Those intent on adding "achieve a successful real estate transaction" to their list of business or personal goals would do well to adopt scientist Louis Pasteur's view of the future.

• Be prepared when luck strikes by learning how real estate transactions work, which locations represent the best investment for you and who offers cost-effective, highly-competent professional services in your area before you inspect specific properties.


• Be flexible and able to respond quickly when opportunity knocks by clarifying your goals, establishing your financial strength and identifying specific criteria for decision making well in advance.


• Be decisive when fortune calls by learning how to quickly and thoroughly analyze and evaluate any property to clarify what is involved and what value the real estate holds for you before you sign on the dotted.

Poolside at the Brentwood Bay Lodge & Spa

The spectacular Brentwood Bay Lodge & Spa is proof that "chance favours the prepared mind" when it comes to real estate.

Hotelier Dan Behune expected to buy a second property on the isolated west coast of Vancouver Island, but then he heard about a bankruptcy in the small seaside community of Brentwood on the east side of the Island. Chance presented an opportunity and he acted.

The original Brentwood Inn & Pub had fallen into disrepair and bankruptcy, but it was sitting on waterfront property that included a marina. Behune's knowledge of the environmental restrictions governing construction of a marina from scratch made this property attractive to him from the outset. Located about 30 minutes from Victoria, this real estate was on the doorstep of one of Canada's most popular tourist destinations—Butchart Gardens. With the area under-served by local hotels and with an international airport minutes away, he felt confident that he had found his second high-end site.

Behune already owned the 23-room Tudor-style Abigail's Hotel, a unique bed and breakfast in Victoria. This hospitality venture had him hooked on boutique hotels, a tourism niche largely driven by Boomer spending.

He and his partners acted decisively on their real estate find and in May 2004 opened the stunning new 33-room Brentwood Bay Lodge & Spa on the site of the old inn. This sophisticated recreational property maintained levels of more than 84% occupancy in its first five months and this was only the beginning.

"This will be the gateway to all the other wilderness properties," said Behune, explaining that their float plane will eventually carry guests to the four or five remote luxury lodges he and his partners intend to open across BC. "Ultimately, we'll build a great recreational boutique hotel company and have all the properties under one umbrella for sales and marketing. The common theme will be quality of service."

Behune envisions guests spreading a 10-day holiday over two or three of their diverse boutique hotels. Expansion plans call for environmentally-dramatic properties that are half boutique hotel and half fractional-ownership vacation property.

The Brentwood Lodge, which is described as "an aesthetically interesting and environmentally responsible resort" where "understated elegance and discerning service are essential," received the highest Five-Star rating Canada Select offers while still in its launch year. Brentwood, then one of only three exclusive hotels in Canada to be awarded membership in the prestigious Small Luxury Hotels of the World, earned this distinction before construction was completed because its setting and plans alone were so impressive.