February 2018

Issue #344

February 2018

Teams and technology

Brandon Polsinello views technology as a gift, not an obstacle Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 42218523 - Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to 2255B Queen St. E., #1178, Toronto ON M4E 1G3

Page 16

Gary Simonsen: The exit interview Page 3

A solution to home-grown marijuana issues?

Page 8

How to control your schedule Page 12

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REM FEBRUARY 2018 3

Gary Simonsen: The exit interview Former CREA CEO talks about the best and worst parts of his job, where CREA will be in 20 years and what he’ll be doing next.

C

hances are that as you are reading this, Gary Simonsen and his wife Kathy are basking in the sun in Thailand or taking in the sights in Singapore. Days after formally retiring from his duties as CEO of CREA, the couple got on a plane for a two-month tour of the far east.

“I think it’s important that when you make a change, you don’t just go home and say, ‘I’ll have a coffee and read the newspaper. That is going to last for a very short period,” says Simonsen.

He started his career in organized real estate in 1984 at the Winnipeg Real Estate Board and came to Ottawa to work at CREA in 1997. He became CEO of the organization in 2011.

A few weeks before turning over the reins to new CEO

business services that members are using.”

He says evolving technology has had an obvious impact, “both in terms of the role of the Realtor and how ORE itself is using technology.” The evolution of social media has both good and bad implications, he says. “The ability to reach folks who were difficult to reach before” is good, but “it also enables somebody who’s got a crazy wild idea to simply provide misinformation about something. It creates this unnecessary churn because somebody has misinformed a bunch of other folks, and then you are trying to manage that by correcting the misinformation.

“In terms of being a forum for intelligent discussion and debate, it has at times undermined that. In the past you would provide a written document, you would send it

“How we are structured and organized here...we are the envy of countries around the world,” says Simonsen.

Michael Bourque, Simonsen sat down with REM editor Jim Adair to reflect on his term at CREA and the changes he has seen in organized real estate (ORE) and the Canadian real estate industry during his tenure.

“When I started, the manner in which brokers conducted business was kind of similar – now there is a real diversity of business models,” he says. For an association to serve all members with different priorities “becomes much more complex…to provide and deliver services – particularly because ORE is not just a typical association, it’s also a provider of very significant

out to everybody, they would provide a written response….”

Now, “people don’t want two written pages, they say just give me a tweet. And that is supposed to capture what can be a pretty complex issue.”

Simonsen says the business has also become more adversarial.

“With the evolution of agency, where you have agents on either side of a transaction and they are representing different fiduciary responsibilities…. you see from a transaction perspective as well as sometimes from an association perspective, where it has become a little more adversarial.”

Gary Simonsen (Photo: Ryan Parent)

The increase in government regulations has also created tensions in the industry.

“So, from mortgage rules, FINTRAC rules, privacy rules, antispam rules, to the regulation of education, dual agency…to a whole bunch of simple things likes like the signage brokers can use in their community, municipal bylaws – all of a sudden, there are a plethora of regulations…You see all three levels of the government imposing new ways to regulate the industry.”

Within ORE itself, Simonsen says one of the most positive changes is that “there has become an awareness of the importance and impact of good governance – having directors who are well trained, who understand their roles and responsibilities, who can hold folks like me to account, but do so in an appropriate way.”

When Simonsen started at CREA, there were about 65,000 members. Now there are 124,000 and the numbers are still growing, although the association expects it to stabilize over the coming year.

Where does he see ORE in 20 years? Simonsen says advocating for the industry will continue to be the association’s raison d’être.

“There is nobody else who can play that role on a national basis.

“On the technology front, that’s ever evolving. There has always been concern that, wow, does CREA have plans for a national MLS? Who knows, it may evolve to that at some point. Is that going to be in my lifetime?” he says, laughing. “Probably not! But there will continue to be changes to technology.”

Simonsen says one of the best parts of his job “was a unique opportunity to see the country one end to the other and lots of places in between.” He estimates that he took about 70 plane rides per year, including transfers. All the travel and meeting members made him proud to be a Canadian and to represent ORE. “The fact that we own the MLS trademark and the Realtor trademark, and how we are structured and organized here…we are the envy of countries around the world,” he says.

The volunteer members and peers he has worked with are an “outstanding group of individuals…people who are committed and care,” he says. The CREA staff is a “wonderful team” and their “care, compassion and dedication” were demonstrated when they

sponsored a Syrian family to settle in Canada.

What won’t Simonsen miss about the job?

“To use the Spiro Agnew phrase, I won’t miss the negative nabobs – the naysayers, the doomsayers,” he says. “I won’t miss spending a lot of time in airports.

And the nature of this job, and it’s partly self-imposed, but it’s 24/7.

You are on call and dealing with stuff seven days a week.”

He and Kathy also own a home that’s 90 minutes away from Ottawa, which meant that Simonsen didn’t get home very often. “I’m looking forward to having one place to hunker down.”

When he returns from his vacation, Simonsen will begin working with consulting firm TNG, dealing with associations and not-for-profit organizations, and “hopefully with clients in the real estate realm.” He will consult on matters such as strategic planning, facilitation and governance reviews.

Simonsen says he leaves CREA with “nothing but positive feelings and I hope that in my new role there is a way I can continue to contribute to the Realtor community.” REM

4 REM FEBRUARY 2018

Well-known broker and television personality Sandra Rinomato and her team of 16 will now be known as Sandra Rinomato Properties powered by Property.ca.

Rinomato was the star of Property Virgins on HGTV. She has more than 20 years of experience.

Mark McLean, president and broker of record at Property.ca., says, “This amalgamation further strengthens our position within the real estate industry.”

Property.ca has four offices in the Greater Toronto Area and 180 salespeople.

munity. When the Century 21 organization arrived in Ontario in the 1970s, he was one of the first brokerages to sign up.

Miller says his success in real estate is because he takes a straightforward, honest and open approach to people and opportunities. “I’ve been in real estate for a long time and I still never stop learning. I attend as many seminars, conventions, special training events and continuing education courses as I can. I believe in taking advantage of every new opportunity to meet new people and grow my business,” he says.

“I am also proud to say that I have numerous salespeople working within my brokerage that have been with me for over 25 years.

They have become part of my family. I truly believe that people flourish in an environment where they have a brand, a culture and a leader they can believe in.”

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Bill Miller, broker/owner of Century 21 Miller Real Estate, recently opened a new state-ofthe-art office in Oakville, Ont. Miller’s real estate career in Oakville began in 1965, just two years after he moved to the com-

Luxury property specialist Rachelle Starnes and her team of 10 real estate professionals have joined Coldwell Banker Complete Real Estate of Calgary. The team members are Alicja Rudolf, Mel Loewen, Jeff Tincher, Niki

Susanita de Diego

Rachelle Starnes

Multiple Listings

By Jim Adair, REM Editor

Do you have news to share with Canada’s real estate community?

Let REM know about it! Email: jim@remonline.com

I

ndependent real estate brokerage Vendomax in the community of Duvernay in Laval, Que. has joined the Royal LePage network. It will now operate under the name Royal LePage Partenaire.

Co-owners Martin Buisson and Jean-Marc Giroux have nearly 38 years of combined experience in the real estate field. Buisson founded the agency in 2009, six years after receiving his real estate broker license. Giroux has been practicing real estate law for more than 24 years and teaching the subject for over 18 years at many institutions, including the Collège de l’immobilier du Québec, the Cégep de Lanaudière and Cégep des Laurentides.

The brokerage has almost 40 agents. It is the sixth brokerage conversion to Royal LePage in the province of Quebec since June 2016, the company says.

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North Saskatchewan River Valley, is the new home for Re/Max Commercial Capital, which is Edmonton’s only Re/Max commercial brokerage.

Broker/owner Scott Hughes bought the franchise in October 2015. Starting with three sales associates, the office has steadily grown, so it needed a suitable space to grow into.

Hughes explored other buildings and areas in Edmonton, but he says it was clear that Ritchie Mill’s unique style provided maximum flexibility in a historic, modernized professional space.

Constructed in 1892, Ritchie Mill exemplifies early agricultural and industrial development of Alberta. It is associated with early technical innovation.

Re/Max Commercial Capital will operate on one floor of the building and is looking to lease part of the building as a retail/cafe space, with the remaining floors for office use.

Ritchie Mill, a prominent landmark on the south edge of the

Martin Buisson

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Sandra Rinomato

Taggart, Patti Reid, Lorena Wozney, Christopher Zee, Katina Martin, Pam MacLeod and Diana Secrieru.

Brokerage owner Susanita de Diego says that the team formerly associated with Engel & Volkers will focus much of their marketing efforts on the new Coldwell Banker Global Luxury brand.

Starnes has been serving clients in the Calgary area since 2000 in the luxury new home, new condominium and resale market and has consistently been recognized in the top one per cent of the luxury market, the company says.

Her team members’ total sales volume has exceeded $1 billion over the past 17 years.

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Ali Arlani has been appointed CEO and registrar of the Condominium Management Regulatory Authority of Ontario (CMRAO). The authority began operations on Nov. 1, 2017. It is mandated to protect condominium consumers by setting standards and enforcing mandatory licensing of condo managers and condo management firms. It is a not-for-profit corporation funded by licensing fees paid by the condo management sector and governed by an independent board of directors.

Arlani spent five years as the assistant deputy attorney general for the Agency and Tribunal Relations Division of the Ministry of the Attorney General. In this capacity, he provided oversight and accountability for 10 operational, regulatory and advisory agencies, and three adjudicative tribunal clusters. Prior to this role, he was the CEO for the Environment and Land Tribunals Ontario, where he was responsible for the organizational realignment of the tribunals and the implementation of service standards.

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Continued on page 6

Scott Hughes in front of the historic Ritchie Mill.

Opening the new Century 21 Miller office, from left: Gary Zalepa Jr, director, strategic growth and franchise development, Century 21 Canada; Sheena Curran, broker, trainer; Elizabeth Novoa, broker, manager; Bill Miller, broker of record, owner; Brad Miller, broker and Brian Rushton, EVP, Century 21 Canada.

Ali Arlani

Multiple Listings Continued from page 4

A new brokerage operating in Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe Region, 3 Pillars Realty, is joining Zolo Realty. Owned and operated by veteran broker of record David Sokol and sales rep Neil O’Donnell, 3 Pillars Realty will receive support and competitive advantages through Zolo, the company says. The 3 Pillars Realty team covers five regions in southern Ontario, between Burlington and Niagara Falls.

“We know that buyers and sellers are very interested in this Golden Horseshoe area east of Burlington right through to Niagara Falls and, as a leading national brokerage, we wanted to make sure we continue to provide the highest level of service to our customers,” says Mustafa Abbasi, president of Zolo Realty. “The 3 Pillars team is a forward-thinking, consumer-focused brokerage that can deliver the exceptional service we expect.”

Zolo.ca is a national real estate marketplace with offices in seven provinces and agents in more than 50 Canadian cities. The company says it plans to double the number of coverage cities in 2018.

in luxury sales is recognized year after year for her achievements” but that she offers the same level of service regardless of price range.

Bailey says she “has adopted the philosophy that luxury is an experience, not a price point.”

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Century 21 Westman Realty has a modern new office space in Brandon, Man. The franchise, which changed its name to Century 21 Westman.com a decade ago, started 2018 by switching back to Century 21 Westman and renovating its office.

“We’ve been doing business in Brandon for 35 years and decided to update our brand and our office,” says Laurie Brugger, managing partner. “We found the perfect building on a main route and felt it was a prime location. We completely rebuilt the interior and aimed to make it not only modern, but an office that will serve us for years to come.

“Our 50 agents serve a market of about 180,000 people and our office has about 25 per cent of the market share,” says Brugger. “With our investments in our office and our technology we’re looking forward to an even more successful 2018.”

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Sales rep Nancy Bailey is bringing her 25 years of sales and marketing experience to Engel & Völkers Niagara-on-the-Lake. She was formerly with Sotheby’s International Realty.

Bailey’s “career in the luxury hotel sector, passion for the Niagara region and contacts in the luxury hotel, development, winery and arts are desirable qualities to her contacts and clients,” says the company in a news release. “She has worked closely with many industry leaders and has a keen awareness of the value of networking and partnerships to get results.”

The company says her “success

Cabin Country Realty in Kenora, Ont. has joined the Aventure Realty Network.

“Operating since 1990, Cabin Country has established a strong position in the marketplace and under the leadership of Graham Chaze and Chris Clark, broker/ owners, delivers a full suite of services by air, land and water,” says Aventure president Bernie Vogt.

The Avista Realty Group of Thunder Bay, Ont. has also joined the network. “Broker/owner Rajni Agarwal and the outstanding team of sales professionals bring a history of successful practice and community engagement to Aventure,”

Cover photo: ELIJAH SHARK

says Vogt. “With a strong offering including residential, commercial, vacation and investment services, the Avista Group has established a strong independent brand in the Thunder Bay market.”

The addition of the two brokerages expands the reach of Aventure’s 54 member companies.

They are present in 1,200 markets with close to 3,000 sales professionals.

Century 21 Bachman & Associates recently launched its Million Dollar Club, recognizing agents who have sold a milliondollar home in the Winnipeg market.

“This is a very exciting time for real estate in Winnipeg,” says Gary Bachman, owner and broker. “I sold the first million-dollar home in the city 21 years ago and it was seven years before another sold. The number of homes sold in that price point has grown significantly in recent years. As we launch the club, we have 32 members. We hope to add many

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World says Pam O’Connor will leave her position as president and CEO, effective March 31. O’Connor, who has been at the helm of the company since its founding in 1997, is stepping down with plans to remain active in the industry in a consultative capacity, including joining the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE) Board of Directors.

Paul Boomsma, who currently serves a dual role as LeadingRE COO and president of Luxury Portfolio International, will assume responsibilities as president and CEO upon O’Connor’s retirement.

“Pam has been the force behind the remarkable growth of our network,” says LeadingRE chairman of the board Joe Horning, president of Shorewest Realtors. “With incredible passion, talent and dedication, Pam has spent decades building programs that support the success of independent brokerages. Her influence across the industry is undeniable, and we are immeasurably thankful for her years of leadership.”

During a time of consolidation for major independent real estate networks in the late 1990s, she was selected to head a new organization formed when leaders from 50 real estate firms joined forces to launch a new non-franchise alternative for independent brokerages.

This organization became LeadingRE. Today the organization has 565 member firms in 65 countries, with corporate offices in London and Singapore. It also has a separate corporate relocation company, RELO Direct, and a luxury marketing program, Luxury Portfolio International. REM

Nancy Bailey

Laurie Brugger

Rajni Agarwal

Graham Chaze

Chris Clark

Pam O’Connor

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Publisher HEINO MOLLS heino@remonline.com

Editor JIM ADAIR jim@remonline.com

Director, Sales & Marketing AMANDA ROCK amanda@remonline.com

General Manager MILA PURCELL distribution@remonline.com

Digital Media Manager WILLIAM MOLLS web@remonline.com

Art Director LIZ MACKIN

Brand Design SANDRA GOODER

Graphic Design SHAWN KELLY

layers of names to our trophy.”

As part of the Million Dollar Club, 32 agents in the C21 Bachman & Associates office received a jacket with their name and the year that they had a million-dollar sale, as well as their name on the Million Dollar Club trophy.

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2255B Queen Street East, Suite #1178 Toronto, ON M4E 1G3

Phone: 416.425.3504 www.remonline.com REM is published 12 times a year. It is an independently owned and operated company and is not affiliated with any real estate association, board or company. REM is distributed across Canada by leading real estate boards and by direct delivery in selected areas. For subscription information, email distribution@remonline.com. Entire contents copyright 2018 REM. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. The opinions expressed in REM are not necessarily those of the publisher.

REALTOR® and REALTORS® are trademarks controlled in Canada by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify licensed real estate practitioners who are members of CREA. MLS® and Multiple Listing Service® are trademarks owned by CREA and identify the services rendered by members of CREA. REM complies fully with the CREA’s Trademark Policy (section 5.3.2.6.1).

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6 REM FEBRUARY 2018

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8 REM FEBRUARY 2018

Grobo could solve home-grown marijuana issues

The real estate industry has expressed concerns that cannabis grown improperly in homes could cause property values to plummet. James Zaza says he has the solution and wants Realtors to provide it for free. By Danny Kucharsky Grobo unit will have space for advertising displays by Realtors.

Clients who receive a Grobo free of charge can also get free cannabis seeds if they agree to give back their surplus cannabis production to Zaza, which he in turn hopes to donate for free as medical marijuana to children with epilepsy or cancer. (The Grobo can produce up to 16 pounds of cannabis a year in four growth cycles. Medical marijuana users would generally require less than one pound a year.)

A

hydroponic grow box called Grobo may be the solution for real estate professionals seeking to help select clients grow cannabis safely in their homes once the practice becomes legal in much of Canada, says financial consultant James Zaza.

“The Grobo is going to help (Realtors) get in the door and get leads,” he says. Today’s real estate professionals “need to be more than just somebody who sells a house,” and the Grobo helps them achieve that goal, he adds.

Zaza is an investor in Grobo, a Waterloo, Ont. startup that has developed an indoor growing system that is fully automated from a smart phone app. It’s odourless and care-free and eliminates the problems posed by mini grow-ops in homes, he says.

Cannabis grown indoors requires significant heat and moisture, which can cause water and mould damage to homes, harm their structural integrity and pose fire threats.

The real estate industry has expressed concerns that

cannabis grown improperly in homes could cause property values to plummet. However, Zaza says the Grobo provides homeowners with a safe way to grow cannabis indoors.

