Feature Article

LAPRAIRIE A TRAILBLAZER OF THE INDUSTRY

Written By: Dan Leahul
Published By: Calgary Real Estate News
Article Used with permission of the Calgary Real Estate Board. © Copyright Calgary Real Estate News, 2007
2008-05-15

Before Ernie Laprairie explains the subtleties of Calgary’s real estate market and how the dynamic industry has adjusted and adapted since he began his career 36 years ago with Arthur L. Lee agencies, he will often offer a whirlwind tour through his pride and joy; a state-of-the-art homebuying facility north of Douglasbank Park in the city’s southeast.

Laprairie is the owner and broker of Jayman Realty Inc., a very successful subsidiary of Jayman MasterBUILT, which specializes in new home sales across Calgary. But it wasn’t always like this.

“When I started in 1972 with Britannia Realty, they said I was too young. They also said that I didn’t smoke cigars and didn’t read the newspaper,” laughs Laprairie. “But they let me clean the office at night and empty the ashtrays after the firm’s REALTORS® had gone home for the evening.

After the short term office cleaning career, he got his first glint of a radiant career in the industry. Soon after his work with Britannia Real Estate, Laprairie answered a help wanted ad in the local newspaper, for Arthur L. Lee agencies, owned by Arthur Lee, a former president of the Calgary Real Estate Board. The firm was subsequently purchased by Block Bros. Realty out of Vancouver.

“On my first day, Art took us out in his big white Lincoln. It was myself and two other young men. He dropped us off in the street and said, ‘Go knock on some doors and ask those people if the want to sell their home,” he recalls.

Exiting the car, that’s when Laprairie froze. “I physically couldn’t do it,” says Laprairie. “Art told me, ‘You’ll never make it in real estate if you can’t find homes to sell.’”

He was spurned, but also inspired. He decided instead of selling pre-owned homes, he would go directly to the source and contact the homebuilders to sell new product; they had lots of homes to sell.

“I picked up the yellow pages and started calling every homebuilder, starting with As, Bs, Cs,” he said. “The first company to show any interest was in the Bs, B&H; Homes.”

Laprairie remembers that particularly during the ‘70s it was “extremely tough during those times. They invited me to buy them lunch… and long story short, B&H; Homes 36 years later is now Jayman.”

However, the “long story short” was also noted as a particularly rough patch for Calgary real estate. Laprairie was working in a basement of a south Calgary bungalow, his business partners set up offices in the other parts of the home, namely the garage and master bedroom.

Interest rates had nearly tripled and Calgarians were losing their homes. Even B&H; Homes Calgary Ltd. was susceptible to the wildly swinging economy, and soon found itself in hard times as well.

“There were many wild swings, but it always came back to being beneficial to owning a new home and that’s how I got started,” he says.

Jayman Realty was established in 1993 as a facet of Jayman’s integrated homeselling services. Knowing that many customers had to sell a current home as part of the building process, it seemed natural to offer realty services and coordinate them with the new home purchase.

Laprairie is currently the broker for 12 pre-owned agents, 40 new homes salespersons with over 50 show homes across the city in 15 different locations.

“It’s a joy to come to work everyday,” he says. “It has to be or else I wouldn’t be here.”

Throughout his 36-year career, Laprairie has always embraced the new technology that made the home buying process faster, easier and simply put; better for the buyer.

Laprairie claims to have owned the city’s first fax machine, which cost $2,200 and required a two-hour training session to use. He also owned on of Calgary’s first mobile phones.

Jayman was one of the first real estate companies to take advantage of the Internet during its prevalence in the late 1990s. In fact, the Jayman history is a large list of firsts.

“I sold the first home in Marlborough, and the early homes in the Properties” says Laprairie. “It sold for $19,000 and the down payment was $100 which was usually borrowed from a friend or parent and the bank would finance the rest.”

Just looking at the numbers, it becomes clear that Calgary’ real estate industry is a much different place than it was 36 years ago. But what hasn’t changed is the valuable role REALTORS® play in the home buying process.

“The secrets for success are the same,” he said. “You have to be totally dedicated, 12 hours a day minimum, seven days a week. It was all we thought about—real estate.”

This article was written for Calgary Real Estate News, a division of the Calgary Real Estate Board, for the series “Legends of Real Estate” showcasing important members of the Calgary Real Estate Board. Please visit the Calgary Real Estate Board online.This article is part of the collection of the Calgary Real Estate News. Please visit them online.