Local Moose Jaw real estate agents join forces

Gayland Panko and Trevor McPherson have known each other for about four years, and knew each other first as competitors.

After careful consideration and some initially cautious collaboration, they realized business would be better for both themselves and their customers if they joined forces to create the real estate team of Panko & Associates. 

Gayland was born and raised in Moose Jaw. After a successful career as a cattle rancher, he retired and began investing in real estate throughout Canada and the US.

“(Being a real estate agent) was initially supposed to be a hobby,” he says.  

He has been a licensed realtor for two years now. It “just made sense” to him to start helping his many contacts with buying and selling commercial, farm, and ranch properties because, as an investor who believes in thorough research, there were properties and leases which might make sense for someone else even if they did not make sense for him. 

Trevor is from Regina, lived in Saskatoon for eight years, and has lived in Moose Jaw since 2009.

“I’m here in Moose Jaw now,” he states firmly, “I’m not moving around anymore.”

A well-known professional golfer who has been a full-time real estate agent since 2015, Trevor focuses his real estate interests in residential and commercial properties. He also obtained his broker’s license in April 2021, contributing another level of real estate expertise to what he and Gayland are able to leverage. The partners are happy with how their corresponding strengths and interests add up.  

“In real estate,” Gayland says, “customers benefit from agents being in contact with each other.”

This enables each respective buyer or seller to find the property that is most suited to them.

“Our goal is to create an atmosphere in our office with a collaborative, solution-based approach. Trevor and I work as a team, meeting and working together to find space for our clients and matching buyers with sellers.” 

McPherson and Panko both immediately ran into puzzlement regarding their affiliation with Royal LePage Regina Realty.

Gayland says, “I keep encountering confusion about that, just potential customers noticing the name and assuming we’re based in Regina.” Trevor agrees wryly, stating that, “With real estate regulations, you have to be registered and affiliated with a brokerage to practice real estate.”

As Trevor has his broker’s license, they could have started their own brokerage, but as he says, “The economics… didn’t make sense.” He explains that with today’s cloud-based real estate market, they could have worked under the auspices of virtually any brokerage in the province, and chose Royal LePage Regina after “a lot of due diligence.” 

They both want to assure potential clients that they are local Moose Jaw agents. “We work and live here,” they agree, “we’re a Moose Jaw firm.”   
When asked if they have any advice for those needing a real estate agent, they are unambiguous. “You should be interviewing agents, shopping around.” Trevor affirms, “Our advice is free, and we’re happy to just chat, so call us up.”

Gayland expresses that, “You should pick your agent based on who you get along with, and who you trust, maybe you have a history with them or maybe it’s someone you know.”

Trevor chimes back, “I’ve said to people, ‘maybe a different agent would be better able to help you?’ but for both of us, the goal is to assist our clients in obtaining their goals.”