June 2016

Issue #324

June 2016

Richard Silver How he stays on top of his game Page 10

Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 42218523 - Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to 2255B Queen St. E., #1178, Toronto ON M4E 1G3

Commission insurance: Is it worth it?

A REM special report Page 12

Impact of tribunal decision ‘won’t be immediate’ Page 3

B.C. to vote on eliminating boards Page 3

RE/MAX OF WESTERN CANADA WELCOMES THE LATEST RE/MAX FAMILY ADDITION IN OTTAWA! CONGRATULATIONS TO JEFF AND MARGIE HOOPER AND THE RE/MAX HALLMARK REALTY GROUP, OTTAWA, ON.

Are you looking to reach your full potential? Work with the best.

Talk to one of our local Broker Owners or visit joinremax.ca.

Each RE/MAX office is independently owned and operated. This advertisement is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for informational purposes only. If you own a franchise affiliated with another organization, this advertisement is not intended to offer a RE/MAX franchise or to solicit a change in your affiliation.

REM JUNE 2016 3

Impact of tribunal decision ‘won’t be immediate’ “It takes a lot more than MLS data to create a market-leading consumer real estate portal,” says Viewpoint Realty’s Bill McMullin. By Tony Palermo

W

hile the Competition Tribunal has partially granted the Commissioner of Competition’s application against the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), it remains to be seen what the specific terms of the ruling will be. The tribunal asked both parties to submit suggested remedies and will make its final decision after both sides have had the opportunity to make oral submissions on the issue.

What we do know is the tribunal found that TREB has engaged in anti-competitive behaviour that had “a considerable adverse impact on innovation, quality and the range of residential real estate brokerage services that likely would be offered in the GTA, in the absence of the virtual office website (VOW) restrictions.”

Ken McLachlan, broker of record and owner of Re/Max Hallmark Realty, says, “I’m okay with the tribunal’s decision. “I think this (represents) the lay of the land moving forward.”

McLachlan isn’t worried about any negative impact to his business moving forward because of the tribunal’s ruling. He says while TREB might be selling information, Realtors don’t sell information.

Realtors, he says, interpret and deal with information, and that’s the foundation of their value.

“The information in itself isn’t the important part,” says McLachlan. “It’s how (a Realtor) deals with the information that matters.”

Bill McMullin, CEO of ViewPoint Realty Services, Nova Scotia’s largest real estate database, agrees that the MLS data alone isn’t what most consumers want.

“Properly informed decisions on the purchase or sale of real estate takes into account a lot more than MLS data,” he says. “If it was just about sold data we wouldn’t be where we are today in terms of growth.”

When he testified as a Competition Bureau witness during the trial, McMullin attributed part of ViewPoint’s successful

growth in Nova Scotia to making all relevant information available to the public. He says the stubborn position taken by TREB and real estate boards outside of Nova Scotia on providing their own members with efficient access to the MLS has been the primary impediment to the expansion of his brokerage outside of Nova Scotia.

Still, McMullin believes the market effects of the decision won’t be immediate. As he says, the Canadian real estate industry is highly fragmented, including the MLS data.

“The MLS data is under the control of over 60 real estate boards, then there’s the property data, which is controlled by the provincial governments,” says McMullin. “Even when TREB and the other boards enable their brokerage members to efficiently access their MLS, a number of significant challenges remain if a company wants to create a national real estate portal like Zillow has for the United States

or ViewPoint for Nova Scotia. It takes a lot more than MLS data to create a market-leading consumer real estate portal.”

Reflecting on the decision, McMullin says it’s important to remember that this case wasn’t about public access to the MLS system as many were inclined to believe; rather, it was about members’ access to the MLS data.

“Yes, members serve the public and would like to make certain information available to the public on their websites, but the Competition Bureau was advocating for members access to the MLS data so that the members could serve the consumer better,” he says.

When asked why he thought it all came down to this, McMullin is quick to answer: “Computers don’t pay fees.”

McMullin believes some people in organized real estate have an irrational fear that the expansion of self-service, and selfdirected learning and research on the web, could erode the Realtor value proposition and

result in fewer Realtors.

It’s a notion he says is nonsense. “When I look at Nova Scotia, I see no evidence of that.”

Citing that the matter is still before the courts, the Competition Bureau declined to comment on any specific remedies it is considering.

TREB also had no comment beyond its already released official statement indicating that its legal counsel has received the tribunal’s decision, that no order has been issued, and that the tribunal has asked both parties to provide input regarding remedies.

CREA spokesperson Pierre Leduc says CREA continues to review the lengthy and complex decision and that they will not be in a position to fully assess the ramifications of the decision until the tribunal decides the issue of remedy and produces its order.

The hearing on the issue of remedy will take place on June 2 in Ottawa. The full decision of the tribunal is here: http://tinyurl.com/h74cakt. REM

B.C. to vote on eliminating local boards Summer poll to determine if BCREA members are willing to eliminate local boards to gain the efficiencies of a single organization By Jean Sorensen

W

hen the members of the B.C. Real Estate Association (BCREA) cast a ballot this summer to determine whether to dissolve the association plus its 11 associated boards in favour of a new provincewide professional standards entity called Realtors of B.C., the vote may be more about what Realtors are willing to sacrifice to get organized real estate to a new, more efficient destination.

The difficulty currently facing BCREA is its inability to move decisively on issues. It requires the time-consuming practice of pingponging issues back and forth between the 11 boards before mak-

ing a decision. Each independent real estate board has different standards and fines, practices and viewpoints.

“Getting 11 boards to agree upon everything is pretty well impossible,” says Dan Morrison, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

The problem is complicated by the rotation of elected board leadership.

The new president may not share the same focus or information as the past president. “We have tried projects in the past and they just haven’t worked out – there are too many cooks in the kitchen,” says Morrison.

BCREA president Deanna

Horn, who has been one of those working on the proposal during its 18-month maturation, says the problem with the current structure is, “We can’t be nimble.”

Horn, who is also president of the Presidents Working Group struck to look at how the industry faced changes and needed to change itself, sent a letter to members in May, warning of the dangers of a professional association that can’t move quickly to curb negative practices and stem adverse publicity such as that recently generated by the “shadow flipping” controversy in Vancouver.

“This is not just a Lower Mainland issue; it affects the repu-

tation of our entire profession and is another reason to support restructuring to one organization,” she said in her letter to members. “Without action, the government and the Real Estate Council of B.C. will have no qualms about imposing new regulations on us – all of us.”

Price Waterhouse Coopers, the financial firm that performed the cost analysis and the reorganizational feasibility study, presented 25 business models of restructuring.

The Presidents Working Group (made up of board presidents) settled on the chosen model, which shows that by eliminating redundancies between the boards, there can be a $10 million cost saving.

When Horn describes the new structure, she chooses her words carefully. She says there will be a centralized office with six branches (locations not yet known) and volunteer chapters working with the branches. The centralized office will have, according to website information, all the duties of most head offices. They include providing services such as “key operations, MLS management, provincewide education, professional standards, advocacy, government relations, economics, communications and media relations, program development and standard forms.”

Continued on page 4

4 REM JUNE 2016

B.C. to vote Continued from page 3

Horn has heard the complaint that the Vancouver area will have control over the new association, since the REBGV represents the majority of BCREA members.

“There will be no Vancouver board,” she says, adding that all such lines will be eliminated as boards roll into the new organization.

Instead, Horn said the new structure will take a B.C. view.

“There will be 11 (elected) board members. It will be a provincial election (not a regional). There will be four public directors, individuals who are not necessarily practitioners, and eight Realtors throughout the province,” Horn said. All agents will have a vote to elect the directors.

Fees will be harmonized with the promise that no real estate agent will see a fee increase for five years, and 30 per cent will see decreased fees. Fees are outlined in greater detail on the Realtors of B.C. website (www.realtorsofbc.ca).

The assets (funds and buildings) and liabilities of organized real estate would roll into one pool under the auspices of the centralized body. Board buildings would remain as training centres or operate as branches until the new organization could further assess their viability, she says.

“Essentially, we are merging the assets and liabilities. It is important to note that the money is going into a single organization and they are still the assets of the Realtors of this province,” she says. “No one is losing anything.”

Victoria opts out But some real estate boards remain unconvinced. The Victoria Real Estate Board (VREB) has opted out of the planned restructuring, while both the Chilliwack and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Boards have decided to remain neutral and let their members decide in the election tentatively slated for June 28. Boards such as the Fraser Valley, Greater Vancouver, B.C. Northern and Okanagan Mainline associations have endorsed the plan.

VREB president Mike Nugent doesn’t want the board decision to appear as a “huge fight” with BCREA. “It is really about what is

right for each real estate board,” says Nugent, whose directors feel the fit isn’t right for Victoria Realtors.

Nugent said he can understand that combining functions (such as MLS systems, accounting and education) makes sense from an efficiency point of view.

