Women are making more money than ever before, yet there is still a gender pay gap and an overall lack of financial literacy in women. Meet Bianca D’Alessio, an entrepreneur, real estate expert, and star of Selling the Hamptons on Discovery+ who wants to help financially empower women.
D’Alessio knows a thing or two about money management and empowering women in a male-saturated industry, not apologizing for making more money, and what it takes to be confident in sales. D’Alessio is an avid volunteer and advocate for women. She regularly facilitates workshops in New York on topics such as opening a bank account, establishing and using lines of credit responsibly, household budgeting, and navigating the financial aid process.
D’Alessio has been around real estate her whole life but started in sales less than a decade ago. After going to business school, travelling, and facilitating leadership development for women, she took her love of working in teams and empowering women and paired it with real estate.
D’Alessio has built a team of 30 agents and became a standout broker while growing her squad quickly. She attributes her success to her team and feels it all boils down to training and mentorship. She knows she and her team are stronger working together.
D’Alessio shares these tips on building a team that goes for sales and profit:
1. Focuses sales on inspiration and collaboration
Taking the transactional aspect out of sales is essential for building long-term relationships. Relationships are what deals are all about, and one sale with a client can lead to more referrals down the road. It’s vital to be of service to your client, to want to help them, and not focus on the sales transaction.
2. Invests in her business by investing in her team
When running a team, you must understand what motivates them to sell. When you can pull each team member’s “why” out of them, you can motivate and inspire them differently. Empowering your team to make more money means understanding people’s motivations and lifestyles.
3. Empowers team to make more money
Armed with that knowledge of why they do their job, it’s essential to keep your team motivated and inspired. Checking in with them, having them share their goals, cheer them on, and truly invest in your team’s success will reap financial rewards. Keep the team excited and focused.
4. Reviews money goals with the team each quarter
Understanding your financial numbers as a leader is essential, but it should also be necessary for each team member. Having quarterly money check-ins with the team isn’t just about ensuring the group is on the right track, but each individual is working on their craft and seeing how that translates to dollars and reinvesting in themselves.
5. Believe in yourself
Although many salespeople are motivated by money, instilling a belief in themselves will go much further than solely money motivation. Creating goals that matter to them and having themselves improve on those goals year over year creates more positive results.
The bottom line is that in real estate, you need to be prepared for market changes and fluctuations and building a financially successful team will not happen overnight. D’Alessio understands the importance of portfolio diversification and protecting your financial assets and passes that information to her team and through volunteer work.
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
