About Me - Michael Blackler B.Comm. M.B.A. Real Estate Broker, Oakviile, Burlington, Mississauga, Realtor, Royal LePage

Professional Background

I am originally from Ottawa, Ontario where I attended Carleton University graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) program. After accepting relocation to Toronto with a former employer, I completed my Masters of Business Administration degree at York University over the course of 3 ½ years of part time study.

I am a former senior real estate executive having completed over $2 billion in real estate transactions including in excess of $300 million in property sales and was most recently Senior Vice President & Managing Director Real Estate Capital Markets-Canada for a large global financial institution. Among other senior roles in the industry, I was also the former Managing Director Canadian Operations and the Senior Officer in Canada for a global real estate brokerage and investment advisory company. I have handled large and small transactions, in markets across Canada and in almost all real estate asset classes. With over 22 years in the real estate business, a licensed Real Estate Sales Representative, a Licensed Real Estate Broker and a Licensed Mortgage Broker , I bring an uncommon range of senior real estate executive experience to the profession and look forward to serving my existing as well as new clients, as part of the Royal LePage Oakville team.

During my professional career I have been guided by an unwavering commitment to a few key guiding principles and manner of conduct. Simply put, these are some of my core values:

Dedication: To my client’s goals and objectives and ensuring an overall “Execution with Excellence”. As has been said elsewhere, “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.”

Perseverance: To get the job done even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

Passion: To succeed, not only as measured against my personal goals but primarily by ensuring my client’s goals are achieved.

Empathy: All of us have “life situations” in our professional and personal lives and I believe a measure of a man is the degree of empathy he shows toward his fellow man, particularly in times of adversity.

Resilience: Challenging situations build character and those of you who like me, have weathered a few ups and downs over the years including a couple real estate recessions, can identify with this. These events build character and help us weather the next storm.

Balance: As hard working and driven that most of us are, we all need balance in our lives. A long and successful career needs to be balanced with the pursuit of other pleasures in life, including giving back to our communities to help those in need. I am proud to have been an active resident of Oakville for over 19 years and counting.

I assure you that when you entrust me with being your Real Estate Agent for the purpose of selling your home or helping you find and secure your new one, you will receive the same exemplary level of service that I have continuously built my career reputation on. You have a seemingly unlimited amount of choice available to you when you choose to hire a REALTOR just as you have choice when hiring any other service professional. My advice is to choose wisely and select the best Professional for the job. I invite you to review my "Checklist for Choosing a Realtor" guide available in the menu to the left to help you consider some of the important factors to consider. It would be my privilege to serve YOU!

I believe it's also important to get to know your REALTOR on a personal basis so for the benefit of my future clients that have honoured me with visiting my website today I want to share with you some personal adventure insights that hopefully provides a means to get to know me a little bit and perhaps form the basis of our inititial conversation!

Personal Interests & Hobbies:

My wife and I have had the very good fortune to have been blessed with three great children that are all now young adults and college or university graduates. Two of the three will be pursuing Master level studies in their chosen disciplines in the coming year while the other will be starting his working career.

I have always loved a good adventure and the thrill of exploring and discovering new things. While my business career enabled me to travel to many different countries over the years we have also travelled extensively as a family on vacation. As I was writing this I thought it might be insightful to share with you a few pictures and “quotations” that may capture the essence of a few of my favourite “guiding principles”.

DISCOVERY

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do…

…..EXPLORE…. DREAM….DISCOVER…

Mark Twain

FEARLESSNESS:

With three fellow rafters here we are testing ourselves against the Level 4 White Water rafting currents of a major Costa Rica river. The route took nearly 1 hour to complete and consisted of nearly constant “white water” rapids and even waterfalls of nearly 10 feet in height.

At some point during this run I thought of the words of an old African proverb “Smooth seas do not make skilful sailors” and wondered if I could muster the courage to some day try open ocean sailing. For now I think I will prefer to putter around calmer waters on a Hobicat in the Caribbean while enjoying the odd rush from taking a parasailing tour of the coast while securely harnessed in.

CHALLENGING:

“We will either find a way or will make one”

During the winter ski season we frequently go to challenge the beautiful runs of Lake Louise, Alberta. On one particular trip the temperatures fell to –25 Celsius without wind-chill. At this temperature your ski suit continually crackles, the snow crunches under your skis as your cutting through it, and the peace and serenity of it is unbelievable.

The real fun starts when you go into the higher elevations and pick your route through the open areas. I get a real kick out of the directional sign pitched on top of the mountain showing distances to major world cities. Have you seen it?

ENDURANCE:

“Never give up, keep your thoughts and your mind on your goal”

Tom Bradley

On a special holiday we went down to the Grand Canyon and spent a couple of weeks in the area exploring the Canyon, Scottsdale and other sites. Our Grand Canyon tour was amazing as this entailed exploring the canyon walls while riding a cantankerous 7-foot tall mule along pathways that were no more than three feet wide and in many cases seemed over a mile or more above the Canyon floor.

On reaching the Canyon floor we stayed overnight at the famous Phantom Ranch then mounted up the next morning before the roosters woke and started the trek out. This trip is not for the weak hearted or those with a fear of heights. Once you “GO” by entering the pathway you endure by keeping focused and reminding the mule that you are in charge, otherwise the mule becomes the boss. A highly recommended trip!

DISCOVERY:

If getting close to nature with a little added excitement were your cup of tea then I would highly recommend zip lining in the Montedevedo rain forest. If I recall correctly I think there were some 14 elevated platforms from which the guides launched you along the zip-line. Some runs were as long as 1000 feet between platforms and were very high above the jungle floor.

Braking was by means of pulling down on the cable with your gloved hands so that you didn’t crash into each platform. The combination of your speed and the tautness of the cable made a sweet humming sound as you flew along the line. A great way to discover a wide variety of wildlife from the air and later, during ground tours.

ADVENTURE:

“To a great experience one thing is essential-an experiencing nature”

Walter Bogehat

Sometimes life’s setbacks give rise to new opportunities. With the global restructuring occurring in the financial services industry my Real Estate Capital Markets business in Canada was affected so my wife and I decided to take sometime to partake in a trans Atlantic repositioning cruise and explore a bit of Europe. Over a period of 21 days we flew to Italy and cruised around the Mediterranean stopping in nine ports of call. I am always amazed by what you can learn by exploring new situations and engaging in conversation with people of different backgrounds, cultures and overall life experiences. Of course the scenery was fantastic and the memories will last a lifetime.

To add to this particular adventure, this ship was hit hard with a case of the Norwalk virus and soon took on the characteristics of a floating, quarantined hospital ship-the story even made the Toronto Star. The return trip sure felt like a long time at sea. Oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained!

BALANCE:

We all need balance in our lives. As hard working and driven as many of us are we all need to take time occasionally to smell the roses. I hope by sharing some of these adventures and experiences with you that at a minimum you come away with a sense that I work hard but also try to make time to enjoy other pursuits in life. I would love to have the opportunity to meet you and engage in a conversation about your life’s experiences and hopefully we can talk a bit about real estate along the way! Lets see where our conversation takes us!