This month The Vancouver UnReal Estate Show is on the road, speaking with agents and brokers from all over the world. We’ll talk about what is unique about their marketplaces and what lessons Vancouver can learn from them.

This week and next, we’re in Reykjavik, Iceland where I’m visiting my good friends Binni and Sylvia. Binni and Sylvia own a real estate brokerage in Reykjavik called Fasteignasala Reykjavikur, also known as Real Estate of Reykjavik.

Binni was previously licensed as a Realtor in Iceland, but after the government forced new and existing agents to go back to school for two years or lose their license, he took on a management role with the company. His wife Sylvia did her two years of training and is now a “legalized Realtor.”

We’ll talk about the education requirements a bit more, and we’ll also get into home building, the effect of tourism and, of course, the hot topic of foreign ownership and what Iceland is doing to put their citizens first.

Links below to some of the things we talk about in this episode:

- Costco in Iceland

- Information on the Schengen Association

- The Chinese billionaire named Nubo who wanted to build a golf course in the snow

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Be sure to tune in next week where we wrap up the Iceland real estate conversation by speaking with a co-owner of Real Estate of Reykjavik, another friend of mine, Björn Sigurðsson. We’ll get into the unique challenge of mortgaging property in Iceland, a country of roughly 330,000 that still uses its own currency.

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If you have any questions or any guests you would like to see, email us at [email protected].

Keith Roy – Personal Real Estate Corporation, RE/MAX Select Realty.