I just like helping people. I’ve been in the service industry for a long time and customer satisfaction is something that I’m surprisingly really good at!

I’ve worked with people pretty much my entire life in different avenues. And I’ve been told so many times that, “Oh, you’d be really good at that. You’d be a good salesperson. You’d be a good REALTOR®.” And I’d be like, “Yeah, okay.”

Then I actually looked into it and realized I actually do have all the skills to be able to do that. And I want to do it because I also love looking at houses, too, and it’s just a great combination of the two.

 

Why CENTURY 21?

Honestly, the brokerage came to me in a way that I wasn’t expecting. I was always around a bunch of agents from CENTURY 21 Fusion and when I decided to actually look into it, I’m like, “Oh, these people actually really care and they want to do what’s best for me.” So when they came to me, I’m like, well, it’s a no-brainer. I want to be a part of this team!

CENTURY 21 has been so good to me in the short time that I’ve been here. What I love is connecting with people and that’s what they’ve done for me— it’s all about a family vibe. They want to be inclusive and treat everyone as if they’re one of their own; whether you’re just calling for a referral, asking questions, or you’re now working here, like it worked out for me. 

I’ve just been so happy to be a part of a team that really cares and wants you to do the best that you can and take care of the clients, too.

 

What is your favorite part about being a REALTOR®? 

My favorite part about being a REALTOR® is honestly just connecting with people, you know? I think that we’re all so fascinating in a lot of different ways. To be able to come from different backgrounds, different walks of life, and be able to connect on this one thing… We all still have that dream of having the white picket fence, the 4-bedroom house, and the 2 kids. I think it’s really cool that we can all connect in that way and I want to be able to help people achieve that dream!

And it sounds a little weird but I do just love walking in people’s houses and taking a look around— just seeing aesthetics and everything. I’ve always been a fan of houses and staging and just visualizing what I can see in other people’s places. It’s just really cool for me and I love that, too.

 

What is something you think every buyer should know before getting into real estate? 

What buyers should know before getting into real estate is, in all honesty, that it’s going to cost a lot of money. And probably more than you might think. So it’s always good to have an idea of what you want and know that there’s a possibility that you could be spending a lot more than that. 

It’s always good to have a little bit extra just in case of an emergency or if things don’t go exactly the way that you want them to. Having that backup plan is good.

 

What do you think is the most important change coming for real estate? 

The most important change coming for real estate… It’s hard to say as a new REALTOR®, but I think it is that the market continuously fluctuates; it’s always changing. So people need to be aware of the trends—whether it be a buyer’s market or a seller’s market—and always just asking questions. People need to know what’s going on.

And I think that people just need to be more diligent about everything around them. Whether it be what’s going on in the world—if there’s wars happening or if there’s interest rates changing—it all changes the market. 

Again, I always say, ask a lot of questions, as well, because then everyone can be informed. That way, when the market does change, your expectations can change with it too. 

 

Tell us a little about yourself. 

I’m actually one of seven kids. My whole family lives in Edmonton and I just chose to be, ironically, the black sheep and go everywhere else. So I’ve been in Toronto, Manitoba, small towns in Alberta, and now I’m in Saskatoon and loving it so far! It’s pretty much a smaller Edmonton.

I worked in radio for about 7 years as an announcer and social media person, so I have no problems being the focus of attention, talking to people, and just finding ways to connect. I also used to do acting and modeling and all that stuff, but was really terrible at it, actually, which is why I went into radio.

One thing I loved about radio, though, is that it connected me with people in a way that you can see what brings you together as opposed to what your differences are. And I think that’s something that I carry over into everything that I do. I just love to talk to people. 

 

If you could choose three words to describe yourself, what would you choose?

Three words to describe myself I think are caring—can I say charismatic? Because I think I am and that’s what I’ve been told! Yeah, I’m going to go with charismatic and determined.

 

What inspires you? 

It’s so cliche and I hate to be cliche, but my mom inspires me—she has just been such a hardworking woman. My dad passed away when we were really young so she really had to step up and do a lot more than I think most parents have to do, especially when there are 7 kids. 

She helped me grow up a lot faster than I wanted to, but it shaped me as a person. And to see what she has gone through has really helped me become the person that I am and use all the traits that she instilled in me to be who I am today.

 

Why do you love Saskatoon?

Honestly, it’s weird. When I was working radio, I was living in a bunch of small towns. One of the first towns I lived in was Swan River, Manitoba—population, 2,500 people—and Saskatoon was the closest big city to me and I’d never been. So I would go there frequently on weekends and I just thought this city is just so amazing. It’s, it’s big. It has Walmart, a Costco, you know, and living in a small town, I didn’t have a lot of those things while I was there. So I just really connected to the city. 

I loved seeing the river. The people were just so friendly and nice, and I could really see myself being here. Now, I didn’t know it would be in this specific avenue, but I’m happy that it worked out the way that it did because the city of Saskatoon has been really good to me and I can’t wait to give back to it!

Aside from, you know, the 10 months of winter that we have, I love just the beauty of this city. Being able to go into different neighbourhoods and experience what it’s like to just be able to walk by a riverside… I lived in Toronto for a long time, so I’m used to concrete everywhere, and to be able to actually see people and nature and the beauty of that, it’s just been amazing to me. 

And it’s like a smaller version of Edmonton, which many people wouldn’t like, but I actually love it. I don’t have to travel 30 minutes to get anywhere, you know. In just 20 minutes, you can get from one side of the city to the other. And I was able to get a house here—I can afford to live here!

 

If you could give any seller, one piece of advice, what would it be? 

If I can give a seller any piece of advice, I think it would be just to ask a lot of questions. There’s no such thing as a dumb question. You know, the second you have something that pops into your head, it’s always better to get it out there. You don’t want to come back after a situation and be like, “Oh, I wish I did this. And I wish I did that.”

The more questions you ask, the better your REALTOR® is going to be able to help you get exactly what you want and what you need. And you guys can be on the same page so that you can both be happy at the end of the day. 

 

Is there anything else you think people should know about you when considering whether or not to work with you?

I like to think of myself as just a really genuine person. You know, I keep it real all the time. And I want people to know that when you’re working with me, you’re going to get the best experience because I’m not going to lie to you. 

I’m not here to try to scam you or to make money off of you. My goal is to always make sure that you’re going to be satisfied at the end of the day. That’s something that I’ve always instilled in everything I do, whether I was working in hospitality, retail, radio, and now real estate. My work has always been for the people. 

I’m the person who is going to make sure that you’re going to get exactly what you want. And my office hours don’t end at 5 o’clock. I am the person who is on my phone constantly, actually. So if you want to text me, call me, email me, Facebook me, Instagram me—I don’t have TikTok, but I can get TikTok, too! I’m accessible all the time because I like to make sure that people are getting what they want, especially when you’re spending a lot of money. It’s always best to make sure that you’re going to be happy with it at the end of the day. And I want to make sure that people are happy.