I wrote this blog post in the early morning hours. I love real estate. And I really love to write. So even if no one reads my articles, I write them for me. But this one was different. I worked very hard on it, and it became very close to my heart because it is about something I believe matters enormously: how do you choose the person who is going to support you through one of the biggest milestones of your life?
Some people might base that decision solely on education. Others on first impressions. Some on relationships, and many on experience.
I think all of those things matter.
But I wanted to write about something underneath all of them: how do you choose someone who will genuinely make a difference in your life while you’re going through the process of buying or selling a home?
And then, while I was writing this, something happened to me. Something bad. I ended up in the hospital. I nearly died. For a little while, I lost pieces of my memory. And it took a lot of love, patience and reassurance from the people closest to me for everything to start coming back. I am incredibly happy to say that it did.
And eventually, I remembered what I had been doing when I went into the dark for a little while.
I was writing.
This.
So maybe this article means a little more to me now than it did when I first started it. Because when life suddenly becomes uncertain, you learn very quickly who shows up. Who waits. Who stays patient. Who believes in you even when you aren’t entirely yourself yet. Thank you to the people who waited for me to come back. And to the people who knew I never left. And to the person who loves me unconditionally: I love you more than words can really express. I hope my actions show you what my words sometimes can’t. This post is dedicated to my partner in love and life, my son and my daughter, my mom and dad, my granny, my brother and sister, all my family and friends, my RLP family, and all of my loyal clients who have stuck with me through thick and thin. ❤️
There’s a specific moment that tells you everything.
It’s not the handshake at the first meeting, or the polished bio on a website, or even the sign that eventually goes up on the lawn. It’s smaller than that, and it happens early, usually within the first real question you ask.
Maybe it’s a Tuesday night, and you’ve just seen a listing that made your stomach do that little flip. You text your realtor, half-expecting to wait until morning for a reply. And your phone buzzes back in minutes. Not a canned response, an actual answer, specific to that house, that street, that price. They already know the neighborhood. They already have an opinion. They’re already thinking two steps ahead, about financing, about timing, about the other three families who probably saw the same listing you did.
That’s the moment. That’s how you know.
Everything else, the credentials, the marketing, the years in business – matters, but it’s not really the thing. The thing is whether the person on the other end of that text treats your biggest financial decision like it matters to them, too.
What We’ve Learned
Since Kirsten got licensed in the beginning of 2021, in a very uncertain market, amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic. We’ve closed north of $22 million++ in real estate across Central Alberta. Named Master Sales Award winner three+ years running, 2022 through 2025. We say that not to brag, but because it’s the honest answer to a question people ask us a lot: how do you know you’re any good at this?
The number isn’t the proof, though. The proof is that most of those families call us again the next time they need to move. Or they send their sister. Or their coworker. That’s the real scoreboard in this business, not the sign in the yard, but whether people come back.
So when we talk about “what to look for” in a realtor, we’re not talking in the abstract. We’re talking about what we’ve watched actually separate a good experience from a forgettable one, over and over, deal after deal.
Speed That Means Something
Central Alberta’s market moves. A great listing at the right price doesn’t sit around waiting politely for you to get back from work and think it over. The realtors who serve their clients well understand that urgency isn’t about pressure, it’s about respect. Respect for your time, respect for the fact that you have a life outside this transaction, and respect for how much a missed opportunity can sting.
We’ve built our whole approach around being rapid without ever being rushed. That means real-time updates when something new hits the market that matches what you’re looking for (Click here to try our property match Wizard). It means answering the phone. It means being the realtor who’s already looked at the comparable sales before you even ask, because we were already thinking about it.
Knowledge That Isn’t Just Recited
Anyone can memorize average sale prices for a neighborhood. That’s not market knowledge -> that’s a spreadsheet.
Real market knowledge sounds like: this street tends to sell slower in winter, so let’s price it to move now. Or: this specific floor plan has a quirk that scares off some buyers unfairly -> let’s make sure the listing photos address it head-on. Or: I know this exact building, and units on the third floor go for more because of the view -> don’t undersell yourself.
That kind of knowledge only comes from actually being in the market, constantly, not reading about it. Kirsten started investing in real estate herself at 24, buying her first house with Dius long before the license ever came into the picture. That’s not a resume line. That’s the reason the advice we give sounds like it’s coming from someone who’s actually stood where you’re standing, weighing the same fears, doing the same math late at night.
Genuine Investment in Your Outcome, Not Just the Sale
Here’s the twist a lot of people don’t expect: the realtors, clients trust the most, aren’t necessarily the ones who talk the most about themselves. They’re the ones who ask the most questions about you >>> what you actually need this home to do for your life <<< not just what fits your budget on paper.
We work with a lot of investors, specifically because we understand that world from the inside, what makes a property actually cash-flow, not just look good in photos. But whether it’s an investor building a portfolio or a young family buying their very first place, the question we’re asking ourselves is the same: is this genuinely the right move for them, right now? Sometimes the honest answer is “not yet, and here’s why” and the realtors worth trusting are the ones willing to say that out loud, even when it costs them a commission today.
Why We Do This
Real estate isn’t a job we fell into. It’s something we treasure, genuinely, unglamorously, on the early mornings and the long weekends kind of treasure. There’s a particular feeling in handing someone the keys to a place they’re going to build a life in, or helping someone let go of a home that no longer fits so they can move toward whatever’s next. We’ve never gotten used to that feeling & We hope we never do.
If you’re trying to figure out how to choose a realtor you can actually trust, here’s the honest answer: find the people who make you feel like your move matters to them as much as it matters to you. Find the people who answer the text on a Tuesday night. Find the people who know the market not only because they studied it, but because they lived it.
We’d be honored if that’s us. And if it is, we promise, you’ll be glad you called.
— Kirsten & Dius, Bernal Real Estate
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