Being named to Business London's 20 Under 40 list in 2015 was one of those moments that stops you — not because it changed anything operationally, but because it forced me to reflect on why we do this work, what London means to us, and what kind of business we actually want to build. More than a decade later, that reflection still shapes how we operate every day.

What the Business London 20 Under 40 Recognition Meant in 2015

The Business London 20 Under 40 award recognizes twenty professionals under the age of 40 who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, community impact, and professional achievement in London, Ontario. It has been one of the city's most respected business honours for decades — and the 2015 cohort was particularly meaningful given the diverse range of industries and individuals represented.

For me, receiving the recognition in 2015 was humbling in a specific way. Real estate can sometimes be viewed as a transactional industry — people moving through it on their way to something else. The 20 Under 40 acknowledgement felt like a validation that our approach — building genuine long-term relationships with clients, investing heavily in agent training and team culture, and treating every transaction as the significant life event it actually is — was being seen and recognized beyond our immediate circle.

It also came at a period of real growth for The Realty Firm Inc., Brokerage. The team was expanding, our systems were maturing, and we were starting to see the compounding effect of years of relationship-building in the London community. The award felt less like a destination and more like a checkpoint — a moment to look back at how far we'd come and then refocus on what we wanted to build next.

London, Ontario Real Estate: Then and Now

Looking back from 2026, the London Ontario real estate market of 2015 feels like a different era. At the time of the award, the average residential sale price in London sat near $260,000, according to LSTAR (London & St. Thomas Association of Realtors). The market was steady but largely under the radar nationally — London hadn't yet experienced the explosive price growth that would come with the 2020–2022 pandemic-era surge.

By early 2022, London's average price had climbed to nearly $825,000 — a more than three-fold increase in seven years, per LSTAR data. The city had become one of the hottest real estate markets in Canada, attracting significant GTA migration as remote work made the commute irrelevant for thousands of buyers seeking more space at lower price points than Toronto could offer.

Through all of it — the quiet market of 2015, the frenzy of 2021, the sharp correction of 2022–2023, and the gradual stabilization we're seeing in 2026 — the fundamentals that earned that 20 Under 40 recognition have remained constant: know your market, serve your clients honestly, and build for the long term.

London Average Home Price Milestones

Source: LSTAR (London & St. Thomas Association of Realtors). All figures are approximate average residential sale prices.

The Journey from 2015 to Today: Building The Realty Firm Inc.

The eleven years since the 2015 recognition have been defined by growth — but not just the transactional kind that shows up in volume numbers. The growth that matters most has been in the depth of our team, the consistency of our client experience, and the culture we've built at The Realty Firm Inc., Brokerage.

• 2015
  Business London 20 Under 40 Recognition

  Named one of London Ontario's top young business leaders. Team growing, systems maturing, and a clear vision for what The Realty Firm could become taking shape.

• 2017–2019
  Team Expansion and Agent Training Platform

  Significant investment in agent development programs and brokerage infrastructure. The Realty Firm begins attracting agents who want a culture of collaboration over competition.

• 2020–2022
  Record Transaction Volume During Pandemic Surge

  The London market's historic run tested every system the team had built. The brokerage achieved over 1,300 home sales in a single year — a milestone that reflected years of preparation meeting extraordinary demand.

• 2022–2024
  RE/MAX Hall of Fame Induction

  Inducted into the RE/MAX Hall of Fame — a recognition reserved for agents demonstrating sustained, long-term excellence. A milestone that underscored the compounding value of consistency.

• 2025–2026
  100+ Licensed Professionals Across Southwestern Ontario

  The Realty Firm now oversees more than 100 licensed real estate professionals, with a footprint that spans London and the broader Southwestern Ontario market. The same principles from 2015 drive every agent on the team today.

The Principles That Earned the Recognition — and Still Drive the Team

One thing the 20 Under 40 process forced was articulating our values clearly — not just living them, but putting them into words and making them explicit enough to build a team around. Looking back from 2026, those values are unchanged. They're more refined, but the foundation is exactly the same.

Why History and Values Matter When Choosing a London Ontario Realtor

In a market that has seen extraordinary volatility over the past decade, the value of working with an experienced, community-rooted team has never been clearer. The brokerages that thrived through the 2021 surge and the 2022–2023 correction weren't the ones chasing volume — they were the ones that had built deep enough relationships to give clients honest advice in both directions.

When you're making the largest financial transaction of your life — whether you're buying your first home in London, Ontario or selling a property that has carried years of equity and memories — you want a broker whose values were formed before the market was easy. The habits you build in slow, demanding markets are the ones that protect clients when conditions change.

What Clients Can Expect From Our Team

• Honest pricing recommendations backed by current LSTAR comparable sales data — not optimistic numbers designed to win a listing.
• Clear communication at every stage of the transaction, including when the news isn't what you were hoping to hear.
• Access to 100+ local professionals with deep neighbourhood expertise across all of London's communities.
• A broker-led transaction review process — Sandra Tavares as Broker of Record reviews contracts to ensure every client is protected.
• Long-term perspective: we measure success by whether clients come back and refer their friends, not by how many closings we process in a quarter.