“We in Victoria get that,” he says. He also understands that smaller boards will benefit as they gain service levels equal to larger boards and he frankly admits that if he presided over a smaller organization, he would feel duty-bound to endorse the reorganization.

Nugent’s board has opted out because the risk outweighs the perceived gain, he says. “We have come up with ideas and things that work for Victoria and have led discussions that have led to things being done different at the BCREA level,” he said, adding that these local innovations would tumble by the wayside under the new system.

He is also concerned that in the voting, the Lower Mainland will control the provincial voice.

“Currently there are 20,000 members in B.C. with 12,000 of them on the Greater Vancouver board and another 2,700 on the Fraser Valley board. These two boards are in favour and this is three-quarters of the membership in the Lower Mainland. There is a chance our 5.5 per cent of the membership (1,250 members) might not be heard.”

Nugent is also not comfortable with the lack of information regarding the final organization’s structure and where branch offices will be located. Currently, both VREB and the neighbouring Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) have offices.

Nugent said only one office would be considered for Vancouver Island.

Finally, there is the issue of handing over VREB’s resources, which consist of a healthy contingency fund. VREB has its own building valued at $3.5 million.

Should VREB join Realtors of B.C. but then decide to opt out of the new organization later, those assets would be lost. “It would be difficult to start over again,” he says.

A letter send to members by VIREB president Margo Hoffman set out the benefits of the proposal but also some concerns.

“Currently, the board has not made

Dan Morrison

Deanna Horn

Mike Nugent

a decision regarding support of this restructuring proposal as there are still unanswered questions regarding how it will affect VIREB members. While restructuring may be in the best interests of all B.C. Realtors, it may not benefit each board equally.”

Hoffman told REM that “we are leaving it to our members to vote on it,” and her board is providing members with as much information as possible. When the vote is in, she says, “We will respect their decision.”

Chilliwack & District Real Estate Board president Richard Admiraal says the board is staying neutral at this time but sees pros and cons on both sides of the issue.

“We are engaging our members and seeing whether they view this as an opportunity or hindrance,” he says, adding that generally the board’s 285 members are happy with the current level of services.

They also own their building.

“There are potential savings with the Realtors of B.C. proposal but cost-saving is not everything and we very much appreciate having a local board where the checks and balances remain at the local level,” he says. In a smaller board, he says, this leads to a desire to perform to a higher standard professionally.

“There is a lot that can be lost,” he says.

er association can now take advantage of services that larger boards have had but his board couldn’t afford. He estimates that 90 per cent of his members could see a fee reduction of several hundred dollars.

He says he is pleased there will be uniformity in the rules that all agents follow. “We will have a more fair and equitable governance structure,” he says. “It is going to be awesome.”

At the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board, “We were one of the first boards to step forward and endorse the plan,” says president Anthony Bastiaanssen.

He says it provides the industry with a method of moving on issues and change quickly with a united voice. He gives the example of wanting to launch new initiatives that will move the industry forward and benefit Realtors and the public. “Now you have to go to 11 boards and ask, ‘Do you have the resources and when can you do this?’ And you are getting 11 different voices so your chance of getting a common answer is highly unlikely.”

Recent events are prompting the government to take action against unethical behaviour in the industry, and while attention has been focused on the Lower Mainland, poor business practices are not relegated to any one part of the province. Bastiaanssen says unless there is a united voice representing the industry, it’s hard to show the government that there is leadership to prevent such practices.

While some boards may feel they are losing control of their local areas, Bastiaanssen doesn’t see it that way. “Sometimes control is a perception and we can sometimes create something of an illu-

sion. We are not losing control of anything, we are gaining control of the direction we heading,” he says.

Charles Wiebe, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, said his board views the restructuring as a positive. “It creates strong efficiencies,” he says. The new entity would also emerge with a strong financial position as assets are combined and $10 million in cost-savings results, he says.

Wiebe and other presidents have pointed out that the provincial association would have greater purchasing clout with suppliers. It would use one MLS system and have the ability to better negotiate custom features in the system. It could also better utilize staff to build expertise, and have uniform standards and forms.

When the BCREA members will take the polls still remained unknown at press time. REBGV president Morrison said that the June 28 date is only tentative and many boards are still fielding questions from their various members, including his own. “We are doing our due diligence,” he says. There has also not been a decision on what the ballot’s wording will look like.

Queried about the lack of information regarding the new structure’s form, Morrison says: “We are walking a fine line. We are trying to put forward information but we can’t tie the hands of the future board of directors and senior managers so that they won’t have the scope to run the organization in the best possible way.”

Morrison says there is an industry consensus that BCREA needs to have a united voice and the ability to respond to issues faster.

“How we are going to get there is the stuff we are now working REM through,” he says.

Large and small boards see benefits “We see the benefits,” says William Lacy, president of the B.C. Northern Real Estate Board, which has jumped in with both feet. His board covers 70 per cent of Northern B.C. but only has 368 Realtors, or four per cent of the province’s memberships. He says the proposal means that his small-

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6 REM JUNE 2016

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

J

eff Hooper and Margie Hooper, former owners of Keller Williams Ottawa Realty, have switched to the Re/Max brand.

The couple has teamed with Ken McLachlan, Debra Bain and Steve Tabrizi of Re/Max Hallmark Realty in Toronto to convert their two offices in Orleans and Central Ottawa to the Re/Max brand. The brokerage will be known as Re/Max Hallmark Realty Ottawa.

“This is an exciting step forward for Re/Max Hallmark Realty Ltd., which with this merge will form Re/Max Hallmark Realty

Desmond von Teichman

and policies weekly, we decided that combining forces would be a natural fit. Robb has a wealth of experience with brokerage operations and management, which we have successfully married with my approach to real estate tools and marketing. Together, we are stronger and can pass these benefits on to our agents.”

Atkinson and von Teichman will continue to manage their respective brokerages with no changes to business structure or administrative staff at any of the offices, the company says.

Royal LePage Locations North, lead by broker of record Desmond von Teichman, has merged with Royal LePage Royal City Realty, under broker/owner Robb

Atkinson. The announcement follows an ongoing working relationship between the two brokerages during the past 18 months, the company says.

The merger brings together more than 170 agents in multiple locations including three Guelph, Ont. office locations and one in Rockwood. The brokerage also covers Collingwood, Meaford, Thornbury and Wasaga Beach.

“The two of us have worked closely together for more than a year on various projects, branding and marketing,” says von Teichman. “After sharing ideas

Independent Calgary brokerage Discover Real Estate has closed, citing a poor economy as the reason.

The Calgary Herald reports that owner Graham Mayne said that a number of his former agents have launched lawsuits over unpaid commissions. The brokerage had

Robb Atkinson

Ralph Stephen

Debbie Kolli

Group,” says McLachlan. “With the help of Jeff and Margie, we expect to see continued growth and success in the Ottawa market.”

Since establishing Keller Williams Ottawa Realty in 2001, the Hoopers grew the brokerage to become the largest Keller Williams office in Canada, with nearly 300 agents.

■ ■ ■

■ ■ ■

about 400 sales reps in four offices.

■ ■ ■

Century 21 Advantage has acquired the Century 21 Your Realty team and will offer expanded services at a new location in Innisfail, Alta. under the Century 21 Advantage banner.

“This year marks 105 years for the company. We’ve changed names along the way but our highly personalized service and care has led to our success – and we’re still growing,” says owner Patrick Galesloot.

The brokerage was the No. 15 Century 21 office for units sold in all of Canada last year and has frequently placed in the top 10 since joining the brand in 1976.

■ ■ ■

Royal LePage Atlantic has joined forces with Bedford, N.S.based Quest Realty. The merger solidifies Royal LePage Atlantic’s position as the largest real estate agency in Atlantic Canada, with the agents of Quest Realty joining the Royal LePage Atlantic team in Halifax.

Ralph Stephen, owner and president of Royal LePage Atlantic, says, “Quest Realty has a long-standing reputation in Bedford as knowledgeable and passionate real estate agents and they make a good cultural fit with our organization.”

With the merger, 17 sales professionals are added to Royal LePage Atlantic’s 400 sales associates and administrative personnel.

The company serves clients throughout Atlantic Canada, with offices in Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Enfield, New Minas, Windsor, Moncton, Shediac, Shelburne, Sussex, Saint John and Rothesay.

■ ■ ■

Debbie Kolli has converted her independent brokerage, Aim

Cover photo: MARKO SHARK

The roots of Century 21 Advantage date back 105 years.

Publisher HEINO MOLLS heino@remonline.com

Editor JIM ADAIR jim@remonline.com

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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 2016 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).

ISSN 1201-1223

Continued on page 8

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Staff at Re/Max Hallmark Realty Ottawa

This is home.

It’s a place called amazement.

