At Royal LePage FRANK Real Estate we endeavour to provide
the highest level of service with the utmost accountability. It all started with a Durham Real Estate Pioneer. Walter Frank was the original broker/owner of what was then "W. Frank Real Estate". Walter was a remarkable individual. Leaving Holland at the age of thirteen with his parents at the onset of World War II. The family survived a perilous Atlantic crossing and landed in St. John. The family then moved to a farm north of Bowmanville, where young Walter helped in the family business, Charles Frank and Son, specialists in Holstein cattle. Walter bought and sold cattle and was even known to drive the odd calf around in the back seat of his car. As a cattle drover, he covered territory from Picton to Peterborough as well as trucking to the United States.

In 1953, Walter was stricken with polio. At the age of 27 he endured a two year convalescence. It would have been easy to withdraw and spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. This wasn't his way. He learned to walk on crutches with heavy, cumbersome leg braces. No longer able to continue in the cattle business, Walter sough a new profession. A friend suggested he try real estate. He contacted Whitby real estate broker Don McQuay and stated that he wanted to sell farms. Don wondered how a man in Walter's situation could sell any kind of real estate, yet Walter's determination was palpable. Figuring he had nothing to lose, Don hired Walter.

Making an office in the front of his Bowmanville home, Walter covered his old cattle routes, listing farms and land from his car. By his second year in real estate, Walter was the number one salesperson on the Oshawa and District Real Estate Board. In 1962, Walter opened his own brokerage, W. Frank Real Estate Ltd. His sons, would later join the business, could be seen nailing up his distinctive For Sale signs. Within a short period of time those distinctive signs could be seen as far north as Algonquin Park. As salespeople approached Walter to manage satellite office, W. Frank Real Estate grew until it had twenty-two locations and about three hundred employees - one of the largest, independently owned real estate companies in Ontario. Walter never lost his love for selling and he led by example. The epitome of dedication and perseverance, with time for everyone. Walter launched many in successful careers.

Walter had setbacks in business and health, but stayed active in the company that still bears his name, Royal LePage Frank Real Estate, until his passing.

Servicing Southern Ontario from Toronto to Picton in the East and the Kawartha Lakes area to the North for over fifty years. Today the company has offices which are located in Whitby, Oshawa, Bowmanville, Port Perry, Uxbridge, Bobcaygeon, Lindsay and Peterborough and maintains satellite offices in Apsley, Bancroft, Bridgenorth, Buckhorn, Coboconk and Lakefield. Over the years FRANK Real Estate has earned an excellent reputation for service, integrity and innovation. The mission of FRANK Real Estate and our sales team is to provide the highest level of service and satisfaction to the buying and selling public. Our goal will be met by our ongoing commitment to utilize the best ideas, tools and resources available to us throughout the industry and Royal LePage. Today, while the majority of the company's business is residential, time and geography have allowed it to develop significant niches in the commercial sector, land assembly, farms, estates and recreational properties.

We believe that the success of any service organization is predicated on the beliefs and conduct of its members. At Royal LePage FRANK Real Estate, we endeavour to provide the highest level of service with the utmost accountability.

A Canadian Best Seller

We are a company that doesn't follow standards; we set them. Year over year, our sales associates are more productive than the average for agents working in competitive operations.

Founded in 1913 by Albert LePage when he was just 26 years old, Royal LePage is now Canada's largest real estate company with more than 17,000 agents across the country.

Albert LePage was a pioneer whose innovation and belief in customer service helped transform the real estate industry. He built a company based on professionalism, principled conduct and the highest moral and ethical standards. Those principles still guide us in everything we do.

Celebrating 100 years of service to the Canadian public in 2013, Royal LePage is an industry leader. We helped found the Toronto Real Estate Board and Ontario Real Estate Association, and set the standards for all other real estate companies to follow.

Today, Royal LePage has over 17,000 REALTORS® in more than 600 locations across Canada creating an unparalleled network of real estate offices across the country. Not only do we have the best access to the homes (and homebuyers) in the Canadian market, our Canadian partnership with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (the world's largest referral network with over 170,000 associates world-wide) gives your property exposure to buyers from around the globe

We have expanded across the country so that wherever you want to live, you will find a Royal LePage agent ready to help. We have added new services to help our clients realize their dreams and secure their future.

We offer all of our REALTORS® — from those serving tiny communities to those in major urban centres — strong support from our national pool of knowledge, skill and technical expertise. We regularly invest time, money and resources to develop and provide the knowledge and tools they need to best market your home.

