A mansion, a penthouse, a condo, an apartment – all of these are simply variants of four walls and a roof. The feeling you get when you arrive at a place after a long day of work – where you feel safe, content, and at peace – is what makes it a home.
Finding the right home for you and your family is much harder without the right market knowledge and expertise at your side from someone you can trust. Enter Christine Cowern and Tara Lee Cooks, Toronto’s leading real estate specialists, whose mission is to give every buyer and seller the 5-star service that they deserve.
Christine and Tara are the Managing Partners of The Christine Cowern Real Estate Team at Sage Real Estate. The duo believes that every buyer and seller the team works with should receive the very best service, expertise, marketing exposure, guidance, and communication.
Here are the highlights of Christine’s and Tara’s journey in the Canadian real estate sector, their opinions and perspectives on leadership, and their vision for the future of their team.
A TALE OF EXCELLENCE
Nine years ago, Christine made the daunting decision to step out of her role as an independent realtor and start building her own team of high performing agents – in part because of her ambitious nature and in part because she wanted to provide opportunities for other women in the industry to build successful real estate careers. And The Christine Cowern Real Estate Team was born.
An all-female team based in Toronto, Canada, Christine has built the team into the powerhouse that it is – with five full-time sales representatives, a full-time administrative coordinator, and a full-time client care specialist not to mention their marketing and advertising partners. In 2021 they doubled their business – no small feat considering that for the previous eight years they’ve consistently ranked in the Top 1-2% with their local board for number of properties sold.
For both Tara and Christine, working in their unique ability zones has paved the way to success. Tara works in the field with the team’s clients, so she’s on the ground and working in a managerial role. Meanwhile, Christine is more involved with operations, overseeing the marketing, advertising, client and lead generation initiatives, and making sure that systems and processes are running like a well-oiled machine. A few years ago she also started her own coaching business for realtors to create 7-figure businesses and teams.
We asked the duo what prompted their interest in getting into the real estate industry, to which they said, “We came from very different backgrounds. Christine had worked in journalism and public relations but decided she wanted to be her own boss and saw real estate as a new exciting challenge and Tara had spent many years buying her own investment properties so getting her license was the most logical next step.”
What appealed to both of them was the unlimited potential of real estate and the flexibility that it gave them. “We’re both ambitious and it was the perfect fit,” explained Christine.
And how did their relationship start? The duo worked together on the same real estate team in 2006. When Christine started her own team it was a natural choice for Tara to join her in a senior sales representative role. The rest is history.
BRINGING THE A-GAME
For Christine and Tara’s team, providing the best service starts with anticipating their clients’ needs and meeting them at every stage in the buying or selling process. Their needs always come first and if that means talking a client out of purchase or sale that’s not in their best interest, that’s what they’ll do.
Each team member has helped to create the supportive yet driven culture that the team has – one that encourages hitting sales goals as much as it does have much-needed down time in an industry that is known for long hours and a non-stop work ethic.
From their systems to their client care to the mindset work that the team does to stay engaged, motivated and high performing, for the team there’s never an end to growth and staying focused on personal and professional excellence.
“We’d much rather forfeit a commission check, than encourage our clients to make decisions they’ll regret. We’re a heart-led team who treats our clients like we would treat a family member or friend and from the first conversation with us to the services we continue providing years after someone has closed on their property, we’re committed to creating as seamless and positive of an experience as possible for everyone who hires us,” the duo expressed.
For Christine and Tara, helping their team members to see their own potential and what individual strengths that they can bring to the table to help them reach not only their individual goals but the team’s goals as a whole, is key.
Added Tara, “Each team member we have is invaluable to our growth and contributes on a massive level, one that both Christine and I are very grateful for. They’ve all helped to not only create the strong culture that we have but the repeat and referrals business that comes from putting their best selves forward every single day.”
OPINIONS THAT MATTER
On the topic of what makes someone a pioneering leader and how they integrate the same thought into their leadership, both women shared the same sentiment. “There are definitely certain qualities that pioneering leaders share – they’re great at initiating change, they’re risk takers and aren’t afraid to try something new, they trust their gut and they’re able to not only stretch out of their own comfort zone but motivate others to do the same,” they explained.
The duo and the entire team are always looking for ways that they can strive for and achieve excellence, even if that means taking a risk or trying something that they haven’t seen modelled before. “It’s important for us to take on new challenges and push the boundaries of what’s possible,” Christine explains. “We don’t rest on our laurels very much,” she adds with the laugh.
TOWARDS A FUTURE OF SUCCESS
What advice do Christine and Tara give to emerging realtors trying to find their footing in an often-cutthroat industry? “Our biggest piece of advice for new agents would be to find a mentor or some kind of support early on,” they share. “The level of competition in real estate gets higher and higher every year. Knowing how to spend your time and money and how to focus on the things that will move your business forward—and actually get deals done at a high level without sacrificing your personal life—is something we wish we knew as new agents.”
As a part of their future plans, The Christine Cowern Real Estate Team aims to keep getting better and better, help more and more clients, and continue to create a team culture that they can be really proud of. “If that’s the legacy that we can leave behind, we’d be really happy with that.”
