- Story by Joe Leary Photography by Lia Crowe
He is featured in Who乌鸦传媒檚 Who in Canada,
Who乌鸦传媒檚 Who in America, BC and the US, as well as Louis Rukeyser乌鸦传媒檚 Who乌鸦传媒檚 Who. But the name Ozzie Jurock is synonymous with real estate. Ozzie has played a vital part in leading the real estate ranks over the years, including taking on roles as president of Royal LePage Canada and Royal LePage Asia, based in Taiwan.
He乌鸦传媒檚 been chairman and CEO of NRS Block Bros. and has served on the boards of the BC Real Estate Council, the Vancouver Real Estate Board, the Quality Council of BC and the advisory board of BCIT, and done stints such as president of the real estate boards of Burnaby, Coquitlam and New Westminster.
He is also a best-selling author and an in-demand speaker, giving more than 80 speeches per year. He has appeared regularly on TV and continues to air on CKNW radio as he has for the past 26 years.
Ozzie is a fellow of the Real Estate Institute of Canada and is one of this country乌鸦传媒檚 leading business motivators. And that乌鸦传媒檚 just the thumbnail sketch. With such a loaded CV, one has to ask how it all began.
乌鸦传媒淚 came to Canada in 1966, fell in love with it and became a Canadian as soon as I could,乌鸦传媒� Ozzie says. 乌鸦传媒淚 started in the hotel business as a waiter at the Hotel Vancouver and within a year I was the ma卯tre d乌鸦传媒� at the brand new Devonshire Seafood House.乌鸦传媒�
Here, he says, he saw people who were 乌鸦传媒渄oing well乌鸦传媒� financially.
乌鸦传媒淭here was the head of a brokerage house who had a monthly lunch account of $400乌鸦传媒攁nd I was making $300 a month. I thought to myself, 乌鸦传媒榃hat does he have that I can learn?乌鸦传媒� I didn乌鸦传媒檛 have the education and I certainly didn乌鸦传媒檛 have the standing, but I kept watching him.乌鸦传媒�
When Ozzie asked the question 乌鸦传媒淲hat is out there for me?乌鸦传媒� people often suggested he get into the real estate business.
乌鸦传媒淪o I got the license and became a realtor and through a series of very fortuitous events, I [eventually] became the president of Royal LePage Canada with 10,000 employees.乌鸦传媒�
Next, it was time to go solo.
乌鸦传媒淏y 1993, I decided that I wanted to go out on my own. I started writing a real estate newsletter and then went more into real estate investing,乌鸦传媒� Ozzie recalls. 乌鸦传媒淎round then, we [launched] two major conferences that we乌鸦传媒檝e continued doing for 27 years乌鸦传媒攐ne in the spring, one in the fall.乌鸦传媒�
The one constant takeaway from a conversation with Ozzie Jurock is that he乌鸦传媒檚 a visionary, as fully evidenced by his early forecasts.
乌鸦传媒淚 wrote a book in 1998 called Forget About Location, Location, Location! In 1963, the average home price was $13,500. By 1998, it was $278,000 and if you extrapolated that for the next 35 years乌鸦传媒� as I said in my book乌鸦传媒攅very house in Vancouver would be worth $5 million. Everybody thought, 乌鸦传媒榃hat are you smoking?乌鸦传媒� But I never changed my view. Two years ago on the West Side, the average price clocked in at $4.4 million.乌鸦传媒�
Ozzie says the current real estate market is a veritable hotbed.
乌鸦传媒淩ight now the market is an absolute madhouse,乌鸦传媒� he states emphatically. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 on fire in a number of different areas.乌鸦传媒� As an example, he says, Etobicoke, Ontario is up 27 per cent in single-family home prices; in fact, there are nine areas in Ontario that are up over 30 per cent.
乌鸦传媒淎nd we乌鸦传媒檙e not talking Toronto乌鸦传媒攚e乌鸦传媒檙e talking, like, Barrie,乌鸦传媒� he says. 乌鸦传媒淭his is unusual, but it is exactly what I forecast.乌鸦传媒�
His basic philosophy, he says, is: 乌鸦传媒淚nflation is number one; number two is supply and demand, and number three is immigrant/migration. You read that on the basis of affordability, Vancouver and Toronto are the numbers five and six worst cities in the world, yet that doesn乌鸦传媒檛 determine prices. Vancouver has never been affordable in over 40 years. If you wanted to live in Vancouver or Hong Kong or Manhattan or Berlin, you had to pay over 65 per cent of your income towards a mortgage. Vancouver is actually better off than most places, but it乌鸦传媒檚 a worldwide phenomenon.乌鸦传媒�
As active as Ozzie remains on the real estate circuit, his life is a split between work and play.
乌鸦传媒淓very year I go for a three-month cruise with my wife,乌鸦传媒� he says. 乌鸦传媒淲e love cruising. I have a boat, and in the summer months we go to places like Secret Cove [on the Sunshine Coast], and in the winter we have a house in Kimberley and I ski. But in between, when we have our big events, I work very hard.乌鸦传媒�
And for his personal philosophy on living in the current environment: 乌鸦传媒淭his is a new world; truth is in, bluffing is out. As Jordan Peterson says, 乌鸦传媒楾ell the truth, or at least don乌鸦传媒檛 lie.乌鸦传媒� When you look at the world right now乌鸦传媒攕tay committed to yourself, stay committed to your family. I乌鸦传媒檝e been married 53 years and I乌鸦传媒檓 proud of it. My mother used to always say乌鸦传媒攁nd it乌鸦传媒檚 an old quote乌鸦传媒斘谘淮綐Your actions speak so loudly, I can乌鸦传媒檛 hear what you乌鸦传媒檙e saying.乌鸦传媒� Just make sure that your actions are congruent with what you say.乌鸦传媒�
That aptly describes Ozzie Jurock and by his own description of life, it乌鸦传媒檚 been a charmed existence: 乌鸦传媒淚 could not have written a scenario that could have been more exciting.乌鸦传媒�
Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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