We were strangers to Victoria having just driven across the country from Ontario and were renting for a couple of months while looking for a house to buy. We had an awful experience with one realtor who seemed only able to find the faults in anything we looked at. Hal was recommended to us by a mutual friend as a replacement for her and we immediately hit it off on a personal level. Then he seemed to quickly understand what we were looking for and in short order he managed a tough 'competing bid' process for us very satisfactorily. Given our prior experience with realtors we thought that that would be about the last we would see of him, but no. His professional follow-through on everything from checking on buried oil tanks, through municipal liens, zoning and planning by-laws that might affect the view, and on to identification of all the services we needed to complete before our closing and moving in were exemplary. His legal background and prior development experience were invaluable in easing us through what could have been a complicated and disruptive time in our lives. We'd have no hesitation in recommending, indeed insisting, that our friends, family and acquaintances should use Hal for any real estate transactions in Victoria. Indeed, he has already made one set of our friends very happy by providing just as professional, pleasant and successful services to them based on our recommendation. Hal is that rare breed that gives realtors a GOOD name!