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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Micah Johnson interviews Nico James-Bock, a real estate broker and creator of CondoWiz, a comprehensive database for condominiums and multi-unit residential properties in Canada. Nico discusses the challenges he faced in the condo market, the need for a centralized database, and how CondoWiz addresses these issues by providing quick access to vital information. The conversation also covers the app’s target audience, future developments, and the importance of accurate data in real estate transactions.
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Nico James-Bock (00:00)
Yes, that’s reallythe whole point is it saves time. Time is an extremely valuable commodity. We’re complaining all the time that we don’t have enough of it. This particular product is a massive, massive time saver. And it’s a benefit to those who are not only looking for you know their next place to live.
But for those investors who are wanting to improve or increase their portfolio, they can quickly find those asset classes that are performing well. Because that’s also another component of the database. It’s not just static data. It’s building intelligence.
Micah Johnson (02:12)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Micah Johnson. And today I’m joined by Nico who’s been making serious moves in the condo space specifically in Canada. Nico, welcome in. Great to have you.Nico James-Bock (02:26)
It’s my pleasure to be on your podcast episode.Micah Johnson (02:32)
I’m excited for you to be here. I’ve enjoyed our pre-recording talk. I think our listeners are really going to take something away from really just your expertise when it comes to the condo world, what you’ve gone through and built to learn and make sure that you’re someone that knows what’s happening in that space. So let’s dive in. So for people who may not know you yet, what is your main focus and what markets are you operating in?Nico James-Bock (02:56)
I am a real estate broker in the Toronto GTHA area in southern Ontario. My focus is on multi-unit residential and industrial asset classes. So I developed a database called CondoWiz, and it’s currently available as an app.for iOS and Android devices. And it is a comprehensive database that includes not just condominiums, although that is the primary or the major asset class, but it also includes co-ops, purposeful rental buildings, hotels, long-term care facilities like retirement homes, leaseholds, as well as common elements condos, which are very, very difficult to find.
My areas include ⁓ Toronto GTHA, which includes Hamilton, as well as Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Those are all represented within the database.
Micah Johnson (04:01)
Okay. So what, what led you to building condo is what was it that said, know what, need to create something because this tool needs to exist.Nico James-Bock (04:12)
Toronto has been condo central for very long time, roughly about 14 or so years when there was an explosion of development which continues to this day. At the time when I started to build the database, I was working with two unrelated clients whowho were bombarding me with lot of questions with regards to all of the activity that was in and around the city, as well as the building information of the building in which I was showing them around a specific unit. So they were asking me who the builder was, when was the building built, what’s going on across the street, and then they would jump all the way over to the other end of the city and ask about what’s going on.
at a random intersection. And on some occasions, I was able to answer the questions, but mostly I’d have to say, I’d get back to you, and I got tired of doing that. so rather than having to always go to five or six different sources in order to answer my clients’ questions, I wanted to have the answers in the palm of my hand in under three seconds. So I went about building a database. So I built a database.
for me personally so that I can answer my clients’ questions. And then when it became obvious that this could be useful to other realtors, as soon as they got a whiff of it and were basically amazed by how quickly I was able to answer these questions, it became clear to me that it could be of use to other realtors. So I hired an app developer to develop an app to make my private database available to the public.
Micah Johnson (06:40)
Man, that’s fantastic. You saw that need just through simply going through the pain of it, which is how so many things come to be. You’re in the middle of it, you’re dealing with it, you’re getting these same questions for however long you were having to look it up all over the place, taking a massive amount of time, then it hits you. Okay, this may take me a little time to build, but if I build this right, I’m gonna save massive amounts of time later. And that led into…Nico James-Bock (06:46)
Yeah.Yes, yes.
Micah Johnson (07:07)
Heck man, a whole new product, a whole new thing to sell to people. So that’s fantastic.Nico James-Bock (07:12)
Yes, that’s reallythe whole point is it saves time. Time is an extremely valuable commodity. We’re complaining all the time that we don’t have enough of it. This particular product is a massive, massive time saver. And it’s a benefit to those who are not only looking for you know their next place to live.
