Bicycling Real Estate Agents Win Over Clients

"With gas prices up, air quality down and saving the planet on everyone's mind, [real estate] agents across Canada and in the United States are scrapping cars, long considered a business necessity, to bike, walk and use public transit. And some are finding it's paying off as they fill a green niche with environmentally concerned clients.

Many clients gravitate to [cycling agents]...because they are similarly motivated. And cycling, [one agent] found, lends itself to selling houses. 'I can meet people at a house or we can bike together...It really is better to see a neighbourhood on a bike. You can assess the ambient atmosphere. You can smell the freshly cut grass in a park, and see if the residents smile at you.'

At open houses in Vancouver...bikes will often be piled up in front as would-be buyers check out the property....Some agents say this is a case of the real-estate industry catching up to the lifestyles of urban house hunters."