Home is a word that signifies so much. You understand what it means for each of your clients, and they rely on you to lead them on their journey there. Our goal is to help your clients truly understand their home, so they can feel good, feel right, and know the miraculous feeling of home.

pillartopost.com Each office independently owned and operated.

8 REM JUNE 2016

Multiple Listings Continued from page 6

North Realty in Timmins, Ont., to the Re/Max brand. It will operate as Re/Max Aim North Realty.

Kolli has been in the real estate industry since 1987. She has been a licensed broker since 2000 and the broker of record at Aim North since 2009.

She has served on the Board of Directors of the Timmins Real Estate Board and was president of the board in 2000 and 2001.

“We are thrilled to welcome Debbie and her sales associates, especially since there has not been a Re/Max Integra office in Timmins for the past seven years,” says the company in a news release.

Kolli recently moved her brokerage to 151 Second Ave. It will serve the Timmins, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls and Matheson areas.

■ ■ ■

John Alexander has joined Coldwell Banker Canada as director of franchise sales.

He has a background in sales, real estate and franchising with experience in national management, global relocation and at the brokerage level. He was most recently with Sutton Group.

Alexander managed a family owned real estate company in Goderich, Ont. before opening his own brokerage in 1987. He also operated an appraisal business for 16 years.

He is a past president of the Huron-Perth Real Estate Board and has had roles at FIABCI and the Ontario Real Estate Association.

■ ■ ■

The team at Century 21 Bayside Realty Inc. in North Sydney, N.S. has a new name: Century 21 Island Gateway Realty.

The new owner, Krista Marsh, was previously an award-winning salesperson with the office. For her impressive sales results in 2015 and 2014, Marsh was recognized with the Century 21 Masters Silver sales award.

The brokerage has been in operation since 2005.

■ ■ ■

The former HomeLife United Realty of Mississauga, Ont. has joined the Royal LePage network.

Parvinder Singh established the company in 2008 with the

merger of two real estate companies operating in the Peel region.

The company now has a roster of 168 agents.

“We intend to fully leverage an excellent support system of training, professional development and the latest technologies to fulfill our vision for the future of our business,” says Singh.

■ ■ ■

Nick Chintakis is the new broker/owner of Re/Max Cornwall Realty, which serves the Greater Cornwall Area including Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ont. Chintakis began his real estate career in Southwest Florida and has more than 22 years of entrepreneurial experience. He has been a licensed Florida real estate broker since 2009. In his other business endeavours, he dealt with Re/Max Cornwall Realty as clients and was familiar with the community and the former owners, Terry Landon and Jamie Cameron, who will continue working at the brokerage. They owned and operated the brokerage for more than 30 years.

The office is working towards implementing software to help agents and admin staff go paperless, which Chintakis says will increase productivity and attract new agents.

■ ■ ■

Hamilton businessman Patrick Gabriel paired his furniture sales and staging company with his independent real estate office, OnCan Realty. Now, he has rebranded the brokerage to Century 21 Ultra Realty.

Gabriel has owned Parks Furniture and Mattress Store for eight years and has been featured twice on Dragon’s Den for his unique business ideas. By combining real estate with decor, Century 21 Ultra Realty can offer professional home staging to enhance the appearance of clients’ listings to speed up sales, as well as provide licensed interior designers to help their buyers’ bring their homes to life. Clients also receive membership to Parks Furniture, giving them discounts on quality home furnishings.

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More than 400 Engel & Völkers representatives, including a large Canadian contingent,

John Alexander

recently attended a company event in Dallas, says Richard Brinkley, senior VP market development for Engel & Völkers Canada. It was the largest North America event that the brand has held.

The three-day event featured a variety of leadership coaches and influential keynote speakers from Engel & Völkers. Notable speakers included Anthony Hitt, CEO of Engel & Völkers North America, Ronan Tynan, world famous Irish Tenor and motivational speaker and Matthew Ferrara, philosopher and writer, who introduced his approach to connection with clients through creativity.

Parvinder Singh

Ron Perlmutter

Nick Chintakis

David Horowitz

■ ■ ■

Urban retail property investment sales and leasing specialist David Horowitz has joined Avison Young in Toronto as a vice president. Horowitz brings more than 20 years of experience in investment and real estate sales. Prior to joining Avison Young, he worked at JLL Canada and Paracom Realty.

“We are very pleased to welcome David Horowitz, a proven leader in urban retail, to Avison Young,” says Martin Dockrill, principal and managing director, Ontario for the firm. “David is well-connected among investors and building owners and is respected and trusted in the commercial brokerage community. His success is a result of his straightforward communication and attention to detail. At Avison Young, David will continue to provide real estate solutions, market knowledge and transaction services tailored to his clients’ needs in order to achieve their real estate objectives. With his many clients, David will provide key synergies with our existing teams, leveraging Avison Young’s integrated services model to generate new business.”

Real estate investment transaction specialist Ron Perlmutter has

The team at Century 21 Island Gateway Realty, from left: Nadine Sampson, Amanda Viva, Krista Marsh and Wilda MacDonald.

Canadian attendees were recognized at the recent Engel & Völkers event in Dallas.

also joined Avison Young in Toronto as a principal senior VP of investment management. He will focus on sourcing international capital for cross-border real estate acquisitions, identifying properties for investment and maintaining asset management and client relationships. He was most recently director of real estate with Bilfinger Real Estate Asset Management,

responsible for its North American program.

Perlmutter brings more than 30 years of commercial real estate experience to Avison Young.

Notable prior roles include eight years as VP of investments with Primaris Management, leading Primaris Retail REIT’s acquisition Continued on page 24

“From my travels abroad, I was familiar with Engel & Völkers and their reputation for premium service, prior to their arrival in Canada. Once I heard that they were here it wasn’t long for me to make the decision to join this exceptional brand.”

Anita Springate–Renaud, License Partner, Engel & Völkers Toronto Don Mills

Only the best in the business join our brand.

As a third generation real estate professional with more than 20 years of experience, Anita Springate–Renaud has built a successful business based on her exceptional market knowledge and unwavering commitment to her clients. To meet the growing demand for her expertise, Anita had long planned to join a brand that would enhance her professional reputation and capabilities. She had met with several well-known names, but it wasn’t until Engel & Völkers began providing its international, premium real estate service in Canada, that she decided to act. Today, as the Owner and Broker of Record for Engel & Völkers Toronto Don Mills, Anita and her team continue to provide great service, but now with the sophisticated marketing tools and the support of a global network and unmatched international reach.

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

©2016 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.

10 REM JUNE 2016

Constant reinvention keeps Richard Silver on top

His enviable grasp of technology and social media has made Silver a sought-after speaker on the use of social media in real estate. “I welcome change,” he says. “In fact, the only constant in our real estate business is change.” By Dennis McCloskey

W

hen Richard Silver walks into the boardroom at Sotheby’s International Realty Canada’s Toronto office, the veteran Realtor exudes confidence, charm and class.

The casually but nattily attired agent immediately puts his visitor at ease.

No one would deign to call the former model, dancer and performer a show-off. But Elton John might disagree, because Sir Elton says, “Performers are all show offs; unless you show off, you’re not going to get noticed.”

Richard Silver is getting noticed!

Three years after joining Sotheby’s Canada, with its 400 agents and offices in 30 residential and resort markets, Silver is consistently among the top one per cent of salespeople in Toronto. He was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Real Estate for 2013 by San Francisco-based Inman News.

Born in Edmonton, he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Oregon by majoring in phys ed and kinesiology. A professional dancer and performer, he moved to Montreal 40 years ago before accepting a job at Toronto’s York University, teaching dance.

Soon he returned to performing.

When he was interested in buying his first house he took a real estate course “to learn the process.” He was hooked.

He obtained his licence in 1980 and knew he’d made the right decision to enter the business when he earned the same income in the first month as a real estate agent as he did working as a dancer the entire previous year. “I gave up performing and became a patron of the arts,” he says with a smile.

In early pre-technology days, he says everything was done by hand, phone, fax or in person.

He laughs at the memory of buyers and sellers having to send him a telegram to confirm an Agreement of Purchase and Sale.

Thanks to a tech-savvy pre-teen nephew, who is now in his 40s, Silver became an early adaptor of technology when his nephew wrote a rudimentary customer management system that allowed Silver to connect with clients and keep track of his business.

Again, he was hooked!

Today, his enviable grasp of technology and social media has made Silver a sought-after speaker on the use of social media in real estate. “I welcome change,” he says. “In fact, the only constant in our real estate business is change.”

Before joining Sotheby’s, Silver worked with other real estate companies, including 15 years with the venerable Toronto firm, Bosley Real Estate, founded in 1928. He says he learned a lot from Tom Bosley, broker of record, and his wife Ann, but several years ago Silver felt the time had come to join an international franchise.

“At first, I didn’t think foreign markets would be of interest to me, but I began seeing more and more showings and offerings from Chinese agents,” he says.