But for those investors who are wanting to improve or increase their portfolio, they can quickly find those asset classes that are performing well. Because that’s also another component of the database. It’s not just static data. It’s building intelligence.
So building intelligence involves those changes that happen within those living communities.
Micah Johnson (07:53)
No.Nico James-Bock (07:59)
So through CondoWiz, I am now in the process of developing an add-on sort of product, which will be revealed soon, but it is a comprehensive website, so it’s not just an app anymore. It’ll be a website that people can look up all of the information by just using a browser. the uhweb version will obviously be backward compatible to the apps. So people who sign up through the web will have immediate access to their respective version of the app and vice versa. People who sign up through the app will also have access to the web so they can do their searches directly in no time at all because in under three seconds, that’s really what the,
goal is of CondoWiz, it’s to be able to provide you with your answers in under three seconds. And there really isn’t any other tool out there like that.
Micah Johnson (08:58)
No, I haven’t heard of one, especially specifically to condos, because condos are their own thing in the world of real estate. They are very, very much their own animal. And I’ve even seen a lot of investors not mess with them at all just because of how quote unquote tedious they seem to be. There was all these different parts of the contract and the condo association and who does what, when and where. And there was just, it seemed like so much confusion around it where it looks like that’s what you’ve been clearing up andNico James-Bock (09:02)
Yes.Micah Johnson (09:27)
You said it just a second ago. Now uh investors are even using it. So originally it started for you. Then you got realtors on board and now it’s expanding out into more more people. Who do you, besides that, who do you find is really finding value in using this tool?Nico James-Bock (10:18)
It’s anyone who is interested in the multi-unit asset class. So it’s the university student, for example, who needs a place to live. Now they have they can see the options in one location because obviously university student residences are jam-packed and they often don’t have the available space for universities. So the next natural place to look isa condominium. So there are different types though. There are purposeful rental buildings that are exclusively for rental and that’s what the university student is looking for. But also there are rentals that are offered by investors of condominiums that offer the unit that they’ve purchased for rent. So all of that information, all of that inventory is available in one spot.
the person doesn’t have to go outside of it in order to find it. Even the business person that’s coming to any of these major centers, they have access because they have access to all of the available residential accommodations, not only hotels, but those same purposeful rental buildings, condominiums that are offered for lease or for rent.
short-term and long-term. So it becomes a business tool as well because saving time in finding out where you’re going to stay and eventually perhaps live and work is huge for anyone.
Micah Johnson (11:56)
Yeah. I mean, folks that move across places, get transferred with companies. One of the biggest stress they deal with is where am going to live? What am I going to do? I’m going to somewhere I don’t know, never been. How do I even look this stuff up? And when, like you were saying before, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you don’t know the five to six places to go look. You find it on one spot and then that’s all you think that there is. So by giving access,Nico James-Bock (12:01)
All the time.Micah Johnson (12:22)
to the assets that are really available, you’re serving a large amount of people in the space.Nico James-Bock (12:28)
Yes, exactly. ⁓ And people also need to be aware of the differences between short-term rental and long-term rental and which areas allow both of those types. So that’s also a time saver because a person that is looking for a short-term rental can stumble upon a unit that is for lease, for example, and not knowing thatthe owner of that unit is not authorized to offer that as a short-term rental because in the City of Toronto there are bylaws that prohibit short-term rental. So through CondoWiz those descriptions are present. It indicates those areas that are short-term rental. Obviously hotels are a natural given because they are by definition for short-term rental. But if you want to stay a little bit longer in another
place, you can find that within the app or the database because there are clear indicators as to where you are authorized to stay.
Micah Johnson (13:39)
which lets your user kind of graduate with it. You may have someone that comes in and needs just that quick STR, find a place to stay. Then they’re like, okay, I’m enjoying it here more. can go back to the app. Yeah, I can go back to the app and see what that next level is, what I need. And it’s interesting. Midterm rentals is something that’s popping off in America right now too, because we’ve had a lot of laws come down about short-term rentals. Same thing as Toronto, not every city likes them.Nico James-Bock (13:42)
Exactly.I wanna stay!
