Featured Business
Torontoism
Six agents at Sotheby’s, working Toronto one neighbourhood at a time.
Silver Burtnick Milan & Associates, at Sotheby’s International Realty Canada. Buying, selling and rightsizing across the central city, from the brokerage’s midtown office at 1867 Yonge Street.
6
Agents on the team
2
Past presidents of the Toronto board
4
Languages between them
Midtown
1867 Yonge, Suite 100
The Business
A brokerage team with a city guide attached.
Torontoism is the name on the door of Silver Burtnick Milan & Associates, a six-agent team at Sotheby’s International Realty Canada’s midtown office. Richard Silver and Jim Burtnick lead it; Francesca Milan, Celia Alves, Jose Sanchez and Bill Johnston make up the rest. Two of the six, Silver and Johnston, have served as president of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, and Johnston has held a licence since 1982.
The website is the tell. Half of torontoism.com is a neighbourhood guide, from the Annex and Bloor West Village across to the Beaches and up Yonge to Lawrence, and the team’s own line is that Toronto is a city of neighbourhoods. The pitch to sellers is the Sotheby’s machine: a staging consultation, professional measurement and preparation paid for by the team, then photography, video, 3D tours and open houses, with a client portal to watch it all move. Buyers get a search built with them, help weighing what comes up, the negotiation, and a line on Sotheby’s off-market listings.
The international angle is real rather than decorative. Silver and Burtnick both hold the Certified International Property Specialist designation, the team belongs to Sotheby’s Exceptional Agent network, and between the six of them they speak English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. If you are arriving from somewhere else, or selling to someone who is, that is the part to ask them about.
“Making Home Dreams Reality.”
The line across the front of torontoism.com.
What they do
Selling, with the prep paid for
A staging consultation, then professional measurement and preparation at the team’s cost. Photography, video, 3D tours and open houses follow, virtual and in person, with progress reported through a client portal.
Buying, from search to keys
A search built with you, a hand evaluating what it turns up, and the negotiation. Sotheby’s Canada gives them access to off-market listings as well.
Rightsizing
Their word for the move that comes after the house gets too big. They wrote a guide to it, which is a download on their site.
International buyers and sellers
Two Certified International Property Specialists, membership in Sotheby’s Exceptional Agent network, and French, Spanish and Portuguese between them.
Real Estate Dot Love
Their own swipe-through search. Right on the homes you like, left on the ones you do not, tied to what is actually on the market.
After the sale
MoveSnap for the moving admin and concierge help once the deal closes. They say the relationship runs to the next sale, not just this one.
In their clients’ words
“Professional, punctual, strategic and very knowledgeable.”
Gleb Babkine, on Jim Burtnick, from the testimonials on torontoism.com
“Took a lot of the stress out of it and treated us with great sensitivity.”
Elizabeth Jones, whose mother sold the family home in Bennington Heights after nearly five decades
“Went well beyond the typical role of an agent.”
John Wood, on Jim Burtnick
The things people ask
Answered from their own published pages. Anything not covered here is a question for them, not for us.
Where do they work?
Toronto proper, and mostly the central city. Their own guide runs from the Annex and Bloor West Village to the Beaches, Leslieville, Rosedale, the waterfront and up Yonge to Lawrence. The brokerage’s office page says it serves the wider GTA, so for the suburbs, ask.
Which brokerage are they with?
Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, out of its Toronto office at 1867 Yonge Street, Suite 100. The office line is (416) 960-9995 if you want the brokerage rather than the team.
Who do I actually get?
One of six. Richard Silver and Jim Burtnick lead the team, Francesca Milan, Celia Alves and Jose Sanchez are sales representatives, and Bill Johnston is a broker. Each has a direct line on their team page.
Do they speak my language?
Between them, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, going by their own bios. Richard Silver lists French and Spanish, Jose Sanchez Spanish, and Celia Alves Portuguese.
What is a market consultation, and what does it cost?
A look at what your place would sell for and how they would market it. They do not publish a price for it, so ask.
What is rightsizing?
Their word for downsizing, and they wrote a guide to it. It is a download on their site.
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