Zaza, president of Torontobased Zaza Financial Group, will be demonstrating Grobo at the Ontario Real Estate Association conference in late February. He will also be introducing a scheme in which Realtors can sponsor the devices and provide them to clients or potential clients who have prescriptions for medical marijuana and would like to grow their own cannabis.

Grobo was initially created in 2014 to grow fruit, herbs and vegetables indoors during winter, but co-founders and fellow University of Waterloo mechanical engineering graduates Bjorn Dawson and Chris Thiele soon discovered it could help marijuana patients grow cannabis plants at home.

The cannabis cultivation unit is sometimes described as a “Keurig for plants.” Users need only fill its reservoirs with water and nutrients, drop seeds into its base and then let a connected

app control the growing process.

The Grobo uses sensors to monitor the condition of the plant, automatically adjusting its watering schedule, and then lets you know when it’s ready to harvest. LEDs inside give the equivalent of 18 hours of sunshine every day and electricity costs are low.

“It’s really a great concept because without even touching the plant, you can watch it grow and add nutrients in the water and light remotely,” says Zaza.

“There’s no humidity, there’s no leakage, there’s no drain of electricity. LED lighting provides efficient, concentrated power. It’s safe, it’s clean, it’s childproof.”

“A lot of people are going to be keen to grow clean, qualitycontrolled, reasonably priced cannabis in their own home,” Zaza says.

Although the federal government’s proposed law to legalize non-medical cannabis in July 2018 permits adults to grow up to four marijuana plants at home, it is up to each province to outline their plans for regulating recreational marijuana. Not all provinces are onboard with growing cannabis in homes. For example, Quebec has announced no one will be allowed to grow cannabis in homes for personal use and Manitobans without a medical license will be forbidden from growing plants at home.

At the OREA conference, Zaza plans to sell Grobos at full price or lease them to Realtors who have joined his recently launched insured personal pension and health benefits plan for self-employed real estate professionals.

Zaza says Realtors can host the marijuana equivalent of Tupperware parties – leadgenerating “home Grobo parties” that will educate potential clients on the medical values of cannabis, its proper usage and how to grow it safely in the home.

Under the lease plan, Realtors can sponsor the Grobo and provide it for free to clients with prescriptions for medical cannabis. Panels on the

Agents “will be all over” the sponsorship idea. “It’s a great way to meet people, lets them know you care about their families and their health.” It also allows

real estate professionals to “do something unique and exclusive for the community that has never been done before.”

Zaza met Dawson of Grobo a few years ago and decided to invest in the company. (He would not divulge the amount.)

He also has investments in his portfolio in several Canadian cannabis companies that represent most of the country’s production.

More than 600 Grobo units have been sold in pre-production at a cost of $1,995 to buyers in Canada, U.S. and Europe. The units, which are five-feet high by 2-1/2-feet deep by 2-1/2-feet wide, should begin shipping in March. Once the company is in full production, about 25 to 30 Grobo units should be made weekly in Waterloo, Zaza says.

Grobo is not alone in the market. In October, marijuana company Aurora Cannabis paid $3.85-million to buy B.C. Northern Lights Enterprises, a Vancouver-based company that manufactures refrigeratorsized grow boxes. The miniature nurseries are loaded up with high-powered lights, ventilation systems and hydroponics equipment.

Zaza plans to roll out his Grobo plan in Ontario before expanding it to other provinces.

He is a strong proponent of the potential health benefits of cannabis. His website contains a “Cannabis Community College” link with information on the drug.

He says cannabis has saved his wife and daughter from opioid addiction. “My purpose is to try to eliminate opiates. I’m trying to get them off the face of the earth.” REM

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10 REM FEBRUARY 2018

Real Estate Technology “I’m very clear with clients before building bots for them that we are not looking for ROI and we’re not looking for sales.

We are looking to build a relationship tool,” says Dean Bracko.

By Don Procter

R

obot real estate agents aren’t about to take over the industry, but more brokers and agents are seeing the benefit of chatbots – software programs that can engage in conversations – to help them do business.

Halifax brokerage The Pike Group is a case in point. It launched the world’s first Facebook Messenger chat service that uses a chatbot named HaliBot. “While there are already amazing business benefits to investing in chatbot marketing compared to email, the real reason I’m using a chatbot is to build the voice for my brand and to gather data.… to use artificial intelligence to learn who to talk to, and how and when to talk to them so we can serve them better,” says owner Sandra Pike. “It starts the conversation and engages new potential customers at scale.”

Pike created a property listings feature hosted in HaliBot last August. She markets primarily through Facebook with a link to her Messenger through “fun monthly contests.”

HaliBot developer Dean Bracko says the idea of the contest is simply to break the ice with first-time entrants. Surprisingly, many people who connect with Pike’s Facebook Messenger leave their “real” email address, not a fake one – a common response on non-chatbot sites.

“We see people share more and tour (the site) more in the

second month’s contest,” says Bracko, owner of Ottawa-based NachosBot. Bracko says HaliBot markets a soft sell. “It’s about building a relationship so when they are ready to buy or sell (a property), who is going to be top of mind?”

Calling it an “effortless audi-

Chatbots offer ‘warm leads on a platter’ ence building system,” Pike says HaliBot emails her when she has a lead or a question from a client.

Pike primarily targets millennials (people under 36-years-old) – the largest group of home buyers, according to a trends report by the U.S.-based National Association of Realtors. That group most often starts its search online. They rarely call a Realtor until they have done extensive research, which includes Google and Facebook reviews.

A chatbot helps simplify their research, Pike says, adding that young clients have “zero interest in filling out live chat pop-ups.

They know this is a marketing ploy to collect their email and put them in a sales funnel.”

Salespeople need to be where their prospective clients are – on

Salespeople need to be where their prospective clients are – on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, Pike says.

Developer Dean Bracko and his HaliBot.

social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, Pike says.

“There’s a huge untapped potential for our clients to connect easily and quickly find the content they are looking for (with

Sandra Pike

HaliBot).”

She says the majority of mobile usage is now occurring inside of popular messaging applications like Facebook Messenger (78 per cent of her prospects are on it). To get in touch with her, people simply scan a code using Messenger.

“Using Messenger chatbots to build and nurture an audience, completely automated, is amazing. But they need the pros to take over to help the client through the next phase.”

Traditional websites have lost ground because it takes time to sift through a site to find recent listings, contact info and links to reviews, she says.

Chatbots are still in their infancy – Facebook allowed them on Messenger in 2016. But they learn as they go and it can happen quickly, Bracko says. When HaliBot can’t answer a question, it replies with three ways to contact the salesperson.

In a short time, it has cultivated relationships “almost like a third entity,” he says. “We’ll see comments where people are telling HaliBot to tell Sandra things like ‘thanks’ or to tell her that that they have a new listing.”

HaliBot has tens of thousands of conversations per month and features listings with video – all within Messenger at

the Pike Group. Listings can be shared to private conversations.

Most of the conversations, however, are with people unprepared to buy or sell a property. If 100,000 people in Halifax are talking to HaliBot regularly, only about three per cent are ready to make a deal, says Bracko.

“I’m very clear with clients before building bots for them that we are not looking for ROI (return on investment) and we’re not looking for sales. We are looking to build a relationship tool,” says Bracko.

HaliBot’s success can be measured by the number of direct links it makes to Pike’s landing pages, he says.

Sales are generated, however.

In one case with another sales rep Bracko serves, a prospective client messaged three salespeople about a property listing on a Friday night. One of the three had a chatbot, which collected the information and immediately emailed it to the real estate agent on duty, who set up an appointment the next day. The two other salespeople were slower to respond and missed out on the deal, he says.

It cost Pike $1,500 to have HaliBot built (a cost similar to building a website). She pays a $200 monthly subscription fee that includes conversation optimization and monthly broadcasts.

Brackos, who first met Pike at a conference in Las Vegas, says although she was unfamiliar with chatbot technology she was “open to the idea of change and taking those next steps.”

In 2007 Brackos started helping clients build websites and tapping into the growing social media phenomenon. Today his company has a number of chatbot clients in the real estate industry.

Pike says the long-term objective is to see HaliBot have “complete conversations. This is the future of the internet; fragmented content being shared in conversations. Your chatbot will serve you warm leads on a platter.”

REM

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I Dare YOU to Let Canada’s “Bad” Real Estate Market Make You a Crazy-Rich Agent!

What you’re about to read should make you think. AND question everything you’re doing and everything you’re being told.

“2018 is going to be a scary year. Mortgage stress tests are expected to further dampen housing demand, and economists are divided about how much further Canada’s housing market will fall.” [Financial Post] Craig Proctor, here. So, here’s what I know – that nobody else does. I know how to get crazy rich during a “bad” real estate market.

I don’t mean just make more money. Just juice the income a little. I mean: SKYROCKET your income. I mean: STUN everybody else in your office – and the flashiest loud-mouth braggart at every meeting. I mean: ACTUALLY HAVE PEOPLE LINED UP, PREDETERMINED TO GET YOU AND ONLY YOU to list and sell their home or find one for them – so you have NO competition.

I mean: RUB EVERYBODY’S FACE IN IT KIND OF SUCCESS. Visible. Big. Confusing to others.

“How the hell is he doing this?”

I mean: “GREEN WITH ENVY” MONEY pouring in. I mean: MAKING SO MUCH SO FAST that all your debt is wiped away, your credit cards are clear, the new car you kept telling yourself “no” to is in your driveway, and there’s a money flow left over to wisely invest and get rich with. I mean: joining the Evil 1%. (With me.)

Needing a financial advisor, a private banker, a wealth manager.

I mean: actually living like the people who buy million dollar luxury homes from you. All while working LESS HOURS with LESS STRESS, doing fewer things, and getting greater results. Getting Crazy-Rich in real estate without having a disappointed and disapproving spouse and family.

What you need is a system y that works. Not a bunch of ideas.

Not walking on hot coals or a bunch of motivational psychobabble. Not so-called seminars that look and feel like Amway or Herbalife rallies. You need a real system.

I have an absolutely proven system. Not “ideas.” Not new fads. A real system. That works

regardless of market conditions.

Anywhere. Any time. All the time.

Now. This year. Next year. It’s worthy of your time to investigate because after you work setting it in motion, it keeps working for you, permanently. You can just about “set it and forget it”.

Listen, most real estate “trainers” and “coaches” are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It looks different and shiny ‘n new. It’s still the Titanic.

It’s still headed straight for the giant iceberg. Most of them have adopted the word “system”, but they wouldn’t know one if it bit ‘em in the behind. What they’ve got is hype.

Frankly, I’m not the most exciting guy. I’m not a very good P.T. Barnum. I approached my real estate career more like a “systems engineer” than an excited, excitable salesman.

I didn’t “raise myself from failure to success in selling” with “enthusiasm that makes the difference.” Or gimmicks.

Nor have I ever diluted myself by trying to do every new thing, every new idea, every new media that comes along. Maybe my consistency and constancy is boring to some. But the most successful agents in many franchises, over 300 agents with 7-figure incomes, and thousands of agents transformed from years of struggle to success … all of them are using my system.

But this is NOT for most agents. You’d think everyone would run to such a system. But most agents just aren’t mature and sensible enough for it or honestly ambitious enough for it. And most just can’t handle the truth.

I don’t need your money – so I’m not going to pander to your worst impulses to get it. I can show you how to get CrazyRich as a real estate agent. But not if you’re goofy about it. If you’re going to waste your time looking for a single, magic, new easy-button or you want a 4-hour workweek or you believe in fairies and unicorns: newly minted ”gurus” claiming newly minted

Billionaire Agent and Millionaire Agent-Maker, Craig Proctor “secrets” never before seen in real estate, I can’t help you AND I DON’T WANT YOU AROUND. AT ALL. Get this: crazy-rich level success in this business is NOT about anything “NEW” at all.

Sorry. It’s about putting the right proven pieces, strategies, methods and tools together in just the right way so that you wind up with ‘The SYSTEM That NEVER Fails.’

Crazy-Rich is hardly ever about invention. It’s about implementation. Contrary to widely held belief, Henry Ford did not invent the horseless carriage or gasoline engine. He developed a functioning assembly line to make the damn things, and a dealer-franchise system to get them sold. Two systems. Implementation, not invention. Steve Jobs didn’t invent computers, PC’s or phones. Credit his unique approach to retail and to “product launches” – two systems. C-21 didn’t invent ‘conversion franchising’.

Col. Sanders did, way, way earlier.

Fred deLuca at Subway did not invent cold cuts, the sub sandwich or franchising – but he brought a system to it secondto-none, and got crazy-rich. “IT’S THE SYSTEM” is my rallying cry.

I did NOT invent anything in my System. Much of it came from outside of real estate and was revolutionary in real estate, but each piece I put together already lived successfully elsewhere.

Here are the three mindsets you MUST have: 1. You have to be businesslike. Most agents think and act like worker bees, buzzing about, flower to flower, idea to idea, fad to fad, made-in-minutes guru to guru. They never create businesses.

Just jobs. You have to think like a builder and developer, not a pirate. Or just a salesman. You have to think like a guy who owns 50 Subway shops or the whole company, not the guy who owns one, or the guy behind the counter making the sandwiches. If you do, what I’ll share with you at my upcoming Discovery Day will make sense to you. If you don’t, it will scare you or annoy you or be incomprehensible to you.

2. You have to intend to get and stay RICH in this business.

Most agents are content making a living, hanging around the office and drinking coffee like Norm hung around ‘Cheers’, forever making excuses to themselves and their families, forever waiting for the market to go back to its peak a year ago. If these agents do four, five, maybe ten deals in a year, they are good to go for another year. Lots of folks who speak “ambition” are really just hanging out. This isn’t for those folks. This is for the agent with mid-6-figures to 7-figures on his or her mind AND determined to earn it without selling soul to soul-numbing activities like sitting on the WishChair all afternoon at open houses, doing listing presentations for prospects also having 4 more agents “audition”, playing tour guide, pushing business cards on people at cocktail parties, even – ugh! – cold-calling FSBO’s and others. You have to be fed up, worn out and frustrated with the way most good-income agents work and everything they trade away for their income AND

ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED TO A BETTER WAY OF LIFE. It’s said no team can start winning until they are absolutely disgusted and angry and fed up with losing. You can be making a good income in real estate and still be losing. I know that from firsthand experience I’ll share with you …. even though it’s embarrassing. So, most agents, even most successful agents COMPLAIN. They all have the same gripes. They all keep doing the things that “lock in” those gripes.

3. You have to be able to focus and employ self-discipline, to stick with a winning plan once you get one. There’s no point in wasting your time or mine if you have the attention span of a ferret drinking Starbucks, the self-control of Donald Trump, and the self-discipline of a puppy.

Warren Buffet has not changed his investment selection system one iota in at least 20 years. He was never seduced by tech and dot.com bubbles, never tempted by a quick buck. Disney has gone through two CEO’s since Walt. Their system for successful storytelling has never changed or wavered. FROZEN was built on exactly the same premise and template as was Snow White.

ADHERENCE TO SYSTEM makes you crazy-rich. Flitting about has you starting over, over and over and over again.

Okay, so, do you think you would value and could stick with a complete and ‘no stone unturned’, proven, up-to-date but not fad-ish, extremely productive system if you got one?

If so, investigate, explore, learn. And do that by attending my upcoming free half day Discovery Day. You’ll find all the details you need to attend at www.ProctorSystem.com.

Go there now. This is serious.

Learn How to Get Crazy-Rich at My Upcoming Free Craig Proctor Discovery Day More Mo re Inf Infor orma matition o or Regiister t r at: at:

www.ProctorSystem.com

12 REM FEBRUARY 2018

How to control your schedule Before you know it, the day is gone and nothing essential was accomplished. Keep a tight leash on your schedule so non-critical interruptions don’t become the greatest time drain on your day. By Toby Welch

C

ontrolling your schedule – and not having it control you – is a huge challenge for most real estate agents. Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, yet some agents seem to accomplish so much more. They have mastered their schedule.

Starting the day with a plan is essential. Taking a few minutes in the morning (or the night before, in preparation for the next day) will set up your day for success. With your long-term goals in mind, create your daily schedule with what you need to accomplish. Then stick to your plan.

Perhaps the most crucial factor in mastering your schedule is using a system that works for you. It doesn’t matter what you pick— a Day-Timer, index cards, a software program, sticky notes, anything – as long as it is effective.

What works for Shelly

Coutu, a broker and mortgage agent with Revel Realty in Niagara Falls, Ont., is what she calls a trifecta approach.

“I have three ways to ensure I do not go off the rails, both in business and in my everyday approach to life. I am first and foremost still an old school kind of girl... using a hard copy DayTimer, with an actual pen to paper. Second, I have given in to my iPhone calendar, setting the reminder with two reminder chimes. The third method is the trusted daily to-do list. Then I always reward myself with time to relax at the end of a busy and successful day.”

Without a schedule for the day and the gumption to stick with it, the hours tend to fill with the dozens of little things that inevitably crop up. Before you know it, the day is gone and nothing essential was accomplished, like a hamster on a

wheel. Keep a tight leash on your schedule so non-critical interruptions don’t become the greatest time drain on your day.

That said, unplanned things do pop up. When creating your schedule, leave gaps to accommodate them.

Your schedule system doesn’t have to be complicated. Jamie Hooper, an agent with Re/Max Crest Realty Westside in Vancouver, only uses Google Calendar. That’s it. “It’s not rocket science,” he says.

Without a schedule, Hooper finds it especially easy to put off things like doing video emails and marketing.

