PROVIDING RESIDENTIAL APPRAISAL SERVICES TO CENTRAL AND NORTH-CENTRAL ALBERTA FOR THREE GENERATIONS

 

In 1967, George LeDrew, MAI, AACI, opened the second fee-appraisal company in Edmonton. Back then, business promotion was not solely asking banks to use you as their appraiser: you first needed to convince them that they needed an appraisal on real estate. With real estate prices being relatively stable until the early 1970s, it was a hard sell.

George LeDrew based his business on three principles: reliability (providing appraisal services that a client could be sure were based on established appraisal theory and standards); integrity (appraisal conclusions based on market-derived data and analysis, free of external influence to give a pre-determined result); and timeliness (delivering an appraisal report that would meet the client’s timeline).

From the beginning of his career as an appraiser, John Brooker looked to George LeDrew as a mentor. Having seen him in both personal and professional settings (as John’s father-in-law and employer), John was able to use the template so as to grow into what it meant to be a professional real estate appraiser.

In the 1980s, George LeDrew’s company fell victim to the economic downturn in Alberta, but John Brooker persevered and formed his own appraisal company in 1994. He was joined by his daughters Mandy Day (in 2001) and Cara Anderson (in 2003).