He knew there are five Chinese areas in the Greater Toronto Area (Gerrard, Spadina, Town of Markham, Scarborough and Mississauga) and took notice of a large influx of Mandarinspeaking people in the city, including Cantonese from Hong Kong. “China’s middle class has a population of 300 million and they have money to spend.”

He soon realized he needed an understanding of foreign

markets, so he obtained his Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) designation.

Silver adheres to the axiom that happiness and success come from growth, not comfort. And since he loves nothing more than a challenge, he chose to reinvent himself and forge a new path, deliberately and with foresight. He formed a team of several specialists, including Jim Burtnick, broker and senior vice president, sales; Tracy An, who is Asian and serves as translator; and Sherille Layton, British by birth and a recent immigrant with full knowledge of the immigration process. Silver says his team concept is to “find people who are not like me but who complement me.” He adds, “Too many people look for mini-MEs.” He concedes there is much to learn when dealing with foreign markets and he recommends a book by Terri Morrison, titled Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands, which is a guide to proper international business protocol and includes 60 country profiles.

Silver agrees it can be a cultural and technological shock marketing a property within China. He speaks only rudimentary Mandarin and Cantonese, mostly in the form of greetings and very light conversation. Silver says the most important challenge in dealing with a Chinese buyer or seller is patience.

“It is important not to be shocked or insulted by an extremely low offer,” he says.

“Negotiation is uppermost in their mind and if a buyer likes a property, they’ll most likely buy it. Just be patient.”

Sotheby’s is considered to be a “rarefied” brand and Silver likes to call it “a marketing company

Richard Silver (Photo: Marko Shark)

that sells real estate.” He estimates that 30 per cent of his sales are to the Chinese market.

He says it is important to make at least one annual trip to China to create and maintain working relationships with people, but it’s a challenge to get through the Great Firewall of China via the Internet.

“It takes an innovative approach and commitment to attract Asian buyers because China has no Google, Facebook or Twitter.” Among his “workarounds” (and keeping in mind the 12-hour time difference), his team uses China-

based real estate website Juwai, and China’s most popular instant messaging app, WeChat.

At 67, Silver has no plans to retire just yet. While he does not rule out another re-invention at some point in his real estate career, he says, “My intention is to work as long as I can because I love it.” He and his partner of 18 years like to travel the world and spend time in Puerto Vallarta “for its bright, long, sunny days, the Mexican culture and the ocean.” There is one thing he does not like and he states it unequivocally: “I don’t like Canadian winters!” REM

12 REM JUNE 2016

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RECM IAL

SPE RT REPO

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ecent brokerage insolvencies and, in some cases, misappropriation of funds by brokers, have some real estate boards across the country looking towards Ontario and its commission protection insurance program to see if it might be an option to help protect their members’ commissions as well.

Earlier this year, Newfoundland Association of Realtors CEO Bill Stirling told REM that his organization would be looking at all of its options to better serve its members, including

Is commission protection insurance worth it?

What do Ontario Realtors really think about their mandated commission protection insurance and what can boards and associations across the country learn from Ontario as they consider whether commission protection insurance is a good fit for their membership? REM reporter Tony Palermo investigates. offering commission protection insurance. Several salespeople belonging to Exit Realty on the Rock were left wondering if they would get paid when the provincial Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate suspended their brokerage’s licence.

Another board member elsewhere in the country, who doesn’t want to be identified because he isn’t authorized to comment, confirmed that his board and its partners are looking at commission protection insurance as a possible option for its members as well.

“But I can tell you that this conversation has been going on for well over 30 years,” said the member. “Some of our members question why they should be forced to pay commission protection insurance to subsidize bad businesses.”

He can see their point but personally feels legislators need to update his province’s legislation to include better safeguards to help protect Realtors, in whatever form those may be.

In Ontario, commission protection insurance isn’t an option; it’s mandated by the Real Estate

ARE YOU REALLY COVERED? During the course of researching this article, one of the biggest complaints from Realtors was that they didn’t know that payment of a legitimate claim was subject to a cap that included all claims filed under the particular occurrence. Some assumed the “Aggregate Each Occurrence” amount meant them alone—in other words, their total commissions owing. Others simply didn’t understand the wording and just assumed they were covered, citing that others had told them all along they would be protected.

Even Ken McLachlan, broker of record for Re/Max Hallmark Realty, who took over two of the three former Re/Max Executive offices when they became insolvent, says he didn’t know about the cap until he attempted to help the former Executive agents who came to work with him get the commissions they were owed.

“As a broker, I should have been more aware (of how the commission protection insurance works) and frankly it’s my job to be aware, but I was just as surprised when I learned that the cap applied to (the total claims) for each brokerage,” says McLachlan.

He’s not alone. We conducted an informal survey of Realtors around Ontario and discovered the vast majority had no clue about how the policy worked and assumed they were fully protected.

Nearly all of the Realtors surveyed also didn’t know that if the total commissions owed to all agents exceeded $1 million, including from co-operating brokerages, their claims would then be paid as a percentage of the total claim.

In an email response to our findings, Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) deputy registrar, industry standards, Brian Schlotzhauer said the following: “In terms of the awareness level of the details of the program, that is something we are always working to improve. Each year, registrants receive a package with information about their coverage, there are occasional articles in the registrant newsletter, there is an elective in the continuing education program that covers insurance, and there are sections of the website and our annual report dedicated to insurance information. We also conduct seminars at local boards and associations about the insurance program.

“But we are aware that we could and should be doing even more to elevate understanding, so we are looking to enhance our communication package for registrants for this year’s renewal process.”

and Business Brokers Act, 2002, (REBBA) under regulation 579/05 section 11(2). And because it’s mandated in legislation, it’s never been put to Ontario salespeople as an industry vote as to whether or not they really want it.

“I can tell you it’s a very comprehensive insurance program that serves our members well,” says Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) deputy registrar, industry standards, Brian Schlotzhauer.

RECO introduced commission protection insurance approximately 15 years ago to protect Ontario salespersons’ commissions in the event of some sort of financial failure such as brokerage bankruptcy, theft, fraud or other misappropriation of funds. RECO endorses the insurance program and also acts as the designated administrative authority responsible for making sure that the insurance program complies with the REBBA. Although RECO has an administrative department that can help Realtors through the claims process, Schlotzhauer says it’s important to note that RECO only plays an administrative role.

The policy, underwritten by Lloyds Underwriters, is managed and distributed by Alternative Risk Services, which deals with the Realtor when a claim is filed.

This means that any decision whether a claim will be honoured

remains with Alternative Risk Services.

The company’s Ryan Durrell says reporting a claim for commission protection coverage is a straightforward process: a claim form is completed, a copy of the Agreement Of Purchase and Sale is attached to the claim form, the package is sent to the claims adjuster, the claims adjuster confirms receipt of the package, and then a complete investigation into the situation takes place, which includes independent verification of the theft, fraud or misappropriation of funds. Once verified, the adjuster will request payment be made by the insurer.

It sounds simple enough, but what do Ontario Realtors really think of the program?

A successful claim In early 2013, RECO revoked the registrations of Toronto-based Graydon Hill Realty and its broker of record David Allen after an inspection revealed irregularities with the brokerage’s trust account.

During court proceedings later in the year, it was revealed that Allen had moved approximately $200,000 from the brokerage’s trust account between March 2012 and January 2013 through a series of unauthorized transfers.

Continued on page 14

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14 REM JUNE 2016

Is commission protection Continued from page 12

About 30 agents were with the brokerage at the time.

“The commission protection insurance served me very well,” says Katrina McHugh, who was with the company at the time and now works at Bosley Real Estate.

“It took about five or six months

but I got back most of what was owed to me.”

Most, but not all. McHugh says she was out of pocket the deductible and the HST, which is not covered under the program.

Even so, she believes having commission protection insurance is a great option.

“The alternative is not to have any protection, but then what?”

BY THE NUMBERS In Ontario, the mandated commission protection insurance program is managed and distributed by Alternative Risk Services.

Ryan Durrell of Alternative Risk Services says, in general, commission claims are cyclical and depend on the economy.

He says that few claims were reported in 2014 and 2015, but that “the program is handling a couple of events in 2016.”

Durrell says that between when the program was founded on Sept. 1, 2000 and Aug. 31, 2015, there have been 121 occurrences under the commission protection coverage.

An “occurrence” means an incident of bankruptcy, fraud, theft or misappropriation of funds at a brokerage.

Payment of claims, which includes settlements and expenses, under this coverage is estimated at $4,483,368.

■ ■ ■

Where to go for more information The Real Estate Council of Ontario’s (RECO) commission protection insurance program is underwritten by Lloyds Underwriters, and is managed and distributed by Alternative Risk Services. For additional information on the insurance program, visit the following websites: Alternative Risk Services RECO Insurance Program: www.reco-claims.ca Real Estate Council of Ontario RECO is the endorser and the designated administrative authority responsible for making sure the insurance program complies with REBBA. www.reco.on.ca/real-estate-professionals/insurance/

she asks. “We’re living in crazy times.”