He says, “The biggest distraction for agents is phones. When people call, they just want to talk to someone. If I’m not available, I call someone else on my team and let them know I’m forwarding my phone to them for a couple hours. What one agent does

eRegistration comes to Manitoba The Property Registry promises a “more secure and efficient approach to digitally filing land title documents.”

M

anitoba’s new electronic registration system launched in December.

Its operator says it will modernize and improve the efficiency, security and quality of land titles filing in the province.

The Property Registry provides certification of titles to land, maintains land and survey records and offers information of financial interests in personal property in Manitoba. It is privately owned and operated by Teranet Manitoba LP. Oversight is provided by the Office of the Registrar-General.

The company says eRegistration will automate the submission and registration of titlerelated documents. The system works with all combinations of land title registration forms, and was built to extract data from the

land titles secure digital smart forms. It will reduce many of the errors and omissions currently found in paper-based submissions, the company says.

“The new eRegistration system moves Manitoba forward in helping to create a secure, digital and paperless method of filing land titles documents,” says Nancy Anderson, general manager of The Property Registry.

“With eRegistration in place, we anticipate improved service times and a more efficient process for our clients.”

The new system will become mandatory on April 3, 2018, for all lawyers and financial institutions and any users who file more than 500 land title documents per year. Users who file more than 100 land titles documents per year will

be required to use the new service as of Oct. 1, 2018. “eRegistration is part of the multi-year Client Service Improvement Initiative launched by the Government of Manitoba in 2011. The initiative has made many improvements in the way The Property Registry provides statutory services to customers,” says Barry Effler, registrar-general of Manitoba.

Teranet also operates the Electronic Registration System for the Province of Ontario. The company is owned by OMERS Infrastructure, the infrastructure investment manager of OMERS, the pension plan for Ontario’s municipal employees. OMERS is one of Canada’s largest pension funds, with net assets of more than C$85 billion. REM

is change his voice mail every morning to say when he’ll be returning calls.”

Coutu figured out how to keep the phone from dictating her schedule.

“Clients and friends may not be happy to learn that I will let nine out of 10 calls go directly to voicemail – admittedly while I am sitting directly beside the phone ‘watching’ it ring, or select the button on my iPhone that immediately forces the call to voice mail. That may sound unprofessional, unkind or arrogant, however I feel quite the opposite. I may or may not know why that individual is calling so I will let that person leave a message, so I can prepare both mentally and physically and ensure to be in an area conducive to returning that call. I am a very strong advocate for manners on both ends of a conversation, so a nice quiet area without interruptions is best, and most productive. My rule in the very same breath is to always return that call as promptly as possible... within reason.”

Karyn Filiatrault, a sales representative with PSR Brokerage in Toronto, shares a few tips on how she keeps control of her schedule: “I don’t take days off, but I take hours off every day (whether that’s the middle or the end of the day).

“In prospecting, I focus on what I’m good at. I used to sit for hours pep-talking myself into making the cold calls. Same with door knocking. Instead, I now pour my energy into prospecting by writing blogs and producing real estate videos, which I love doing and have a talent for. I can do this kind of prospecting at night, too, while my son is in bed, so double win.

“I’ve got my buyer clients set up on instant prospect matches via the real estate app Collab – so instead of refreshing my browser to see what’s new every 10 minutes, the best prospective

Shelly Coutu

Jamie Hooper

Karyn Filiatrault

listings for each client get emailed to me the moment they’re listed.

“I refer business that is outside of my area of expertise. In my case, anything outside of Toronto’s core. That means I’m driving less, am more knowledgeable about the areas I do sell in and my clients are better served in the areas I don’t know as well.

“I have a fantastic support system in my son’s father and his fiancé. He’s a real estate agent too and so we have a special sympathy for the schedule some days.”

When mastering your schedule, focus on the things that are important for your career in the long term. And then lose the rest. In an industry where every day is different and usually jampacked, it is critical that you control your schedule. Don’t let it control you. REM

Brad Henderson

Sacha Brosseau

Maureen O’Neill

Christine Mitchell

Dianne Usher

President & CEO

Vice President of Brokerage

Broker of Record, Ontario

Regional Managing Broker, Oakville, Mississauga & Niagara-On-The-Lake

Managing Broker

William Lloyd Nasby: April 4, 1928 - December 16, 2017

EXIT REALTY CORP. INTERNATIONAL SADLY ANNOUNCES THE PASSING OF

Bill “The Bald Eagle” Nasby It is with deep sadness that EXIT Realty Corp. International announces the passing of Bill “The Bald Eagle” Nasby on December 16, 2017 at age 89, in Comox, British Columbia, following a courageous battle with cancer.

Nasby was known throughout North America and Australia for his “Creating Your Reality” workshops. Joining EXIT in its infancy in 1996, Nasby was one of the company’s first Canadian and U.S. District and Regional Owners, partnered with now-Chief Operating Officer, Erika Gileo, and was instrumental in the company’s growth.

WHILE WE ARE ALIVE, WE SHOULD BE TOTALLY ALIVE, LIVING IN THE MOMENT AND EXPERIENCING ALL THAT LIFE HAS TO OFFER. - Bill Nasby

BillNasby_REM Feb 2018.indd 1

1/9/2018 3:58:44 PM

Raised in Depression-era Saskatchewan, he began working at age 10 and quickly learned the value of hard work and enterprise, buying 4 newspapers for 10 cents and selling them for 20. After joining the Merchant Marines as a youth and serving the last two years of WWII, Nasby returned from overseas and joined the First Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (airborne) and served approximately 14 months during the Korean War. He eventually joined the Royal Canadian Navy, volunteered for submarines and spent the next several years attached to the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom and later on the west coast of Canada on HMCS/M Grilse.

Nasby came to real estate later in life and became a top-producing real estate agent with RE/MAX. He went on to teach, train and coach thousands as the Vice President of Personal Development for EXIT Realty Corp. International. He teamed up with daughter, Erica Nasby, and together they are credited with inspiring countless people to achieve their business and personal goals.

“Bill Nasby was a mentor and dear friend to me,” said EXIT Realty Corp. International’s Founder and Chairman, Steve Morris. “I don’t believe we will ever really know how many people his life impacted.

Through Bill’s tough love and guidance, real estate agents not only became better producers, but also better spouses, friends, parents and community leaders – they became better people. When their lives changed for the better, they positively impacted the lives of those around them. He was a force of light and love and we celebrate him.”

Acquiring his coveted CCM bike was Nasby’s first memorable success story.

Anyone whose life was positively impacted by Bill “The Bald Eagle” Nasby is invited to submit their reflections in a one-page email (typed rather than an image or PDF please) to exit@exitrealty.com. The comments will be compiled and bound as a gift for Bill Nasby’s family.

WHEN YOU ASK FOR SOMETHING, BELIEVE THAT YOU SHALL HAVE IT. VISUALIZE IT ON THE MOTION PICTURE SCREEN OF YOUR MIND. - Bill Nasby

Nasby was an avid and accomplished skydiver.

BillNasby_REM Feb 2018.indd 2

www.exitrealty.com

1/9/2018 3:58:47 PM

16 REM FEBRUARY 2018

Teams and technology shape the future

Brandon Polsinello, 29, is among the new breed of sales reps who views technology as a gift rather than an obstacle. By Susan Doran

B

randon Polsinello, 29, is among the new breed of sales reps who views technology as a gift rather than an obstacle.

Licensed for just five years, Polsinello manages the Re/Max Realtron Polsinello Realty team, which is headed up by his father, Frank. Brandon was partly drawn to real estate because of family connections. Besides growing up watching his father succeed in the business, he had a ringside seat to the dazzling rise of his uncle, prominent real estate coach Craig Proctor.

The Re/Max Realtron Polsinello team is based in Newmarket in the Greater Toronto Area and ranks #35 in Canada for Re/Max and #71 world-wide.

Re/Max’s PR and communications department tells REM that Polsinello has “a fresh, young perspective” and is newsworthy “given that millennials and technology seem to be at the forefront of many conversations these days.”

The company continues: “Brandon Polsinello’s secret to success lies in the very thing that has real estate agents fearful for their future – technology.

The industry is split right now, with agents who still remember using binders of paper to display listings, and then you’ve also got technology disrupters starting to nudge their way.

“Brandon offers a unique perspective on why technology needs to be embraced in the industry… because without it, we won’t be able to reach or relate to the largest upcoming demographic of home buyers and sellers.”

What does Brandon have to say about this praise?

“Wow. They’re really talking

me up,” he says, laughing. “I don’t like the millennial thing much, maybe because I am one.

A lot of agents are still using traditional methods and I don’t want to knock them. But I do think you will see those methods start to stop working, including cold calling. And there will be less and less of those traditional agents…If you aren’t keeping up with the direction the industry is moving, you are going to get left behind.”

And probably soon, according to Brandon and his father.

“I think that in the next three years, traditional agents will disappear,” Frank Polsinello says.

The expanding Polsinello sales team is currently comprised of 20 sales reps who are trained to stay ahead of the competition by leveraging technology. Strength in numbers is also a key part of the strategy.

“We’ve really ramped up this past couple of years. It’s our belief that teams are the way of the future,” says Brandon. “Teams combine agents and resources together. An individual agent is just not going to have the resources to compete as we go forward, financial or otherwise.

We are able to invest back into the business and generate more leads due to the size of the team.

“We are building an army.”

Brandon has been pivotal in helping the team grow and change with the times. He and his father have focused intently on developing and implementing new systems, creating a uniquely structured office.

“We have processes in place for everything,” says Frank, who believes that real estate is all about lead generation, conversion and follow-up.

“Everything is systemized. Most

teams rely heavily on admin assistants. In another brokerage a team of 20 would normally have four assistants. We have only one. We are able to do that through the use of online technology.”

The exact nature of this technology is a well-guarded secret. “We don’t want to give away the farm,” says Frank.

Consequently, although Brandon informs REM that he is responsible for handling the technical side of new agent training, he’s reluctant to elaborate on what that involves … which makes trying to get information from him a little like interrogating James Bond.

He admits that, “We have a number of different sources/ systems that we use for generating leads. (There’s also a team communications platform.) And we have a central system, our contact management system, which all leads are funneled into for distribution to agents.

All the processes, everything the agents need, is built into the system by us so that agents know how to work the leads they’re assigned.”

He adds, “We track everything – every contact, every call that an agent on the team makes is recorded...It’s an automated system that determines who is next in line for a lead. We spend a lot of money on generating leads, so we expect a certain number of calls per week by each agent.”

The intention is for the sales reps’ focus to be “talking to and following up with clients” and getting new business.

“If they deal with the contacts that we’ve laid out for them, it’s going to be hard for them not to be successful… The processes

Brandon Polsinello (Photo: Elijah Shark)

and systems we have developed make it easier for the agents to manage their business and ultimately, write more business,” says Brandon.

He and his father consider social media and digital marketing to be far superior to any other current form of business generation.

“We could send out 10,000 branded postcards or spend the same amount on digital marketing, and the response is significantly higher with the latter,” says Brandon. “It’s a much more cost-effective way for us to generate business…

Technology allows us to get in

front of a huge amount of people.

The number of people on our database has grown at a rate we’d never be able to achieve with traditional marketing, and allows us to target areas and demographics more specifically and expand our market base.”

That said, both father and son still believe that nothing will replace the phone.

“The industry will only get more and more competitive,” says Brandon. “We believe that we have some of the best technology in the business, but the best technology is not going to replace real person-to-person interaction.” REM

100% C A N A D I A N

Abbotsford - Darcy Reddicopp (manager), Jonas Melan (previous owner), Merrily Hackett (managing partner for Sutton Group West Coast Realty), Rick Taron (Chief of Franchise Operations), James McCaughan (manager), Jim Rempel (previous owner)

WELCOME

TO SUTTON. WELCOME

HOME

Brampton - Kim Berry (Director of Strategic Business Development) & Rakesh Sharma (new owner)

Introducing our new offices We enjoyed growing our team so much, we decided to do it again!

WE’RE EXCITED TO WELCOME EVERYONE AT 2 NEW LOCATIONS TO THE SUTTON FAMILY SUTTON GROUP - REALTY EXPERTS INC. Brampton, ON. SUTTON GROUP - WEST COAST REALTY Abbotsford, BC

18 REM FEBRUARY 2018

Your personal brand quiz Test how your reputation stacks up

By Jeff Mowatt

H

ave you ever wondered how likely people are to recommend you? Are other brokerages hearing about you from your customers and considering offering you a job? The likelihood of these kinds of recommendations is based on what I call your Trust Equity Score. The higher your trust equity, the more inclined people will be to recommend you to others, and be willing to pay a premium – literally – to do business with you. Take this quiz to discover your score out of 45 possible points.

1. Do you keep your promises?

Subtract five points if you occasionally use these phrases: I’ll try, I’ll do my best, I won’t be able to do it until tomorrow. Add 10 points

if instead you often say: You’ll have it within 24 hours (and consistently deliver on that promise).

It’s specific and positive, and when conveyed in precise hours, rather than in a day, it sounds shorter and more intentional.

Tip: When you do deliver within 24 hours, start your communication with, “As promised...”

That way, it registers with others that you keep your word.

2. Do coworkers and customers see you as their friend or trusted advisor?

Give yourself a zero if most people at work see you as a friend. Add five points if they would describe you as a trusted advisor. Keep my little rhyme in mind: Friends compare and overshare. Advisors ask and stay on task. It’s a reminder to talk less and listen more. Focus the conversation on the other person and what their overall objectives are and why. People value the input of a strong listener

over that of a smooth talker.

3. Do you look like a professional?

If you are often dressed and groomed more casually than your peers and are in worse physical shape, subtract five points. If you are dressed and groomed slightly sharper than your peers and are in better shape, add five points. In the real world, whether it’s fair or not, people judge you by outward appearances. It’s a reflection of your self-esteem, self-discipline and attention to detail. It should look like you put some effort (including exercising) into your appearance.

4. Are you involved in your profession?

Subtract five points if you never go to your board’s general meetings or attend industry conferences. If you attend meetings add five points. If you also volunteer and serve in some capacity in your association, add five more points.

Professional/trade associations give

you the opportunity to network with peers in your industry. You learn from competitors who are willing to share. And you can give back while raising your profile. Do your personal brand a favour – get involved.

5. Do you ask for permission or forgiveness?

If you tend to check with others before taking action, subtract five points. If you’re more inclined to adhere to the adage that it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, add five points. Whatever your job title may be, people have more respect for those who are inclined to act than those who wait to be told or given permission.

If your brokerage penalizes people who take initiative, find someplace else to work.

6. Where are you when the chips are down?

When it comes to visiting people in hospitals, attending funerals, or dealing with upset customers, you tend to either: a) find an

excuse to be somewhere else (subtract five points). Or b) show up even though you don’t want to be there (add 10 points). No one likes hospitals, funerals, or dealing with upset customers. That’s why when times are tough, people do notice who shows up. And yes, they also notice those who don’t. There’s always an excuse for avoiding unpleasant situations, which is why showing up like a grown-up does so much for your reputation.

What’s your score out of 45?

Chances are if you took this quiz you probably scored pretty high. The fact that you’re reading this article indicates you are interested in learning and development: a strong trait. Increasing your trust equity and enhancing the value of your personal brand is simple – just take the steps outlined. Simple doesn’t mean easy.

Trust-worthiness is, after all, something we all must earn.

This article is based on the bestselling book, Influence with Ease by Hall of Fame motivational speaker Jeff Mowatt. To obtain your own copy of his book or to inquire about engaging Jeff for your team, visit www.jeffmowatt.com. REM

1. Mark Faris ° Royal LePage First Contact Realty The Faris Team‡ Barrie, ON

2. Shaheen Zareh Royal LePage Regina Realty Regina, SK

4. Jas Takhar Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

5. Tanya Rocca Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

6. Daryl King * Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

7. David Weir*° Royal LePage ProAlliance Team Weir‡ Trenton, ON

8. Jean-François Bérubé*∞ Royal LePage Évolution Sherbrooke, QC

9. Kirby Cox*• Royal LePage Benchmark Calgary, AB

10. Rosemary Ferroni Royal LePage State Realty‡ Stoney Creek, ON

11. Tim Somerville Royal LePage Atlantic Saint John, NB

12. Sebastien Parent^ Royal LePage Haut-Richelieu St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC

13. Dusty Smith• Royal LePage Network Realty Corp.

Red Deer, AB

14. Maxime Tardif^ Royal LePage Altitude Montreal, QC

15. Loretta Phinney * Royal LePage Real Estate Services Loretta Phinney‡ Mississauga, ON

16. Jason Clermont° Royal LePage Regina Realty Regina, SK

17. Dione Irwin• Royal LePage Innovate Airdrie, AB

18. Clinton Miller§ Royal LePage ParksvilleQualicum Beach Realty Parksville, BC

19. Jonathan Doucet∞ Royal LePage Vallée De L’Outaouais Gatineau, QC

20. E. Martin Mazza Royal LePage State Realty‡ Stoney Creek, ON

21. Brent Roberts* Royal LePage Brent Roberts Realty Surrey, BC

21. Kevin Lapp• Royal LePage Lifestyles Realty Lacombe, AB

23. Jason Ballas Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Trenton, ON

24. Patricia Guernsey Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Belleville, ON

25. Gaye Turner° Royal LePage Turner Realty Gander, NL

It is my great pleasure to present to you our 2017 National Chairman’s Club award winners.

These extraordinary sales professionals make up the top 1% of our extensive national network of almost 18,000 REALTORS®.

This year, we are thrilled to begin recognizing our top 1% based on units sold, in addition to our top 1% based on GCI. Each has earned this prestigious award through her or his exceptional accomplishments and unwavering commitment to excellence.

