Riyaz Rauf
Riyaz Rauf had an illustrious 25-year career in marketing, where he promoted and sold iconic, international brands with great success, tapping into psychology and behavior science to research and get the right products to the right people. In 2016, he took his skills, knowledge, and experience and launched into the fascinating and challenging world of real estate, joining Century 21 as a realtor. In just two years, Riyaz started consistently ranking within the top 5 performers in his brokerage, a distinction he keeps to this day. In 2021, he earned the Double Centurion Award, an honor reserved only for those who perform in the top 3% of sales in the entire nation.
Today, Riyaz works with buyers, sellers, and investors in the greater Toronto area and the Durham, Peel, Hamilton, Halton, Niagara, and York regions. Last year, he closed 82 transactions, including six for just one of his investor clients. Over his career, he has handled hundreds of more.
By his estimate, Riyaz closes a transaction about once every five days, which is quite on-brand for him. He’s known in the real estate industry and to clients as Riyaz Rauf: A House SOLD Name. “What drives me is a single-minded ambition to make every transaction a profitable and memorable one for each of my clients,” he says. And with determination, perseverance, and a deep knowledge of real estate, that’s exactly what he’s been achieving.
Riyaz not only helps clients buy and sell homes, but he creates and helps them navigate a detailed futuristic strategy for them to invest, with the ultimate goal of owning " three homes in just five years." For others, this might be a truly daunting feat, but Riyaz has been able to get clients to that goal time and again so that they can build wealth for generations to come. “On one side, my son, Rushdi Rauf, and I are realtors, but we are also real estate investors, so I understand the investment scenario from my clients’ point of view,” he says. “I truly appreciate where my clients are now and where they’d like to be in the future, and my goal is to help them get there.” To this end, Riyaz deploys his decades of marketing expertise. He likens the different product mix, segmentation, and positionings he juggled in his prior career to real estate and draws on these parallels to tailor his approach to the unique objectives of each person he serves. “To be a good marketer, you need to understand human behavior and psychology,” he explains. “Now I use that to my clients’ benefit in finding them the right homes and investments based on their individual goals and needs, not only now, but in the future. When it comes to new immigrants and 1st time home buyers, I dig deep and find out about them and help them create a roadmap for their future investments in real estate.” I am a strong advocate to accumulate real estate and not to sell as much as possible, as there are ample opportunities and creative ways to keep your home and use the equity to own more homes.
He also believes that real estate is a solid and reliable investment tool and done right will give great ROI in any economic conditions. His tag line reads, "Call two realtors before you call me at +1 647 283 1966, and know the difference."
Riyaz Rauf
Realtor — Century 21 Innovative Realty
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