Alternative Risk Services says while each claim is different, the settlement process can take anywhere from a week to several years depending on the closing date of the transactions or the complexity of the occurrence.

But some Ontario Realtors say the devil is in the details and caution that Realtors aren’t as protected as they think they are.

Size matters As it turns out, with the way RECO’s commission protection insurance program is configured, the size of the brokerage may be a key factor in determining whether a Realtor will receive their full claim, even if the claim is substantiated.

The commission protection portion of the insurance policy is configured as follows: • Limits of Liability: $100,000 each claim / $1,000,000 aggregate each occurrence • Deductible: $250 each claim Let’s break this down and deal with the deductible first, since it’s the easiest to understand.

According to Durrell at Alternative Risk Services, the $250 deductible applies only once per individual registrant, per occurrence, even though the claim may be for several different transactions.

For example, let’s assume a brokerage becomes insolvent (the occurrence) and a Realtor (the registrant) is still owed commissions on three transactions. A separate claim form with supporting documentation would be filed for each of the three transactions, but the Realtor would only be charged the $250 deductible once since the three unpaid transactions are all as a result of the same occurrence.

This would apply to each of the affected registrants.

The Limits of Liability is the trickier clause. The first part, the $100,000 for each claim limit, applies to the individual registrant.

It’s basically saying that each registrant can claim up to a maximum of $100,000 for lost commissions.

The second part of the Limits of Liability clause is where some Realtors really issue a caution. The $1,000,000 Aggregate Each Occurrence clause means that $1 million is the most that will be paid

out for all registrants combined, including from co-operating brokerages, for each occurrence. So, the more active salespersons a brokerage has, the more likely the $1 million cap will be reached.

Durrell says when the total claims are likely to be over $1 million, Alternative Risk Services could pay for part of the claim based on an assessment of what the total claim might be relative to the $1 million limit.

“For example, if the total claims are likely to be $2 million, then we would likely pay slightly less than 50 per cent of each claim,” says Durrell. “Once all of the claims are known and quantified, and if some of the $1 million (cap) is still available, then it would be divided among all of the claimants in proportion to how their respective claims compare to the total of all claims.”

In January 2009, RECO began an investigation into Re/Max Executive Realty and its broker, David Seto, after receiving a tip from an anonymous source about irregularities with a trust account.

Freeze orders were issued shortly thereafter. Later in the year, Seto pleaded guilty to misappropriating trust funds and was sentenced to a year in jail. His brokerage was fined $200,000.

At the time the freeze orders were issued, the brokerage had three offices in the Toronto area with over 110 agents.

Broker of record Ken McLachlan of Re/Max Hallmark Realty took over two of the former Executive offices. Eight months later, the former Executive agents were still waiting for their commissions and were reportedly chastised

for bothering RECO with their follow-up calls.

“Complete nonsense” When McLachlan caught wind of this, he wrote a scathing letter to RECO, outlining the facts as he understood them and demanding action from RECO to help move things along.

McLachlan says he never received a response to his letter.

“I’m not too pleased with how RECO handled the Seto case,” says McLachlan. “It was a long and drawn out process, a lot of pulling teeth, and there was a lot of frustration for the agents who were affected. It was complete nonsense how they were left hanging.”

The claim took years to resolve. Some agents reportedly settled for varying amounts along the way (starting with 20 cents on the dollar) while a handful of others retained a high-priced lawyer and battled it out. After court appearances and a lot of stress and frustration, those who were part of the group who hired the lawyer were ultimately paid most of what they were owed.

An internal document obtained by REM dated Sept. 25, 2009 from McLarens Canada, the insurance adjuster, stated, “Over 400 notifications of claims or potential claims for commissions have been received from claimants representing an unprecedented number of complex claims related to any one relationship. We continue to receive late notifications of claims for commission from Continued on page 16

Welcome

As the number one real estate brand in Canada, celebrating growth, especially in our nations capital, is something we take seriously!

We are continuing to grow in Ottawa with a brand new partnership that has us welcoming nearly 300 agents to the newly formed RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Group.

Jeff Hooper

Margie Hooper

Ken McLachlan

Debra Bain

Steve Tabrizi

We are thrilled to welcome Jeff and Margie Hooper who have partnered with Ken McLachlan, Debra Bain, and Steve Tabrizi of RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd. We look forward to watching them grow as RE/MAX continues to become an even larger presence in Canada.

If you are interested in taking your business to the next level with RE/MAX, contact Christopher Alexander at 1-416-786-5552 to arrange your confidential meeting.

Grow With Those Who Know

16 REM JUNE 2016

Is commission protection Continued from page 14

claimants. Based on our investigation we estimate the amount of money that was stolen from the brokerage’s trust account is in the range of approximately $700,000.”

At the time, the insurance liability limit for each occurrence was $500,000, and the total claims reportedly exceeded that limit.

RECO’s Schlotzhauer says RECO increased the liability limit to $1 million in the 2010/11 insurance year, not because of any one particular incident, but as part of its ongoing review process to see where enhancements could be made.

He says in the 15 years the commission protection program has been in effect, there has only been one instance “where the

Are Ontario Realtors at a disadvantage if they work at a larger brokerage?

cumulative claims for a defunct brokerage reached the cap, and that was when the cap was at $500,000.”

Citing privacy reasons, Schlotzhauer would not confirm whether that one instance was the Re/Max Executive claim.

So, from an insurance coverage perspective, it begs the question: are Ontario Realtors at a disadvantage working with a larger brokerage?

“I wouldn’t say that,” says Schlotzhauer But you have to wonder. An earlier REM article reported then Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic Canada regional director and executive vice-president Michael Polzler said “everybody was shocked” by the news about Re/Max Executive.

“There were really no signs of this,” said Polzler. “David Seto has been a broker/owner since 1997 and to the best of our knowledge never had any financial problems.

He had a reputation for always paying on time.”

It would stand to reason that if it can happen to a long-standing broker with “a reputation for always paying on time,” then it can likely happen to anyone.

Ontario government review Between March and May 2015, the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services solicited input on its Proposal to Amend the Insurance Requirements Under the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act,

2002. One area the proposal touched on was changing the legislation to stipulate “minimum” insurance coverage amounts as opposed to “maximum” amounts as it does now. Doing so, the ministry reasons, would allow the “purchasing of additional insurance coverage at no or minimal increased cost to registrants depending on market conditions.”

Sue Carroll, strategic issues and media advisor with the ministry, says 14 industry stakeholders responded: the Ontario Real Estate Association, the Toronto Real Estate Board, 10 salespersons/brokers and two individuals who only provided their name and city. She says the ministry is still reviewing the comments received in response to the posting.

Schlotzhauer says that in administering the commission protection program, it’s important to weigh the coverage levels and caps against the premiums being charged (currently $417 per year, per registrant.) At the same time, he says RECO is continuously reviewing the insurance program to ensure coverage levels are appropriate for the current market and that the cap level is something that is currently under review.

Still, he believes the commission protection insurance program is very comprehensive and responsive.

“For most people, when it comes to any type of insurance, all they think they are doing is paying,” says Schlotzhauer. “But when you really need it, only then is its true value recognized.” REM

Chinese investment in Canada to grow

C

hinese investment in Canadian real estate will increase in 2016 and expand to more parts of the country, says Charles Pittar, CEO of Chinese international property portal Juwai.com.

Last year Ontario had an increase of 143 per cent in buyer inquiries made to property sellers via the site. Quebec had the biggest gain in buyer interest, with 348 per cent more buyer inquiries made to property sellers in 2015 than in 2014, Pittar says.

“In total last year, Chinese buyers made inquiries to property sellers like agents and developers worth US$14.9 billion. Not every one of those would have converted into a sale, but the number does give you a sense of the scale of Chinese interest,” he says.

“Toronto is the most popular Canadian city for Chinese buyers, although I think sometimes Vancouver feels like it is the leader.”

“We see buyer interest spreading across the country. The traditional gateways are still important destinations for buyers and immigrants, but the rapid growth of buyer interest in Montreal shows that city is succeeding in attracting some of this investment.”

Pittar says the biggest motiva-

tion for buyers is the education of their children.

“They often combine the goal of providing a home for their children who are studying in Canada with other investment and lifestyle goals. There is a tight link between Chinese participation in Canadian schools and universities and in the country’s property markets. If Chinese student numbers were to decline significantly, you would see some decline in property investment, and if property investment were curtailed you would soon hear the educational institutions complaining about losing international student revenue,” he says.

Pittar says that “regulatory changes in China to make it easier to export capital have been flagged and are possible later in the year. If that happens, you can expect more Chinese investment in international property markets, and Canada could fight to claim a share of those funds.