On behalf of myself and the entire Royal LePage Canada team, I wish to extend sincere congratulations for your remarkable achievement. You make us proud!

Phil Soper, President & CEO, Royal LePage

1. Mark Faris ° Royal LePage First Contact Realty The Faris Team‡ Barrie, ON

2. Cailey Heaps Estrin* Royal LePage Real Estate Services Heaps Estrin Team‡ Toronto, ON

3. Daryl King* Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

4. Eugen Klein§ Royal LePage Sussex Klein Group Vancouver, BC

5. Loretta Phinney * Royal LePage Real Estate Services Loretta Phinney‡ Mississauga, ON

6. Tanya Rocca Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

7. Jas Takhar Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

8. Dan Cooper*† Oakville, ON

9. Matthew Regan Royal LePage Real Estate Services Regan Real Estate‡ Mississauga, ON

10. Sue Mills Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

11. Marie-Yvonne Paint*∞ Royal LePage Heritage Westmount, QC

12. Paul Nusca*† Toronto, ON

13. Theodore Babiak*°† Toronto, ON

14. Kirby Cox*• Royal LePage Benchmark Calgary, AB

15. Amy Flowers ° Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty‡ Milton, ON

16. Michael O’Sullivan* Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

17. Amy Assaad°∞ Royal LePage Heritage Westmount, QC

18. Shaheen Zareh Royal LePage Regina Realty Regina, SK

19. Bob Clarke Royal LePage Lakes of Muskoka Clarke Muskoka Realty‡ Port Carling, ON

20. Rina DiRisio *† Oakville, ON

21. Anthony Fata *° Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

22. Eugenio Sturino Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Vaughan, ON

23. Elli Davis*† Toronto, ON

24. Brent Roberts* Royal LePage Brent Roberts Realty‡ Surrey, BC

25. Andrew Keyes† Oakville, ON

royallepage.ca/joinus

John Aben° Royal LePage Lakes Of Muskoka Realty‡ Huntsville, ON

Diane Allingham° Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Paul Annett Royal LePage RCR Realty‡ Northern Bruce Peninsula, ON

Wayne Baguley Royal LePage RCR Realty‡ Orangeville, ON

Caroline Baile° Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Aurora, ON

Mike Barnard Royal LePage Atlantic New Minas, NS

Beatrice Baudinet^ Royal LePage Heritage Westmount, QC

Barbara Beers*° Royal LePage Burloak Barbara Beers‡ Burlington, ON

Warren Behan°§ Royal LePage Powell River Powell River, BC

Carson Beier• Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate Spruce Grove, AB

Stu Bell§ Royal LePage Sussex West Vancouver, BC

Johnathon Benedict Royal LePage Atlantic Windsor, NS

Stan Bernardo° Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Mississauga, ON

Silvana Bezina° Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty‡ Georgetown, ON

Julius Bloomfield§ Royal LePage Locations West Realty Penticton, BC

Claude Boiron° Royal LePage Terrequity Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Marc Bonenfant^ Royal LePage Inter-Québec Québec, QC

Tracey Bosch*§ Royal LePage Wolstencroft Realty Langley, BC

Mike Boychuk Royal LePage Hallmark Saskatoon, SK

Angela Boyle° Royal LePage Parkwood Realty Bathurst, NB

Michael Brejnik Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

Michael Brierley Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

Libby Broady∞ Royal LePage Elite Beaconsfield, QC

Anthony Brown Royal LePage Atlantic Dartmouth, NS

Mary Brown Royal LePage Truro Real Estate Truro, NS

Nutan Brown Royal LePage West Realty Group‡ Toronto, ON

Mark Burke Royal LePage Triland Realty‡ Woodstock, ON

Jay Burton Royal LePage Frank Real Estate‡ Lakefield, ON

Darryl Butt° Royal LePage Generation Realty Grand Falls-Windsor, NL

Brett Campbell• Royal LePage True North Realty Fort McMurray, AB

Mary Campeau° Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Kingston, ON

Richard Cane Royal LePage Triland Premier‡ London, ON

Joseph Cartaginese° Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Vaughan, ON

Doug Chapman§ Royal LePage Locations West Realty Penticton, BC

Dianne Chaput Royal LePage Estate Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Melissa Charlton° Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty‡ Milton, ON

Gavin Chen Royal LePage Terrequity Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Joe Conlon Royal LePage Binder Real Estate‡ Windsor, ON

Chris Constantine Royal LePage Atlantic Moncton, NB

Andrew Coppola† Toronto, ON

Michael Cormack° Designate Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Elizabeth Crombie Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Picton, ON

1. Mark Faris ° Royal LePage First Contact Realty The Faris Team‡ Barrie, ON

2. Shaheen Zareh Royal LePage Regina Realty Regina, SK

4. Jas Takhar Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

5. Tanya Rocca Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

6. Daryl King * Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

7. David Weir*° Royal LePage ProAlliance Team Weir‡ Trenton, ON

8. Jean-François Bérubé*∞ Royal LePage Évolution Sherbrooke, QC

9. Kirby Cox*• Royal LePage Benchmark Calgary, AB

10. Rosemary Ferroni Royal LePage State Realty‡ Stoney Creek, ON

11. Tim Somerville Royal LePage Atlantic Saint John, NB

12. Sebastien Parent^ Royal LePage Haut-Richelieu St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC

13. Dusty Smith• Royal LePage Network Realty Corp.

Red Deer, AB

14. Maxime Tardif^ Royal LePage Altitude Montreal, QC

15. Loretta Phinney * Royal LePage Real Estate Services Loretta Phinney‡ Mississauga, ON

16. Jason Clermont° Royal LePage Regina Realty Regina, SK

17. Dione Irwin• Royal LePage Innovate Airdrie, AB

18. Clinton Miller§ Royal LePage ParksvilleQualicum Beach Realty Parksville, BC

19. Jonathan Doucet∞ Royal LePage Vallée De L’Outaouais Gatineau, QC

20. E. Martin Mazza Royal LePage State Realty‡ Stoney Creek, ON

21. Brent Roberts* Royal LePage Brent Roberts Realty Surrey, BC

21. Kevin Lapp• Royal LePage Lifestyles Realty Lacombe, AB

23. Jason Ballas Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Trenton, ON

24. Patricia Guernsey Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Belleville, ON

25. Gaye Turner° Royal LePage Turner Realty Gander, NL

It is my great pleasure to present to you our 2017 National Chairman’s Club award winners.

These extraordinary sales professionals make up the top 1% of our extensive national network of almost 18,000 REALTORS®.

This year, we are thrilled to begin recognizing our top 1% based on units sold, in addition to our top 1% based on GCI. Each has earned this prestigious award through her or his exceptional accomplishments and unwavering commitment to excellence.

On behalf of myself and the entire Royal LePage Canada team, I wish to extend sincere congratulations for your remarkable achievement. You make us proud!

Phil Soper, President & CEO, Royal LePage

1. Mark Faris ° Royal LePage First Contact Realty The Faris Team‡ Barrie, ON

2. Cailey Heaps Estrin* Royal LePage Real Estate Services Heaps Estrin Team‡ Toronto, ON

3. Daryl King* Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

4. Eugen Klein§ Royal LePage Sussex Klein Group Vancouver, BC

5. Loretta Phinney * Royal LePage Real Estate Services Loretta Phinney‡ Mississauga, ON

6. Tanya Rocca Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

7. Jas Takhar Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

8. Dan Cooper*† Oakville, ON

9. Matthew Regan Royal LePage Real Estate Services Regan Real Estate‡ Mississauga, ON

10. Sue Mills Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

11. Marie-Yvonne Paint*∞ Royal LePage Heritage Westmount, QC

12. Paul Nusca*† Toronto, ON

13. Theodore Babiak*°† Toronto, ON

14. Kirby Cox*• Royal LePage Benchmark Calgary, AB

15. Amy Flowers ° Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty‡ Milton, ON

16. Michael O’Sullivan* Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

17. Amy Assaad°∞ Royal LePage Heritage Westmount, QC

18. Shaheen Zareh Royal LePage Regina Realty Regina, SK

19. Bob Clarke Royal LePage Lakes of Muskoka Clarke Muskoka Realty‡ Port Carling, ON

20. Rina DiRisio *† Oakville, ON

21. Anthony Fata *° Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

22. Eugenio Sturino Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Vaughan, ON

23. Elli Davis*† Toronto, ON

24. Brent Roberts* Royal LePage Brent Roberts Realty‡ Surrey, BC

25. Andrew Keyes† Oakville, ON

royallepage.ca/joinus

John Aben° Royal LePage Lakes Of Muskoka Realty‡ Huntsville, ON

Diane Allingham° Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Paul Annett Royal LePage RCR Realty‡ Northern Bruce Peninsula, ON

Wayne Baguley Royal LePage RCR Realty‡ Orangeville, ON

Caroline Baile° Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Aurora, ON

Mike Barnard Royal LePage Atlantic New Minas, NS

Beatrice Baudinet^ Royal LePage Heritage Westmount, QC

Barbara Beers*° Royal LePage Burloak Barbara Beers‡ Burlington, ON

Warren Behan°§ Royal LePage Powell River Powell River, BC

Carson Beier• Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate Spruce Grove, AB

Stu Bell§ Royal LePage Sussex West Vancouver, BC

Johnathon Benedict Royal LePage Atlantic Windsor, NS

Stan Bernardo° Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Mississauga, ON

Silvana Bezina° Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty‡ Georgetown, ON

Julius Bloomfield§ Royal LePage Locations West Realty Penticton, BC

Claude Boiron° Royal LePage Terrequity Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Marc Bonenfant^ Royal LePage Inter-Québec Québec, QC

Tracey Bosch*§ Royal LePage Wolstencroft Realty Langley, BC

Mike Boychuk Royal LePage Hallmark Saskatoon, SK

Angela Boyle° Royal LePage Parkwood Realty Bathurst, NB

Michael Brejnik Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

Michael Brierley Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

Libby Broady∞ Royal LePage Elite Beaconsfield, QC

Anthony Brown Royal LePage Atlantic Dartmouth, NS

Mary Brown Royal LePage Truro Real Estate Truro, NS

Nutan Brown Royal LePage West Realty Group‡ Toronto, ON

Mark Burke Royal LePage Triland Realty‡ Woodstock, ON

Jay Burton Royal LePage Frank Real Estate‡ Lakefield, ON

Darryl Butt° Royal LePage Generation Realty Grand Falls-Windsor, NL

Brett Campbell• Royal LePage True North Realty Fort McMurray, AB

Mary Campeau° Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Kingston, ON

Richard Cane Royal LePage Triland Premier‡ London, ON

Joseph Cartaginese° Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Vaughan, ON

Doug Chapman§ Royal LePage Locations West Realty Penticton, BC

Dianne Chaput Royal LePage Estate Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Melissa Charlton° Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty‡ Milton, ON

Gavin Chen Royal LePage Terrequity Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Joe Conlon Royal LePage Binder Real Estate‡ Windsor, ON

Chris Constantine Royal LePage Atlantic Moncton, NB

Andrew Coppola† Toronto, ON

Michael Cormack° Designate Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Elizabeth Crombie Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Picton, ON

Janice Davis Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Belleville, ON

Foad Deljou° Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

Jesse Dhaliwal Royal LePage Premium One Realty‡ Vaughan, ON

Tammi Dimock§ Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty Sooke, BC

Adil Dinani§ Royal LePage West Real Estate Services Coquitlam, BC

Alba DiPlacido Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

Jacinthe Dubé*∞ Royal LePage Jacinthe Dubé Sherbrooke, QC

David Dunn Royal LePage Atlantic Halifax, NS

André Dussault^ Royal LePage Inter-Québec Québec, QC

Kelly Ebbs Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Iain Edmonds§ Royal LePage Sussex North Vancouver, BC

Jamie Edwards§ Royal LePage In The Comox Valley Courtenay, BC

Kristan Erner° Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Stacey Falkwin° Royal LePage Atlantic Halifax, NS

Chris Fenton§ Royal LePage Port Alberni- Pacific Rim Realty Port Alberni, BC

Royce Finley Royal LePage Prime Real Estate Winnipeg, MB

Norm Fisher° Royal LePage Vidorra Saskatoon, SK

Susan Forrest§ Royal LePage Parksville-Qualicum Beach Realty Parksville, BC

Wilma Fournier Royal LePage Realty Plus Oakville‡ Oakville, ON

Steven Friendly Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Mississauga, ON

Sheldon Froese Royal LePage Riverbend Realty Steinbach, MB

Christian Gareau∞ Royal LePage Méritas Du Suroît Salaberry-deValleyfield, QC

John Gerber*° Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Danny Gerbrandt§ Royal LePage Brookside Realty Maple Ridge, BC

Paul Germanese Royal LePage Binder Real Estate‡ Windsor, ON

Amir Ghaffari§ Royal LePage Sussex West Vancouver, BC

JoAnne Gludish*† Toronto, ON

Lori Goldhawk Royal LePage Triland Realty‡ Ingersoll, ON

Stephen Grant°§ Royal LePage Advance Campbell River, BC

Steven Green Royal LePage Partners Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Jennifer Greenberg† Toronto, ON

Jeff Greenberg* Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Dave Grime Royal LePage RCR Realty‡ Orangeville, ON

Roman Grocholsky Royal LePage Niagara Real Estate Centre‡ Welland, ON

Tammy Gurr° Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Westport, ON

Doug Haayer Royal LePage Locations West Realty Princeton, BC

Bashar Hadi° Royal LePage Realty Plus‡ Mississauga, ON

Lilit Hakobyan Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

David Halls Royal LePage Royal City Realty‡ Guelph, ON

Amir Hamzehali§ Royal LePage Sussex West Vancouver, BC

Ed Handja°§ Royal LePage Advance Campbell River, BC

Mourad Hanna° Royal LePage Realty Plus‡ Mississauga, ON

Christine Hauschild* Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Mike Heddle° Royal LePage State Realty‡ Stoney Creek, ON

Nevin Hollett Royal LePage Atlantic Homestead St. John’s, NL

John Hripko*• Royal LePage Benchmark Calgary, AB

Julia Hu° Designate Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

Grace Huang° Royal LePage Peaceland Grace Huang Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

Ross Hughes Royal LePage RCR Realty‡ Orangeville, ON

Jackie Jiang† Mississauga, ON

Luc Jodoin^ Royal LePage Méritas Du Suroît Salaberry-deValleyfield, QC

Mark Jontz* Royal LePage Kelowna Kelowna, BC

Dimitrios Kalogeropoulos Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Maz Karimjee Royal LePage Performance Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Mike Kearns Royal LePage Locations North‡ Thornbury, ON

Mary Ann Keary*° Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Brockville, ON

Chris Keleher° Royal LePage Locations North‡ Collingwood, ON

Colleen Kelly• Royal LePage Community Realty Medicine Hat, AB

Rob Kelly° Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty‡ Mississauga, ON

Lesley Kennedy† Oakville, ON

Karen Kenyon§ Royal LePage Parksville-Qualicum Beach Realty Parksville, BC

Don Ketchum° Royal LePage Atlantic Saint John, NB

Nima Khadem Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Sergio Khadem Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

Andrena Koch-Schulte§ Royal LePage In The Comox Valley Courtenay, BC

George Kozaris° Royal LePage Vision Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Greg Kuchma Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

Jason Laforest^ Royal LePage Inter-Québec Québec, QC

Brian Lamb§ Royal LePage West Real Estate Services Coquitlam, BC

Nathan Lang Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Winchester, ON

royallepage.ca/joinus

Lyle Larson Royal LePage In The Comox Valley Courtenay, BC

Marc Lefrançois^ Royal LePage Tendance Ville Mont-Royal, QC

Éric Léger^ Designate Royal LePage Humania E.L. Saint-Sauveur, QC

Joanne Lesko Royal LePage Alliance Winnipeg, MB

Rob Levie• Royal LePage Network Realty Corp.

