Chilliwack Realtor Murdered....

How sad...and he took all of the right precautions.  My prayers will be with his friends and family. 

Liz, Honey, this is terrible. I'm so sorry about this. I am horrified. You have got and I mean GOT to be extra careful. There is no explanation for a homicide such as this as well as a lesser of a crime so please be careful. Stay with your friend until things settle down. Travel in pairs my dear. This is no laughing matter. My prayers are with you. Hugs.

Later in the rain~Deb

Liz, yes a sad story and we don't know if it is Realtor related or not. We always in the U.S. think we are the violent society and Canada is so much safer in general, but evil can strike anywhere in reality.

Yes Matt - I've been in shock all day - I don't know - i don't know.........effective July 1, we now have FINTRAC(security i.d. disclosure) forms that its mandatory to fill out every time we go out with a Buyer....unfortunately this is a new rule - and many of us have not got in the habit of meeting clients at the office and having this forms filled out first.  I don't know - but I can't help think this might have made a difference?  That it might work as a deterrant?

Unreal. How tragic for his family. What on earth is wrong with people?

Paula - thank you - as many people praying would be wonderful - and for all of us another reminder to take seriously all precautions......

That is really sad and a shame! I guess you never know what to expect! And to think he went to meet the other party at a pubic place!!! I remember a lady relator a few years back that got raped and murdered showing a house! A lot of times we get busy with work and drop our guard, but we shouldn't. You can never be too careful!

Thank you Deb......I feel so overwhelmed - we hear about this - more often of late -and its awfully but usually far away.........and then when it hits home, right in your back yard, and to someone you know.........and just can't believe it...

You're right Gary - we don't know if it was realtor related - so many different possibilities........its true, evil has no boundaries or borders..... 

BethAnn - yes his poor family.......I don't understand how any of this stuff happens.......are we so desensitized that human life has so little value?

Meli - yes a public place is obviously no guarantee....i mentioned that young woman who got murdered in February while showing a house......just was stabbed multiple times and I can't believe they still haven't found who did it.....

How sad for your colleagues family and for the community as a whole.  My deepest sympathy to all.  You can never be too careful.

Jeannie - you're right this effects the whole community doesn't it? Thank you for your kind words.

Wow.  That is terrible.  My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

I have sat a few homes with female realtors to be on the safe side of things - i will gladly do it for anyone and my htoughts and prayers go out to his family

Dave

Thank you so much Kevin....its an awful kind of wow....isn't it?

Hi Liz..my prayers go out to his family office co -workers and Realtors in his office, I work in the same office as Lindsay Buziak, Re/Max Camosun we're still grieving over her loss, she was way to young to die. Catching the murderer only gives us closure, best if we all take extra precaution, take a friend or co-worker along, ask questions. Be safe when ever possible we all think it will never happen to us!

Thanks for sharing and allerting us to the dangers of our profession.

How horrible. It makes it even more so when there are so few answers.  My prayers goes out to you and Mike's devestated family.

Thanks for telling us about this; it serves as a sad reminder to all of us about our own mortality.  Please update us when you know more and, if you have an opportunity, please add my condolences to others you pass on to his family.

Dave - that is so great that you do that with women realtors -...thank you!

You know, being a 6'3" 250 pound man, I have never taken much precaution when meeting people. How naive I have been. I am so sorry to hear of your community's loss. His family is in my prayers.

Fred -I didn't know that Lindsay was from your office...:-( you're right about the precautions being the critical factor, after the fact finding the killer doesn't help the victim or their family much....those are such wise words - thank you so much for commenting.

this is terrible news for anyone. our thoughts go out to those this had to affect horribly.

egad, what a drag.

Liz,

When I saw that I was shocked and immediately thought of the Victoria woman killed earlier in the year. I imagine it is too soon to know if there is any relationship between the two. Take care of yourself and watch your back till this is all figured out.

I know your in BC so you do not have a second aendment, but I carry a gun everywhere I go, I encourage all my agents and employees to do the same. If they will not I request that they at least carry mace. The world is a dangerous place, and full of evil doer's,.

You are far better to carry protection in case, than wish you had it instead. Better tried by 12 than carried by six!

Shoot the bastards!

Trunda - thank you - I would think that knowing answers might give one some sense of peace...or like Fred Carver said earlier - it can give closure......but taking precautions as much a you can is so critical...

Margaret thank you for your kind words - I will update as soon as I have more condolences - and I might print this post and give it to his family.  Thank you..

Thank you Brandon - size doesn't appear to be much of a deterrant...Mike was a body builder .or at least worked out a lot and looked like one..:-(  I think for the  most part we're all naive....unless life has taught us not to be...

Gary - something like this always has such a ripple effect ...nothing is every quite the same again...

Steven - it is shocking - I know - and Fred Carver just said earlier that Lindsay(the Victoria realtor) was from his office..:-(....I hadn't even thought so far as being more careful myself........but oh so true...

Ben - you're right it is different here, I don't know anyone who carries a gun - but it does make you wonder...

Liz,

This is very shocking and disturbing news. My heart goes out to all of his family and friends and I pray and hope they locate the person who did this very quickly.

Perhaps it is time it became national policy for all offices to have their agents meet prospective buyers/sellers at the office first and get all of their ID recorded PLUS always leave a record of where they're going to show properties and to who.

Jo
Liz~  I just read that this may be gang related.

This just makes my heartache. I am sorry for you communities lost. You, your community, his co-workers and family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Wow, that is really scary.  I hope I would not show a property at 8:30 pm, my sellers would understand.  I can't even remember the last time I ran out to show a property without some notice.  My former business partner did this and I always discouraged it.  I guess we really don't know Mike's exact situation.  I feel really bad for the family, it is a horrible story. 

