John Cooper, owner and principal realtor at John Cooper Group – eXp Reality
By Tyler Nyquvest
VANCOUVER ISLAND – The real estate market, like the rest of the world’s industries, is in a difficult state. But, as the saying goes, with no rain there are no flowers.
For John Cooper, owner and principal realtor at John Cooper Group – eXp Reality, starting his career in an uncertain and challenging time granted him the foresight and confidence needed to weather volatile markets – something many other realtors can’t claim.
“The market conditions have been exactly the same for the past two years so [new realtors] haven’t experienced what a buyer’s market feels like versus a seller’s market versus a balanced market,” said Cooper.
“Given the hard start I had between 2008 and 2015, there was nothing glamourous about trading in those times and I used the hardship to sharpen my sword,” said Cooper. “I was able to develop all the skills and experience needed to be a real real estate agent.”
All this insight is what motivates Cooper to take a different approach and, ultimately, has been the key to his success.
“We want to bring the professionalism back to this industry,” said Cooper. “Our business is one of agency, it is one of understanding contract law, understanding agency law, understanding macroeconomics, microeconomics and local real estate economics.”
“These are the skills of a real estate agent that take years to develop, they are not developed in the course, they are developed in the field.”
Cooper entered the real estate industry in April of 2008 with a background in digital marketing. He set off quickly, reaching the top of his local RE/MAX office list of top agents and securing several awards such as the eXp Icon Agent Award and the RE/MAX Lifetime Achievement Award.
Owner and Principal Realtor John Cooper Group in his office
Over the years, Cooper has watched how the innumerable changes to the world have influenced the business and how brokers operate. Major technological advancements like iPhones and social media have been a huge disruptor when it comes to self-promotion, research, and competition. Though these things have largely bolstered Cooper’s business, he understands sifting through the endless number of agents can be a full-time job.
Moreover, there are holes in agent experience that lead to unjustified fees and confusion, according to Cooper. He believes the real estate curriculum and coursework needs to be updated to produce more knowledgeable real estate professionals that can handle the various ups and downs of a modern market.
“Our industry is unlike any other industry; the price and the experience level aren’t matched. If you are talking about the best legal professionals or financial advice professionals, they charge more than the rest because they can, because they have the experience,” said Cooper.
“A real estate agent that has two years’ experience charges the same fees as an agent who has 16 to 17 years’ experience. There is a real gap there and the public seems to think things like: ‘he’s got a license, so he must know what he is doing’.”
There is also the ‘acquaintance effect’ or, in other words, people using people they know as real estate agents due to their personal proximity to the individual. This approach used to be the go-to solution for weary home buyers or sellers, according to Cooper, but given the way the world has changed, it is highly irrational nowadays.
“The stakes are so high in a real estate decision and over the last 30 years, it has only become more challenging, the number of variables to navigate has grown, the potholes to step into have only gotten deeper,” said Cooper.
Like any investment, you always need to do your due diligence.
“It is always a balanced effort, I always encourage clients to do their research and consider what they want, then my team and I have all the needed market knowledge and expertise to accomplish your real estate goals.”