Red Deer, AB

Roland Lewis§ Royal LePage Sussex North Vancouver, BC

Rick Lobb Royal LePage Heartland Realty‡ Clinton, ON

Tina Lynch Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty Gabriola Island, BC

Glen MacAngus*° Royal LePage Top Producers Real Estate Winnipeg, MB

Blair Mackey† Oakville, ON

Linda Maguire Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services‡ Burlington, ON

Glenis Mahaney Royal LePage Gardiner Realty Fredericton, NB

Rocco Manfredi Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Robert Marland* Royal LePage Performance Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Sandra Masales° Royal LePage Advance Port Hardy, BC

Bob Maskell• Royal LePage ArTeam Realty Edmotnon, AB

Jeremy McCarthy§ Royal LePage Brookside Realty Maple Ridge, BC

Jamie McCreedy Royal LePage Prime Real Estate Winnipeg, MB

Don McKay*• Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate Sherwood Park, AB

Kelly McKelvie*• Royal LePage Benchmark Calgary, AB

John McKenzie§ Royal LePage Sussex Sechelt, BC

Jane McLaughlin Royal LePage Atlantic Sussex, NB

Karen Millar*° Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Adam Mills° Royal LePage Team Realty Adam Mills‡ Ottawa, ON

Tony Mitchell Royal LePage Cumberland Realty Amherst, NS

Patrick Morris*° Royal LePage Performance Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Andrea Morrison*† Toronto, ON

Penny Morrison§ Royal LePage Locations West Realty Penticton, BC

Ravi Munday§ Royal LePage Global Force Realty Surrey, BC

Krishan Nathan Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Kingston, ON

Jeff Nethercott° Royal LePage Triland Community Realty‡ London, ON

George Niblock† Oakville, ON

Tod Niblock Royal LePage Top Producers Real Estate Winnipeg, MB

Aaron Nicklen§ Royal LePage Parksville-Qualicum Beach Realty Qualicum Beach, BC

Bruno Noll Royal LePage Riverbend Realty Steinbach, MB

Rob Ohs§ Royal LePage Parksville-Qualicum Beach Realty Qualicum Beach, BC

Lorraine O’Quinn Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Trenton, ON

Joel O’Reilly§ Royal LePage Sussex Sechelt, BC

Gillian Oxley Royal LePage Terrequity Oxley Robert Real Estate‡ Toronto, ON

Jérôme Paradis∞ Royal LePage de L’Érable St-Georges de Beauce, QC

Garry Parkes Royal LePage Dynamic Real Estate Winnipeg, MB

John-Ross Parks Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Belleville, ON

Patricia Pedreira Royal LePage Binder Real Estate‡ Windsor, ON

Chris Pennycook* Royal LePage Dynamic Real Estate Winnipeg, MB

Isaac Phillips* Royal LePage State Realty‡ Hamilton, ON

Sandra Pike Royal LePage Atlantic Halifax, NS

Tyler Plante Royal LePage Martin-Liberty Realty Brandon, MB

Thomas Pobojewski Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Mississauga, ON

Robert Porteous Royal LePage RCR Realty‡ Flesherton, ON

Lynda Proc Royal LePage Sussex West Vancouver, BC

Robert Raham† Oakville, ON

Cindy Raskob Royal LePage Niagara Real Estate Centre‡ Fonthill, ON

Katie Redekopp° Royal LePage Niagara Real Estate Centre‡ St. Catharines, ON

Jila Rezai§ Royal LePage Sussex West Vancouver, BC

Gillian Ritchie† Toronto, ON

Monique Robichaud Royal LePage Atlantic Moncton, NB

Scott Robinson° Royal LePage Royal City Realty‡ Guelph, ON

Leo Ronse* Royal LePage Wolstencroft Realty Langley, BC

Judi Rufo Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Belleville, ON

Nancy Saedi Designate Royal LePage Real Estate Services Nancy Saedi‡ Toronto, ON

Bill Schiavone† Oakville, ON

Robert Schinkel ° Royal LePage Riverbend Realty Steinbach, MB

Wayne Schlenker• Royal LePage Community Realty Medicine Hat, AB

Mike Scrannage* Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty‡ Kingston, ON

Manon Senechal^ Royal LePage Heritage Westmount, QC

Charles Sezlik Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Ahmad Shalforoshzadeh† Toronto, ON

Chris Sheppard§ Royal LePage West Real Estate Services Coquitlam, BC

Ryan Shields Royal LePage Martin-Liberty Realty Brandon, MB

Wendy Siltamaki ° Royal LePage Lannon Realty‡ Thunder Bay, ON

Martin Simard^ Royal LePage Vallée De L’Outaouais Gatineau, QC

Steve Simon Royal LePage Locations North‡ Thornbury, ON

Christine Simpson*† Toronto, ON

Uthayan Sivarajah ° Royal LePage Ignite Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Brock Smeaton§ Royal LePage Sussex West Vancouver, BC

Brett Smiley† Oakville, ON

Michael Smith Royal LePage Niagara Real Estate Centre‡ Port Colborne, ON

Phil Smith Royal LePage Niagara Real Estate Centre‡ Fort Erie, ON

Sandy Smith§ Royal LePage East Kootenay Realty Cranbrook, BC

Sylvia Smith• Royal LePage Solutions Calgary, AB

Victoria Smith Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Angelo Sol Royal LePage Terrequity Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Jason W. Soprovich§ Royal LePage Sussex West Vancouver, BC

Donna Steele§ Royal LePage Kelowna Kelowna, BC

Lauretta Stewart*† Toronto, ON

Monica Stohr Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Aurora, ON

Kathleen Sturba Royal LePage Binder Real Estate‡ Windsor, ON

Leigh Sugar° Royal LePage RCR Realty‡ Newmarket, ON

April Sun Royal LePage Peaceland Realty‡ Aurora, ON

Kristina Tardif Royal LePage Locations North‡ Wasaga Beach, ON

Steve Thompson§ Royal LePage Locations West Realty Penticton, BC

Katy Torabi Designate Royal LePage Real Estate Services Katy Torabi‡ Toronto, ON

Roxanna Trottier Royal LePage Atlantic Moncton, NB

Raymond Tsim*∞ Royal LePage Champlain Brossard, QC

Linda Vadala Royal LePage Royal City Realty‡ Guelph, ON

Francis Vallée∞ Royal LePage Vallée De L’Outaouais Gatineau, QC

Jacob Vanderbreggen† Oakville, ON

Kate Vanderburgh*† Oakville, ON

Eric Van Hofwegen° Royal LePage Performance Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Anthony vanLieshout° Royal LePage Lakes of Haliburton‡ Haliburton, ON

Richard Verrier§ Royal LePage In The Comox Valley Courtenay, BC

Adam Virgilio Royal LePage Alliance Winnipeg, MB

Emil Vojkollari° Designate Royal LePage Signature Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Kip Walker Royal LePage Atlantic Dartmouth, NS

Brandon Wasser Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

Jason Wheeldon§ Royal LePage East Kootenay Realty Cranbrook, BC

Jessica Wright Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Zuo Xing Ye∞ Royal LePage du Quartier H.Y. Montréal, QC

Jeremy Zdrill Royal LePage Prime Real Estate Winnipeg, MB

Shawn Zigelstein Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Richmond Hill, ON

Leslie Battle† Lifetime Toronto, ON

Joseph Brazeau Lifetime Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty‡ Milton, ON

Mary T. Cardamone† Lifetime Oakville, ON

Maureen Chan Lifetime Royal LePage Westside Vancouver, BC

Norm Cholak• Lifetime Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate Edmonton, AB

Yves de Niverville Lifetime Royal LePage Performance Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Paul Delaney Lifetime Royal LePage Your Community Realty‡ Toronto, ON

Jacques Doucet∞ Lifetime Royal LePage Vallées de L’Outaouais Real Estate Agency Gatineau, QC

Jean Dunn Lifetime Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty Sidney, BC

Morley Forsyth† Lifetime Toronto, ON

Evelyn Froese Lifetime Royal LePage Westside Vancouver, BC

Serge Gabriel^ Lifetime Royal LePage Heritage Real Estate Agency Westmount, QC

Ben Gauer° Lifetime Royal LePage Ben Gauer & Asssociates Surrey, BC

Margorie Grime Lifetime Royal LePage RCR Realty‡ Orangeville, ON

Todd Guergis Lifetime Royal LePage First Contact Realty‡ Barrie, ON

Suzanne Havard Grisé∞ Lifetime Royal LePage Privilege SHG Saint-Bruno, QC

Heather Heaps Lifetime Royal LePage Real Estate Services Heaps Estrin Team‡ Toronto, ON

Robert Johnston Lifetime Royal LePage First Contact Realty‡ Barrie, ON

Doreen Kirkwood∞ Lifetime Royal LePage Champlain D.K. INC., Real Estate Agency Brossard, QC

Philip LeMay∞ Lifetime Royal LePage Vallée De L’Outaouais Gatineau, QC

Dario Mattei ° Lifetime Royal LePage Porritt Real Estate‡ Toronto, ON

Paula Mitchell Lifetime Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty‡ Georgetown, ON

Mary Montgomery Lifetime Royal LePage Realty Plus‡ Mississauga, ON

Yoki Nichol• Lifetime Royal LePage Solutions Calgary, AB

Barbara Polson† Lifetime Toronto, ON

Michael Regan° Lifetime Royal LePage Real Estate Services Regan Real Estate‡ Mississauga, ON

Cathy Rocca Lifetime Royal LePage Burloak R.E. Services‡ Burlington, ON

Karen P. Scott Lifetime Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Ottawa, ON

Fernande Sirois∞ Lifetime Royal LePage Vallées de L’Outaouais Real Estate Agency Gatineau, QC

Joan M. Smith Lifetime Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Kanata, ON

Frances Wedlake† Lifetime Oakville, ON

James Wright Lifetime Royal LePage Team Realty‡ Manotick, ON

A unit: end in a real estate transaction where a buyer or seller is represented. GCI: gross commission income. †Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage. ‡Denotes firms are Real Estate Brokerages. *Denotes Lifetime National Chairman’s Club Members. °Denotes Broker/Associate Broker, all other members are considered licensed Sales Representatives and/or REALTORS®. § Denotes PREC. ∞ Denotes Certified Real Estate Broker. ^ Denotes Real Estate Broker. • Denotes Associate. Designate: A sales professional who has joined Royal LePage after February 1 of the previous year. Royal LePage is a registered trade-mark used under license. This is not intended as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, including a solicitation of any sales representatives or broker that is currently under contract. All offices are independently owned and operated, except those marked as “Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage”, “Royal LePage West Real Estate Services” and “Royal LePage Sussex.” Any copying, reproduction, distribution or other use of these materials is prohibited. ©2018 Brookfield Real Estate Services Manager Limited. All rights reserved.

royallepage.ca/joinus

REM FEBRUARY 2018 25

From caller to prospect to client

By Ross Wilson “When you meet people, show real appreciation, then genuine curiosity.” – Martha Beck

H

ome hunters contact you for one chief reason – curiosity. It’s an extremely powerful motivator, but intrinsically short-lived. Once satisfied, they no longer need you. You have a tiny window of opportunity to connect in a meaningful way before the phone call ends. (It’s no different with an email or text inquiry; how you respond is critical. I’ll address this aspect in my next column.) Thus, you’d better be prepared. Have something scripted and well practiced in advance. For many reasons, callers are often not interested in the

advertised property. Therefore, be familiar with local listing inventory and have the details of alternate properties at your finger-tips.

When your phone rings, identify yourself by name and immediately ask for theirs. First names are acceptable and subliminally perceived as friendlier and less of a commitment. Sprinkle the conversation with their name because a name has magical powers. Have you ever been called over the drone of a crowd? We’re instinctively drawn to familiarity. The bonding process begins with the exchange of basic info, directly and indirectly. Theory goes that if you give them something, they may be inclined to return the favour. It’s a trade.

Thank them for calling and ask how you can help. If they ask the whereabouts of the property, tell them the town or neighbourhood, not the specific address, and immediately ask if that’s where they prefer to live.

If they answer yes, you’ve got a good prospect because they’ve

begun to give you information.

They’ve also confirmed their intention to buy and aren’t “just looking”. Answering a question with a question instead of an answer is patently evasive and potentially offensive. If that happens, you’re toast. Briefly respond to their question and follow-up with your question. (For a sample conversation, refer to my book, The Happy Agent.)

Early in the conversation, ask if they have an agent. If so, ask if they’ve entered into a buyer representation agreement and if applicable, if their home is listed.

If they’re under contract, the call can end quickly, but professionally. Be courteous, answer questions and ask if you can email listing details to their agent. If they’re not committed to another agency, then continue with your dialogue.

After you’ve sent the first email, don’t forget to call to confirm that they gave accurate contact information, that they received the listings and to ask for

feedback. The follow-up is an ideal time to learn more about them and strengthen your bond. A second exchange means you’re no longer strangers, so it’ll be more relaxed.

During the initial call, if you’re able to confirm a personal consultation appointment, detailed questions can await that meeting. If not, take your best shot on the phone. Engage them in conversation and give something of value, such as key benefits of the home or of working with you.

Convincing them to have enough faith in you to officially hire you usually occurs in baby steps. If you fail to take that first step, you’ve wasted your resources.

Talk with them and demonstrate genuine interest by actively listening. You’re learning about them, and by responding to your questions, they’re learning about and investing in you too. Every minute you share on the phone adds to the natural conclusion that they’ll work with you. What else could happen? They’ve calmly conveyed their requirements, one at a time,

to help you help them. Giving you their contact info and acknowledging informal representation is almost anticlimactic. Remember – you’re not trying to convince them to buy; you’re initially selling yourself, building rapport. Earn their respect. Gain their confidence and the rest is simpler.

Polish comes with experience.

Since practice makes perfect, using a script, rehearse different scenarios with your spouse, a friend or colleague. Ask your role-playing partner to change their level of cooperation from easy to challenging to obnoxious. Eventually, you’ll be an expert at handling anybody.

Ross Wilson, broker with iPro Realty, has extensive experience as a brokerage owner, manager, trainer and mentor. His book, The Happy Agent – Finding Harmony with a Thriving Realty Career and an Enriched Personal Life is available where print and e-books are sold, including the TREB, BREB, RAHB and OMDREB stores. Visit RealtyVoice.com. REM

2018 ELECTION Are you a real estate professional dedicated to enhancing consumer protection? Run for RECO’s Board of Directors.

SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATION!

January 22–February 26, 2018 www.reco.on.ca/election #2018RECOelection

26 REM FEBRUARY 2018

Sahil Jaggi’s tips for selling investment properties “Always prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” Jaggi says. “Always understand the risks completely and ask how prepared you are.” By J. Lynn Fraser

S

ahil Jaggi is passionate about real estate and investing. His passion is reflected in his success at Re/Max Realtron, where he has received the company’s 2016 and 2015 Platinum Club awards.

A practical and precise thinker, Jaggi has built a career based on the economic theory he learned at Wilfrid Laurier University. Jaggi’s training in finance landed him a position at CIBC World Markets in Manhattan and then to a position in corporate sales at Nestlé Canada. In 2010, at age 24, he began investing in real estate in Toronto with $80,000. Over the past seven years he has built a personal portfolio of over $10 million.

“I made successful decisions, which helped me to build credibility as an investor. I (am) a consumer of my own product with proven benefits. This makes it easier for me to reach out to other investors and guide them professionally with real estate advice.”

Today, at 32, Jaggi is also the owner of Mink Homes, a real estate investment firm that focuses

on investment properties as well as the construction of homes in Toronto and the GTA. “Real estate is a tangible asset.

Building houses and buying houses (provides me with) a huge sense of achievement. My niche is selling detached investment properties in Toronto. It’s important to specialize in one thing and become the master of it rather than a Jack of all trades.”

For professionals who are new to real estate and investing, Jaggi says paying a premium for better locations is worth the money.

Being vigilant is also key. He advises looking “for the right property and striking when the opportunity arises.”

While passion for the business is important, Jaggi counsels to not become “emotionally attached to properties.” Professionalism and objectivity are important qualities to maintain. Have a “professional team,” Jaggi suggests, that includes real estate salespeople and lawyers whose expertise you can access to ensure your due diligence is done.

“Know the challenges faced with

financing and understand your financing,” he says. It is imperative, he stresses, “to have enough money in the bank account for three months of mortgage payments without rental income to (be ready) for unforeseen circumstances.”

He says, “Real estate has consistently outperformed the stock market.” He suggests that individuals who want a start in real estate and investing buy a detached home and rent out part of the home to cover their mortgage payments. He also suggests finding like-minded partners to help with the investment.

“Toronto is a high-tech hub – a second Silicon Valley,” Jaggi says.

This, along with its manufacturing base, makes Toronto an attractive place for overseas investors. With Barrie, Hamilton, Whitby and Peterborough close by, all with homes ranging from $300,000 to $500,000, there are good investments available. He suggests starting out with two to three investments in local properties to “understand the business inside out.”

The Vancouver market, says Jaggi, is more “speculative.”

“Understanding clients’ expectations, their needs and their wants” is critical, he says.

The property case studies he prepares for clients are precise. “A case study is a detailed end-to-end process of covering each guided step for making an investment. It is not just about throwing listings at the investors, it’s literally about hand holding them so that they can be very clear about what to do and expect as an outcome.”

The studies inform clients in detail about the area and neighbourhood of the property, its position on the street and the direction the property faces. It includes information about its access to public transit, its distance to the core and its ease of connectivity.

Jaggi also includes the purchase price, cash flows for renovation or renting, and a one- to three-year projection for revenue. “I also cover the common pitfalls they should look out for so that the investment doesn’t fail and what to expect.”

10 ways to upgrade sales skills

By Richard Duggal t’s time to renew your sales skillset. Remember this: “Prospecting will make me a lot of money, but prospecting combined with practice will make me a fortune.” Here are 10 ideas to sharpen your skills.

1. Practice, prospect and present 80 per cent of every workday. Take your leads with you everywhere and call them throughout the day until you set an appointment.

2. Create a practice schedule. If it’s not in your schedule, it doesn’t exist. The secret to sell-

I

ing real estate is to master the conversation of real estate.

Words are our tools and like a fine craftsman, our job is to continually upgrade our craft.

Schedule time for this every day.

3. Create accountability with your manager to help followthrough with your training.

4. Create a sales-oriented, service-focused mindset. Listing consciousness means looking for listings everywhere. Remember when you bought your car and then noticed the same model everywhere you went? We find what we are looking for. When you go to a listing appointment, carry the service mindset, “I am here to sell this home” and not just, “I am here to list this home.”

5. Continually tweak and adjust your presentation (body, tone and words). Record your prospecting and listing presenta-

tion on audio and video. Listen to it yourself and send a copy to your manager or coach. The coach sees things you don’t see.

6. Practice your presentation before every listing appointment.

If you know the objection in advance is, “I want to list higher, then I’ll come down later” you’ll now have a great response.

Knowledge equals confidence, ignorance equals fear.

7. After you complete a listing appointment, role-play the parts you feel you could improve on.

You will be ready the next time the same scenario comes up again.

8. Teach what you learned to other salespeople to reinforce your own skills.

9. Raise your standards. If you find it takes 60 contacts to get one appointment, work hard to get better in the next quarter.

10. To upgrade your skills,

be more assumptive with clients. Here are some examples.

