- Story by Joe Leary Photography by Lia Crowe

He is featured in WhoB次元官网网址檚 Who in Canada,

WhoB次元官网网址檚 Who in America, BC and the US, as well as Louis RukeyserB次元官网网址檚 WhoB次元官网网址檚 Who. But the name Ozzie Jurock is synonymous with real estate. Ozzie has played a vital part in leading the real estate ranks over the years, including taking on roles as president of Royal LePage Canada and Royal LePage Asia, based in Taiwan.

HeB次元官网网址檚 been chairman and CEO of NRS Block Bros. and has served on the boards of the BC Real Estate Council, the Vancouver Real Estate Board, the Quality Council of BC and the advisory board of BCIT, and done stints such as president of the real estate boards of Burnaby, Coquitlam and New Westminster.

He is also a best-selling author and an in-demand speaker, giving more than 80 speeches per year. He has appeared regularly on TV and continues to air on CKNW radio as he has for the past 26 years.

Ozzie is a fellow of the Real Estate Institute of Canada and is one of this countryB次元官网网址檚 leading business motivators. And thatB次元官网网址檚 just the thumbnail sketch. With such a loaded CV, one has to ask how it all began.

B次元官网网址淚 came to Canada in 1966, fell in love with it and became a Canadian as soon as I could,B次元官网网址� Ozzie says. B次元官网网址淚 started in the hotel business as a waiter at the Hotel Vancouver and within a year I was the ma卯tre dB次元官网网址� at the brand new Devonshire Seafood House.B次元官网网址�

Here, he says, he saw people who were B次元官网网址渄oing wellB次元官网网址� financially.

B次元官网网址淭here was the head of a brokerage house who had a monthly lunch account of $400B次元官网网址攁nd I was making $300 a month. I thought to myself, B次元官网网址榃hat does he have that I can learn?B次元官网网址� I didnB次元官网网址檛 have the education and I certainly didnB次元官网网址檛 have the standing, but I kept watching him.B次元官网网址�

When Ozzie asked the question B次元官网网址淲hat is out there for me?B次元官网网址� people often suggested he get into the real estate business.

B次元官网网址淪o I got the license and became a realtor and through a series of very fortuitous events, I [eventually] became the president of Royal LePage Canada with 10,000 employees.B次元官网网址�

Next, it was time to go solo.

B次元官网网址淏y 1993, I decided that I wanted to go out on my own. I started writing a real estate newsletter and then went more into real estate investing,B次元官网网址� Ozzie recalls. B次元官网网址淎round then, we [launched] two major conferences that weB次元官网网址檝e continued doing for 27 yearsB次元官网网址攐ne in the spring, one in the fall.B次元官网网址�

The one constant takeaway from a conversation with Ozzie Jurock is that heB次元官网网址檚 a visionary, as fully evidenced by his early forecasts.

B次元官网网址淚 wrote a book in 1998 called Forget About Location, Location, Location! In 1963, the average home price was $13,500. By 1998, it was $278,000 and if you extrapolated that for the next 35 yearsB次元官网网址� as I said in my bookB次元官网网址攅very house in Vancouver would be worth $5 million. Everybody thought, B次元官网网址榃hat are you smoking?B次元官网网址� But I never changed my view. Two years ago on the West Side, the average price clocked in at $4.4 million.B次元官网网址�

Ozzie says the current real estate market is a veritable hotbed.

B次元官网网址淩ight now the market is an absolute madhouse,B次元官网网址� he states emphatically. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 on fire in a number of different areas.B次元官网网址� As an example, he says, Etobicoke, Ontario is up 27 per cent in single-family home prices; in fact, there are nine areas in Ontario that are up over 30 per cent.

B次元官网网址淎nd weB次元官网网址檙e not talking TorontoB次元官网网址攚eB次元官网网址檙e talking, like, Barrie,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淭his is unusual, but it is exactly what I forecast.B次元官网网址�

His basic philosophy, he says, is: B次元官网网址淚nflation is number one; number two is supply and demand, and number three is immigrant/migration. You read that on the basis of affordability, Vancouver and Toronto are the numbers five and six worst cities in the world, yet that doesnB次元官网网址檛 determine prices. Vancouver has never been affordable in over 40 years. If you wanted to live in Vancouver or Hong Kong or Manhattan or Berlin, you had to pay over 65 per cent of your income towards a mortgage. Vancouver is actually better off than most places, but itB次元官网网址檚 a worldwide phenomenon.B次元官网网址�

As active as Ozzie remains on the real estate circuit, his life is a split between work and play.

B次元官网网址淓very year I go for a three-month cruise with my wife,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淲e love cruising. I have a boat, and in the summer months we go to places like Secret Cove [on the Sunshine Coast], and in the winter we have a house in Kimberley and I ski. But in between, when we have our big events, I work very hard.B次元官网网址�

And for his personal philosophy on living in the current environment: B次元官网网址淭his is a new world; truth is in, bluffing is out. As Jordan Peterson says, B次元官网网址楾ell the truth, or at least donB次元官网网址檛 lie.B次元官网网址� When you look at the world right nowB次元官网网址攕tay committed to yourself, stay committed to your family. IB次元官网网址檝e been married 53 years and IB次元官网网址檓 proud of it. My mother used to always sayB次元官网网址攁nd itB次元官网网址檚 an old quoteB次元官网网址擝次元官网网址榊our actions speak so loudly, I canB次元官网网址檛 hear what youB次元官网网址檙e saying.B次元官网网址� Just make sure that your actions are congruent with what you say.B次元官网网址�

That aptly describes Ozzie Jurock and by his own description of life, itB次元官网网址檚 been a charmed existence: B次元官网网址淚 could not have written a scenario that could have been more exciting.B次元官网网址�

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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