Douglas (Doug) Hardie

I've been visiting Mexico and the Chapala area since 1993 when I first came to Guadalajara on business for Siemens. Staying over for a couple of extra days I fell in love with Ajijic and the Lakeside area and have been coming here ever since. I will be more than happy to share my experience with you.

On a personal basis, we've bought and sold over fifteen (15) properties in three provinces and two countries. I've acted as a landlord and general contractor during building or renovations on some of the properties. My wife Gail and I currently own homes in Mexico and Canada. We purchased our present Mexican property in Villa Nova four years ago and successfully managed a complete top to bottom renovation. We love it here!!

Essentially I've been in Sales and Marketing all of my life with various well known companies until I recently retired from IBM. I've held several senior management positions including Executive Vice-President Sales & Marketing in both the United States and Canada. I also was involved in the Commercial Real Estate business with J.J. Barnicke Ltd. (Toronto-Ottawa).

In addition I have eight years parallel experience in journalism with the Ottawa Citizen, AutoWeek (automobile racing), various magazines and broadcasting/commentating with the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).

In addition to my love of houses and construction, Gail and I are avid boaters; we keep our trawler SCALLYWAG II in the Thousand Islands near Kingston on Lake Ontario for summer getaways.

“A GOOD DEAL IS A DEAL THAT BOTH THE BUYER AND SELLER ARE HAPPY WITH”
That’s my objective in working with both buyers and sellers.

Essentially Doug's been in sales and marketing since the age of 19. At one point he was involved with J.J. Barnicke (Toronto-Ottawa) in the commercial real estate business as a sales representative focused on land development and office leasing.

He completed all of the required training in order to obtain his license in the Canadian Province of Ontario; the toughest and most comprehensive program in the country . This included all of the residential segments plus commercial training with Barnicke. In addition, Doug completed Real Property Law, Mortgage Financing and the Real Estate Appraisal courses. Only two more courses in Brokerage Management would have been necessary to obtain a brokers’ license.

In Mexico Doug is a member in good standing of A.M.P.I. (Asociacion Mexicana de Profesionales Inmobiliarios, A.C.) and the local Chapala MLS system; GIL MLS (Grupo Inmobiliario del Lago a.c.)

Doug was the Regional Manager Eastern Canada, Informix Channels, IBM Data Management Software Solutions. He was responsible for the Value Added Sellers with IBM from 1997 to 2004 when he retired.

Prior to IBM Doug spent five years with Siemens establishing their SAP Consulting and Professional services practices in both the Canadian Public and Private sectors. He was also responsible for managing SAP outsourcing clients in Canada, USA and Mexico.

Doug has held several sales and senior management positions including Executive Vice-President Sales & Marketing in both the United States and Canada. In addition he has eight years parallel experience in journalism with Southam Publications (Ottawa Citizen), AutoWeek and broadcasting/commentating with the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).

Doug has won many Top Performance awards too numerous to mention and has been invited and held board positions on both privately and publicly traded companies. He is currently on the Board of Directors for the Trident Yacht Club in the Thousand Islands.

In 1984 he founded and still owns Active Consulting Technologies, a private sales & marketing consulting company focusing on the High Technology marketplace.