“When we get together…”

“When you see our plan of action...….”

“Before we get the paperwork done …”

“During the time we’ll be working together…”

“After we sell the home…”

“Will you be here during all showings or do I need a lockbox?”

Richard Duggal is a sales rep and coach at Re/Max Premier in Toronto.

He has made presentations at several international conventions. His diverse experience enabled him to reach the Re/Max Circle of Legends Award, accumulating more than $10 million worth of commissions as an agent in the shortest-ever time. www.remax.ca/on/richard-duggal27368-ag REM

Sahil Jaggi (Photo: Marko Shark)

To attract clients, Jaggi offers these tips: “Learn all the basics of the trade. Then find your niche and build your personal brand.”

The next step is to “reach out to your clients and position yourself as a specialist in your niche area.”

This, Jaggi says, will allow new professionals to “leverage your niche skills” and build on your success stories.

“Always prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” Jaggi says, “Always understand the risks completely and ask how prepared you are.” Clients, he adds, must also understand the “downside” of a deal so that there are no negative surprises.

Staying informed about local, national and international influences on real estate and investing is vital for professionals.

“In 2018, I believe that housing sales will slow down due to stringent mortgage rules and high interest rates,” he says. “However, major metropolitan (centres) in Ontario and British Columbia will still be the strong places to invest as rental income will continue to rise. The outlook for 2018 is slower than usual but Canadian real estate fundamentally remains strong due to the continued interest from local/international investors, Canada’s political stability and a positive economic outlook.”

Jaggi was inspired by Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. In deciding what makes a good investment, Jaggi follows a formula of homework + repetition + instinct. “Follow your instincts,” he says. “Once you do something with passion it becomes instinctive.” REM

Today’s homebuyers want to experience the world.

We have a world of experience to share.

Today’s consumers know no limits to the world around them. Neither do we. We are the expert guides for those who aspire to love where they live in places near and far. With our collaborative global network, bold technology integrations, and a passion for real estate worldwide, we are doing more for those who expect more. We don’t simply say we are international, we are.

While the world seems to be getting smaller our network continues to grow.

Engel & Völkers Canada 2 Bloor Street West, Suite 700 · Toronto · ON M4W 3RI · Phone +1 416-323-1100 evcanada.com · info@evcanada.com

©2018 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. This advertisement is not an offering of a franchise, and where required by law, an offering can only be made 14 days after delivery of the applicable franchise disclosure document.

28 REM FEBRUARY 2018

Most agents use social media incorrectly

By Alex Pilarski

A

large part of a real estate agent’s job is to keep in touch with clients. The best real estate agents I have seen in my 40 years of experience do a fabulous job at this. With the growth of technology, social media is a great tool that allows agents to engage with clients.

However, most agents are using it incorrectly in their strategy. They don’t understand why people use social media. Let me show you what they’re doing wrong and how you can improve to boost your earnings.

Most real estate agents don’t know why they’re on social media!

They believe that it is a big microphone where they scream at their

clients to get attention for their business. These agents constantly post content to try and show how much they know about the industry. If this is what you are doing, you must stop using social media immediately.

Now, you’re probably thinking, how could this be? Why isn’t posting and sharing content our main priority on social media?

This is because the key to using social media is to engage with your clients. Most agents are doing the total opposite. I am not saying that posting isn’t important but what you should focus on is responding to clients. As you build your network on social media, you will need to spend more time engaging.

Think of social media as a big networking party. No one wants to talk to the person who is constantly ranting and raving about how great they are. Instead, you gravitate towards someone who is gen-

uinely interested in what’s going on in your life. On social media you must engage your clients the same way. You should like their photos, comment on their posts and try to engage in conversation with them. For example, if you see your client post a picture of their son’s basketball game, you can comment and ask what the score was. These small touch-points add up and it will help you grow your relationships with clients.

Every time someone comments, likes or shares your post it releases dopamine. This is the chemical in your brain that makes you happy, like when you sell a listing! Engaging with the clients and making them happy is important. Now that I have explained all of this, let’s revisit our original question. Why are we on social media? The answer is we want to stay top of mind with our clients.

The key to having a long-term, great career is to create and main-

tain a client database. Within that database, every client knows about three to five people who are going to buy and sell real estate. Are these people thinking of you when they are buying or selling real estate? If not, you will be losing a ton of business and they will go with another agent. Staying top of mind keeps you relevant and gives you the opportunity to get referrals.

Now that you understand social media, you need to develop a plan on how to use it. What works for me is I set up four sessions in the day when I check my social media. Every session consists of 10 minutes where I engage with clients. I focus my efforts on using just two social media platforms. This allows me to achieve my goals of interacting with clients while not spending too much time online. The platforms that work best for agents are Facebook and Instagram. If you are just starting to use social media

now, begin with these two.

The real estate industry is about keeping in touch and staying top of mind. Use the tactics that I have shown you and you will see a difference in your returns. Social media is a complex tool, but in the technology age you must adapt, or you will be left behind.

Alex Pilarski was introduced to the world of real estate in 1972. In 1985, he co-founded Re/Max Realtron with his brother Richard.

Together they have been awarded many top honors within the Re/Max system, including No. 1 Re/Max in the world in 2012 (most transactions), International Broker/Owners of the Year and the Prestigious Distinguished Service Award. He is also a certified mentor with Buffini and Company and Richard Robbins International. Email apilarski@remaxrealtron.com; phone REM 905-944-8800 x302.

THE POWER OF BLUE OWNER PROFI LE NAME:

Paul Prade

OCCUPATION:

President, Coldwell Banker Westburn R ealty ITY: Metro Va ncouver

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R: 1998 I love the challenge of building a successf without compromisin ul company g our core values of se rv ice and integrity.

BIGGEST ACCO MPLISHMENT: Providing strong lead ership and caring su to all our salespeopl pport e and staff.

WHY I DO WHA T I DO:

WHY WE CHO

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Success without compromise

ELL BANKER SY STEM: The ea sy answer is the respected brand, qu ality services and in ternational reach, bu Coldwell Banker ph t the ilosophy of providin g ‘U lt im at e Service’ was the ke WHAT WE VALU E ABOUT OUR y.

AFFILIATION W ITH COLDWEL L BANKER: Th of real estate profes e network sionals we’ve met fr om ar ou nd the world and how you can reach out to them for help whene ver you need it.

There’s a tremendous satisfaction that comes from building a successful real estate company in one of the most competitive industries in the world. As a Coldwell Banker affiliate and 12-time Chairman’s Circle company, we’ve achieved these results without ever compromising our core values. We hold our agents to the highest standards of ethics and customer service - it’s not optional here, it’s expected.

It’s a standard that resonates with our people and helped us achieve a tremendous retention record, with the majority of our agents having 15+ years of experience. Seeing them reach their goals and dreams has been a privilege.

Paul Prade, President, Coldwell Banker Westburn Realty, Burnaby, BC © 2017 Coldwell Banker LLC. All rights reserved. Each office is independently owned and operated. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker LLC. Each sales representative and broker is responsible for complying with any consumer disclosure laws or regulations, as well as applicable Real Estate Association rules and codes of conduct. The trademarks REALTOR®, REALTORS®, and the REALTOR® logo are controlled by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify real estate professionals who are members of CREA.

To discuss franchising opportunities in Canada: Andy Puthon President Mark Lindsey Regional VP Franchise Sales John Alexander Director, Franchise Sales coldwellbanker.ca/franchising 800-268-9599

30 REM FEBRUARY 2018

Okanagan board announces community award recipients The Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB) recently honoured four Realtors for their commitment to charitable and community causes in each of the three regional areas served by OMREB. “One of the highest honours OMREB can bestow on its members, the annual Realtors Care Award, now in its 12th year, is presented to individuals whose dedication to excellence has had a profound impact on the quality of life in the communities they serve,” says Tanis Read, OMREB president.

The recipients are Rob McKibbon in the Shuswap/ Revelstoke Zone (Salmon Arm to Revelstoke), Darcy Griffiths and Denise Dobie in the North Zone (Predator Ridge to Enderby) and Michael Bate in the Central Zone (Peachland to Lake Country).

McKibbon’s contributions include Rotary Club, youth mentoring and raising funds for a Kenyan school lunch program.

Griffith’s contributions include significant fund-raising for the Vernon Women’s Transition House, despite a cancer diagnosis.

Dobie’s charitable work included hosting a benefit dinner for the North Okanagan Hospice Society and 12 years of creating gift baskets for the Children’s Christmas Workshop. Michael Bate’s contributions include Rotary Club and working to maintain environmental trails through the Walk Around Lake Country Community and Lake Country Hiking Club.

Recipients are chosen by a group of their peers within each of the three regions OMREB serves.

Graham Meader, Tobin Davis honoured by SIOR Two Colliers International pro-

fessionals were recently honoured at the SIOR Canada Central Chapter 2017 Broker of the Year Awards in Toronto.

Graham Meader won the Industrial Broker of the Year award, while Tobin Davis was 2017’s Office Broker of the Year.

The event marked the 11th Annual SIOR Broker of the Year Awards, which were created to recognize brokers who exhibit extraordinary impact, creativity, skill and reputation in the commercial real estate industry. The event includes three award categories; Industrial Broker of the Year, Office Broker of the Year and Young Professional of the Year. This year’s Young Professional award went to Katya Shabanova of Cushman & Wakefield.

Meader represented Canada’s largest industrial land sale in 2017, a 242-acre parcel of industrial land in Milton permitting 3.3 million sq. ft. of industrial spec development, to Oxford Properties. It was a highly complex transaction that was one year in the planning stage.

Davis represented the Spaces deal in 2017, which occupied seven entire storeys of a 48,000sq.-ft. brick-and-beam office building at 180 John St. in Toronto. Spaces members can work and engage in many ways in collaborative work spaces. The seventh-floor event space opened

late last fall and has already served as the primary destination for many events.

Davis lead the project, “which created a transformational shift in how companies view their office space, their work environment and overall real estate obligations,” the company says.

John Oddi receives Brantford board award

Oddi has been a member of BRREA since 1985 and has served as president of the association for three separate terms. He currently sits as a provincial director on the Ontario Real Estate Association and is chair of Government Relations.

The Patrick J. Harvey award is named after one of BRREA’s founding brokers and has only been awarded three times.

Brantford, Ont. Realtor John Oddi was recently awarded the Patrick J. Harvey Memorial Award for outstanding contribution to the Brantford Regional Real Estate Association, organized real estate and the local community. He received the award at the BRREA 75th Anniversary celebration in December.

Rob McKibbon

Darcy Griffiths

Denise Dobie

Michael Bate

Graham Meader

Tobin Davis

John Oddi receives his award from BRREA 2017 president Shelly Gracey.

REM

Ontario Realtors Care Foundation celebrates 40 years of giving back During the last 40 years it has raised more than $6 million for shelter-based organizations throughout the province. By Elizabeth Wale

O

n Nov. 20, Ontario Realtors along with their friends, family and guests jammed the night away with former Ontario Real Estate Association president Brian Walker and his band at Jam With a Past President. The annual event is always a great night with a good crowd, but this year was extra special with a packed house in support of the 40th anniversary of the Ontario Realtors Care Foundation.

We’re happy to report the celebration was a success with thousands of dollars raised for local Ontario charities.

The Ontario Realtors Care

Foundation works hand-in-hand with Realtor members to support local, charitable causes that benefit Ontario communities. Each year, the foundation raises and donates funds to shelter-focused organizations, empowering Realtors to give back by doing what they do best – providing shelter for all.

This year, the foundation will donate $1 million across more than 200 local organizations. During the last 40 years it has raised more than $6 million for shelter-based organizations throughout the province.

As Realtors, we know better than anyone the comfort and joy

that having a home of your own brings, so raising funds for the foundation comes naturally to us. To support our mission, we host two major annual events: • Motorcycle Ride for Charity, in which motorcyclists ride together to raise awareness and funds.

Anyone is welcome to support this summertime hit by pledging a rider.

• Jam With a Past President, where Realtors and guests get together for a night of music and dancing.

In addition to our two major campaigns, Realtors across Ontario have kick-started their own local

work being done by Ontario Realtors.

Thanks to the involvement of thousands of Realtors, along with their friends and family, the foundation has been privileged to support many shelter-related causes and we’re looking forward to another 40 years of helping provide warmth, OREA past president Brian Walker comfort and safety for all.

If you’d like more information (Photo: Jim McCormick) about the foundation or to donate, fundraising efforts, including Bowl- visit realtorscareontario.ca.

A-Thons, Christmas breakfasts, marathons, food drives and golf Elizabeth Wale is president of the tournaments. These are just some Ontario Realtors Care Foundation. examples of the great charitable REM

ADVERTISEMENT

Toronto Team Grows Ten-Fold in 4 Years from Under $100K to Over $1 Million GCI Real success in any business means not only healthy earnings, but also time off to enjoy life. The fact is, however, that most Canadian real estate agents sacrifice their entire lifestyle in pursuit of success and, ironically, instead of gaining more freedom, they become slaves to their real estate business.

If you don’t have a real business system, you don’t really have a business at all. What you have instead is a “job�, and for many, it’s a really bad job: one that consumes your time, keeps you away from friends and family, and doesn’t pay enough. Even though you work so hard, it’s just so random. Some days you win.

Some days you lose.

The fact is that agents leave our industry in droves, not because they’re not great at working with clients, but rather because they don’t have enough clients to work with.

They don’t have enough leads, they don’t find enough time to properly follow up and thus convert their leads, they don’t know exactly why they win or lose a listing. Even though they work very hard, too much is left to chance. Trying to “do it all� without a clear understanding of what works and what doesn’t ultimately sows the seeds of failure for many.

A profitable and “real� business MUST be based on solid systems. In real estate, that means a system to generate leads, a system to convert those leads, and a system to convert qualified prospects into paying clients. Every successful business in the world, from McDonalds to Amazon to FedEx, is based on proven and duplicatable “systems�, and the agents who achieve mega success in our industry have done so on the strength of solid, proven, efficient business systems.

As revealed in the profile of Toronto, Ontario agents Sam and Ahmad Shalforoshzadeh on this page, and of multiple other agents you can read about at AgentsMakingMillions.com, creating a highly profitable real estate business is certainly possible, regardless of whether you’re a brand new agent or have been in real estate for years, whether you’re a man or a woman, a solo agent or team, whether you live in the U.S. or Canada, and regardless of which franchise you’re with. Each of the agents profiled credits the same real estate system as being respon-

sible for their success: The Ultimate Real Estate Success System pioneered by Canadian Real Estate Coach Craig Proctor.

Not only is Craig Proctor’s real estate system responsible for more Millionaire Agents than any other coach or trainer, but Proctor was a highly successful AGENT himself for more than 20 years right here in Canada. As you may know, he was twice named the #1 RE/ MAX agent in the world and was in the top 10 for RE/MAX International for 15 years. In fact, for 6 years straight, no one listed or sold more homes in

the Greater Toronto Area than Proctor did. (Source: TREB Statistics). No one in Canada has sold more homes than Proctor has, and by sharing the system he used to achieve his own success, he’s been able to help over 30,000 agents worldwide to transform their real estate jobs into highly lucrative real estate businesses that don’t come at the expense of high lifestyle costs.

If you do not have a clear, detailed business system (key word, system) that you are using to move methodically to your goals‌a plan you could show a banker or investor or

new partner or key associate‌ a plan you have reasoned, complete confidence in, then why wouldn’t you examine Proctor’s Ultimate Real Estate Success System – for free?

For a limited time, you can have a “sneak peek� at what your real estate business could look like by attending Proctor’s upcoming Free Discovery Day (see AgentsMakingMillions.com for details). Yes, Craig Proctor will openly share with you how he became Canada’s top agent.

Learn from a real doer, not a talker. Craig will share “real Canadian real estate strategies� with you that actually work. No theory, ideas or motivational hype. At this 3 hour meeting Craig Proctor will spill the beans and share with you exactly what to do and what it takes to be a Super-Successful Real Estate agent in Canada.

For more information, visit: AgentsMakingMillions.com

Read More About Millionaire Agents Like Sam and Ahmad at AgentsMakingMillions.com

Ahmad & Sam Shalforoshzadeh byy Sam Shalforoshzadeh Toro To ront nto o, O ON N

“My father started in this business all on his own over a decade ago. I helped him here and there, but I was not really into it at the time. I saw him doing it in a traditional way. I saw sa w th thee bu busi sine si ness ne ss ccom omee an om andd go go,, fast and slow, and there was no real understanding of what was ahead. This was normal every day. Mostly it was referral, family members and friends, that kept him going. In those days,

our marketing was completely ineffective. “But Dad never gave upp encouraging me to pursue this with him. I do have a business mind, and having my own business was always a dream.

Moving forward we spent countless hours looking for a better way, y, alwayys willingg to listen to

system that would take us to the next level. We did look at a lot of different training and ideas, but they all seemed to say the same thing, just wrapped up in a different wrap wr appe perr. “Then, about four years ago, I found an outline called, “Craig Proctor’s Ultimate Real Estate Success System�. It was love at

a sunken treasure in the ocean!

Ever Ev eryt y hi yt hing ngg I rrea eadd ma made de ssoo mu much ch sense to the point where I signed up right away. I didn’t think twice and that happened to be the best business decision of my life. “After a month of implementing Craig Proctor’s System, we did

attribute directly to what Craig taught us, and this made us feel

year we had earned $212K in gross commission. In our second year, we made a quantum leap and more than doubled our gross commission to $480,000,

C d for Canada f placing l i top t 1% outt of 18,000 realtors nationally.

