Why Work with a Team

There’s a lot that goes into selling a home – more than any solo agent could possibly do effectively.

Staging & Design

When a home is professionally cleaned, staged and showcased at its best, it sells faster and for more money – often tens of thousands of dollars more than the unstaged competition. 

We believe so strongly in the value of staging that we own our very own staging company, UPstaging–with full-time employees, a carefully curated collection of furniture and accessories and a dedicated warehouse and moving truck. Our staging and design services are exclusive to BREL clients. 

Our team can use your current furniture and style as the canvas, or completely reimagine your space to make it show its absolute best. Included in our services:

• Staging consultation with a detailed room-by-room analysis and prep plan for the Seller
• Access to our trusted Trusted Partner home professionals – handymen, painters, carpet cleaners, plumbers, electricians, gardeners, and many more 
• Help to coordinate and wrangle tradespeople
• Professional cleaning 
• Staging of your home, including furniture and accessories
• De-staging after the sale

Marketing

What sets BREL apart from other REALTORS is our marketing acumen – and in a shifting market, getting your home seen by the right people, in the right places, is more important than ever. 

When I list a home for sale, I work closely with our in-house marketing team to strategically identify the target buyers and customize our marketing tactics accordingly. Our listing marketing plan always includes:

1. Stunning HDR digital photography
2. Interactive 3-D walk-through tours
3. Floor plans
4. MLS listing (written by a professional copywriter)
5. Prominent listing on the BREL website (visited by 90,000+ people every month)
6. Immersive online home tour experiences
7. Digital exposure on all the important real estate search websites, including: realtor.ca, Zillow, Point2Homes, The Real Estate Book, REW, Homefinder, Zoocasa, Zolo and more than 12,000 agent and brokerage websites.
8. Exposure to international buyers via listings on more than 130 international real estate portals in 70 countries on 6 continents.
9. Facebook and Instagram posts 
10. Targeted, paid ads on Facebook and Instagram
11. YouTube and Facebook videos
12. Email marketing campaigns to potential buyers, top agents and brokerages

When it makes sense, we might also include:

1. Public open houses
2. Agent open houses
3. High-quality feature sheets or booklets 
4. Direct marketing postcards in your neighbourhood
5. Scripted video tours
6. TikTok or other social media videos/posts
7. Drone photography and/or video
8. Unique marketing as needed–e.g. coordinating with community events

Pricing & Negotiation

In a cooler market, getting the listing price and strategy right is critical to getting buyers’ attention…and once they’re interested and make an offer, it becomes all about negotiation skills and strategy.  

You can count on me to:

• Get a solid understanding of your goals and priorities
• Value your home using multiple data points and methods (it’s both an art and a science)
• Recommend a pricing strategy to bring in the highest possible price (and ensure it’s aligned with the current market realities and expectations)
• Obsessively keep on top of what’s happening in the market and how buyers are feeling
• Perform an ongoing competitive review of activity in your neighbourhood – what’s selling, what’s not selling, and why
• Recommend pivots to strategy and/or price if necessary
• Always negotiate in your best interests

As a Certified Negotiation Expert, I’m focused on finding the win/win sweet spot for my clients. 

Easy Showings

Homes sell faster when it’s easy for potential buyers to tour them. That’s why we:

• Have a BREL-branded lockbox onsite at each property
• Send detailed Showing Notes to every agent who books an appointment. The Showing Notes are intended to help the buyer’s agent show the property to their client; they highlight what we love about the home, renovations and upgrades, utility costs and taxes, nearby school information, parks, neighbourhood shops and amenities, etc. It’s almost like we’re at the showing with them!
• Recommend flexible showing timeframes, ideally, 9 am to 9 pm, every day.
• Plan for buyers who don’t already have an agent. Our extensive marketing reach means we often attract buyers who aren’t already working with a REALTOR. Because we believe buyers and sellers should each have their own independent representation, we assign a second BREL agent to your property – one who is familiar with the home, but independent of the BREL listing agent – to show the home to unrepresented buyers.

Commission

We offer two commission plans that differ based on what’s included.  

With our Gold Plan (5%), we pay for professional staging, cleaning, a pre-listing home inspection or status certificate, professional photography, floor plans, 3-D interactive tours, comprehensive online and offline marketing campaigns and more. Most of our sellers choose the Gold Plan. 

Our Silver Plan (4.5%) includes the same level of marketing and strategy as the Gold Plan, but doesn’t include our home preparation and staging services. Our Silver plan often makes sense for owners selling tenanted properties or homes that don’t require staging. 

Our Guarantees

We set high standards for ourselves and expect to be held accountable for delivering what we promise. While we can’t control what’s happening in the market, we can guarantee the service and communication you can expect when you work with BREL.