Exactly. Yeah.
Sorry.
Mm-hmm.
Micah Johnson (14:48)
Or I’m not in a big town. I’m in St. Augustine, Florida, but we have areas here now where there are rules. And if you want one, the waiting list is years long. It is very hard to get a license to have one. And we’re a tourist driven area. So being able to one know you nailed it. The rules of it, like you don’t want to be caught living in a place you’re not supposed to be. That is not.Nico James-Bock (14:48)
No.Yeah.
And there are many, there are many many realtors
who advertise short-term rentals in specific buildings, and it’s not the case. Now with CondoWiz, you can go in, look up the building, and you can see literally which one will allow short-term rental, because it will say Airbnb-friendly, and the others that don’t have that description are off limits to short-term rental, period. That saves time.
It saves money, it saves headaches, and it saves professionalism as well if you are working with a realtor.
Micah Johnson (15:46)
100%, that’s the key. It keeps you credible and legitimate. that’s what in real estate, I mean, honestly, that’s the thing real estate professionals struggle with the most is people looking at the industry like it’s a bunch of used car salesmen where when you operate in a way and have tools that let you stand out and see what’s real and not have to guess about it, it’s a game changer for everybody involved in a transaction for sure.Nico James-Bock (15:50)
Yes.Yes.
I agree. I agree.
Micah Johnson (16:13)
Now, what are you excited about for 2026? What opportunities are ahead for you?Nico James-Bock (16:18)
Well, the priority is the website, the mobile web. So I’m working diligently with a very, very competent app and mobile web developer. And we are sort of mapping out what that will look like. We were offering as well additional exposure to realtors, builders, property managers as well through the platform.So they also have an opportunity to have exposure right within the same platform. As well, I am looking into completing the database with those Canadian cities. So Vancouver and Calgary, which are number one and three in Canada, are my next targets. So they are now present in the database.
but they don’t have the representation that obviously Toronto has. So 2026 and 2027 will be dedicated as well to finding out all of those asset classes in those respective cities.
Micah Johnson (17:23)
Man, that’s powerful expanding out, getting more and more people access to information where like we’ve discussed information is everything right without data. It’s just an opinion. That’s probably one of my favorite quotes is that one right there. Once you know, you know, now you understand the rules of the game. You know what it helps you guide your decisions and make sure that you’re actually getting where you want to go. Whether you’re an investor, a buyer or whatever it is, you like, we all have a goal in mind. We’re trying to get somewhere.Nico James-Bock (17:25)
Yes.Correct. Correct. Yes.
Micah Johnson (17:51)
And when we have the proper info, we can actually work backwards from where we’re trying to get. I don’t want a condo in Toronto. How do I find out the right one? Bang, I need to look inside condo is now I’m in there and I can just kind of step it down and make sure that I’m buying or looking at exactly what I need to. Cause that’s where I see mainly in the investment world is too many decisions are made on opinion or feeling and not on enough data.Nico James-Bock (18:14)
Mm-hmm. Correct.Correct. Correct. Accurate, reliable data is what people really need when they’re making those kind of decisions.
