Mr. And Mrs. Condoville: Maximizing Real Estate Value And Opportunity
Apr 22 2021
A new concept in real estate has emerged in the booming Toronto area. Dolce recently sat down with Condoville founder and president Shaminder Gogna and talked about how his company’s suite of services can help people maximize their real estate value and realize greater opportunity.
Q: You were where we all want to be now, on a beach in Hawaii in 2013, when you first thought of the idea behind Condoville. What gap in the marketplace did you identify?
A: Then, no one was investing in buildings outside of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but I realized there were some ideal secondary and tertiary markets nearby, and there was a gap for both investors and developers. Investors couldn’t afford to continue investing in the GTA, but didn’t know about sites outside the GTA. I knew there were high-quality land and buildings in secondary markets, and the idea was to help the average family invest in real estate by giving them opportunities that would be affordable for the average household.
Q: You’re a developer as well as marketer and a sales broker. What was the original concept behind Condoville and the services you could provide?
A: I thought if I could keep ahead of the curve by identifying certain markets poised for growth and communicate the advantages of these markets to certain households, it could prove quite beneficial to families who wished to invest in real estate. For example, I went to school in the Kitchener- Waterloo, Ont., area and knew Google was soon to land there. It wasn’t information that was readily available, but its impact would be huge. There was a lack of high density and modern condos, so the area was on the cusp of terrific growth. Condoville was doing the due diligence others weren’t.
Q: Give us an example of how you help people maximize real estate value and opportunity.
A: Perhaps you own a small hardware store on a main street in a smaller secondary market, so your focus is primarily on your business and perhaps not your location. I see the value of that main street location, which can be repurposed to develop that prime site into a top-quality five- or six-storey condominium, which will provide a much greater return on the property. We’ve already done that two or three times, and the reaction has been terrific. We review their parcel of land, then talk to the municipality about what is allowed to be built there. We help them think outside of the box as to the true potential and value of their land or store.
Q: Would it be accurate to say Condoville is an advocate on behalf of your clients?
A: We are advocates, who can help a landowner understand municipal services, and we can help them raise capital in order to adhere to the proper studies, which need to be completed to move forward. Part of our analysis is understanding the land’s best use in order to maximize the highest revenue possible for our clients. We also apply, on the landowners’ behalf, for any grants that may be available, so they can get the most rebates possible.
Q: Have Condoville’s services grown since you started in 2017?
A: Absolutely. We have a growing team of experts on our staff, who are customer-focused, and when we started, we only provided about 10 per cent of the complete services we do today. Condoville has been assisting builders and developers market and sell their projects. We’ve recently formed Condoville Developments to assist landowners develop their parcels of land, as well as develop on our own infill sites.
Q: How does Condoville measure success in these early stages of its existence?
A: It may sound cliché, but success to all of us at Condoville is based upon how many people we have helped out. Whether it’s investors or the average households who see a great return on their real estate, or business owners we’ve worked with and turned into developers, the satisfaction comes from seeing the great returns they’ve achieved.
Q: The approach of Condoville is to simply help people. Is that a reflection of the personal life philosophy of you and your wife, Jasneet?
A: Absolutely. We understand that all types of problems exist for an array of reasons, whether personal or business, and those problems involve real people with substantial consequence. We do our best to provide solutions and create a working relationship that initially invests our time and efforts into solving the problem. We don’t receive our fee until several critical steps have been achieved.