Liz, that disclosure form sounds like a great idea as far as evidence.  To someone deranged, don't think it would stop him/her, but at least there would be a quick lead to police I would think!

Another moment to reflect on how quickly life can change for family and friends, very sad.

Liz, This is very frightening news.  For some reason I do think of the women being targeted but this shows it can happen to anyone at anytime.  I always carry a cell and notify people of where I am going with details...whether or not that would actually help, I don't know.  My blessings to his family and friends.

Liz, this is very sad news. We can never be too safe out there. Unfortunately, this may have happened no matter where they would have met. This is a very good reason to review company policies.

Liz, dropped in this morning thinking I would be reading something light...and this is a shocker.  His family will be in my prayers.  Be careful, and please keep us updated.  I'd like to hear that they caught whoever did this!

Hi Liz, My prayers and thoughts are with his family. Thanks for reminding us how fragile life can be.

All the best!

My heart just aches for this Realtor, his family and your community.  Such a senseless crime.  Please keep us informed on any details that arise.

Such shocking news!     Same with the terrible death of Lindsay Buziak, in Victoria.    We all fall into the trap of "accepting" that the people who phone us are just the same as we are, and many of us never think of any potential horrific consequences to simply just doing our jobs.     So very sad for his wife and family, and for all who knew him personally.

This is a horrible ending for this Broker Owner just doing his job as usual. We all need to be cautious and picky about who we show properties to.

Somehow I thought this risk was the exclusive problem of female Realtors, but clearly anyone can be a victim. This is absolutely horrifying and heartbreaking.

Wow. Sometimes we forget our profession is technically considered "high risk."

LIZ,

I am so sorry to hear about this.  How sad.  My prayers go out to you, the family, the community and the REALTOR community for the loss.

That is really sad, I am sorry to hear of this happening in your own community. 

Liz, I am so sorry and for the family of Mike.  We cannot be too cautious in this profession under any circumstances.  I hope they find who did this.

My thoughts and prayers are with Mike's family and all his friends and collegues.  Such a tragic lose and I pray the police find the person who did this.

How absolutely horrible!  This poor man and his family.  I am so sorry for them all. What a senseless crime.  I hope they catch the person who shot him soon!

My deepest sympathy to Mike's family.  This can definintely be a dangerous career.  It is crucial to take steps to be safe, go by your gut feeling, and perhaps meet every client at the office for the first meeting.

Really very sad!! One can never be too careful. I operated my business in the north for sometime before moving to the sunny south. There I would hang at an open house or travel with a late showing if and when a Realtor felt uneasy. I just never started after we moved. Any Realtor in the Johnson City, TN that would like company, just give a call. I promise not to hand out business cards or be a nag, honest!

That is terrible.  It is such a violent world we all live in and we need to take precautions.  I hope that they caught the killer. 

Liz, I can't even imagine how shaken you must be that this was so close to home and that it happened to someone you know. Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with Mike's family and friends. It is so sad that we have to always look over our shoulder... I've even started inviting friends that live nearby to come visit me at my open houses. I know it may be a false sense of security, but we just need to ALWAYS be on guard, as these days it seems like a lot of creeps are coming out of the woodwork!

Liz,

This is awful.  My heart mourns for him and his family.  I can't imagine the tragic loss that his family & friends are experiencing.

Be well,

This is a horrible event that has happened. Hopefully the people/person who did this will be incarcerated for what they have done. My prayers go out to their family and friends.

This man was linked to the UN gang that is why he got shot down. I feel very badly for his family. But, if he was part of this gang and has a criminal background (per Const. Lea-Anne Dunlop) then this is obviously why he was killed! Why is everyone not getting the real story on this blog? http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=cf454759-cfcb-4db3-b477-1c018dd43560

This is still a very horrible thing. Only God is to determine your fate. The person who did this had no right to take someones life. But, I hope that this is a lesson for Realtor's who think they can be gangsters!

Whatever the circumstances, it is a good reminder to us all to be more careful. I take my husband to all showings where I have not met the people, and I never sit opens alone. I do wish we had a consistent system where people had to come to the office and give ID before going out. To ask for this may become the norm for me - this just hits too close to home, to coin a phrase.

Michelle - it is so sad........I think of the little boy....what kind of nightmares.......what  a loss........ :-( I'm not sure if we should stop trusting - thats probably not a bad trait to have, but I'm thinking it might have to go hand in hand with caution... thank you for your comments...

How scary!  Do you have someone you can team up with for awhile?  For such a small community this would rattle my cage tremendously.

God Bless his family. wow. What is safe?

Kathy - thanks - and I do have a partner - they're saying this was a targeted shooting - and alleging he had sold some property to a gang member....I'm not sure how it will all unfold...

Jack - yes......its a sad state of affairs for sure...

Our communities are being taken over with gang violence, and so of these members are young kids.  Where are these kids parents.  We can't be to careful, please watch your back,  God blees

Kathy

This is so sad, that our world has come to this senseless type of killing.  I pray for the family and hope that they can find the person who did this if only to help us understand WHY

Kathy - we run the risk of living our lives 'always' afraid' don't we?.......and gangs of every type have been prevalent throughout history.........thanks for your comments...

Doris - so often there are no answers to our 'why's........only guesses.....thank you for your comments...

Liz - It is always a sad day when someone we know dies even worse when they are killed. In a land where we are presumed innocent until proven guilty one wonders at the stories in the press.

Kathy - I know Kathy - I don't like the presumption and assumption, and speculation and sensationalism.........I like to see the real estate community supporting one of its own......who was it that said, "just the facts mam, just the facts?"