“Barring any big changes in the environment, we expect Chinese investment in Canadian real estate to increase in 2016, and the impacts of that investment to be spread more widely as these buyers move into new marREM kets.”

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18 REM JUNE 2016

Protecting your commission, Part 2

By Mark Weisleder

H

ere are more answers to some common questions I receive related to com-

missions.

1. Can I collect commission if I bring a full price offer and the seller refuses to accept it?

There has been one case where a listing brokerage was awarded commission when the seller refused to accept a price that they had previously agreed to accept in a prior negotiation. In that case, the property had been for sale for several months and during that time, the seller signed an offer back at a price they would have accepted, which was rejected by the buyer. When the same price was offered a few weeks later and the seller refused to consider

it, the judge awarded commission.

However, this may not mean that just because a seller refuses a full price offer for a property listed two days ago, that the brokerage can claim commission. In this case, the asking price may have been, for example, set deliberately low to attract multiple offers.

2. Who wins if two salespeople have signed Buyer Representation Agreements with the same buyer?

It will depend on other factors. If the buyer lied to both salespeople and the second salesperson who did the deal knew nothing about the first BRA, then the second salesperson should win. If the second salesperson knew that the buyer saw properties with someone else but did not inquire any further, the result may be different. The lesson is to always ask any prospect whether they have signed any agreement with any Realtor as soon as you meet them.

3. Is it better to go to arbitra-

The lesson is to always ask any prospect whether they have signed any assignment with any Realtor as soon as you meet them. tion or to sue for commission in court?

In my opinion it is always better to go to arbitration, rather than go to court. In most cases, the arbitration proceedings do not become public and the matter should end there. When you go to court, the result could end up on the Internet, so even if you win, you may lose in the court of public opinion.

4. What do I have to disclose about commission discounts in a bidding war?

In a bidding war in Ontario,

you must tell any buyer brokerage if someone is offering to reduce their commission so that the seller will net more money. This is true, whether the offer to reduce commission is coming from the listing brokerage or from any third party buyer brokerage. You must disclose either the dollar or percentage amount that is being reduced and then the other buyers can determine whether they wish to revise their own offers.

5. How do I sue a buyer or seller in court for commission?

Remember, it is the brokerage

that can sue for commission, not the sale representative. The brokerage would have to assign to you the right to sue and you would have to indemnify the brokerage against any losses or costs that they may incur.

6. What are the rules about referral fees?

You should always use the proper form. In Ontario it is OREA form 641 to get your referral agreement in writing. It is permissible to pay referral fees to another Realtor and to your own client. You cannot pay them to anyone else. The fee must be paid to the brokerage company, not the individual salesperson. You must advise your client and get their approval if you will be receiving or paying any referral fee.

Mark Weisleder is a partner, author and speaker at the law firm Real Estate Lawyers.ca LLP. Email mark@realestatelawyers.ca; Phone toll free at 1-888-876-5529.

REM

Canada is Home Have you ever wondered why it’s a Maple Leaf that represents Canada? There were debates and disagreements when the Canadian Flag came to be, but one look at the national symbol and the reasoning becomes clear. Each leaf is divided into sections comprised of colours and textures that differ from the next. Each section shows that while beautiful alone, it doesn’t compare to the impact of the full leaf. In Canada, each province and territory has a unique set of defining characteristics, but there is nothing that compares to the beauty, atmosphere, and unity when all are combined. In the same way the Maple Leaf wouldn’t be the same without all sections, neither is Canada. When part of us has fallen, we work together to once again become whole.

On May 1st, a massive wildfire began spreading in Fort McMurray Alberta that threated dozens of communities and forced all 94,000 people to evacuate. Residents were forced to leave behind their homes and belongings, fleeing to surrounding areas for comfort and support. Destroying nearly everything in its path, it is estimated the fire has caused $9 billion worth of damage, and although approximately $60 million has been raised, there is still a long way to go.

Recognizing a need for help, RE/MAX has set up a nationwide program inviting our more than 20,000 RE/MAX Agents across Canada to make ongoing donations throughout the remainder of the year. To support those affected, RE/MAX Associates are able to contribute to the Canadian Red Cross: Alberta Fires Emergency Appeal Program by donating a portion of their income through the sale of each home. There is no career that understands the value of home quite like real estate professionals, which is why when disaster strikes, we work together to help. In the same way are working as a country to once again become whole, we encourage you join forces as an industry to help those affected by the wildfires.

Please join us as we work as a country and as an industry to help those who have already lost so much in the Fort McMurray wildfires by donating directly to the Canadian Red Cross.

To find out more, go to: http://www.remax.ca/blog/fortmac.

Canada is Home Have you ever wondered why it’s a Maple Leaf that represents Canada? There were debates and disagreements when the Canadian Flag came to be, but one look at the national symbol and the reasoning becomes clear. Each leaf is divided into sections comprised of colours and textures that differ from the next. Each section shows that while beautiful alone, it doesn’t compare to the impact of the full leaf. In Canada, each province and territory has a unique set of defining characteristics, but there is nothing that compares to the beauty, atmosphere, and unity when all are combined. In the same way the Maple Leaf wouldn’t be the same without all sections, neither is Canada. When part of us has fallen, we work together to once again become whole.

On May 1st, a massive wildfire began spreading in Fort McMurray Alberta that threated dozens of communities and forced all 94,000 people to evacuate. Residents were forced to leave behind their homes and belongings, fleeing to surrounding areas for comfort and support. Destroying nearly everything in its path, it is estimated the fire has caused $9 billion worth of damage, and although approximately $60 million has been raised, there is still a long way to go.

Recognizing a need for help, RE/MAX has set up a nationwide program inviting our more than 20,000 RE/MAX Agents across Canada to make ongoing donations throughout the remainder of the year. To support those affected, RE/MAX Associates are able to contribute to the Canadian Red Cross: Alberta Fires Emergency Appeal Program by donating a portion of their income through the sale of each home. There is no career that understands the value of home quite like real estate professionals, which is why when disaster strikes, we work together to help. In the same way are working as a country to once again become whole, we encourage you join forces as an industry to help those affected by the wildfires.

Please join us as we work as a country and as an industry to help those who have already lost so much in the Fort McMurray wildfires by donating directly to the Canadian Red Cross.

To find out more, go to: http://www.remax.ca/blog/fortmac.

22 REM JUNE 2016

Century 21 Canada founder accepts award Family owned and operated Charlwood Pacific Group (CPG), master franchise holder of the Century 21 brand in Canada and the Asia-Pacific regions, Centum Financial Group, Real Property Management in Canada and Uniglobe Travel International, has been awarded the Canadian Franchise Association’s (CFA) Hall of Fame Award for its innovative business practices that have driven franchisee success.

Founder U. Gary Charlwood

was presented with the award on behalf of the group at the CFA National Convention in Ottawa.

The award is presented in recognition of outstanding performance by a franchise company over a significant period of time.

Past award recipients include Tim Hortons and Shoppers Drug Mart.

Charlwood was the first nonU.S. citizen to be appointed chairman of board for the International Franchise Association (IFA) and was also the first Canadian to be inducted into the IFA Hall of Fame – its highest honour.

Chestnut Park wins international award

customized service and professionalism in the industry.”

Chestnut Park Real Estate in Toronto recently won the large market Affiliate of the Year Award from Christie’s International Real Estate. The award was announced at the network’s annual real estate brokerage owners’ conference in Dublin, Ireland.

The brokerage won the award in a competition with 136 Christie’s International Real Estate affiliates located in 45 countries. It is for excellence in marketing luxury residential property, the contribution Chestnut Park has made to the Christie’s International Real Estate network globally and the extensive collaboration between Chestnut Park and Christie’s.

Chris Kapches, president and CEO of Chestnut Park Real Estate, says, “As a firm, we’ve made it our mission to provide every Chestnut Park agent with the best marketing tools and support to allow them to provide their clients with the most

Sutton Spirit Lifetime Achievement Award Sutton Group recently created the Sutton Spirit Lifetime Achievement Award to honour network members who contribute their time, talents and funds to a variety of important causes. The first recipients of the award are John and Heather Price of Sutton Group - Masters Realty in Kingston, Ont. The husband-wife team has focused their efforts on the military. Born and raised in Kingston, home of the Royal Military College, John and Heather have channelled their efforts into fundraising, donations and professional services. John is authorized as a military relocation agent and is a member of DNDIRP CrossCanada Relocation.

“In 2013, I was made the honouree executive director of

fundraising for the Kingston Military Family Resource Centre (KMFRC),” says John. “My goal is to make them a contender with the top charities in Kingston. I have reached out to many community partners that are all working with me to donate and raise money for various military causes.”

Recently KMFRC asked John if he would accept the position of honourary colonel, which is one of the highest honours bestowed on any civilian.

