By Jessica Graves
South Florida may not be known for its seasons, but ask any local and they’ll tell you that you can mark the beginning of winter when the license plates begin changing colors.
Each year more Canadians are making their annual pilgrimage south and even more are deciding to stay. “They spend the winter with us,” explains real estate agent, Michael Cote, “and then they go back and tell their friends about me.”
Cote, a French Canadian who has called Florida home for the last 13 years, began his real estate career with Keller Williams and is now an agent with Coldwell Banker Realty. Ever since, he has been helping other expats find their place in the sun. “They want to deal with another French Canadian who can relate to them,” he says. “Also, I know where a lot of French-speaking people hang out, what their hobbies are, and which restaurants are French-owned, so I can guide them to those areas so that they meet other snowbirds.”
After a visit to Miami in his 20’s, Cote knew he was destined for Florida, but he had to be strategic. “It definitely wasn’t easy to get here,” he recalls. “I built my career in Canada for TD Bank. I worked with them for ten years. At one point, I was in charge of Northeast Ontario.”
While in charge of the ‘Rewards and Recognition’ program for top performers, his company sent him to Boca Raton. “I stayed here for three months,” he recalls. “I had the opportunity to meet the Florida executives during my stay and was offered a position in Hallandale opening a branch in a predominantly French-Canadian market. It made a lot of sense for me to be on the ground here,” he explains.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cote’s branch held the number one title in the country for the first three years. “When people are coming from Canada, they need someone on this end to receive them and help guide them. I was part of the cross-border program where you could open bank accounts and get loans in the U.S. even though you didn’t have a social security number.”
From 2015 to 2020 Cote was President and CEO of Natbank, a subsidiary of National Bank of Canada. Then in February of 2020, his contract was up. “When we went to renew, I decided to make the jump into real estate so I left the bank and retired. The timing was good, it helped me just slow down, and for the first time since I was fourteen, I wasn’t working and then I jumped into real estate.” While he may be somewhat new to the real estate world, it’s his varied experience that has made him successful.
“I’ve run a multi-million dollar company,” Cote says referring to his time at Natbank, “and I’ve done underwriting and lending. I’ve been a loan officer, I did business development and small business investing and lending, as well. So, by dealing a lot with entrepreneurs, I have an understanding of how the loan process works,” he adds. “I can tell if the loan officer made a mistake and identify potential pitfalls. I know the language, I know the lingo, so that really allows us to get more deals done.”
As for the state of the current real estate market, “Property is a sure investment,” he says. “You either buy now for $500,000 or buy in a year for $525,000,” adding, “rates are high, yes, but you marry your house, you just date the rates, so refinance later.”
