Managing Broker — Greater Victoria Region
Meet Macdonald Realty’s Greater Victoria Region Managing Broker David Langlois in this 10 Questions interview: his recommended read, his favourite thing about working at Macdonald Realty, and more.
How did you get into the real estate industry? I was working in a marketing role in Vancouver for a developer (one of the primary developers in Whistler). I was slowly pulled into Whistler to help sell one of their products, then gradually moved into selling recreational real estate. It just felt like a natural evolution of my career.
What led to you to become a managing broker? I’m a bit of a glutton for punishment. Seriously though, it was about being able to have a larger impact on the professional delivery of real estate services to the public. I got my broker’s license 15-20 years ago, and something memorable about the career movement from being a real estate agent to a broker is that every few years, you realize how much you didn’t know a few years ago. The scene is constantly changing so that’s a huge challenge – not just for a managing broker, but for a realtor in general.
What is one thing you wish you knew when you first got into real estate? I wish I had been given more guidance on how to set boundaries with clients in order to achieve a life work balance. I came to find this later in my career but I see it happen a lot where an agent just becomes so immersed in the business that it comes at the cost of everything else in their lives.
Set your hours. Set the guidelines for your clients, tell them what hours you’re available, and stick to that. If they stray from those hours, remind them of your initial conversation. Be strong and keep your non-negotiable family time. A well-balanced life leads to better long-term outcomes for both agents and their clients.
What is your advice to someone who wants to become an agent? Think long and hard about it. It’s not like TV, it’s not like the stuff you see projected on social media. It’s a sales job, it’s a people job and there is a very high failure rate due to a lack of preparedness and a lack of commitment. Be sure this is what you want to do and be sure you have the support of those who mean the most to you. And don’t just pick a brokerage based on fees (in fact, fees are the last thing that should concern you when picking a brokerage).
When we’re hiring for our offices in the Greater Victoria region, I look for people who are proactive, cooperative, nice. It’s also really important to recognize the importance of relationships in this business.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve received (related to real estate industry)? Pay your taxes first.
Above: Greater Victoria Region Managing Broker David Langlois with Victoria agent Oksana Yatsenko at the office’s Champagne Party (2022).
Why do you enjoy working in the real estate industry? It’s a new adventure every day. You get to pick what you’re going to do, and you get to pick who you’re going to do it with. It’s challenging, you need to be up to speed in many different areas, all at the same time and it’s constantly changing.
What is your favorite thing about working at Macdonald Realty? Easily the people. I’ve been doing this a long time and I could probably do this anywhere, but the people I get to work with and the support throughout the company that exists, is like nothing I’ve seen or experienced elsewhere. When people ask me why they might want to work at Macdonald Realty, one of the biggest reasons I offer is that it is simply a great place to work.
What is a fun fact about yourself? I put myself through a large part of university working the busking circuit juggling and breathing fire.
What is your favorite quote? If you don’t like where you are, move! You are not a tree. – Jim Rohn. People believe that they’re stuck doing what they’re doing – this is not true. Trees are stuck but people can easily unstick themselves.
What is a book that everyone should read? Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco. It’s got nothing to do with real estate. It’s about the absurdity in life, people believing certain things. There’s no specific lesson other than the author is smarter than the rest of us. One of the best pieces of literature produced in the latter half of the 20th century. It’s interesting because it’s disguised as an adventure novel, which it’s not.