Manitoba’s Distinguished Realtor Award Ray Brownlee, managing broker of Century 21 Westman.com in Brandon, Man. is the winner of the 2015 Manitoba Real Estate Association / Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Distinguished Realtor Award.

The award recognizes an Continued on page 24

Earl Kotlar (right) of CMHC presents the Distinguished Realtor Award to Wayne White.

U. Gary Charlwood, centre, accepted the award at the CFA National Convention in Ottawa.

Ray Brownlee, left, receives the award from MREA president-elect Chris Pennycook.

Kim Racher, Habitat for Humanity director of build services, presents Sarnia Lambton Real Estate Board president Jane Baker with the Habitat for Humanity Ontario Realtors Care Foundation award.

Joanne Slaney

Clifford Smirl

Beth Crosbie

Jeremy Martins

Jane Hoffman

From left: John Price, Rick Taron and Heather Price WinnipegRealtors president Stewart Elston presents the Community Service Award to Lori Lind.

Chris Kapches, president and CEO of Chestnut Park Real Estate, accepts the award in Dublin.

The Shindico building in Winnipeg.

ASR president Kevin Wouters presents the YPN Rising Star Award to Ryann Braaten.

Danielle de Varennes, Andrew Ouellette and Lise Snelson of Royal LePage Performance Realty at the Great Place to Work Gala in Toronto.

THE POWER OF BLUE OWNER PROFI LE NAME:

Michael Griffith

OCCUPATION:

Owner, Coldwell Bank er Burnhill Realty MY COMMUNIT Y: Burlington , Ontario

WHY I DO WHA

T I DO:

YEAR I AFFILIATE

I’m passionate about

YEAR I JOINED MY LIFE’S FON

D WITH THE CO

LDWELL BANKER

COLDWELL BA

DEST MEMORY

Real Estate at all leve

NKER: 2004

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2004

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Day and birth of my son T: Reaching th e point in my career to own

COMPLISHMEN

and operate a brokerag WHY I AFFILIAT

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ED WITH THE CO

LDWEL

L BANKER SYST EM: I am impr the business solutions essed by that Coldwell Banker of fe rs and the team feel I get from the people ing I work with

Teamwork makes the dream work at Coldwell Banker.

My name is Michael Griffith and I am proud of my family heritage that dates back four generations in Burlington, Ontario, home of the first Coldwell Banker franchise in Canada. In the past year we have achieved a 40 percent increase in our sales force thanks in part to the business solutions provided by the Coldwell Banker system. For my team, knowing the community, building long-term relationships with clients and supporting one another make for good business.

Michael Griffith, Broker/Owner Coldwell Banker Burnhill Realty Burlington, ON

To discuss franchising opportunities, contact: Andy Puthon President Mark Lindsey Regional VP Franchise Sales mark.lindsey@coldwellbanker.ca | 800.268.9599 coldwellbanker.ca/franchising

© 2016 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.

24 REM JUNE 2016

And the honour goes to...

Continued from page 22

active member who demonstrates outstanding leadership and dedication to the real estate profession through board and association involvement and community service.

Brownlee has served in numerous capacities on the Brandon Real Estate Board and is a past president of the board. He served as a MREA director in 1994.

“I am truly humbled and honoured to be recognized with such a precious award. We’ve got a great future in this business and I just wish I was 30 years old again and just getting started,” Brownlee says.

Regina’s Wayne White receives Distinguished Realtor Award The Association of Saskatchewan Realtors (ASR) in conjunction with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

(CMHC) recently presented Wayne White with the 2016 Distinguished Realtor Award. The award is granted each year to a Realtor who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and dedication to the real estate community through board involvement and community service.

White, a broker with Realty Executives Diversified Realty, “is a pillar in the real estate community,” says ASR. He has been a Realtor for 38 years and a broker since 1978. In 2007, White was awarded CMHC Realtor of the Year for Regina. He has served on various committees and at the director level for both the local and provincial associations, as well as the Saskatchewan Real Estate Commission.

Bill Madder, CEO of ASR, says: “There is no question about Wayne’s dedication to the Realtor community. To have contributed as much as he has to the boards and his community – that’s what this award is all about, and Wayne is an obvious choice for Distinguished Realtor.”

Ryann Braaten receives YPN Rising Star Award Ryann Braaten of Saskatoon was recently presented with the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Rising Star Award at the

Association of Saskatchewan Realtors (ASR) annual Quality of Life fundraising event.

In its second year, the award recognizes active new members of the ASR who demonstrate outstanding leadership and dedication to the real estate industry. There were three finalists, including Braaten, of Colliers International in Saskatoon, Jennifer Buckingham of Century 21 Dome Realty in Regina and Tracy Voigt of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, The Battlefords. Each of these young Realtors has contributed to their communities and the industry in numerous ways, the association says.

Braaten is a Realtor specializing in commercial real estate. She has served on the Government Relations Committee and the YPN Committee with the ASR, through which she has represented Saskatchewan Realtors and young professionals at various conferences and events.

Braaten is “an inspiration to all young Realtors entering the industry. She’s always ready to step up and contribute for the good of the Realtor community,” says Bill Madder, CEO of ASR. “Although we can only name one award recipient, each of these outstanding Realtors is going above and beyond – it’s really exciting for the future of our industry.”

Winnipeg’s Lori Lind receives award The WinnipegRealtors 2015 Community Service Award winner is Lori Lind, an owner and Realtor with Goodfellow & Goodfellow & Lind R.E. “This year’s nominee speaks to the courage and strength of the human spirit,” says the association in a news release. “Sometimes we have no control over the events in our lives. The only thing that we do have control over is our response, which in turn can affect the outcome. As such, she is a role model and an inspiration to others.”

It says Lind found out at the age of 28 that she had multiple sclerosis. “Most people would succumb to this relentless disease but she held firm and decided to become a Realtor. She now comanages an office and serves our industry with pride. She is all that a real estate professional should be.

She projects a positive professional

image and displays high standards of business ethics. She exemplifies The Golden Rule in all areas of her personal and professional life.

She’s taken the stance that she would not have to learn to live with MS, but rather, MS would have to learn to live with her,” says the association.

AIC Top Appraisers under 40 The Appraisal Institute of Canada (AIC) has named Joanne Slaney and Clifford Smirl the winners of the Top Appraiser under 40 award. The recipients were chosen based on their career accomplishments, contribution to AIC and to the valuation profession, as well as their volunteerism within their community.

Slaney is currently the director and general manager of Altus Group in St. John’s, Nfld. Smirl is a partner at Kent MacPherson Appraisals in Kelowna, B.C. Both recipients have excelled in their careers and undertaken leadership positions within their respective organizations as well as within AIC, says the institute.

“It is very inspiring to see the accomplishments attained by these young members who have not only embraced their profession and have committed themselves to continuous learning, but are actively sharing their knowledge with the whole appraisal community,” says Daniel Doucet, president of AIC.

Coldwell Banker Canada announces award winners Coldwell Banker Canada recently wrapped up a cross-country tour of broker meetings and sales rallies in six Canadian cities, attended by hundreds of delegates from coast to coast.

During a recognition portion of the all-day program, president Andy Puthon announced some special awards for Canadian recipients: • Top Ultimate Service Award winner: Jane Hoffman, Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty, Kelowna, B.C. • Canada’s Rookie of the Year – Jeremy Martins, Coldwell Banker OnTrack Realty, Red Deer, Alta.

• Canadian Ambassador Award winner – Beth Crosbie,

Coldwell Banker ProCo, St. John’s, Nfld., acknowledging her year as president of CREA

Shindico receives two BOMA awards Shindico Realty’s corporate headquarters at 1355 Taylor Ave. in Winnipeg received two awards at the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Manitoba Awards of Excellence event recently.

The Shindico Building received the BOMA TOBY (The Outstanding Building of the Year) for best office building under 100,000 sq. ft. as well as the 2016 Earth Award for best office building under 100,000 sq. ft. The TOBY award recognizes quality in commercial real estate building and excellence in building management.

In order to apply for a BOMA TOBY, the building must be BOMA BEST certified. In 2015, the Shindico building became one of only five buildings in Manitoba to receive BOMA BEST Gold. A combination of community impact, tenant relations, energy management, sustainability practices, emergency preparedness and building personnel training is required to be eligible for this award.

Royal LePage Performance Realty Best Workplace After almost a decade of consistent ranking in the Best Workplaces of Canada, Royal LePage Performance Realty has placed third for Best Workplaces

Multiple Listings Continued from page 8

program totalling $3 billion and 47 retail properties. Perlmutter also spent 10 years as VP of investments with Oxford Properties Group (Toronto), directing or serving as a key participant in the structuring and closing of Oxford office transactions exceeding $8.2 billion.

■ ■ ■

The Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) has approved a new Residential Measurement Standard (RMS) in Alberta. All real estate professionals must use the RMS when measuring residential property in Alberta.

for Women in Canada, and 11th for Best Workplaces in Canada. It continues to be the only real estate brokerage to rank in Canada.

