> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.realtymag.ca/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Exclusive Interview with Riju Vashisht — Team Homees, Kigo Realty Inc., Brokerage - URL: https://www.realtymag.ca/exclusive-interview-with-riju-vashisht/ - Published: 2026-09-06T20:43:20.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-06T20:47:31.000Z - Author: Techrangle - Tags: For Buyers, For Sellers, Real Estate, For Realtors, For Brokers, For Agents, Deals, Closing, Interviews --- ![](https://www.realtymag.ca/content/images/2026/09/Riju-Image.png) *"Hello readers! 😊 Here we are with yet another exclusive interview session — but this one is a little special. For years, the man asking the questions on this platform has been* [*Riju Vashisht*](https://homees.ca/team/riju-vashisht?ref=realtymag.ca)*, Director at* [*Techrangle Inc.*](https://www.techrangle.com/?ref=realtymag.ca) *.Today, the tables turn. Riju is now a registered Real Estate Agent with* [*Team Homees*](https://homees.ca/team/about?ref=realtymag.ca) *at Kigo Realty Inc., Brokerage — and this time, he's the one in the hot seat. We really hope you'll enjoy this session as much as you enjoyed the last one." 😊* [**Riju Vashisht**](https://homees.ca/team/riju-vashisht?ref=realtymag.ca) is a registered Ontario Real Estate Agent (Salesperson, registered with RECO) with Team Homees at Kigo Realty Inc., Brokerage, serving Brampton, Mississauga, Caledon, Peel Region and the Waterloo Region. His mission is simple: help first-time buyers stop paying hefty rent and make home ownership a reality. He has helped hundreds of families across the GTA turn rent money into equity, and specializes in first-time buyers, multiplex investments, and the Down Payment Boost program. What makes Riju's story unusual is the road he took to get here. Before real estate, he spent 15+ years in the technology industry — data analytics, automation and AI systems — and founded Techrangle Inc., a Toronto technology and marketing studio. That background shows up in everything he does as an agent: every number in writing, every home analysed before you see it, and a set of free data tools at [Homees.ca](https://homees.ca/?ref=realtymag.ca) that clients keep for life. 🎥 **Watch: Meet Riju** [https://elcrolyvljgwzr3e.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/team/riju.mp4](https://elcrolyvljgwzr3e.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/team/riju.mp4?ref=realtymag.ca) **Now, let's dive into the session between Realty Mag editor Tanveer Dhiman and** [**Riju Vashisht**](https://homees.ca/team/riju-vashisht?ref=realtymag.ca) **of Team Homees. 😊** --- > **Tanveer:** "Hi Riju, welcome to your own Exclusive interview session! You've asked these questions to so many successful realtors over the years — how does it feel to be on the other side?" > **Riju:** "Hi Tanveer! Honestly, it feels a little strange and a lot of fun. 😊 I've had the privilege of interviewing some amazing people on this platform — renown agents and brokers of GTA — and every one of them taught me something I ended up using in my own business. So I guess this interview has been fifteen years in the making. Thank you for having me." > **Tanveer:** "Let's start where you always start. Tell us about your journey — how did a technology guy end up selling real estate?" > **Riju:** "It wasn't an accident, it just took a long time. I've spent over 15 years in IT — data analytics, automation, and in recent years AI systems — and I founded Techrangle, where we built websites and marketing for realtors and brokerages across Ontario. That's actually how i was introduced to real estate and what is so novel about this profession and my intered about this industry was born. Sitting on that side of the table, I watched hundreds of transactions from the outside and kept seeing the same thing: buyers making the biggest financial decision of their lives based on feelings and pressure, not numbers. Meanwhile I'm a data person — I couldn't understand why nobody was handing clients the comparables, the carrying costs, the resale history, in writing, before they fell in love with a home. Eventually I stopped complaining about it and got licensed. Team Homees is the answer to that frustration: real estate that starts with the math, not the sale." > **Tanveer:** "Tell us about Team Homees and Kigo Realty. What have you built so far?" > **Riju:** "Team Homees is a team of Kigo Realty Inc., Brokerage. Between us we cover Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon and the Waterloo Region, and we work in five languages — English, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil and Malayalam — so every question gets asked and every answer lands. My teammate Sreekumar Rajan owns the Ajax , Pickering and Whitby ground and specializes in seller & buyer representation; I focus on Brampton, Peel and the Waterloo Region, with first-time buyers, reidential, commercial, business, investments and pre-construction. And behind the team is the part I'm proudest of: Homees.ca, our own technology platform which can help home buyers and get a lot of tools and calculators, market data. We call it 'Homees for life': you can ask us anything about real estate, this year or in five years, with no file open, no invoice, and no pressure." > **Tanveer:** "This is the question you've asked everyone — if someone approaches you, how do you help? What are your initial steps?" > **Riju:** "Ha! Fair enough. 