This year, in 2018, our goall andd commititmentt iis to earn $2.22 Million in GCI. “I am also so proud to be one of Craig’s coaches now which is a great accomplishment. When I

“Four years ago it was just my father and I, and we had a job. Today we have a team of fifteen and own a successful business which earned $1 Million GCI last year.� and then doubled that aggain the follllow fo owin ingg ye year ar ttoo ju just st shy shy ooff $1 Million GCI. In 2017, we had some unexpected curve balls thrown at us and without having Craig’s systems in place, our business should have gone bankrupt p , but because we now have a business (vs. just a real estate job), we still earned $1 Million GCI - ten times what we earned just 4 years ago. On top of that, we received the National Chairman Award for Royal LePage

heavyy hitters like aliens. Now, they th ey aare re m myy go good od ffririen ends ds aand nd I call them to pick their brains or go out to lunch or dinner with them.

I’ve never met so many millionaires who share so much. “I can’t believe how far we’ve come in such a short period of time. Ha H ving i tthi his business i is i not a dream anymore but a goal to achieved. I am so thankful to Craig Proctor and his coaching team who have guided us to SUCCESS.�

MILLIONAIRE AGENT-MAKER DISCOVERY DAY: Responsible for the Biggest Success Stories in the Industry

Full City Schedule at: AgentsMakingMillions.com

32 REM FEBRUARY 2018

WELCOME TO OUR NEW AFFILIATE IN BOLTON, ONTARIO!

By Mark Weisleder

E

veryone thought that by signing documents securely through electronic signatures, it would be easier to prove a claim for commission. A recent case will make you tighten up your procedures to ensure you are not caught on the wrong side of things.

Century 21 First Canadian Corp. and its agent David Lachance brought an action for commission against Lloyd Charron for $8,828.13. This was based on a Buyer Representation Agreement (BRA) signed by Charron through the Authentisign system. At the time they put in an offer with Lachance on another property, which was not accepted. Charron later purchased a different property during the term of the BRA and Century 21 and Lachance sued for commission.

In an interesting defence, Charron claimed that he had never signed a BRA before and that both the Agreement of Purchase and Sale for the property that was not accepted, and the BRA were sent for signature in one email, as one attachment. When the attachment was clicked open for signature, the Authentisign system then automatically moved from one signing page to another, without the review of the entire agreement. Thus, Charron claimed

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Getting your commission when signing electronically that he thought he was only signing the Agreement of Purchase and Sale that was not accepted and had no idea that he had also signed the BRA. The judge reviewed several cases where buyers had avoided paying commission under a signed BRA where they could prove the legal defence of non est factum, meaning that they did not understand what they were signing – typically when documents were signed in a hurried manner late at night, without proper explanation.

In a decision dated Dec. 28, 2017, Deputy Judge K.J. Brooks of the London Small Claims Court held in favour of Century 21 and Lachance. While the judge stated that the agent did not follow proper practice in explaining the documents, he found the buyers were careless in not reviewing the BRA document on their computer screen and could thus not later claim that they did not understand what they were signing.

The case could have gone either way. Here are five things to remember when signing anyone to a BRA, whether in person or through an electronic method: 1. Explain all key provisions of the BRA in advance; 2. To the extent possible, try and sign the BRA early in the

process, preferably before the time you obtain your first offer to submit; 3. If using an electronic signature, make sure that in any email, you clearly set out all documents that you are asking to be signed; 4. Make sure you remind the client to view any electronic document in advance and email themselves a copy of the signed document before sending it back to you; and 5. Email the client a copy of anything signed afterwards for everyone’s records.

At our firm, we are 100-percent digital and more than 90 per cent of clients choose to sign documents electronically through our mobile signing process, where we come to the client home at their convenience to sign the closing documents, so they do not have to take time off work. All documents are signed digitally, with each document reviewed with the client before signing to ensure their understanding. Immediately after signing, all documents are emailed directly to the client for their records.

Mark Weisleder is a partner, author and speaker at the law firm Real Estate Lawyers.ca LLP. Contact him at REM mark@realestatelawyers.ca

Canada’s most expensive streets

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*plus applicable sales tax

F

or the seventh consecutive year, Toronto’s Bay Street has been named Canada’s most expensive in JLL Canada’s annual Most Expensive Streets for Office Space in Canada Report.

With a four-per-cent increase in average rent from $67.31 per square foot in 2016 to $70.14 in 2017, Bay Street once again outranks other major city streets.

Vancouver’s Burrard Street remains the second most expensive street at $61.52 per square foot,

while Montreal’s Des Canadiensde-MontrĂŠal Avenue climbed to number three with $52.18 per square foot in average rent. “The continued demand for downtown office spaces by tech companies not just in Toronto but also in Vancouver and Montreal is a major factor driving up rents on these streets,â€? says Brett Miller, CEO of JLL Canada.

Alberta continues to grapple with the impact of low oil prices on the economy, with Calgary partic-

ularly impacted due to the high concentration of energy companies occupying spaces in the downtown market, says JLL. Calgary’s 8th Avenue SW slipped one position down from fifth in 2016 to sixth in 2017. With an almost 10-per-cent decline in average rent from $45.89 in 2016 to $41.83 in 2017, 8th Avenue, between 1st Street SW and 5th Street SW, seems to have returned to a state of decline experienced between 2014 and REM 2016, the company says.

REM FEBRUARY 2018 33

Insolvency and real estate The filing of an assignment in bankruptcy or a consumer proposal to deal with debts may enable you to retain a client and complete the sale, or help your client buy a house down the road.

By Kathy Lenart ave you ever listed a house for a client, only to find out that there are liens registered against the property that will hinder the closing?

Or had a client approach you to purchase a house, but they are carrying too much debt to support purchasing their dream home?

The filing of an assignment in bankruptcy or a consumer proposal to deal with debts may enable you to retain a client and complete the sale, or help your client buy a house down the road.

A creditor can issue a Statement of Claim against a debtor and if the debtor does not defend the claim or loses in court, the creditor obtains judgement. The creditor can then file the judgement against real prop-

H

erty owned by the debtor and/or garnish wages. Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has higher rights than other creditors and can garnish wages and pensions and file a lien against real property without issuing a Statement of Claim, and that lien becomes like a mortgage. A property cannot be sold without dealing with writs or liens registered on title.

If there is sufficient equity in the property to pay the registered liens or writs in full, your client’s legal counsel can simply deal with the creditor to pay out the debt on the sale. If there is insufficient equity to pay the lien in full, the debtor may have to look at alternative options to deal with the debt.

An insolvent person can voluntarily file an assignment in bankruptcy that will effectively convert the writ obtained by judgment to an unsecured debt.

The trustee could then complete

the sale with any joint owners, with the bankrupt’s share of equity being directed to the trustee for the general benefit of his creditors. The benefit to your client is the sale is completed, which doesn’t put him at risk for costs of a failed sale and any joint owner would receive their share of the equity from the sale.

If the joint owner did not guarantee, co-sign or jointly sign for the debt, they are not responsible for paying the debt and the judgment is not valid against their share of any equity.

A consumer proposal could also be filed wherein the debtor offers a compromise to his creditors in settlement of his debt.

The creditors vote on the proposal and if it is accepted by the required majority, it is binding on all creditors. A term of the proposal could be that the house is sold and the proceeds be paid to the administrator for the gen-

eral benefit of the creditors under the consumer proposal.

CRA liens must be paid in full unless the licensed insolvency trustee can negotiate with CRA in a bankruptcy or proposal to receive their share of any equity and discharge their lien in order for the sale to be completed. As above, this benefits your client if there are joint owners that are entitled to their share of equity.

If there is no equity in the property after registered mortgages, real estate commissions and legal costs, the trustee will likely not complete a sale and release the property to the mortgage holder. It may be possible for the Realtor to contact the mortgagee to continue with the listing on the mortgagee’s behalf.

There may be instances where your client has over-mortgaged their house and is unable to keep up with the mortgage

payments. A bankruptcy or consumer proposal could provide the debtor with relief from the mortgage and the ability to move forward with a fresh start.

An anticipated further bump in interest rates this year will leave many people over-extended and potentially unable to continue to pay their mortgage.

Always perform a search for any registered liens/writs before accepting the listing and keep the above ideas in mind for solutions for your clients.

Kathy Lenart is a chartered professional accountant and licensed insolvency trustee with Taylor Leibow. Her experience includes personal and corporate bankruptcies, proposals and restructurings for small to mid-size businesses in a variety of private sectors. Taylor Leibow Inc. currently has offices in Hamilton, Burlington and St. Catharines. www.taylorleibow.com REM

I listed 23 homes in 3 months as a rookie

By Jesse Loader

S

uccessful real estate salespeople have a few things in common. One is a rocksolid listing presentation. A good listing presentation can make or break you very early in your career.

When I started in this industry, I didn’t have a large sphere of influence to tap into, I wasn’t particularly good at dealing with buyers, or FSBOs, or sign calls or hosting open houses. What I was great at was earning people’s trust in the setting

of a formal listing presentation.

Three months into my career I had 23 listings (admittedly, most of them were overpriced in a depressed sellers market…but still!) and it “put me on the map” so to speak.

I quickly built up trust and credibility among the public, as well as other members of our industry. I obtained 23 listings because I took the listing presentation component very seriously.

This article is not about generating listing leads (that’s for another day) but more about converting those seller leads into active listings. There are three components to every listing presentation that are an absolute must: 1. Content: I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, “Wow, it

looks like you’ve done a lot of work to prepare for this!” To each listing presentation I bring a small threering binder filled with information about me, market stats, a specific marketing strategy and a comparative market analysis. This is the old school part about my business. I used to use an iPad but technology will backfire on you if there are any glitches. Having good content to show your prospective seller will set you apart from the competition.

This is something that only takes me about five minutes to prepare and costs less than $5 per listing package.

2. Comparison: Don’t walk into a listing presentation to show how great you are…walk in there and show how different you are from the “average agent”. More

powerful than market stats or personal accolades are using them in comparison to most salespeople in your market who sell very little real estate. A few specific examples are: Days on market…you versus the average, how close homes are selling compared to the list price…you versus the average, how many homes sold last year/month…you versus the average.

3. Confidence: This is the most important one. I’ve never liked the term, “fake it ’til you make it” (I would rather figure out a way to actually make it).

However, there is an element of truth to this cliché that can be very effective. The definition of an expert is someone who knows more than the average person

about a particular subject. You need to remember this when you are presenting. Even if you are new to the industry, you know more than they do! Hold your head high, speak with purpose, do your research and hold your ground. If you walk in oozing with confidence (not cockiness) you’ve won half the battle already.

With these three basic principles in your toolbox, you will be unstoppable at the kitchen table.

Jesse Loader is a Realtor in the greater Edmonton area and offers real estate mentorship through his platform, Reach Your Peak Coaching and Consulting. https://www.facebook.com/reachyourpeakcoachingandconsulting/ REM

34 REM FEBRUARY 2018

Good Works T

o help provide comfort to local women and children spending the holiday season in shelters to escape domestic violence, Royal LePage brokerages in Quebec participated in a Sharing for Shelters fundraising campaign. Between Oct. 20 and Nov. 13, sales representatives, management and staff were invited to make donations online to the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation.

More than $6,500 was raised, 100 per cent of which went directly to the cause.

Johanne Robert, manager of network services for Royal LePage’s Quebec head office, who launched the initiative, says, “Every dollar counts, especially during a time of year when some women most keenly feel a lack of connection to their extended family or wish they could give their children a more conventional holiday experience.”

■ ■ ■

In mid-December, Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty celebrated the 11th anniversary of its annual Trees for Toys event and collected more than 500 toys for the Waterloo Knights of Columbus New Toys for Needy Kids Toy Drive.

Representatives from local fire departments conducted a presentation on tree safety that included a live demonstration of how quickly a tree can ignite and burn if not watered and cared for appropriately.

■ ■ ■

The less fortunate in the Vernon, B.C. region will be a little warmer this winter thanks to Sutton Group - Lakefront Realty’s Warm and Fuzzy Shelter Collection. The drive was created by broker Tamara Cinnamon and her team in response to a dire need in the community. Each winter the homeless, the working poor and those who rely on supportive ser-

Brian Peifer, broker of record for Royal LePage Peifer Realty in Chatham, Ont., along with office manager Deb Roberts, donated more than $4,000 from their company to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Diagnostic Imaging Machine Campaign. Accepting the cheque on behalf of the CKHA is Mary Lou Crowley, executive director of the CKHA Foundation.

The winner of the “Fan Favourite” home on the Royal LePage Locations North 6th annual Holiday House Tour

vices and shelters often lack adequate gloves, hats, coats, blankets or sleeping bags.

All donations are delivered to the John Howard Society of British Columbia, which has operated in the central and south Okanagan for more than 60 years. This nonprofit organization offers a range of services including affordable and supportive housing and employment programs.

■ ■ ■

Each year, Century 21 Canada recognizes National Hot Cocoa Day with a fundraiser for Easter Seals. This year the company connected Easter Seals with REW (Real Estate Webmasters), which donated $21,000 to the Kids to Camp program.

Morgan Carey, founder and CEO of Real Estate Webmasters, says, “It’s a phenomenal program.

The money stays local. We met some of their ambassadors and it’s in line with how we think about charity.”

“It’s such an important cause because it’s all about the local kids,” says Brian Rushton, EVP of Century 21 Canada. “We’ve supported Easter Seals since 1979 and have raised more than $117 million. We’re very pleased to help companies like REW expand their philanthropic footprint and increase the number

Staff and salespeople at Sutton Group Lakefront Realty collected clothing, blankets and sleeping bags that were donated to the John Howard Society of British Columbia.

of kids who can go to camp.”

the seven homeowners on the tour.

■ ■ ■

■ ■ ■

The breakfast program at Abbey Lane Elementary school is about to get an upgrade, thanks to the generosity of Sutton Group Quantum Realty agents in Oakville and Mississauga, Ont. They donated cash, food and a new electric frying pan. The food drive was spearheaded by sales rep Sandi Puddefoot, whose children attended Abbey Lane. She has seen the breakfast program grow over the past seven years; it now feeds more than 100 students.

Kathy Amess, broker/owner at Peak Professionals Realty in London, Ont. says 2017 was a great year for real estate, so the brokerage decided to pay it forward to the Community Coffee program at Edgar and Joe’s Café. Edgar and Joe’s is a social purpose enterprise of Goodwill Industries. It creates work and training in the hospitality industry while also helping to reduce stigma associated with mental illness and social disadvantage.

Peak Professionals bought a Community Coffee for every trade closed in 2017. That put 608 coffees “in the bank” to warm the hearts and hands of those in need.

“It’s a small thing but can be a big thing to some,” says Amess.

■ ■ ■

Royal LePage Locations North in Collingwood, Ont. wrapped up another year of fundraising for the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation at the 6th annual Holiday House Tour in November.

More than 1,000 attendees visited seven homes on the tour, each decked out in unique and inspiring themes for the holiday season by local decorators. The event also featured a fashion show, silent auction, celebrity decorating seminar, holiday marketplace and a chef’s holiday demonstration.

The event raised $31,027, with $24,379 benefitting local women’s shelter My Friend’s House. The rest of the funds were donated to the charities of choice of each of

The Trees for Toys Committee at Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty, from left: Tracey Appleton, Gaye Males, Santa Claus, Kim Cook, Bev Hepburn and Dave Tidd.

Sales rep Elaine Murray took part in a home build in Nepal in November.

■ ■ ■

From baby clothes, Lego sets and scooters to Vancouver Canucks tickets and curling irons, Santa had an enormous shopping list for the Surrey, B.C. Christmas Bureau. More than 2,000 families including over 4,000 children relied on this holiday charity to make the season bright. Among the many individuals and businesses who stepped up to help families in need was Sutton - Premier Realty.

Sandi Puddefoot and sales manager Suzan Trabert of Sutton Group Quantum Realty.

Royal LePage Kelowna sales representatives and organizers Sarah Lindsay and Shirley Froese pose with more than 330 gifts under their Christmas Wish Tree.

REM FEBRUARY 2018 35

“I am so proud of our team,” says Larry Anderson, broker/ owner. “This year we were able to sponsor 13 families through the Surrey Christmas Bureau, including 14 adults and 24 kids, helping to make their Christmas special.”

The salespeople, brokers and staff fundraised and made personal donations totalling $4,800 to purchase toys, gifts and holiday meals.

■ ■ ■

Sales rep Elaine Murray of Royal Le Page Northstar in White Rock, B.C. recently volunteered for a home build experience in Nepal.

“I love to travel and lately have been drawn to volunteer vacations,” she says. “This trip was through Developing World Connections. Creating Possibilities Nepal is the local nonprofit organization that arranged all the local accommodation, transportation and meals.

“We spent two weeks building a house for a local Nepalese family.

Bhujiram, the father, lost his wife to cancer five years ago.” She says he spent everything he owned to help pay for the medical hospital bills.

“We worked very hard carrying 35-lb. cement blocks, mixing cement, carrying mortar, grouting cement block walls and carrying wood and bamboo,” says Murray.

“Unfortunately, we ran out of time.

However, the house was to be completed by the end of the month. To see the family start to relax, smile, laugh and gain confidence each day was extremely rewarding for all involved. Their dream was coming true, a new home, safer environment and education for the children’s future!

This was truly an amazing experience, and an incredible adventure and I would highly recommend it.”

■ ■ ■

Matthew Fernandes, a sales rep with Sutton Group - Realty Systems in Toronto, personally organized a toy drive for the CP24 CHUM Christmas Wish program, which delivers toys to children and funds support services for lowincome families. Fernandes set up a donation box at his office, then promoted it by mailing out postcards, creating social media posts and directly contacting clients.

