BORN

Montreal, Québec

LOCATION

Edmonton, Alberta

COMPANY

The Foundry Real Estate Co.

With his finger on the pulse of Edmonton’s Real Estate Market, Marc has the critical insight necessary to get great deals for buyers and higher-priced sales for owners. With over 18 years experience and a multi-faceted real estate investment portfolio, Marc’s universal people skills and next-level negotiating techniques help his clients find the best deal for their needs. Well traveled and culturally aware, Marc has a keen understanding of people’s diverse lifestyles and works with a genuine commitment to finding each individual client’s ideal property. In addition to being personable and professional, his persistence and passion for the Edmonton Real Estate Market has led him to co-found The Foundry Real Estate Co.

THE FOUNDRY REAL ESTATE CO.

The Foundry works really hard to free our clients from the traditional real-estate methods that take their money and put it into bus benches and billboards. We know that the average person looks at a listing 8 times before they book a showing, and we also know that the majority of real estate agents in the city are still using the old-school method of advertising, which focuses on the realtor and not the home. Where the traditional real estate model has been skeptical of reinventing the wheel, we at The Foundry have asked “Well, what if the wheel is square?”. With this question in mind, I’ve helped build a company that has not only provided contemporary and efficient ways for Edmontonians to buy and sell their homes, but joined the movement of young innovators dedicated to keeping our city relevant.

Two of the ways we’ve embraced the square is by modernizing the way Edmontonians can search for properties, and by offering them an education rather than our opinions once they find one. Edmontonians are no longer driving around neighborhoods looking for For Sale signs, and they’re certainly not looking to bus benches for their next home. They’re looking online— and it takes four days for most homes to be listed on real estate websites. So we’ve developed our own website (www.bestedmontonhomesearch.com) that gives buyers and sellers immediate access to new listings. It’s currently the second-most visited site for Edmonton homes, and has over 6,500 listings. At The Foundry, our goal is to Make Your Home Famous, and we do that by getting our properties on as many digital and print platforms as possible, including MLS, The Foundry websites, and Point 2 Agent Syndication websites. We also increase visibility through exclusive e-showings, mail-outs, social media, and in Real Estate Weekly, The Edmonton Journal, and Calgary Herald. By making properties available to the public quicker, we not only increase exposure to our client’s homes, but we make it easy for Edmontonians to look for homes in the ways that they want.

I’ve worked closely over the past few years with a designer to create a brand aesthetic that speaks to the culture of our city and the values of the people in it. Unlike most real estate brokerages, our brand is characterized by a bold colour palette and old-school graphics with a modern twist. We focus our design on brand values like communication, support, and family, which not only means our properties have the coolest For Sale signs around, but it means that when Edmontonians see a Foundry sign or visit our website, they’re already getting a taste of what we stand for. We give our clients Foundry sweatshirts when they buy or sell a home with us, which creates a conversation around our company and allows Edmontonians to showcase support for their local realtor. Our company is unlike any other brokerage in the city, and we’ve worked hard to develop a brand that reflects that.

www.thefoundryrealestateco.com

AWARDS AND HONOURS

The Foundry and I have each been awarded the Top 5% in Sales Award in 2015, 2016, and 2017 by the Edmonton Real Estate Board. This award is given to 175 of the 3500 realtors and brokerages in the city who make up the top 5% of home sales.

Last year The Foundry Real Estate Co. was awarded “Best Real Estate Brokerage in Edmonton” at the Metro Edmonton Community Choice Awards, and I was named “Top Realtor in Edmonton” in The Edmonton Journal’s Readers’ Choice Awards. In addition, I have been the go-to-realtor for Key Media International’s publications in Toronto, Auckland, London, Sydney, and Singapore regarding Edmonton real estate.

THE HOMEROOM INITIATIVE

The Foundry Real Estate Co., The Earth Group and United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)

This year, we launched The #Homeroom Initiative alongside The Earth Group and United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). With the purchase of every home, The Foundry helps provide food, clean water, and education for one child in a developing nation for a year. The #Homeroom Initiative swaps out the traditional new homeowner’s gift (a bottle of wine or a gift basket) for an Earth Group gift box containing a bottle of spring water, a bag of fair trade coffee, a box of Alberta-grown fair trade tea, and seed paper outlining the difference these homeowners have made in the life of a child by purchasing their home. Everything in the Earth Box is biodegradable (aside from the cap on the water bottle) and either locally grown or locally produced. The Earth Group is an Edmonton-based organization, and the only non-profit worldwide to work directly with WFP. This initiative is very close to my heart, as it not only welcomes homeowners into their new home with the knowledge that they have helped provide for someone in need, but is a first in the Edmonton real estate industry. By the end of this year, we project to have helped provide food, clean water, and education to 250 children in Kenya and Tajikistan.

THE TREEHOUSE INITIATIVE

The Foundry Real Estate Co. and The Carbon Farmer

In 2016 The Foundry launched and completed The #Treehouse Initiative in partnership with The Carbon Farmer. The purpose of this initiative was to offset the carbon footprint of every home we sold by planting trees in Alberta’s forests. For every square foot of property listed and sold, The Foundry and The Carbon Farmer planted the equivalent square footage of trees in the province’s forests. In the year of our partnership, we planted over 340 000 square feet of forest. For many Edmontonians, the environmental impact of their homes is a top priority, but the unfortunate reality is that many homeowners can’t afford to purchase a green home. It costs approximately 30% more to build an environmentally-friendly property, and especially for first-time homeowners or young families, it’s just not feasible. The Foundry developed this initiative alongside The Carbon Farmer as a way of giving Edmontonians a green home without incurring the extra cost.

THE FAREWELL TO WINTER PATIO PARTY

The Foundry Real Estate Co., Edmonton Economic Development Corporation and The City of Edmonton.

For the past two years, The Foundry Real Estate Co., spearheaded The Farewell to Winter Street Party with The Edmonton Economic Development Corporation and The City of Edmonton. Each year we helped thousands of Edmontonians usher in spring with a free, family and pet-friendly event in the heart of Edmonton’s downtown core. We obtained permits for all of the local bars and restaurants on Rice Howard Way to extend their patio hours for the day, hired local bands to play live music, rented bouncy castles, installed portable fire pits for marshmallow-roasting, and provided free hot chocolate and doughnuts. Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson even showed up in his Foundry gear to support the event.

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT AND SUPPORT SERVICES (YESS)

In 2014 and 2015 we raised $18,000 for Youth Empowerment and Support Service (YESS) by donating 100% of the sales of our coveted Foundry clothing. We ran the Collection for Direction Drive two years in a row where we sold Foundry sweatshirts, tee shirts, and other merchandise to raise money for YESS. We did this in conjunction with the organization’s own Homeless for a Night event, where 8 of our team members (myself included) spent a night on the streets to raise awareness and get a firsthand glimpse of the challenges faced by homeless youth. Being in the real estate industry in particular, I’ve come to realize what an immense privilege it is to own a beautiful home. I chose to partner with YESS because I wanted to show support for a local organization that offers a home to youth who aren’t allowed the same privilege so many of us are.