About Red Trout

Newly arrived from his native Australia, Brian O'Kane got his start in real estate working in Vancouver's high-rise construction industry. Soon the booming Alberta energy industry drew him to Calgary where he bought an oil and gas company and took it from bankruptcy to a profitable sale.

Looking for new opportunities after this success, Brian began to notice a trend in Calgary's secondary sectors like real estate. "They were still highly undervalued," he remembers, "People were paying very low prices for properties situated minutes from the downtown core." This, he explains, was unheard of in cities like Vancouver. Anticipating the potential for growth, Brian established Red Trout, a real estate redevelopment company with an eye on undervalued properties in Calgary's inner city.

Most of Red Trout's clients are first time homebuyers who have benefitted from its distinctive business model: buying older properties in areas like Mission, and renovating them to create solid homes with clean modern interiors fit for the young and discerning buyer. "Renovating a unit does not cost as much as building from scratch and so we're able to pass on the savings to the customer," he explains. Added value comes in the factx that Brian makes no compromises on the fittings and fixtures that punctuate the interiors of his condos. Walnut hardwood floors, designer cabinets and luxury bathrooms all come at an overall bargain price.

Looking to the future, Brian points to his new Greenview on the Park development. While a little further from the downtown core than his previous developments, he anticipates that given Calgary's rapid growth, this will soon become a high demand property. These units reflect the same high quality low cost philosophy that passes on the best value to buyers. He explains that buyers should not be alarmed at the recent spike in prices, explaining that this is a natural adjustment to the true value of real estate in a rapidly growing city like Calgary.

I asked Brian O'Kane, what inspired the unusual name Red Trout. "I thought on the name while I was on a fishing trip in Saskatchewan with my business partner," he replies with a smile. Even a long way from Calgary's inner city, new business opportunities are never far from Brian's mind.

Contact Brian O'Kane at 403.806.0898 or visit www.redtrout.ca