How to Grow a Real Estate Business Through Community Marketing
- Christine George
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
I asked Corrie Harding-Keizs a slightly cynical question.
She does all this community work. The food drives. The school events. The yard sales. A whole video series she funds herself.
"Are you actually seeing a return on all of that?"
"That wasn't the goal. That was the gift."
BOOM!
Corrie is the broker and team leader of CHK Real Estate, a top 1% Royal LePage team in South Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. And her entire business is built on community. But not in the way some agents mean when they say that.
She didn't start showing up to generate leads. She started showing up because she was curious. She and her family had planted roots in a new area, and she genuinely wanted to know the place. So she went to local business events with zero real estate agenda. She joined her kids' school community association. She hosted Santa photo events, Halloween nights, and skate-in-the-parks. She helped deliver meals every weekend during the pandemic through an initiative called Feed Mississauga.
The relationships came first. The business came later, on its own.
So many agents do what they think they are supposed to do to grow. And so much of it has nothing to do with what they actually enjoy or what they are good at. So they procrastinate it, or they do it halfway, and it shows.
Corrie did the opposite. She leaned all the way into the work that lit her up. The fact that it also grew her business was a byproduct.
When I asked what separates someone like her from an agent who just markets their involvement, she named two things:
Consistency. "Most people aren't consistent. Consistency is a superpower." She shows up to the events her name is on. She follows through. People learn they can rely on her, so they invite her into more.
Heart. She leads with care, not transactions, right down to how her team negotiates. It's why they hold a five-star Google rating, which is not easy to maintain.
Corrie now films a series called Rooted, where she interviews local business owners she has known for years. And she keeps learning things about them she never knew. "It's not about me," she said. "I'm genuinely interested in their story."
If you want to build community into your business, Corrie's advice is to start with your why. Make sure you actually have the time and the interest, not just the ambition. Then start small and niche. Host one yard sale. Show up to one thing. Do it well. People will notice and ask you to do more.
You do not have to do this. If community work is not your thing, don't force it.
Find the thing that is yours.
But if it is your thing, Corrie will tell you it gives back a sense of belonging and connection. Lifetime relationships. The kind you cannot buy a sign for.
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