SPONSORED BY
HOSTED BY
THE NEW ERA OF SALES
This session will focus on how the industry is selling homes in the current economic climate and will look at different ideas on how to entice buyers.
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Learn from experts in the field about what it is taking to sell homes in Durham Region. Are there lessons to be learned from the resale market?
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Hear about what trends are being seen in today's market.
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Find out what buyers are looking for and what options are available to entice buyers into the market.​
FEATURED INDUSTRY EXPERTS
SPEAKER
Roger Bouma
Re/Max Jazz
Roger is a real estate broker with 36 years of experience in managing and selling real estate. He is a past president of The Ontario REALTORS Care Foundation, past president of the Durham Region Association of REALTORS®â€¯and a proud member and ongoing volunteer of the Central Lakes Association of REALTORS®. Along the way, Roger served as an Oshawa City Councillor from 2010 to 2014. 
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Roger continues to serve as the managing broker of a small family team, The Bouma Group - RE/MAX Jazz, with a focus on both residential resale and development land.
SPEAKER
Mark Jin
Minto Communities
Mark Jin is the Director of Sales & Research at Minto Homes, where they lead strategic initiatives to drive residential sales and market research across the Greater Toronto Area. With a focus on risk management, innovative sales strategies, and data-driven decision-making, Mark oversees sales release planning, broker engagement programs, and advanced analytics to optimize performance.
Mark’s expertise spans market trend analysis, buyer behavior insights, and leveraging technology platforms such as Salesforce, Power BI, and Marketo to enhance operational efficiency. A strong advocate for collaboration, Mark works closely with cross-functional teams to streamline processes and deliver exceptional client experiences.
SPEAKER
David Merklinger
COOLAID Strategies
David Merklinger is the President of COOLAID Strategies. David is a strategic leader with nearly 25 years of experience driving brand growth, customer engagement, and sales performance. A multi-award-winning professional in both agency and client-side roles, he specializes in translating strategic vision into execution that delivers measurable results. Known for leading high-performance teams, David is a driver of innovation and integrated strategies for real estate developers, lifestyle brands, and Fortune-500 organizations. His approach blends creative excellence with disciplined planning, ensuring every campaign is purposeful, scalable, and built for long-term success.
SPEAKER
Wayne Cassidy
Cassidy+Company
Mr. Cassidy offers more than 46 years experience in the new home design industry, which has allowed him to gain a keen awareness of the complex issues and interests in design, marketing, and building new home communities. His design skills and experience combine to achieve a balanced solution to any design challenge.
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Mr. Cassidy is a member of the Association of Architectural Technologists of Ontario, (AATO), and has a certificate in Architectural Technology, from Toronto’s, Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. Cassidy+Company’s success can be attributed to Mr. Cassidy and his staff’s commitment to excellence in design and professional client service. Mr. Cassidy is actively involved in all of Cassidy+Company’s design projects and handles the “in-house” co-ordination of all disciplines, as he attends community development and design meetings, keeping his relationships close with the municipality, land developer, home builder and customer’s interests.
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As a result, Cassidy+Company has earned a reputation for superior residential design throughout the GTA and Ontario in new home, renovation and custom home design since 1988. Through Mr. Cassidy’s leadership, his client list includes many of the major land developers and builders in the GTA Mr. Cassidy has been pioneering design in the trend to the New Urbanism since the mid 90’s in the communities of Brooklin, in the Town of Whitby; Oak Park in Oakville’s Uptown Urban Core; Angus Glen and Cornell, in the Town of Markham; Levi Creek, in the Village of Meadowvale; Greenwood Race Track Redevelopment, St. Clair Village, Cathedral town, Markham, York University in the City of Toronto.
SPEAKER
Christopher Bellisario
RBC
Christopher is a dedicated and experienced RBC Mortgage Specialist who specializes in customized lending solutions and providing advice to clients in both English and French.  He’s able to help and support many clients in their financing journeys; whether it’s achieving a home buying goal, investors looking to build their real-estate portfolio, or even custom building a dream home!  Through being passionate about his role, and with many of the mortgage programs offered, he’s able to help turn home-ownership dreams into reality. 
Christopher’s worked in the financial industry for almost 9 years, progressing from a Financial Advisor role into the mortgage space.  In the Durham region, he’s actively partnered with several builders, realtors, and continues to be open on building and growing his connections.  Outside of his career, he enjoys spending time paddleboarding and traveling with family and friends.
MODERATOR
Wendy Giroux
CLAR
Wendy Giroux is the Chief Executive Officer of the Central Lakes Association of REALTORS®, with over 19 years of experience as an Executive Officer, including nine years leading CLAR.
A dedicated leader in the real estate community, Wendy actively serves on multiple committees and boards, reflecting her commitment to advancing the industry and supporting REALTORS® across the region.