Before I ever showed anyone a house, I spent eight years as an accountant.

I know, not the most obvious path into real estate! But it's honestly the whole reason I work the way I do, so it feels like the right place to start.

I'm Jessica, a Realtor and co-founder of Annex Real Estate Group, brokered by eXp Realty. I work in Nanaimo, Parksville and Qualicum Beach, and I've been part of 81 transactions since I got licensed in September 2021. Before that I was a CPA, and a lot of that work was estates. I resigned the designation when I moved into real estate, so I'm not a practising CPA anymore and I don't give accounting or tax advice. What stayed with me is eight years of knowing how the numbers actually work.

So how does an accountant end up in real estate?

I grew up in Powell River, came over to Nanaimo for university, and then just never left. I think about that a lot these days, actually, because it's the same decision so many of my clients are working through when they call me from the mainland. I know what it feels like to weigh it.

My accounting career ran about eight years. I was at Grant Thornton doing estate and executor work, then at Purtzki and Associates in tax planning, and then I was Controller at Aspengrove School out in Lantzville. I really did like the work. What I missed was the people part of it. Most days, whoever I was helping was somewhere on the other side of a spreadsheet, and I wanted to be in the room with them.

Real estate turned out to be the same kind of problem with the people put back in. Someone's making the biggest financial decision of their life, usually without all the information they'd like and usually on a deadline. I already knew how to be useful in that situation. Now I get to do it sitting across the table from you.

So I got licensed in September 2021, and I've never looked back.

What the accounting background actually changes

It's not just a line on my bio, I promise. Here's where it shows up in practice.

I can tell you what something really costs. Not just the price, the actual cost. Property transfer tax, the closing costs almost everybody forgets about, what your carrying costs look like month to month, what a renovation budget honestly needs to be. I did this professionally for eight years, and I'd much rather run your numbers with you before you commit to something than after.

Complicated files don't rattle me. Estates, powers of attorney, corporate ownership, families where everyone has a slightly different opinion about what should happen. These are the ones that make a lot of agents a bit nervous, and they were most of my week for years.

And I'll tell you when the math doesn't work. Sometimes the honest answer is that a place isn't the right buy, or that this isn't the month to list. That answer costs me a commission and it's still the right answer. I think my accounting years are most of why I find it pretty easy to say out loud.

Estate and power of attorney sales

This is the work I'm best set up for, and much of the work that means the most to me.

If you're an executor, you probably didn't ask for this job. You're dealing with a house you didn't choose, often from another province or town, often while you're grieving, and sometimes with siblings who each see it a bit differently. And on top of all that there's a legal process with its own timeline that nobody sat down and explained to you.

I've been on the professional side of that process. My work at Grant Thornton was estate and executor files, so I understand what your lawyer and your accountant need from you and when they need it. I can talk to them directly, in their language, which means you're not stuck playing messenger between three different professionals while you're already exhausted.

There's one file I think about often. A client was selling her parents' home, and there's really no version of that day that's just a transaction. We got a strong offer in the first week, and what mattered to her wasn't the number so much as not having to live inside it for months.

One thing I want to be clear about: probate steps, timelines and how any of it is taxed in BC are your lawyer's and your accountant's call, not mine. What I do is handle the property side properly and stay in touch with them so nothing sits there waiting on somebody.

Homes with renovation potential

I've renovated three homes myself. Two of them meant redesigning the layout, and one involved relocating a carriage house, which was quite the project.

So when we walk through a place with an awkward floor plan, I'll be honest with you. I know what renovtions will add value to the home, and which would just be for personal preference. 

If a dated kitchen makes you want to run, that's completely fair and we'll find you something you can move straight into. But if you look at it and start wondering what it could be, we can figure out what the right moves are together. 

Where I work

Most of my business happens in Nanaimo, Parksville and Qualicum Beach, and I also work in Nanoose Bay, Lantzville and across the wider Central Island.

These places genuinely feel different from each other. Different housing stock, different lot sizes, different distance to the water and to the highway. If you're coming from the mainland and the map isn't telling you much, that's a completely normal place to be starting from, and it's a really good conversation to have early.

Questions I get asked a lot

Were you really an accountant, or is that just a line? I really was! I practised for eight years as a Chartered Professional Accountant, at Grant Thornton and Purtzki and Associates, and then as Controller at Aspengrove School. I resigned the designation when I moved into real estate, so I'm not a practising CPA now and I don't give accounting or tax advice. The training doesn't leave you though, and it shapes how I read a deal.

Do you only work on estate sales? Not at all. Estate and power of attorney files are a specialty, not a limit. I work with buyers and sellers all over Nanaimo, Parksville and Qualicum Beach, including first-time buyers.

I'm an executor and I have no idea where to start. Is it too early to talk to you? It's usually earlier than people think, so please don't feel like you need to have it figured out first. There are things worth knowing before probate is finished, and a few things you shouldn't do yet. A conversation costs you nothing and it often saves weeks.

Can you give me tax advice on a property I've inherited? No, and I'd be a bit wary of anyone who offers to without seeing your full picture. What I can do is understand the tax questions well enough to make sure the right ones get asked, and work alongside your accountant so the property side doesn't create a problem for the tax side.

I want something I can renovate. Do you help with that? Yes, and it's one of my favourite parts of the job. I've done three renovations myself, including two layout redesigns, so we can talk really honestly about cost and feasibility before you write an offer.

I'm moving over from the mainland and don't know the area at all. Where do we start? With how you want to live, rather than with listings. Commute, walkability, lot size, how close you want to be to the water. Narrow that down and the neighbourhoods start narrowing themselves.

What does it cost to work with you as a buyer? This one's worth a proper conversation, because the answer depends on the property and how it's listed. I'll walk you through it plainly before you commit to anything.

Come say hi

If any of this sounds like where you're at, send me a message and we'll set something up. No script, no pressure, and no obligation to do anything afterwards.

Jessica Venables Realtor and Co-Founder, Annex Real Estate Group, brokered by eXp Realty Nanaimo, Parksville and Qualicum Beach

Message me on Instagram @jess_ven or @annexrealestate, email jessica@annexrealestate.ca, or send me a text at 250-668-8339.