When most other girls were oohing and aahing over teen heartthrobs or the latest runway fashions Halina Bucchino was drooling over the pages of Architectural Digest and House & Home.

Something about those interior designs, those artful transformations and inexpensive yet impressive D-I-Y projects captivated Bucchino to the point that she became transfixed, her mind examining lines and shapes, devouring colours and patterns. Clearly, she was an anomaly among her teenage friends.

Some 20 years later and those friends have caught up to her. Bucchino’s interest in design never wavered and today she earns a living in a profession in which design has become increasingly important. All those hours flipping the glossy pages of home design publications served her well.

“When most girls were reading Teen Vogue I was reading interior design magazines,” says the recently hired Freeman realtor who is also the mother of twin girls. “I always say to my husband that in my next life I would like to be a furniture designer.”

But in this life, Bucchino plans to hone her real estate practice to encompass Riverdale, the neighbourhood in which she resides with her 12-year-old daughters and husband, and her main focus is investment real estate.

Bucchino immigrated to Canada from Poland with her family when she was six. The family lived in Hamilton and then Mississauga. A former fitness freak, Bucchino obtained an honour’s degree in physical education and went on to work as a personal trainer and to teach various fitness classes.

Family life is important to Bucchino, who loves the flexibility she gets from working in real estate. Her daughters, Bianca and Melody, factor most prominently.

“I love spending time with them,” she says. “They keep me young and remind me not to take simple things for granted.”

Prior to getting her real estate license two years ago, Bucchino assisted her husband with the day-to-day operations of a real estate investment firm. As a result, property management, leasing, purchasing and selling are matters she knows well. In fact, it’s thanks to her time there that Bucchino has built a solid network of investors and consultants, who send referrals her way.

Before joining Freeman, Bucchino worked with a boutique brokerage in Vaughan. But the pull to work downtown was strong and that’s when she found Freeman. Bucchino knew Freeman was the firm for her based an office environment that she describes as calm, comfortable and laid back.

“I love their branding,” she says. “The fact that they are a family-run business and that there are no egos in the office – I love that. I like their simplicity and that they’re not over-the-top. I think people recognize
the quality that Freeman brings to sellers and buyers.”