Micah Johnson (18:23)
Absolutely. It’s the largest financial track transaction most ever make in a lifetime. And that’s, that’s one of the reasons you’re talking about legitimacy in the business. I think it’s so important is remembering that if you’re an active participant in real estate, you are, it’s not something small that you’re messing with. This is people’s livelihoods. It’s their house. It’s where they are literally going to eat the eat their sleep, their breathe, their live, their laugh, their love, their cry, all the things like that’s, it really takes place there. AndNico James-Bock (18:28)
Yes.Micah Johnson (18:51)
I came from the medical field before real estate and I worked in the operating room. And when I was training, one of the things that they told us was, don’t forget it’s a patient underneath the drape. And I thought that was the silliest thing for the longest time. Like, how am going to forget that it’s a patient? But after I was in there for long enough, it’s true. You can easily, once it’s just one little tiny body part showing, you really lose track that that’s a whole human being underneath there. And when I got into real estate, I saw that same correlation ofNico James-Bock (18:57)
Mm-hmm.Micah Johnson (19:21)
Don’t forget this is a human that you’re dealing with. Don’t forget that we may be dealing with dirt and bricks and drywall and shingles, but that is just the housing pun intended that the human is going to be in. Don’t lose sight of that.Nico James-Bock (19:24)
Exactly.Correct. One of the shortcomings of our MLS system, and I suspect it’s the same in the US as well, one of the shortcomings is there’s a lot of focus on how a unit is, what it’s made up of. So two bedrooms, one bedroom, a den, bathroom, et cetera, you know, hardwood floors.
there is very, very little information about the community as a whole. So, yes, it may mention, it may mention, because even that is sometimes a challenge, because a lot of the amenities in the building are missing from the MLS systems. Some agents are lazy and they just don’t put those amenities in. So if you’re looking at a listing, for example, for sale or for lease, you’ll see that it’s a one-bedroom or two-bedroom where
Micah Johnson (20:06)
Thank you.Nico James-Bock (20:26)
you know, whatever with bathroom and you’ll see a small description. But what else is there? You don’t have, you know, when the building was built, you don’t have who the builder was, you don’t have a full list of amenities. You may have one, two or three or none. So that kind of missing information pushes you to seek the information elsewhere. It takes you out of the platform.and it takes you into a whole different realm, into a rabbit hole is what I like to call it, because you have to go to many, different places in order to find that information. With CondoWiz, because I’m adding IDX to the mobile web version as well as to the apps, once you locate, if you’re a consumer, university student, once you locate a desirable unit,
You can easily, easily, once you subscribe for full access, get full details of that community. Full details. So that you can make more informed decisions as to whether or not it’s the community for you. Perhaps it doesn’t allow dogs. Perhaps it allows cats, but no dogs. In our MLS system, there are only two sort of categories for pets.
Micah Johnson (21:32)
Mm.Nico James-Bock (21:50)
either restricted, which means nothing, or doesn’t allow pets at all. So that gives you no information at all. With CondoWiz, there is a ⁓ filter. You can filter by no dogs, like no dogs at all, which means it allows cats, it allows birds, but it doesn’t allow dogs, because perhaps you have a fear of dogs, perhaps you’re allergic to dogs, or perhaps you want to…Micah Johnson (21:58)
Mm-mm. Yeah.Nico James-Bock (22:19)
Exclude from your list those buildings that don’t allow dogs. With Condo with its one filter, in under three seconds, you have that complete list.Micah Johnson (22:32)
Mm.Nico James-Bock (22:33)
Also, just to give you another example, here in Toronto, we have a subway system. So it’s a subway system that you know is fairly extensive and it covers the whole Toronto, most of the Toronto area. So there are five or there are six lines now. With CondoWiz, one filter, one filter can give you a list of all of themulti-unit communities that have a direct connection to the subway. You don’t have to go outside. That takes hours to find. Hours. Hours. In CondoWiz, it’s one filter under three seconds. You have that list. So if you’re looking for, like maybe you have mobility issues. Maybe you just, you we work almost exclusively from home.
Micah Johnson (23:10)
Yeah.Nico James-Bock (23:28)
and you don’t want to have to go outside on a regular basis. You have a residential community where you can live and it has a direct connection to the subway. So you don’t even need a car, for example, which frees up your parking space. If you bought one, you can rent it out, make income. So those kinds of decisions, you can’t make them by searching the MLS system. You can’t, you just cannot make those decisions.Micah Johnson (23:41)
Wow. Yeah.Nico James-Bock (23:56)
It’s a speech-to-hear-reel term, for sure. You have to look at different sources, perhaps contact the property management company, which is another thing. CondoWiz has the name of the property management company and their phone number. So you don’t have to even look for their phone number. So these kind of decisions, which are granular and extremely important, can be made using the CondoWiz app and eventually the mobile website.Then you can have it if you’re not a realtor, then you can have a discussion with your realtor and you could hone in, wait, saving so much time by selecting and by favoriting those communities that meet your specific needs. So it’s not like a random search. I want a two bedroom, one bathroom condo in Toronto near the distillery district, for example. That’s so random. What you can do is you can hone in on those communities that have your specific needs.
