IN MEMORIAM: ANGIE CHAWLA

Angie Chawla

The House Hunting In Toronto website was originally created by me for my wife, Angie Chawla, a Toronto-based real estate sales representative who understood that the Internet was the key to future commercial success in this business. From looking at numerous generic real estate websites we learned two things: such a generic website would be a complete waste of time and money and such a website would never have any added value to prospective clients. Hence we decided to start from scratch and build our own site based on Angie's principles of professional service of the highest standard in combination with the personal touch that made her loved by each and every client. Angie hated 'Unsolicited Commercial E-mail' (better known as Spam) as much as she despised the practice of "cold calling". Hence, she insisted that the website would not only contain as much useful information as possible, but also that such information would be freely available to everyone without the need of providing personal details, phone numbers or e-mail addresses. "If a visitor is satisfied with the excellent service I am providing through my website", Angie used to say, "he or she will be happy to give me a chance to prove that I am the real estate agent they are looking for." Angie's website turned out to be a huge success in every way. Shortly after the launch in 2002, House Hunting In Toronto started to show up at the top of the result pages of every major search engine for any keyword related to Toronto and real estate. The website maintained those high search engine positions ever since, resulting in hundreds of unique visitors each and every day, many of whom became satisfied clients. For Angie, real estate was not just a profession and a home buyer or seller was not just another customer. She loved each aspect of her business and she enjoyed every minute she spent with her clients. Everybody who met Angie was impressed by her vast knowledge of real estate, her professional approach and her warm, comforting personality. With a blooming real estate business, doing what she loved to do most, my "Lady With The Smile", as several clients used to call her, was the happiest woman in the world. Until that horrible day when she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and was told she only had a short time to live. With the same determination that characterized her work, she decided to fight the cancer in every possible way. She put up a brave fight, but this was a battle my woman could not possibly win and on September 16, 2005, Angie passed away. House Hunting In Toronto was Angie's personal pride and I know it was her wish that her website would live on after her death. One of Angie's long time and best friends, Franca Capano, who teamed up with her husband Rick McGuigan, a real estate sales representative who shares Angie's passion for this business and who has the same values, high standards and professional qualities, was gladly willing to represent this website. We agreed that Franca and Rick would continue House Hunting In Toronto in Angie's fashion by providing visitors with easy access to free information about Toronto real estate and by providing prospective clients with the best possible service. We inserted this page as a tribute to Angie Chawla who was the driving force behind the huge success of House Hunting In Toronto. Angie, we miss you deeply and we will never forget you.