😊 It starts with what I call the honest first call — twenty minutes on your budget, your timeline and what actually matters to you. And here's the part people don't expect: if now is the wrong time for you to buy, I'll tell you exactly that, and follow up in six months. From there, every home you shortlist arrives with numbers attached — comparables, price history, taxes, condo fees and a monthly carrying cost — before we ever book the showing. Then the offer strategy goes on paper: what the street has actually traded at this year, where the sellers stand, and offer scenarios built so you never overpay. After closing, you keep the Homees tools to track your home's value, and my phone number doesn't stop working. Four steps, written down, no surprises." > **Tanveer:** "How do you differentiate yourself from other agents? What exceptional services do you provide?" > **Riju:** "Most agents show you homes. I show you the decision. That's the difference in one line. Practically, it means three things. First, numbers in writing, not opinions — anyone can say 'this is a great area,' but I'll show you what the street traded at, what it costs to hold every month, and what it resells for. Second, direct access — you reach me, not a call centre. Same-day replies on WhatsApp, evenings and weekends included, in Hindi, Punjabi or English. Third, the technology. Because of my Techrangle background, we built our own tools instead of renting someone else's — calculators, market data, listing analysis — and clients get all of it free. My promise is simple and testable: send me any Peel or Waterloo Region address and you'll have a written market read within 24 hours. Judge the expertise on the work itself." > **Tanveer:** "You mention 'KIGO' on your pages. What does that stand for?" > **Riju:** "Knowledge, Integrity, Growth, Opportunity — four commitments you can actually hold us to. Knowledge means every recommendation comes with its sources, so you can check my work. Integrity means if the right answer is wait, or walk away, that's the advice you get in writing — even when it costs me the deal. Growth means we treat a home as a wealth decision and plan the move after this one too. And Opportunity means I watch Peel and the Waterloo Region daily for mispriced homes, quiet relistings and neighbourhoods where your budget suddenly buys more. If I break one of the four, tell me." > **Tanveer:** "Your stated mission is helping first-time buyers stop paying rent. Why that focus?" > **Riju:** "Because rent in the GTA is brutal, and every month it goes out the door it builds someone else's equity. I've now helped hundreds of families across the GTA turn rent money into equity, and the pattern is almost always the same: they thought home ownership was further away than it actually was. Nobody had sat down with them and done the math — what they qualify for, what the real monthly carrying cost looks like against their rent, and what programs like our Down Payment Boost can do to close the gap. First-time buyers get the same full analysis my investor clients get. Honestly, they need it more, because they have the least room for a mistake." > **Tanveer:** "What has been your favourite deal so far?" > **Riju:** "Two come to mind, and they're both negotiation stories. Two first-time buyers had their eye on a condo listed at $500K. The comparables said the building was trading lower — so we negotiated from the data, not the listing price, and closed at $450K. Fifty thousand dollars is years of savings for a young couple. The other was a semi-detached listed at $940K. Days on market, street history and the seller's position all pointed one way — my client walked in with a written strategy and walked out under $850K. That's what I mean when I say negotiation is where an agent earns their fee. The listing price is the seller's opinion. The comparables are the truth." > **Tanveer:** "What are the challenges you face as a Realtor?" > **Riju:** "The biggest one is expectations shaped by the wrong era. Sellers anchored to 2022 peak prices, buyers waiting for a crash that the data doesn't support — my job is to bring both back to what the street is actually doing this month, and that's an emotional conversation as much as a mathematical one. The second challenge is trust. Our industry has earned some of its reputation, and a lot of people walk in expecting to be sold to. The only cure I've found is radical transparency — every number in writing, every recommendation with sources — and letting people verify the work before they commit." > **Tanveer:** "What's your current take on the market — conditions, supply, demand and the other variables?" > **Riju:** "This is a market that rewards prepared buyers and punishes wishful pricing. On the resale side across Peel and the Waterloo Region, well-priced homes still move and stale listings sit — the spread between the two has rarely been wider, which is exactly why data matters more than ever. The most dramatic story, though, is pre-construction. The investor-driven pre-con model has essentially frozen and is being rebuilt around end users — real families who intend to live in the homes. Builders are offering incentives we haven't seen in years: extended deposit structures, capped development charges, real closing credits. For an end-user buyer who understands the contract, this is quietly one of the better pre-con windows in a decade. For someone who signs without reading, it's as dangerous as ever." > **Tanveer:** "You track every pre-construction launch in the GTA. Buying from a builder — what should people know?" > **Riju:** "That it's a completely different game from resale, and you should know the game before you sign it. Floor plans instead of showings, deposits spread over years, and a contract written by the builder's lawyers. I take every pre-con client through the same journey: