Two big moments really shaped the life of realtor Faisal Susiwala – one that jump-started his career in real estate and another that pushed him toward helping people who need homes.
The first came when he was a teenager. He met some folks from South Africa who ended up buying $2 million worth of property through him, which gave his career an early boost.
The second moment happened on September 11, 2001, when he and his pregnant wife narrowly escaped the terrorist attack at the World Trade Center by pure chance.
A bit about his background
Susiwala has been Canada’s top home seller since 2017. On top of that, he ranked as the #1 Selling Agent in Canada and #2 worldwide within the Re/Max network. Plus, he’s an Amazon best-selling author with his book The Real Deal.
He was born in England but moved with his family to Cambridge, Ontario in 1973 because his dad worked as a weaver in the textile industry – and back then Cambridge was known for textiles. He still lives there now, working with Re/Max Twin City.
An entrepreneur from early on
“I’ve been very fortunate and blessed,” says Susiwala.
“I got interested in real estate when I was 17. One night I saw this late-night infomercial featuring Tom Vu, an entrepreneur from Vietnam. He was sitting on a yacht with some ladies talking about how he made money flipping real estate. I thought, I want to be like that guy.”
Susiwala had that entrepreneurial spark young but couldn’t afford Vu’s pricey course. So in 1987, he checked out local colleges instead.
Conestoga College offered a course on real estate. At first, he didn’t know it would lead to licensing; he just wanted to learn about investing. Most students were older – 40s or 50s – while he was just a kid taking summer classes over six weeks.
First sales came from simple roots
Susiwala started working with Reid Menary, a friend of his dad who helped them buy their first apartment when they moved to Cambridge. Menary became not just Susiwala’s broker but also mentor and friend at age 73.
The first deals basically came from contacts along his paper route.
In November 1988, at a fundraising dinner in Toronto where Susiwala sat next to some South African guests, he handed out his business card since they were looking into buying property here.
“Within six weeks before Christmas that year I sold over $2 million worth of properties to them: townhomes, commercial buildings and development land,” he remembers. “My commission then was $60,000 while average household income hovered around $38,000.”
“That’s when I told my parents – who are South Asian immigrants from India – ‘I’m not going to university; this is what I want to do.’ Of course they weren’t thrilled.”
A close call with death
The other big moment for Faisal came on September 11th itself. Back then in New York City with his wife (who was pregnant), they originally planned to stay at the World Trade Center hotel for their first night but switched hotels the next day nearby instead.
The morning of September 11th found them hearing a loud crash right outside their hotel room window.
“What was interesting about it is we were reserved for September 11 on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center at the Windows of the World restaurant for breakfast at 8:30 a. m.,” explains Susiwala. “And we didn’t go. That was the turning point of our lives. What stopped us from going? We were out the night before. It was a late night. My wife was tired in the morning. We decided we would go for lunch instead of breakfast.”
Around 8:45 am that day a plane hit one of those towers.
A new sense of purpose emerges
“I think back.. I talk about it a bit in my book on how that was a turning point where you rethink your purpose,” says Faisal. “That ties closely into why I focus so much on giving back … Every day feels like such a blessing now.” He adds, “When you consider all your blessings you ask yourself how can you give back or pay it forward? How do you leave something good behind before you’re gone?”
Susiwala channels this purpose as an ambassador for World Housing – an organization building homes for families worldwide so they have better opportunities. A developer introduced him to them over a year ago.
“They have philanthropists funding everything so all donations go straight toward building homes,” Faisal explains. “They build houses in places like Philippines and Zambia where poverty means safe housing isn’t common.”
“Developers like Zehr Group commit $250 per home sold toward World Housing projects,” says Faisal, “and agents including myself add another $250 per home sold. Building one house costs between $5-7k depending on location.”
“Before teaming up with World Housing I’d already been helping widows build homes independently in Multan Pakistan-small villages where around $5-6k covers both house building plus food supply for roughly one year. World Housing fits well alongside this work.”
Says Faisal, “I joined as ambassador so things could move faster through official channels rather than me working alone across these countries.”
“Housing changed my life so much-it’s my way of paying it forward.”
– Faisal Susiwala
The projects underway now
Susiwala currently works alongside Zehr Group and Cook Homes developing 76 townhomes near Waterloo Ontario. Zehr donates $250 per unit sold as developer; Faisal matches that amount too. Together they’re hoping those contributions raise between $40-50k toward World Housing efforts.”
Packing urgency behind this cause, he recently kicked off donations himself by giving $25k upfront since these communities really need help ASAP.”
From World Housing via Faisal Susiwala
“Locally I’m creating housing solutions and helping folks find homes too,” says Faisal. “I’ve been lucky enough financially thanks largely to real estate,” he adds. “Pride comes with helping less fortunate people get secure shelter so they can rebuild their lives safely. Without stable housing kids might have no choice but entering work young or widowed women might resort to things society frowns upon.” He sums up simply: “If you give somebody a home you’re actually giving security-and changing their entire life.”
Photo source: Homeshack. com
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