Micah Johnson (24:36)
Yeah, tailored down to certain levels.Nico James-Bock (24:53)
that have your specific amenities. And that saves hours.Micah Johnson (24:56)
I think that’s so powerful.And you name things that most people don’t think about in their search because they’re a little bit excited. Like everybody likes looking, everybody likes shopping, right? It’s a fun experience.
Nico James-Bock (25:03)
No! Exactly. Yeah. Because for most people,it’s all about location, location, location. And that’s wrong. It’s not only about location. It’s not. Location is a consideration. But there’s also amenities. There’s also costs. There’s also what is included in those maintenance fees. The maintenance fees is a big thing for everybody.
Micah Johnson (25:13)
Mm-hmm.Nico James-Bock (25:33)
I don’t want to pay so many, you know, it’s a big thing. There are in the city of Toronto and other centers, There are condo communities that have all inclusive maintenance fees. Do you know how long it would take you to find those communities if you did that search on your own or even through the MLS system? It would take you days. It would take you days. In condo wiz, it’s one filter, three seconds. You click on the filter.Micah Johnson (25:52)
I even want to Yeah, that’s how.Nico James-Bock (26:01)
all inclusive maintenance fees. In under three seconds, you have all of those communities that have that.Micah Johnson (26:07)
man. Nico, from what you’ve described, man, you’ve spent a large amount of time, energy, and definitely resources into creating a tool that changes the game for condo buyers, whether you’re a resident, an investor, a realtor across the board. So if someone wanted to learn more information about this, what’s the best way for them to find you and find out more about CondoWiz?Nico James-Bock (26:09)
Sorry.There is a website that provides the link to the apps in the various stores, as well as a full description of what CondoWiz offers with a link to its Instagram account. So I will provide all of that information. I am on Instagram not only as Nico Fit Aligned, because fitness is a huge…
part of who I am, but also there’s a separate account for CondoWiz GTHA. So all of that information, I will provide that for you. It’s very, very easy to find.
Micah Johnson (27:08)
Excellent. We’ll make sure that’s in the show notes for those that are interested in learning more about Nico about CondoWiz. If that is an asset class that you’re into and you want to dive deeper, check it out. Nico, I appreciate it.Nico James-Bock (27:21)
And CondoWiz is theonly name, it’s a unique name. It’s the only name that comes up when you do a search in the App Store. So there’s no way you can be confused. It’s just CondoWiz. Simple. Yes, there are two subscription models. There’s a yearly subscription and a monthly subscription in order to get the full access to the information about those communities.
Micah Johnson (27:24)
Yeah.And there’s a trial available, correct, that you’re offering, right?
Nico James-Bock (27:46)
And there’s a three-day free trial for both subscriptions. So you choose a subscription and there’s a risk-free three-day trial to try it out. If you find it’s of use to you, you keep the subscription. You put a review in the respective store and you’ll get a gift card as well for leaving that review. If you don’t find it’s of use to you, delete it within the three days. Very simple.Micah Johnson (28:14)
Well,Nico, man, I appreciate your time, your story, your perspective. I respect what you’re doing out there, bringing something to market that it filled a niche or filled a hole that was needed more education. So I think we need more people in the space doing it like you’re doing it the right way. And for those of you tuning in, if you got value from this episode, please like the episode, subscribe to the podcast. We’ve got more operators just like Nico coming up in future episodes that are
out there filling the gaps, providing the information that we all need to be successful in our real estate careers. So again, thank you, Nico. Everybody, we’ll see you on the next episode.
Nico James-Bock (28:52)
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