first, home type and real budget — what the deposit structure looks like year by year. Second, a project and builder shortlist compared on facts — delivery track record, levies, closing costs, incentives — not a sales centre's renderings. Third, we read the entire agreement together — deposit schedule, development charge caps, assignment rights, occupancy fees — and I connect you with a lawyer for the formal review period. Fourth, I stay on the file from deposit to keys, through pre-delivery inspection, interim occupancy and final closing — the years it takes, not just the day you sign. And here's the thing most buyers don't know: the price is the same with or without your own agent. The builder pays my fee either way. What changes is what you walk away with." > **Tanveer:** "Do you feel technology is beneficial for selling homes as opposed to the traditional view? This must be your favourite question." > **Riju:** "😊 It is, and my answer is probably different from most agents'. Everyone says 'yes, I use social media.' I'd go further — I think the next five years of real estate belong to agents who treat technology as infrastructure, not decoration. At Homees we've built our own platform: listing search, mortgage and affordability calculators, market data, automated follow-up, AI-assisted analysis behind the scenes. But here's my honest caveat as a tech guy: technology should never replace judgment, it should inform it. An algorithm can tell you what a street traded at; it can't sit with a nervous first-time buyer at 9pm and tell them honestly whether to walk away. The tools do the math. The human does the advice. The agents who get that combination right will be very hard to compete with." > **Tanveer:** "How do you use the internet and social media in your business?" > **Riju:** "For education first, promotion second. Coming from the content side — we've been publishing Realty Mag since 2020 — I learned that valuable, honest content builds trust that no ad budget can buy. So the strategy is simple: market breakdowns, buyer education, pre-con guides, the awkward questions most agents avoid, across Instagram, Facebook and the blog. And WhatsApp is genuinely the backbone of my client experience — one thread on your phone from the first question to the day you get your keys. No portals, no email chains, no callback queues." > **Tanveer:** "If readers — first-time buyers, investors, or fellow agents — want to gain some knowledge or work with you, how can they approach you?" > **Riju:** "The fastest way is WhatsApp — the button is right on [my page](https://homees.ca/team/riju-vashisht?ref=realtymag.ca), and I reply the same day, evenings and weekends included. If you want to test how I work before committing to anything, send me one address in Peel or the Waterloo Region and you'll get a written market read within 24 hours, free. You can also browse listings and use the free tools at [Homees.ca](https://homees.ca/?ref=realtymag.ca), and read my market analysis here on [Realty Mag](https://www.realtymag.ca/). And if you're looking in Toronto or Mississauga proper, that's [Sreekumar's ground](https://homees.ca/team/sreekumar-rajan?ref=realtymag.ca) — I'll connect you directly." > **Tanveer:** "How did you become successful in this business?" > **Riju:** "I'm careful with the word 'successful' — ask me again in ten years. 😊 But whatever traction I have comes from three things. Preparation: fast replies, every number written down, and no pressure to buy anything — preparation is my edge. Honesty as a strategy, not a slogan: I'd rather answer honestly and lose the deal than win it the other way, and it turns out that's also the best long-term business model, because those people come back and bring their friends. And leverage from my past life: fifteen years of building systems means my clients get an operation that runs like a tech company but talks like a neighbour." > **Tanveer:** "Finally — the question you've closed almost every interview with. Any knowledgeable words for fellow realtors and upcoming salespeople?" > **Riju:** "Two things. First, pick the client you want to serve and build everything around them — I picked the first-time buyer drowning in rent, and every tool, every process, every piece of content flows from that choice. When you try to be everything to everyone, you're nothing to anyone. Second — and I say this with love as someone who spent years building websites for agents — your brand is not your logo. Your brand is whether your numbers were right and whether you answered the phone. Get those two things right and the rest is just amplification. Oh, and off the clock: go to the gym and keep a hobby. Mine is a stubborn gaming BF3 on my PC habit. This business will eat your whole life if you let it. 😊" > **Tanveer:** "That's really phenomenal, Riju! After years of you sharing everyone else's story, it was wonderful to finally share yours. We really appreciate you educating our readers about your business and the market. Take care — it was nice talking to you!" --- We really hope that you guys loved our exclusive interview session with Riju Vashisht. You can reach Riju on WhatsApp via [his Homees page](https://homees.ca/team/riju-vashisht?ref=realtymag.ca), or meet the whole team at [homees.ca/team/about](https://homees.ca/team/about?ref=realtymag.ca). If you are a Brokerage, Realtor, or Salesperson and would like to be our guest for a future exclusive interview, email us at [admin@techrangle.com](mailto:admin@techrangle.com). Disclaimer: If you have any concerns or queries, or you find any incorrect information, please email us at [admin@techrangle.com](mailto:admin@techrangle.com).