Business partners and team leaders that happen to be brothers, Matt and Adam Scalena have had successful careers in real estate for years but have an interesting service that most certainly sets them apart.
“What is unique about our situation is that we have been building our real estate team for more than a decade, but in 2016 we started our Vancouver Real Estate Podcast that we host weekly,” says Matt.
The brothers share an interest in city planning and zoning, “and the culture that makes Vancouver tick. Our backgrounds have helped develop our podcast, where we bring on people every week to talk about all things real estate.”
The Scalena’s goal is to position themselves as real estate professionals, “with a deep understanding of the market that gives us a competitive advantage with sellers and buyers,” says Adam.
With high-profile guests like David Eby, Tom Davidoff, and Colin Bosa chiming in on the Greater Vancouver real estate market, offering their perspectives and valuable information, the weekly podcast has 40,000 listeners per month. “We want to have an ongoing conversation about how the city is developing,” says Matt. “The benefit for us is that it has connected us to major players in the city, and significantly helped our business.”
The podcast has been very successful, with an impressive list of accolades. It has had over a million downloads, and over two hundred positive reviews, is consistently featured in top business on iTunes Canada, and holds a place in the top one percent on Spotify’s podcasts.
However, the “biggest thing is that we have remained a top producing real estate team while we are producing this award-winning show, at the same time,” says Adam.
No easy feat, and clearly demonstrates the passion and commitment the Scalena brothers have to their clients.
Does the podcast generate business? Absolutely. “I think its partly because people have been listening to us for a while, in the car or at the gym and feel like they know us a bit. We are approachable hosts, friendly, just ordinary, everyday guys who live and breathe real estate, and our industry experience is evident. They like the show and see it adds value, and often people say it resonates with them and they want to work with us after listening,” says Matt.
Have there been any copycats? “Plenty!” laughs Adam. “There are a lot of generalist podcast shows out there, but what was unique about ours was that it is niche focused just on Vancouver, the Lower Mainland.
Matt adds, “We love Vancouver, and we love real estate. We thought we would run out of things to talk about on the show but that has never happened,” he laughs. “It’s far-reaching, and never gets boring. We are standing on the shoulders of giants, talking to leading developers and investors that have five hundred-plus revenue properties. Leading economists, urban planners, politicians, plus real estate strategy for buying and selling from our experience of selling hundreds of homes in this market.”
For more information, visit www.scalenarealestate.com or listen to their podcast at www.vancouverrealestatepodcast.com.