“I have been holding the toy drive for four years now,” says Fernandes. “I am always looking for ways to give back, which I think is very important. I thought it would be a good idea to get involved as I remember one of my favourite parts as a kid during Christmas was of course to open up all my gifts, and could not imagine children out there with nothing to open up during Christmas.”

Donations came from sales associates and staff in the office, friends and neighbours and clients.

■ ■ ■

Sales representatives, staff and management of Royal LePage Kelowna collected more than 330 gifts for women and children staying at a local women’s shelter over the holiday season.

While gifts for the children are saved for Christmas Day, each year the Kelowna Women’s Shelter hosts a children’s holiday party where gifts are laid on tables and kids are encouraged to “shop” for the perfect present to wrap for their mom. The event was started 20 years ago by a sales representative who wanted to give back after needing the services of the shelter.

■ ■ ■

Royal LePage Atlantic in Halifax hosted its annual Charity Bake Sale in December. Delectable contributions from sales representatives, staff and business partners were auctioned off at the festive event, raising $27,400 for the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation.

All funds raised will benefit Alice Housing, an organization that provides safe second stage housing and supportive counselling to women and children leaving domestic abuse. REM

Pictured: Teri-Lynn Jones, Jim Burton

Please join us in congratulating Teri-Lynn Jones, on becoming RE/MAX Infinity Realty Inc’s new Co-Owner!

day in and out, but it didn’t take long for Jim to notice that Teri-Lynn is a “rare leader” in the real estate industry.

Jim Burton, the current owner of RE/MAX Infinity Realty Inc. has big plans for his Newfoundland & Labrador brokerage and he believes having Teri-Lynn on board as co-owner can help him achieve those plans.

The saying, two minds are better than one couldn’t be more true for this powerhouse duo and we’re excited to see what Jim and Teri-Lynn achieve next.

Jim has over 30 years experience working in real estate and has grown a reputable business of more than 30 agents. Teri-Lynn is a talented licensed Broker that has been managing RE/MAX Infinity Realty Inc. for the past four years. The two have been working together

If you are interested in ownership opportunities with RE/MAX, the largest most productive real estate brand, contact Jennifer Dominey at 1.647.519.7735 to arrange your confidential meeting, or visit remaxintegra.com.

Please join us in congratulating Teri-Lynn Jones on this magnificent accomplishment!

RE/MAX Infinity Realty Inc. is located at 434 Conception Bay Highway, CBS, NL. 709-579-0909

remaxintegra.com

Pictured (L-R): Jason Munn, Jody Munn, Cynthia Charron, Pierre Charron

From left to right: Morgan Carey, CEO, Real Estate Webmasters; Charlene Krepiakevich, president/CEO, Easter Seals B.C./Yukon; Virginia Mackay, director of marketing, Real Estate Webmasters; Chiyoko Kakino, VP, marketing, Century 21 Canada; Leanna Turchet, Century 21 Canada; and Brian Rushton, EVP, Century 21 Canada.

Matthew Fernandes

Welcome RE/MAX East Coast Elite Realty!

Management, office staff and sales reps at Re/Max Blue Chip Realty in Yorkton, Sask. recently held their annual food drive. In addition, they donated more than $2,000 to the local Salvation Army Food bank.

The agents in the office donated $1,000 and the brokerage matched this amount.

Andrew Larosa of Sutton - Premier goes shopping for gifts to support the Surrey Christmas Bureau.

Please join us in welcoming Jason & Jody Munn, and, Pierre & Cynthia Charron as our newest RE/MAX franchise owners! This impressive bunch is joining our network with over a decade of real estate experience and a long list of entrepreneurial skills.

The new owners will open RE/MAX East Coast Elite Realty this month and focus on trading areas such as Fredericton, Oromocto and the surrounding markets.

This amazing group takes pride in their training and coaching ability and plan to combine their existing capabilities with RE/MAX’s top-notch marketing materials and resources in order to stand out and continue growing their business.

If you are interested in ownership opportunities with RE/MAX, the largest most productive real estate brand, contact Jennifer Dominey at 1.647.519.7735 to arrange your confidential meeting, or visit remaxintegra.com.

RE/MAX’s global growth opportunity is what first attracted them to the RE/MAX brand, but they’ll soon find out there’s so much more in store.

RE/MAX East Coast Elite Realty’s primary mission is to provide first class service to everyone they meet, every single time. As well as first class training to their agents.

With their experience, drive and commitment to re-energizing their market, we know this is just the start of their success and we can’t wait to see what the future holds!

RE/MAX East Coast Elite Realty is located at 283 St. Mary’s St, Fredericton, 506-452-9888

remaxintegra.com

36 REM FEBRUARY 2018

D

arlene K. Hyde has been appointed CEO of The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) effective Jan. 22.

“Darlene brings a wealth of industry and association management leadership to this role,” says BCREA president Jim Stewart.

“Our board is confident Darlene will ensure the association focuses on key provincial issues that impact Realtors and our clients.”

Hyde was executive director of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association of

Darlene K. Hyde

Metro Vancouver (NAIOP Vancouver), a post she held for the past eight years. She has also served as EVP of the New Car Dealers Association of B.C., where she was part of a team that worked with the provincial government to introduce a new regulatory framework. Previously, she held senior positions in the energy, insurance, automotive retail and telecommunications sectors across Canada.

■ ■ ■

The Real Estate Institute of Canada has appointed Carol Ann

Carol Ann Burrell

Ralph Shaw

Burrell as executive director and CEO. An experienced association executive, Burrell has worked in the not-for-profit sector for close to three decades, says the institute.

Serving in senior staff positions for most of her career, she was executive director at the Canadian Association of Exposition Management for 14 years, followed by 13 years as executive director of the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology.

She served for 13 years in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve and now spends much of her free time training and teaching at the Port Credit Academy of Martial Arts, where she holds the title of senpai (mentor) and is a third degree black belt in Goju-Ryu karate.

Former REIC executive director & CEO Maura McLaren retired after 13 years of leadership.

“Under Maura’s direction, REIC has forged and strengthened important relationships with stakeholders, employers, organized real

Jack Loft

estate and professional membership bodies across Canada and the U.S.,” says the institute in a statement. REIC president Bruce Basset says, “I know that, like me, many volunteer leaders have benefited from the breadth of her expertise, sage advice and contagious enthusiasm for REIC.” ■ ■ ■

The Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) has elected Ralph Shaw as 2018 president. Joining him on the executive of the board is past president Rick Eisert, president elect Dwight Delahunt and vice president Deborah Burgoyne.

Shaw has been a member of the board for more than 27 years and has served on numerous task forces and committees since 2000.

He was first elected to the Board of Directors in 2003.

Joining Shaw on the Board of Directors are continuing directors David Armstrong, Dominique Milne, Andrew Ouellette, Anne

Scharf and Richard Smith (chair of the Commercial Services Committee) for the second year of their two-year terms. Newly elected/appointed directors are Paolo Farago, Tim Lee, Dennis Tarrant and Penny Torontow.

“2018 is certainly going to start off with additional government interference in the financing of primary shelter for our residents,” Shaw says. He says the board “believes that home ownership should be fundamental to Canadians and will continue to try and educate our elected officials in the difference between protection and interference.”

■ ■ ■

Jack Loft, a broker with Re/Max Escarpment Realty, has been inducted as president of the Realtors Association of HamiltonBurlington (RAHB) for 2018. Loft has been a member of the association since 2004. He was first elected to the RAHB Board of

Geoff Halford

DRAR’s 2018 Board of Directors, from left: Scott White, Tina Sorichetti, Lorrie Roberts, Sue Duchesnay, Dennis Roberts (president), Keeley Ward, Vicki Sweeney and Roger Bouma (immediate past president)

The OREB 2018 Board of Directors. Top row, from left: Andrew Ouellette, David Armstrong, Dennis Tarrant, Tim Lee, Paolo Farago. Middle row: Penny Torontow, Deborah Burgoyne, Dominique Milne, Anne Scharf. Bottom row: Rick Eisert, Ralph Shaw, Dwight Delahunt. Not present: Richard Smith.

Above: Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver officers Jill Oudil, president; Phil Moore, president elect and Keith Liedtke, vice president, help with the Blanket Drive.

Left: DRAR member Debbie Guislain, who was awarded the 2017 CMHC Award of Distinction.

Volunteers Tina Gonzalez, Daniel John and Diana Dickey of Sutton Group Seafair Realty in Richmond, B.C. take donations to the Richmond Salvation Army.

Members of the Kingston and Area Real Estate Association deliver turkeys and a cheque to the local food bank. From left: Steve van Wynsberghe, Mark Fisher, Tony Mader of Partners in Mission Food Bank, Dave Pinnell Jr., Shawna Stewart and Mary Ambrose.

REM FEBRUARY 2018 37

Directors in 2015.

Joining him on RAHB’s 2018 Board of Directors are: Bob Van de Vrande, president-elect; Lou Piriano, immediate past president; and directors Ann Forbes Arndt, Nikola Bucalo, Kathy DellaNebbia, Ralph Frisina, Paul Hammond, Stephanie Pinet, Diane Price and Richard Weima.

“We’re very proud of our Realtor members for raising over $20,000 this year,” says DRAR 2018 president Dennis Roberts.

The evening’s 250 attendees also donated canned/dry goods to the Salvation Army and pajamas for women and children at Durham’s Y’s WISH and Durham Children’s Aid Foundation.

■ ■ ■

■ ■ ■

Recently members of the Durham Region Association of Realtors (DRAR) hosted their annual Christmas Dinner and Charity Auction in support of Hearth Place Cancer Support Centre. The event included presentation of the 2017 CMHC Award of Distinction award to Debbie Guislain and the installation of the 2018 Board of Directors. Throughout the evening, 251 silent auction items were bid on for the charity auction and there was entertainment featuring jazz pianist Rob Phillips.

More than 36,000 Lower Mainland residents in B.C. will receive blankets and warm clothing this winter thanks to donations collected during the 23rd annual Realtors Care Blanket Drive.

In November, more than 100 real estate offices served as drop-off locations for donations. Realtor volunteers then collected, sorted and delivered the donations to local charities last week.

All donations remain in the community in which they were collected. More than 70 Lower Mainland charities received dona-

tions from the Blanket Drive this year. The drive is a partnership between the Realtors of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board and the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board and their communities.

■ ■ ■

The Barrie & District Association of Realtors’ 2018 Board of Directors will focus on advocacy and outreach during its term. “As an association, we are focused on issues that affect homeowners and accessible home ownership,” says Geoff Halford, 2018 BDAR president. “This includes fully understanding new government regulations and their potential impact, as well as having a place in the discussion about matters in these areas.”

The board also plans to have a larger role in local and regional developments.

Tania Artenosi is 2018 president elect and Rob Alexander is serving as past president. Members of the Board of Directors are Bill Forsyth, Robin Jones, Finn Madsen, Mike Montague, Lindsay Percy and Brian Turner.

At its recent General Members Meeting, the board presented five community organizations with donations totaling $16,000 through the Realtors Care Foundation. The recipients were The Door Youth Centre in Angus, Barrie Out of the Cold, David Busby Centre, Gilda’s Club and Redwood Park Communities.

■ ■ ■

Members, sponsors, staff and friends of the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) showed their generosity and community spirit this holiday season by raising $75,000 for the 900CHML/Y108/Fresh Radio 953 Children’s Fund. The funds were raised at the recent Realtors4Kids Charity Auction, held annually by the association and run by Realtor volunteers in support of the Children’s Fund.

The campaign began in 1976

as a charitable initiative to help raise money for disadvantaged children during the holiday season.

Proceeds from the partnership between RAHB and the CORUS radio stations now support many children’s charities throughout the Hamilton and Burlington areas year-round, helping over 40 different charities.

During the last 29 years of partnership, the auction has raised $1,089,000 making RAHB the fund’s single largest contributor.

■ ■ ■

The Kingston and Area Real Estate Association’s 11th Annual Turkey Drive and Food Bank Fundraiser took place in December to raise money for area food banks.

Fifty turkeys and more than $1,800 were donated to food banks in Kingston and Napanee.

■ ■ ■

The Sarnia Lambton Real Estate Board presented cheques to two local charities at its Annual General Meeting in December.

The recipients were Habitat for Humanity Sarnia/Lambton and Inn of the Good Shepherd. REM

AVI ROSEN

FRI. SCMF. AMB

Real Estate Broker (Nearly 50 Years) • Paralegal Direct: (416) 818-6130 • www.rosen.ca Legal Focus on the Real Estate Industry

An analyst with decades of experience and The Barrie & District Association of Realtors 2018 Board of Directors.

know-how in the Real Estate Industry From left, front: Lou Piriano, RAHB president; Aileen Araujo, RAHB Charity Auction Task Force co-chair; Jeff Storey, Children’s Fund president; Brian Shaw, task force co-chair. Back, Nancy Forrester, Jackie Corcoran and Mark Loeffler, of the task force.

• BREACH OF BUYERS REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT • LANDLORD/TENANT DISPUTES • RECO AND TREB COMPLAINTS, REPLY LETTERS, APPEALS AND REPRESENTATION BEFORE THE BOARD • OWNER CONFLICTS WITH NEIGHBOURS OR BOARD OF DIRECTORS • SMALL CLAIMS COURT

From left: Sarnia Lambton Real Estate Board Communication & Public Relations Committee members, from left, Kathy Murphy, Amy Hayes, Missy Stephens and Melanie Kelders present the cheque to Rob VandenEnde, Habitat for Humanity board chair/president.

08/7, 5(6,'(17,$/ %52.(5$*( Myles Vanni, left, executive director of the Inn of the Good Shepherd, receives the cheque from Sarnia Lambton Real Estate Board Communication & Public Relations Committee members Kathy Murphy, Melanie Kelders, Amy Hayes and Missy Stephens.

Our Proven Track Record Becomes Your Track Record, over 500 Million in Sales.

1RZ +LULQJ /LFHQVHG 5HDO (VWDWH $JHQWV Please send resume to Info@MysakRealty.com Phone: 416-767-5500 2358A Bloor St. W., Toronto

38 REM FEBRUARY 2018

THE PUBLISHER’S PAGE

By Heino Molls

T

MARKETPLACE

here is a marker of time for everyone when something important happened. There are times of great significance that cover a huge spectrum of emotions, from the great sadness of the 9/11 tragedy to great hope at the fall of the Berlin Wall, to all manner of world events before and since and in between.

There are also important personal anniversaries, such as birthdays and wedding anniversaries. There are others that perhaps other people don’t even know about. I think those are also among the most important anniversaries that all of us have.

I would guess that if you are a Realtor, many of your clients may think of you when they acknowledge the anniversary of the sale of the most important thing they ever had in their life,

This may be your best year their home. You were no doubt instrumental in the sale of the “old house”. You may have closed the book on the era of someone’s life.

By the same token, you may have been a catalyst in the beginning of an exciting new era of someone’s life. For that alone, I would say that as a Realtor, it does not make you a great public figure, but it does make you something special. For that person or family whose house you may have sold or helped to buy, it makes you magnificent. It does so in my book too.

The great thing about the business of real estate is that once you have achieved the pinnacle of your profession; once you have sold a property or helped someone find a home, you get to start the process again.

You once again get to feel the excitement of finding a new client and working with them to achieve something that will be marked as an anniversary for that person, forever! If that is tedious work to you, you might be in the wrong business. If it is a new beginning for you, it is an anniversary year and it may be the best year you will ever have.

905.731.7455 888.548.7725 www.kitspak.com

How could it not be? You are in an incredible profession!

The thing is, when you are older, you think beyond anniversaries of 10 or 20 years. You think in terms of 40 and 50 years and more.

This year, I am marking 50 years in the newspaper business.

I started working for the Toronto Telegram, the “old Tely” in 1968 shilling for subscribers on the phones and at front doors look-

gers me. People I work with today will tell you that I am forgetful and too often now, inadvertently, overlook the challenges of a task that seems simple to me because I get lost in the excitement of it. I do not remember to think all things through. There are too many details today. How can I be so forgetful now and still remember the style of the old wooden desk I used 50 years ago and the

The great thing about the business of real estate is that once you have sold a property or helped someone find a home, you get to start the process again. ing for potential readers and customers. I know all about cold calling, people saying no emphatically and having doors slammed in my face. I remember 1968 so distinctly. The boiler rooms I worked in, the people I met and the people I loved forever from that year on. I recall it all with such clarity that it stag-

Heino Molls is publisher of REM. Email heino@remonline.com. REM

realtywebsites.ca

+ Keep-in-Touch Systems

colours of the room that I worked in, right down to what I saw outside from the windows at the office 50 years ago?

It has been a long journey from the old Tely to the Star, the Globe and Mail, Real Estate News and then REM. And now, thanks to the next Molls generation, remonline.com.

It is a good anniversary to step aside and do what is the most important thing I can possibly do in this business: get out of the way of the people who can bring critical, important and valued information and news to the real estate industry that cannot be found any where else. Maybe you don’t think that’s something important. Maybe you think the business of delivering news to Realtors across the country is not something to be proud of or has value. That would be fine because if you think that way, you likely aren’t in the real estate business anyway. I probably could never explain the fundamental importance of the simple sale of a property or what the value of purchasing a home means to you.

I will be retiring this summer.

I know this year will start a string of great years for you. It has to. It is the very nature of the business you are in and this may be one of your best years. Like it was for me in 1968. I wish you every success in 2018.

CRM

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