I built them before I sold them.

Where I come from

I grew up on a chicken farm in Aldergrove, about forty thousand birds. The full-time worker had weekends off, so that's when the four of us boys took over: a barn each, and about 3,500 eggs each a day. I had two newspaper routes on top of that.

I went to Aldergrove Secondary School, and I played soccer, baseball, lacrosse, hockey and rugby on community teams, not school ones, and kept playing for years after high school. I had my own produce store, and that's when I finished my apprenticeship and became a full-fledged Journeyman Carpenter. Once I had my ticket I started travelling to jobs. The first one was in Toronto, on the SkyDome. I was working before I was grown, and I never really stopped.

What I built

From 1980 I built homes across Canada, mostly in BC: Richmond, Langley, Aldergrove and Abbotsford. On the SkyDome, in 1986 and 87, I was a carpenter welder.

Finish work was my trade: front desks, crown mouldings, base and chair rails. Later I ran my own finishing company, Dano Construction, with employees under me. We did the finishing at the Lakeside Resort and the Penticton Convention Centre. I also did the finishing at the Ramada in Kelowna and the Best Western in Vernon, and built the long runs of desks for the Excel call centre in Penticton.

Here in Penticton I've done renovations of every kind: carriage homes, suites, whole houses, bathrooms, flooring, heating and cooling, underground sprinklers. On a farm in Willowbrook I turned an old barn into a suite and gave the log house a new bathroom.

What that means when we walk a house

Renovating older Penticton homes means I've opened up the same kind of houses you're looking at. I know what is behind the drywall, because I took it off. So I look at the things that cost money later: the foundation, the grade, the roof, the furnace and water tank, the electrical service, the plumbing, the deck and the retaining walls.

I'll tell you what I see, good and bad, in the same tone. None of it replaces a home inspection. It tells you which houses are worth paying an inspector to look at, and what to ask them.

Who I work with

Most of my work is downsizing: people selling the family home, often one they've lived in for a long time, and buying what may be the last one. A good share of my buyers come from Calgary and Edmonton. Most of my business comes from past clients and their referrals.

My own mother moved to Penticton, and she lives here now. When I tell people this is a good place to land, that's where it comes from.

The credentials, plainly

• REALTOR® with Royal LePage Locations West Realty since 2004
• Red Seal Journeyman Carpenter, in the trade since 1980
• Real Estate License #1118346, British Columbia Financial Services Authority (BCFSA)
• Personal Real Estate Corporation (PREC)
• Royal LePage 20-year achievement award, and Platinum, Diamond and Gold office awards
• Luxury Home Marketing Specialist, e-PRO, Internet Marketing Specialist
• Business Administration diploma, Okanagan University College
• Penticton Chamber of Commerce member since 2004

For seven years I ran an annual Pumpkin Giveaway that raised money for the SPCA.

If you're comparing agents, here's what I'd ask any of us: How to choose a REALTOR® in the South Okanagan.