• The “You Want Us, You Got Us” Guarantee. We’re serious about being responsive, available and easy to communicate with. If we don’t return your message or call within 12 hours, we’ll donate $20 to a charity of your choice. 
• The ‘You’ll Know What We Know” Guarantee There’s nothing worse than not knowing what’s happening. We’re committed to providing a weekly huddle call or meeting and a formal update on showings, feedback, marketing activity and competition. And if we don’t deliver? We’ll deduct $500 from your commission.
• The “Happy Seller” Guarantee: We won’t hold you hostage to a piece of paper. If there’s ever a problem while we’re working together, we’ll do everything we can to fix it. If we can’t, then we’ll release you from your contract. If you aren’t happy, then neither are we. 

About Me

My life before real estate: Right before I made the “jump” to real estate I was working in client service at a marketing and communications agency. And before that… I was a server at Earls, and a Production Assistant for CBC Sports — which is a more resume-proper way to say that I brought Ron and Don their coffee on Saturday nights during Hockey Night in Canada. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with houses. I used to browse real estate listings for fun in high school. Yes, high school. I always wanted to be a REALTOR (but my mom thought it was probably a good idea that I go to university first). Fast forward a few years…after a business degree from Laurier, pursuing further education in Public Relations, and working in PR for some pretty high-profile clients like Netflix…it was still a career dream lingering in the back of my mind. And, as it turns out… Mom was right. All that schooling and work experience set me up pretty perfectly for a successful career in real estate. Real estate is a lot of people’s plan B, but it’s always been the dream job for me.

What I love about being a REALTOR: Being so extremely fortunate to wake up in the morning and be excited about what I do for a living. It’s a career where every day is different, there are endless opportunities for skills advancement and you get out of it what you put into it. Plus, I get to work with some pretty amazing people along the way.

Why I love helping Sellers: My previous career in marketing and communications has really primed me well to represent sellers. I feel in my element when planning marketing angles, strategizing on price and consulting on how to best prep and stage homes before they hit the market.

Favourite Seller story: A little nutty to manage at the time… but on the offer day for one of my listings I received about 100 phone calls before 2 pm from agents with interested buyers. Worth it in the end as it translated to 10 offers and an amazing sale price for my client!

My life outside of real estate: Outside of real estate… I spend most of my time at parks walking the dog and taking care of my 1 year old. They keep me busy, on my feet and bring me endless joy!

You’ll enjoy working with me if....you appreciate knowing the details, having a through analysis and someone on your side who is 100% invested in achieving your goals. I can be known to spend hours poring over the numbers, chatting through strategies and making a game plan to get my clients to where they want to go.

Peer Reviews

From Matt – Jenny is the Queen of comparative analysis. I have been in the business over a decade, but I will still call her up to bounce my thoughts on value for a clients property to see if they align with her thoughts. She has pioneered the BREL team system for market evaluations which are bang on every time.

From Lisa – Jenny is my ‘sista from another mista’. Maybe it’s because we share a background in public relations or maybe it’s because we are both very button down and organized, or a combination of both, but when Jenny and I work together it is absolutely seamless. We don’t have to adjust our styles to each other because (as we often joke) we’re basically the same person.

From Varun – Jenny is kind, smart, to the point, analytical, an amazing negotiator & a great marketeer. She is very thorough with her approach and would certainly make sure all things that need to covered are and will not leave any stone unturned. She has been a great teacher too as I learnt a lot of good things from her. And her suggestions for the places to eat are always spot on.

From Kellye – Jenny Maycock completely intimidates me. She is absolutely relentless when it comes to working for her clients’ best interest and simply refuses to accept “no” for an answer. (You try to tell her “no”. Let me know how it goes. I’m not going to do it). No one knows more about real estate stats and data than Jenny. No one. Want proof? Every single member of the BREL team uses a document called, “Jenny’s Comparative Market Analysis Stats Worksheet” on a weekly basis. No one else on the team has a multi-sheet statistical analysis spreadsheet named after them. Jenny is more than just numbers and chutzpah. She is also warm, funny, a terrifically supportive teammate, and a really good mom. UGH, JENNY. Leave some accolades for the rest of us.

From Mel & Brendan – There are so many things we love about Jenny! First, she’s an over-achiever (and we kinda love over-achievers around here). She’s the only person I know who scored 100% on SEVERAL of the pre-licensing real estate exams – and her lowest mark was 98%. So she’s smart, obviously. Jenny’s also obsessed with details and loves a spreadsheet and a plan more than anyone I know. Her positivity and contagious enthusiasm come in really handy when her clients are dealing with the stress of buying or selling a home – but don’t let that sweet demeanour fool you: she’s a shrewd negotiator too. Jenny guides her clients with professionalism and ease, and they often remark about how much they appreciate her communication skills and prompt attention to their questions. Having just been a first-time Buyer herself, she knows first-hand what it takes to get what you want. And then, of course, there is her adorable toddler Liv and puppy Ruby. It’s worth getting to know Jenny just to hang out with them.

From Sydney – Jenny’s punctuality, attention to detail, and positivity shine through in both her skills as a realtor and as a colleague. She truly prioritizes her clients and is involved in every aspect, from providing great marketing insights to communicating on a daily basis. Her extensive market knowledge and exceptional organizational skills enable her to excel in her role as a realtor.