John McCharles has called Petrolia home for more than 50 years. He moved from the Kincardine area to Petrolia in the late 1960s to attend school and work in the funeral business. He left the funeral business to work for an ambulance business, which he later purchased. "I owned the ambulance service for ten years, and it was during that time I took my real estate license. After selling the ambulance business, I got into building houses and real estate. I've always had more than one iron in the fire. From the mid 1980s to the present day, I've pretty much stuck to real estate." McCharles has his broker's license, but has always chosen to work for another broker. "I've been with RE/MAX for 30 years, and I've enjoyed lots of success with them." In 2010, McCharles was awarded the RE/MAX Lifetime Achievement Award and he has received RE/MAX's Platinum Award and the 100% Club Award several times.
McCharles specialises in residential and agricultural properties, as well as some commercial listings. "In terms of real estate, Southwestern Ontario has been in a slow growth position for some time, but that is changing as there seems to be a desire to have better housing and nicer living accommodations. In Petrolia, growth has been very steady and is mainly coming from new housing."
Farms have gone up considerably in value over the last ten years, McCharles notes, due to demand and developers buying up land for commercial and residential use. Over the same time period, Petrolia's population has grown by 20%. McCharles believes it is the quality of life in the town that is drawing people to it. "Petrolia is a unique, vibrant town. The hospital is the heart of our town, and we are very fortunate to have such quality healthcare here. The Victoria Playhouse has also changed the atmosphere in town, with over 40,000 people coming here each year to enjoy professional theatre."
McCharles believes a good real estate agent doesn't just sell a house, they sell a community. "I love Petrolia. It's easy to sell this community because it has so much going for it." His passion for Petrolia led him into municipal politics. He was a member of the Town of Petrolia's council for 35 years and mayor for 12 years. "I retired as mayor in 2018. It was a wonderful way to give back to this community." He also learned what is involved in the day-to-day operation of the municipality, including zoning, by-laws, and construction, which served him well in his real estate business.
After so many successful years, McCharles isn't ready to retire just yet. However, he does plan to spend more time with his four grandsons and volunteer in the community he loves so much. "I am not as busy as I once was, but I am as busy as I want to be. I don't need to hustle like I used to because I have a lot of return customers and referrals."
It is often said mother is the necessity of invention. That was never truer than a few years ago when Natasha St. Louis decided to go head-to-head with her daughter's skin issues. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, my daughter's hands started to breakdown because of how much handwashing she
In 1989, David and Olga Williams purchased interest in a small company named Advanced Building Materials and in 1991, they purchased the remaining shares. We were originally located on Tecumseh Street in Sarnia. Three moves later, we are at our current location at 591 Gladwish Drive. We needed mo
As a teenager, Tammy Keuchkerian loved to cut and style her friends' hair. She decided to follow her passion and she became a hair stylist, initially working at other salons before opening Indigo Hairworks in 2006. It was Tammy's husband Vatche who encouraged her to open her own salon. It happe
For photographer Shaun Antle, the COVID-19 lockdown was as difficult as it was filled with opportunity and time. "I had been into photography for the better part of 25 years," says Shaun. "I just loved the thought of capturing life's moments and the world around me, so as a kid, as soon as I"
Tammy Vandenheuvel admits that even now, some 25 years after she and her husband Gary first opened the doors to Preferred Towing, the ringing of a phone at the company's Indian Road South headquarters comes with a sense of uncertainty. "We never really know what's on the other end of the phone, but
Dr. Jessica Bourassa and Dr. Vanessa Curran have a lot of titles. Mothers, wives, dentists and twin best friends. They are Sarnia girls, who after graduating from St. Patrick's High School in Sarnia, attended the University of Wes...
Josh Walters and Tyler Rawcliffe have turned their passion for music and craft beer into a successful job venture. There were a couple of things in play when we opened our bar Mauds Variety, Josh, 37, says. One is we are good friends who wanted to create something special together and an
It's unusual to have three opticians under one roof, but that's what you will find at The Eye Opener in Corunna. Mark Hodgins opened the business in 1979 on Lyndock Street and by the early eighties, moved to 219 Hill Street, where...