EXIT Realty Fusion has the Agents that can speak your language!

The Regency Ballroom is one of the centerpieces in the caverns of the fabled Hotel Saskatchewan, which sits on one of the city’s busiest streets, across the road from the tranquility of Victoria Park and a short walk from the heart of downtown Regina. It has cradled royalty, movie stars, prime ministers, sports stars, Regina’s high society, grand dinners to honour people and young couples starting out their married lives together.

Neil Braun was born and raised in Saskatchewan, Swift Current actually, to a family which made a living with its hands and its imagination. Now, he lives in Calgary and he owns a company that is a builder of homes and he still does plenty of work in Saskatchewan. He is building condos and townhouses in the rapidly growing Harbour Landing development that is alongside the Regina International Airport. He is a quiet, efficient man dedicated to his company, Oak Park, and his family. He has done well in both. He has a number of housing developments in Harbour Landing. Sage, Skyy, RGB and now he has plans for one called Joyy. He has partnered with EXIT Realty Fusion in marketing and selling the developments.

He quietly put something on Facebook about the coming of Joyy and could not believe the response from people interested in buying. It was overwhelming. He had not seen anything like it, so he decided to do something unlike anything he had done before. He decided he would hold a lottery for people wanting to buy a Joyy townhouse. “I had seen other developments hold an auction in a hotel room,” he said, “But, people would have to line up hours before to get in first, and I never thought it was a fair way of doing it. Some would go home angry and frustrated and not feel they had been given a chance. So, we decided that anybody who was interested in Joyy could come to a hotel ballroom, give us a $1,000 cheque, which would be refundable, and we would draw names from a barrel until all the units were gone. Then, they would have to decide if they wanted to buy it. There would be no bidding wars. It would be comfortable and fair.”

Two years ago, a young married couple living in the western part of the Ukraine gazed into the future, as young lovers do. Life has not always been wonderful or prosperous for those living in the Ukraine. It has been an oppressed society, and the future often carried an empty feeling to it. I will give this couple the names of Sergei and Natasha. They decided to move somewhere better. “We always wanted to explore other parts of the world,” they said, “and Canada was the first best choice as it is a country with a high standard of living. The immigration policy of Saskatchewan provided excellent opportunities for me as a truck driver to come and work in Canada.”

Sometimes, Canadians take for granted all that this country offers. And, can you imagine the courage wrapped in uncertainty that a young couple from the Ukraine felt in making the decision to move thousands of miles away to a strange, foreign land? But Sergei and Natasha had this dream, and they hugged it close to them, and two years ago their incredible journey began.

“First,” said Sergei, “I came to Saskatchewan alone to settle down and build a foundation for my family. A bit later, my wife joined me in my journey and she managed to find a job as a receptionist fairly soon.”

What made things easier for this young, inspiring couple is that Regina has a significant Ukrainian population, some of whom came here recently, others who are the children and grandchildren of Ukrainians who settled here decades ago, worked the land, and built lives. That is the story of Saskatchewan. It was settled by immigrants, who continue to flock to its shores even today, carrying little else with them but their dreams of a better life. What a country that can offer that to the world!

“We met a lot of Ukrainians here,” said Sergie. “And that is how we learned about our Agent, Igor Riabchyk, who is Ukrainian himself. Before we met him, we were thinking, we were thinking about buying a house but we did not know where to start and how one would proceed. But having talked to Igor, we realized that it is an easy process. He suggested a number of options and taking part in the Joyy lottery seemed to be a great one.”

EXIT Realty Fusion Eco-Broker and owner Loretta Hughes knew Igor would bring an added element to her sales team when she hired him. He was fluent in both English and Ukrainian, so important in a province which has a large and ongoing immigration from throughout the world. She also has hired other agents who speak languages other than English. “I knew that Igor would make a great Real Estate Agent, but being able to speak in your clients’ language creates a huge comfort zone and eliminates confusion,” said Hughes.

It was a Friday night, a few weeks ago, the night of the lottery. Rain was falling and there was a chill in the air. About 200 people were expected to come to the Hotel Saskatchewan to buy 52 homes. Neil Braun, his staff, Loretta Hughes and her people were there hours before. There could not be any mistakes. It had to be a seamless night.

Natasha and Sergei left for the hotel in the closing light of the day, nervous and hopeful. It is as if they had planned and worked and travelled so far just to get to this defining moment in their lives. The anticipation was searing. They arrived at the hotel and came into the grand lobby, went one floor upstairs, and registered just outside the ballroom. Igor was with them, guiding, explaining and reassuring them.

Neil Braun watched as dozens of people arrived. They went to the registration desk and signed up. They were given a card, each one containing a different number, and they wrote their names on the back of it. At about 6 p.m. everybody went into the Regency Ballroom. Rows of chairs waited in front of a stage which held a barrel containing the names and numbers. Tables of refreshments and foods were laid out at the back. Neil Braun wanted this to be a pleasant night. One could not help but be struck by the diversity of the ethnic population of those who had come to buy a townhouse. They came from Asia, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, the Ukraine, and other places, every one of them bringing this incredible dream to this incredible moment in time.

Natasha and Sergei came into the room together. They were holding hands, and their eyes were fierce and intent. Igor was never far from them. They took a chair near the front on the aisle. They had done everything they were supposed to do. Now, it would be the luck of the draw.

The man on the stage began calling out the numbers. People cheered when theirs was called. One lady began to cry when her number came up. Sergei and Natasha never took their eyes off the stage. They pressed their shoulders together, holding hands, reassuring each other. Still, their number did not come. For a split second, Natasha dropped her head. But it came right back up. This was their destiny. This is what they had come here for. You could feel her tension.

Another number came up.  The man on the stage called out the number, 47. She looked up at the stage. Number 47? Yes, number 47! She snapped her head towards Sergei. For a second, she couldn’t think. Then, she let out a cry. She jumped straight up into the air, and her eyes went wide. She reached for Sergei and they hugged, and Igor came and got them and took them to a table where they would buy their house.

“We were so happy when we heard our winning number in the lottery – our dream to own a townhouse has come true,” said Sergie. “We are so happy that our life treated us so well and let us come to Canada and have our dreams realized. We would never have achieved this in the Ukraine. Winning this lottery means a lot for our family and even though we do not have children yet we can now definitely think about having our second dream come true, which is having our own children.”

There were 200,000 stories all over our city that night. None of them had as happy an ending. Ohhhhh Canada!