As the son of a real estate broker Paul D’Atri whose brother Leonard D’Atri was also in real estate, and a grandson of an Italian immigrant residential builder, I grew up with the fundamentals of real estate around the dinner table. I learned about both the boom and the bust. Although groomed for this business from an early age, I avoided it until my late 20’s. After two years in college, I spent a couple of years in Europe, then three years in construction and renovation contracting. In July 1979, I came into the brokerage with a specific business plan in mind. I knew that this was a business that could generate significant cash flows but that those cash flows were cyclical in nature. So my plan was to create a hedge based on real property holdings:
First was to build the cash flow through my own personal sales production and that of the office. Then to acquire a building for our offices that had additional rental units so as to pay for itself, and create a diversified income stream to reduce dependence on the brokerage market cycles.
The next step was to leverage this foundation to acquire other income producing properties. First single family properties, then multi-family properties. Finally in 1987 in avoidance of rent controls we consolidated our holdings and applied our development and construction expertise to enter the newly evolving self storage industry. We now hold 21 acres of prime real estate in the GTA with over 300 000 square feet of leasable spaces and still hold the original office building.
From the beginning, after returning from Europe with enough money to pay first and last month’s rent on a flat in downtown Toronto, my game plan was to double our net worth annually. This is easy at the numbers most people live with, although few people do the calculation. It gets a little difficult as the numbers get to where I’m at. I currently target a 3-5 year horizon. During these years I have maintained a successful sales and brokerage career and together with my wife Nelleke have raised four sons. Francis, who is my right hand in the business is also a licensed broker who earned $65,000.00 in gross commissions his first year straight out of high school. Adrian graduated from the University of Toronto and is working as an engineer in Vancouver. Race is studying architecture at the Carleton University in Ottawa. My youngest, Erich, is starting a Business Management program at Queen’s University.
For recreation, I enjoy cruising with my yacht out of Victoria Harbour through the 1000 Islands of the Georgian Bay, as well as windsurfing.