Of course, at Royal LePage, we're not just about business. From the beginning we've also been actively involved in charitable and social causes. The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation is dedicated to supporting shelters in Canada. Statistics tell us that 50% of Canadian women have experienced abuse and 360,000 children witness domestic violence each year. Women's shelters provide a safe haven for those who need it most. Since it's inception, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation has raised $24 million with the help and support of our generous agents, brokers, managers and administrative staff. Because we believe in giving back to the community, after all, we don't just work here, we live here too.

For those who define success by recognition, you should know that Royal LePage is the recognized industry leader when it comes to identifying and analyzing Canadian real estate trends. We publish The Survey of Canadian House Prices and the Annual Market Survey, tools that everyone in the real estate industry, regardless of the company they work for, finds indispensable.

Community, it's an integral part of Frank Real Estate.

An often misused word, but for us it is definitive and tied to our core beliefs

It means agents and support staff who give back to our community through donations of time, goods or money. Supporting not only our own Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, but also Rotary International, the Humane Society. Durham Distress Centre. the Whitby Santa Claus Parade. Whitby Ribfest and many more.

Various office locations support the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation National Garage Sale for Shelter every May. A huge undertaking that requires many volunteer hours by our agents and staff, to sort, organize, plan, promote and oversee the sale. Not to mention the "after sale" that requires that all left over donations be assigned to other charities and the clean up crew that returns our sale floor back to a parking lot, ready for business the next day. Over the course of seven years our Whitby office alone raised over $100,000 for the Shelter Foundation through proceeds from the garage sale.

The Whitby office is also home to our intrepid Frank's Angels, Sue Driver, Dena Sicard (her second trekking event for the Shelter Foundation) and Jane Thuet who all took part in the 2017 Iceland Challenge for Shelter. These three agents were part of a group of 86 who accomplished an incredible 115 km. trek across some of Iceland's most scenic and gruelling terrain. Participants hiked over sand, rock, lava fields and snowy glaciers. They climbed and descended steep hills, braved narrow passes and rickety bridges and walked through icy water up to their thighs. They camped in tents they pitched themselves each night, did without showers and turned off their cell phones for five straight days. And they paid for the privilege, covering all expenses associated with the trip themselves, all to raise funds for the Shelter Foundation. This amazing group of people demonstrated incredible courage and perseverance in the face of pain and exhaustion, knowing with each step that this was nothing compared to what those who face domestic violence deal with on a daily basis.

To top it all off, this fantastic group of fundraisers collected over $655,000 for the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, making the Iceland Challenge for Shelter the charity's largest single fundraiser of all time. Our Whitby office was proud to present to our local shelters $38,975.70 in donations, all because of the determination of our own Frank's Angels.

We believe in being part of the community, not just working in it.

A house is only a home if it's safe. That's why Royal LePage started a charitable foundation, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, to create safer homes and safer communities. The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation is dedicated exclusively to supporting women's shelters and violence prevention programs.

Many Royal LePage agents donate a portion of their commission to the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation when they help clients buy or sell a home. Royal LePage offices also host special events, such as gala dinners and golf tournaments, to raise funds and awareness.

Our biggest initiative is the National Garage Sale for Shelter, occurring every May as part of Shelter Month. Bringing community members together with Royal LePage brokers, agents and staff. All proceeds go to supporting local women's shelters that offer safety and resources to the women and children who escape domestic violence each year.

Since the launch of the National Garage Sale for Shelter in 2009, over $2.5 million has been raised from this events alone to fund women's shelters across Canada. This much-needed funding is helping to provide a safe place for women and children to rebuild their lives after violence. Shelters use our support to provide job training initiatives, renovate and build new shelters, and cover the cost of crisis counseling and therapy for more than 30,000 women and children each year. The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation also supports programs focused on stopping the cycle of violence by educating young people on healthy relationships.

"Helping You Is What We Do® is not just a tagline, it is our corporate philosophy and it translates into a collective commitment to giving back to the community," says Phil Soper, President and Chief Executive of Royal LePage.

"The issue of violence against women and their children in Canada is significant," says Shanan Spencer-Brown, Executive Director of the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation. "We are proud to work with over 200 women"s shelters and local and national partners to save lives."

Since the inception of the Shelter Foundation in 1998, our agents, brokers and staff have collectively raised more that $24 million to help stop family violence. Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company with it's own charity and since Royal LePage covers all the administrative costs for the Foundation, 100% of all funds raised go towards the cause.

To learn more about the Shelter Foundation and to make a donation to help put abuse out of commission, visit www.royallepage.ca/shelter.

To read brave stories of hope by women and children survivors of family violence, visit www.shelterfoundation.ca.