(photo: Unit 106 of 7 Dale Avenue, listed for $7,995,000).

 

Talk about one-stop shopping. Eleven Realtors from different brokerages recently came together to hold an agent open house that featured all seven of the suites for sale in a luxury boutique condominium in Toronto’s South Rosedale neighbourhood.

No. 7 Dale, designed by architect Hariri Pontarini and with interiors by Alessandro Munge, is a collection of multi-million-dollar suites. Each is more like a custom home, with its own mechanical room that allows owners to customize features such as heating, water filtration and security systems for their own suites. Other highlights include Dada kitchens and custom closets by Molteni & C, says broker Alison Fiorini of Harvey Kalles Real Estate. 

The building is divided into east and west wings. The brick front “reads like a Rosedale home, but the back is glass with ravine views,” she says.

Fiorini considers the open house event a success with about 50 agents and a few potential buyers attending. 

“It’s rare to be able to walk through something that’s built,” she says, as condos are usually sold pre-construction. 

Condos are a different beast in Rosedale, which is made up mostly of single-family residential. 

 

How it came together

 

Fiorini and the other agents co-ordinated the event by email, excitedly sharing what each was planning for their individual suite and coming up with an organized plan for the day.

A greeter in the lobby gave out pamphlets and directed visiting agents to the suites listed for sale. The tour also gave agents a chance to view the amenities, which include a gym, a spa, a private trainer room and a lobby with designer furniture and a grand fireplace.

Broker Cailey Heaps of Royal LePage Heaps Estrin Real Estate says, “We’re always open to collaborating with colleagues from different firms to achieve the best results for our clients.”

She says the event was a perfect example of the impact that can come from working together. 

“The outcome was exactly what we hoped for, bringing a large group of prominent Toronto agents together to experience the project firsthand,” she says.

Heaps is co-listing the property with Megan Till-Landry.

 

Banding together to spark interest

 

The event was all about creating buzz and making it easy for other agents to tour all of the suites in one day.

Broker Janice Fox of Hazelton Real Estate says the response from a collaborative open house with multiple properties is easily 10-fold that of an independent single open house.

“Agents who wouldn’t have come otherwise were quite excited to make an entire building tour and could suddenly understand the features and benefits of the property as a whole and the diversity of options,” Fox says. “Part of the challenge in the current market is getting attention focused on your listing, and this went a long way in helping all of the listing agents.”

Fox says the developer of the property engaged Hazelton Real Estate to oversee sales of the entire project. “To date, we are almost two-thirds sold.”

Having a joint agent open house in a building isn’t easy, says broker Paul Maranger of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, who is co-listing with Christian Vermast and Fran Bennett.

“For security reasons, most buildings don’t permit open houses (whether public or agent), so the ability to ‘multi-task’ and visit the current supply was a luxury beyond belief for Realtors.”

 

‘A real success’

 

Realtor Gillian Oxley of Royal LePage Real Estate Services says the open house was a “fantastic opportunity” to showcase the suite’s craftsmanship and livability to Toronto’s top agents.

“It created meaningful conversations, collaboration and cross-promotion opportunities between agents representing similar luxury buyers,” she says. “These events strengthen professional relationships and ultimately benefit clients by increasing exposure and generating qualified interest in exceptional properties like this one.”

“The event was a real success,” says Realtor Jimmy Molloy of Chestnut Park Real Estate. “The idea of a group open house adds weight and momentum to encourage agents to see the product in person. 

He says real estate cannot be truly experienced on a screen. 

“You have to be in the space to understand the nuances of light, the volume and how you interact with it. The group open house is a creative way to encourage more agents to actually feel and experience the product,” says Molloy, who is co-listing with Lindsay Van Wert.

Realtor James Warren of Chestnut Park Real Estate says, “The agents were quite thrilled and happy with the fine bespoke finishings, high ceilings, the floor-to-ceiling windows and the views of the private terraces and gardens. The agents were happy we opened seven apartments at once so they could view the different floor plans.” 

Warren’s unit is co-listed with Alex Obradovich.

 

Early results

 

Fiorini had a second showing the day after the open house.

One agent told her during the open house that after seeing it in person, they had a client who might be interested.