PTBOCanada Featured Post: The Inspiring Story Of Bill Pyle From Century 21 United Realty

In an industry where movement between brokerages and agents both coming and going are common, Bill Pyle has stood the test of time and is literally a pillar of strength. After transferring to Peterborough in the late '70s from Toronto, he spent years working for Coca-Cola Ltd, both here and at their Head Office in the big city.

In 1987, it became apparent that corporate life was no longer for him so he decided to remove himself from it and acquired his real estate license, wanting to make Peterborough his permanent home.

Bill Pyle at Century 21 office in downtown Peterborough

Soon after obtaining his license, Bill started working on his Broker’s license as he’s always been driven to learn more. When he was licensed initially in 1987, it was his goal to practice commercial real estate soon afterwards.  He knew, however, that it takes time to become established and build up clientele so he began by listing residential properties while building his commercial business at the same time.

At one point early in his career, Bill had both 11 residential listings and 11 commercial listings on the go at once. What he didn’t have was a personal life. While his commercial clients needed him Monday to Friday during business hours, his residential clients needed him on evenings and weekends. There almost wasn’t even time to breathe.

He knew this needed to change, so in the summer of 1989 he referred all of his residential listings to other agents in the office and embarked on a commercial real estate career which he’s specialized in ever since, selling and leasing retail, industrial and office properties all across Ontario.

Bill Pyle's life is one of resilience and passion

Over the last 10 years, his focus has shifted to representing buyers—particularly in the acquisition of development land.

This focus has lead him to being the driving force behind a 20 acre sale on Chemong Rd (which took 5 years) leading to Walmart being built, and the sale of the former Mount St Joseph to the Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network (PPRN) for the purpose of building affordable housing and a sustainable food centre.

Bill at The Mount

Because of Bill’s hard work throughout this transaction, he was recruited to The Mount Community Centre Board of Directors the day after closing. He now sits on The Finance Committee, The Building Committee, The Communications Committee, and Chairs the Food Centre Budget Committee.

Inside the chapel at The Mount

Bill began his career with another franchise and early on was given the opportunity to work closely with another agent from Century 21 Carl Oake Realty on a major commercial property co-listing.

At one point he met with Carl, and after seeing the positive vibe around the office, he decided to make a move. He’s been there ever since, with April 2018 marking 30 years under the Century 21 banner!

What has kept him there is the nurturing nature of the organization. Even though all agents compete for the same business, there is a sense of genuine team spirit. People help each other with business situations and support each other during personal difficulties.

Opportunities have presented themselves for him to leave over the years, but there has never been a good reason to. Bill likes and respects everyone in the organization, from the owners and managers, to other agents and support staff so why mess with a good thing? 

Carl Oake ran a friendly organization when he was in charge and both he and the company are highly regarded in the community. To Bill, Carl's daughter Vanessa Oake Hogan has continued with that tradition, while adding youth and vitality to the organization. She embraces technology and social media, and has brought the company into the 21st century—helping them maintain their high standards in the industry.

What many people don’t know about Bill are the hurdles he has had to overcome—all the while continuing on with his profession. In 1998, he was diagnosed with metastatic medullary thyroid cancer, which is rare and incurable. He’s gone through multiple surgeries, drug therapy, radiation and chemotherapy. All that and then last year he lost his best friend and wife to cancer as well.

The man has been on the verge of death but unless you’re close enough to know him, you wouldn’t have any idea. To him, life is full of choices and he chooses to have hope—to forge ahead and to be the best person he can be as an example to both family and friends. Adversity can move over because he won’t let it stand in his way.

Bill loves the people he works for and that drives him to do the best for them, even if that means recommending a client avoid a deal because it wouldn’t be to their benefit. It’s an approach to real estate like this that has led to a long and successful career. One that shows no signs of slowing down.

For more information on Century 21 United Realty and Bill, find it below...

C21 Website: century21.ca/unitedrealty
Bill's website: century21.ca/bill.pyle
C21 on Facebook: facebook.com/C21UnitedRealty
C21 on Twitter: @c21unitedptbo
C21 on Instagram: instagram/c21united

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