In this episode of Brokers for Life, host Len Lane and his guest, Gerhardt Klann, president of Northern Lights Real Estate Consulting, dive into the critical role appraisals play in real estate transactions, especially for buyers putting down over 20%. Gerhardt shares his journey from real estate investing in the late 1990s to becoming a seasoned appraiser and founder of Northern Lights Appraisals. The duo explores how appraisers determine market value, the impact of buyer preferences, and the nuances of renovations that add—or detract—from property value. They also reflect on lessons from the 2008 financial meltdown and discuss the significance of professional designations like DAR, DAC, and DRP in ensuring appraisal accuracy and credibility.

Turning their focus to the Alberta real estate market, Len and Gerhardt discuss the province’s growing appeal due to affordability and migration trends. They highlight the ongoing surge in Edmonton and Calgary, noting strong rental and resale markets fueled by interprovincial migration. With a nod to future opportunities, Gerhard predicts continued growth in the Edmonton market, while Len shares plans to expand his team to meet rising demand. This episode is a must-listen for those who want deeper insights into the evolving dynamics of Alberta real estate and strategies for navigating the current market conditions.

About Gerhardt Klann:

Northern Lights Real Estate Consulting is a residential and commercial real estate appraisal firm owned and operated by Gerhardt Klann and his wife Shila Klann. Gerhardt has his DAR, DAC, DRP and Certified Appraisal Reviewer Designations from the Canadian National Association of Real Estate Appraisers (CNAREA) and is licensed by the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA). 

He was recognized as CNAREA’s Appraiser of the Year (for all of Canada) in 2016 and has completed over 7,500 appraisals. In addition, Gerhardt is an engaging public speaker and has delivered the keynote address at several conferences for investors, lenders and mortgage brokers throughout western Canada. He developed his business skills at the University of Alberta, where he earned a B.Sc. Forestry Business Management, with distinction in 1999. A former world-class biathlete, Gerhardt brings a high level of focus and precision to his work. 

In addition, he is an active member of the community, serving as a volunteer for the Start 2 Finish Reading and Running Program and sits on the Appraisal Advisory Committee for the Real Estate Council of Alberta. Gerhardt and his hand-selected team of high-quality appraisers are passionate students of the Edmonton real estate market — with combined decades of appraisal, real estate and real estate investment experience. Their reports are well-regarded for their accuracy and precision and can help you make sound real estate-related decisions based on reliable facts.

Resources:

• REIN – Real Estate Investors Network
• Canadian National Association of Real Estate Appraisers
• Appraisal Institute of Canada

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Contact Len Lane | Brokers for Life: 

• BrokersForLife.ca
• Linkedin: Len Lane
• LinkedIn: Brokers for Life
• Facebook: Brokers for Life
• X: @Brokers4Life
  

Contact Gerhardt Klann | Northern Lights Appraisals: 

• Website: northernlightsappraisals.ca
• Facebook: @NorthernLightsAppraisals
• X: @NLAppraisals
• YouTube: EdmontonAppraisals
  

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Transcript
Len 00:02

Welcome. My name is Len Lane, and I am the founder and president of Brokers for Life Inc., and we are Dominion Lending Centers in Western Canada. The topic of our podcast will be about what we consider to be Real Life Mortgage Solutions.

Len 00:19

Welcome back. Today, we’re going to talk about appraisals. That one thing that in probably 50% I guess, of the deals that go through our office actually require an appraisal because they’re more than 20% down payment. So they’re what’s called unconventional. My guest today is Gerhardt Klann. He is the president and founder of Northern Lights Real Estate Consulting, which is all we’ll talk a little bit more than because you’re obviously doing more than just appraisals. So maybe give us a little background and welcome to the show. 

Gerhardt 00:52

Yeah, thanks so much for having me. Len, appreciate it. Yeah. So well. Depends how far back you want to go, but so I believe you and I first met at REIN?. Yes, lovely. So that may have been even preceding my days as an appraiser. So that’s that’s pretty much my background started with with real estate investing, and I was lucky enough, fortunate enough to have had some opportunities when I was in university, I wanted to move out. A whole bunch of things fell together. And basically, instead of paying rent somewhere else, my dad convinced me and my brother that, you know, if you guys buy a place and you put a suite in, look, you’d be paying the same amount of rent, and you’d be building something towards your future. And so that’s kind of where it all started. That was 1997. We bought a house together. It was very small, 700 square feet, had a one bedroom basement suite. And I was lucky again, because my dad had had construction experience. His dad was a builder, so we renovated it ourselves. We the only thing we outsourced that I recall, was the electrical. We had to upgrade the panel and the electrical, but everything else, like I my dad showed us, he showed us how to do copper plumbing, how to bend the bend the pipes. And a funny side story to that is that the Eco Center gives away free paint. I don’t know if you knew that. If you take all shades of paint, I’m talking like pink, mint green, doesn’t matter, you name it, and mix them all together in a big, like 10 gallon bucket with one of those mixers, you get beige. And once we discovered that we’re, you know, I mean, we were all about trying to do things for as low a cost and make it look good as we could. So, so that’s ultimately my background. You know, we kind of did that. Then we stumbled upon REIN. A friend of ours had recommended that we take the Quick Start Program, and it was actually cassette tapes that’s, so early, 2000.

Len 03:02

For those born after 2000 those were little…

Gerhardt 03:07

Yeah, exactly right, way before podcasts. But that’s what got us going and then, yeah, fast forward. You know, I don’t want to, don’t want to go into too much detail, but I was looking for something that would, you know, complement my real estate investing. And actually had an appraiser come to one of our rental properties to appraise it, because we were trying to do equity takeout, and I was in the process of just talking to everyone in real estate about what they did and so he said, Oh, why are you interested? I was like, well, I’d like to know more. So we we sat down for coffee and ended…