The Ottawa and Eastern Ontario real estate brokerage was recognized by the Great Place to Work Institute at the 2016 Awards Ceremony in Toronto. It was also recognized as one of the top 20 organizations chosen by PrevNet, an authority on research and resources for bullying prevention, for organizations that are leaders in creating quality workplace relationships.

“We are particularly proud of this category as we continually strive to lead by example and continue to invest in our agents and staff,” says John Rogan, broker/ manager, “but more importantly we are proud of the commitment of our staff to work to our values.”

Sarnia board and members honoured Habitat for Humanity recently presented Sarnia Lambton Real Estate Board (SLREB) president Jane Baker with the Habitat for Humanity Ontario Realtors Care Foundation award. SLREB CEO Dave Burke was presented with the 2016 Build Supporters award.

The board is a long-time supporter of Habitat.

Nadine and Doug Lasenby were the recipients of the Build Champion Award, presented to Habitat for Humanity supporters who donate $35,000 or more in cash, goods or services in kind.

Doug is a member of the Sarnia Lambton Real Estate Board and president of Corporate Commercial Realty in Sarnia. REM The RMS is the result of RECA’s extensive consultation with stakeholders, including real estate and appraisal professionals, industry associations and property measurement companies.

When advertising a residential property’s size, Alberta real estate professionals must communicate that size according to the RMS. They can also communicate additional information beyond the RMS, as long as they disclose what the additional measurement is, and how they arrived at it.

RECA is the first Canadian real estate regulator to introduce a residential measurement standard for real estate professionals.

REM

26 REM JUNE 2016

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hy a career in the real estate business? Was it the siren song of big bucks sung by someone in the industry? Perhaps it was the allure of personal independence, of being essentially self-employed or the flexible hours?

Maybe the ticket was spontaneous vacations or long weekends.

Or were you inspired to help people bring their home ownership dreams to reality because you love people? Good motivations all, from opportunistic to idealistic.

Without a doubt, though, this business is definitely about people.

As a matter of fact, unlike many who mistakenly think of it as a realty selling business, it’s really a business rooted in human relationships. Often, it’s more about who you know than what you know.

Hence, the more people skills you possess, the more likely you’ll enjoy a long and rewarding career.

I’ve always felt that the secret to success in this often misunderstood business is to build as many sincere relationships as possible. To do this, you have to actually leave your chair. Get busy meeting peo-

ple. Prospecting for leads doesn’t have to be laborious. It can be interesting and entertaining, fun and maybe even educational. Use your imagination. Put your heart into it. Without an eidetic memory, there’s no way you can cope with the myriad details of a growing group. So, enter the contact information of every likable person you meet into your contact management program for (permitted) periodic contact. “These are days when no one should rely unduly on his competence.

Strength lies in improvisation. All the decisive blows are struck left-handed.� — Walter Benjamin Generating leads by spending big bucks can indisputably be effective, but here’s the problem – it’s expensive and becoming ever more so. Revenue is certainly important, but unless you thrive on fame, it’s your net income that really counts. If you want to build a business without spending a lot of money, learn to improvise. Your ultimate goal is to build a referral business. The foundation on which a smart realty practice is built is not just competency in your trade, but repeat clients and referrals.

People need people. So, get out there in the field where your charm and wit can win valuable connections – and business. When

Even if you don’t have a lot of money to spend on marketing, there’s nothing to prevent you from building personal relationships.

opportunity knocks, improvise. “In sales, a referral is the key to the door of resistance.� — Bo Bennett In my view, the absolute best strategy for building a solid and sustainable practice is to build a network of people who refer to you as their friend in the business. It’s called networking.

Building a referral base can be a whole lot easier, considerably less expensive and probably more enjoyable. It certainly takes time to kindle trusting relationships and foster a solid reputation of integrity and dependability. But the long term rewards, with less worry and frustration about the source of your next commission, are well worth the effort.

In an industry where a majority abandon the business within their first few years, those who survive this crucial period have likely mastered the process, at least to the point of being moderately successful. Your business volume may build slowly, but it will build on a strong base. Even if you don’t have a lot of money to spend on marketing, there’s nothing to prevent you from building personal relationships. This methodology contributed to a highly successful fourdecade career for me. And it can for you too. “Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.� — Norman Vincent Peale Ross Wilson, broker with iPro Realty, has extensive experience as a brokerage owner, manager, trainer and mentor. His new 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 RealtyREM Voice.com.

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28 REM JUNE 2016

METES & BOUNDS

One for the money: The B.C. proposal Former columnist Marty Douglas comes out of retirement to offer his summary of organized real estate’s accomplishments and the proposal to eliminate B.C.’s real estate boards and associations and create a single governing entity.

By Marty Douglas

I

n the distant past, somewhere around the birth of rock and roll, Colonel T.G. Norris QC filed his report on real estate business in British Columbia following years of effort by the industry to establish the profession via a structure grounded in legislation – the Real Estate Act of 1958.

The Norris Report observed and recommended the public would be better served by licensees who were educated under the auspices of UBC, who were subject to a provincewide board and, among other things, had common forms for contracts and listings. Seems like only yesterday we were bitching about education, structure and

standard contracts.

Hey, wait a minute!

As we approach the opportunity to effect change by expressing our opinion on the restructuring of real estate in B.C., I thought it might be useful to remind members of all boards and associations in B.C. of how far we have come in the past 60 years and to compliment those who led us through the seemingly difficult transitions of the past we take for granted today.

I won’t bore you with dark ages of the Vancouver Listing Exchange and the acceptance of women into the industry – the ’50s – the organizing of boundaries and territories for the boards – the ’60s – the entry of franchises, wage and price controls, computers and, God help us, giving salesmen (as they were then officially known regardless of gender) the right to vote in industry affairs – the ’70s.

No, I’m going to start with the ’80s and a man you have never heard of – Jim Middlecamp. Mr. Middlecamp, an independent broker, objected to the yoke of restraint placed upon him by the members of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. The subsequent legal action resulted in the Prohibition Order and brought the attention of all of Canada to the Competition Bureau and the power it wielded.

I was subpoenaed as a former president of BCREA, and offered bus fare from Courtenay to the Lower Mainland to testify. It was a national event, bringing all boards and CREA together. But we were hardly nimble. It took 10 years of post-settlement negotiation with the Competition Bureau by CREA and the provinces and boards to establish the guidelines we work under today. And it cost a lot of money.

The ’80s – ah! Who can forget 21 per cent mortgage interest and the then Disclosure of Interest in Trade, introduced by a right wing provincial government, serious about requiring licensees disclosing their interest when buying and selling real estate.

By the ’90, the Internet was peeping out. Online retail sales were threatening traditional department stores. Boycotts were planned against those retailers who lacked a “real” store. It didn’t turn out well. 1996 was a busy year.

Realtylink.org was launched, the forerunner of mls.ca and Realtor.ca.

A B.C. industry study commenced, Real Estate 2010, looking to the future.

Its recommendations followed a familiar theme – mandatory continuing education, a single license system, mentoring tied to licensing and a seamless data base for proper-

ty information. In 1998, realtorlink arrived – our intranet. In 1999, the large real estate companies of Canada – Century 21, Re/Max and Royal LePage – challenged CREA for control of the national MLS. In the same year a national argument erupted over the inclusion of addresses on multiple listings – Calgary was opposed, Halifax/ Dartmouth in favour. That same year five of the seven real estate boards in Nova Scotia merged into one with the provincial association. (Hey, there’s an idea!) CREA encouraged members across Canada to consider the efficiencies of restructuring.

Remember the introduction of buyer agency? 1995. Email? Got my first email server in 1996. The fax machine was headed to the same junk pile as the telegram and teletype I had used the decade before.

Today, we are being blamed for

REM JUNE 2016 29

“shadow flipping”. In 1999, the Barrett Commission inquiring into leaky condos heard biased evidence that we, the industry, had known about leaky condos since 1991 and were complicit in failing to do anything about it. “Systemic corruption in the Realtor cartel” summarized the railings of one persistent critic. The ’90s saw the voluntary introduction of the Property Condition Disclosure Statement, first used as an experiment by Maple Ridge licensees and offered to the rest of the province when consumers were enthusiastic.

Rolling into the 21st Century, the two boards on Vancouver Island were seeking executive officers and my observation in a 2001 REM column was, “Will the directors of those boards have the courage. . .will they have the nerve to include Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Boards in a. . .Georgia Basin partnership?” Apparently not. In 2002 my board was restricting advertising of listings to the listing agent only. Hello! Can we spell reciprocity?

Rather than merge, B.C. became a sort of Balkanized European Common Market and around 2003, we invented the Pledge of Co-Operation as a passport for crossing the boundaries of neighbouring real estate boards.

Then we discovered those “foreign” members did things like mere postings on properties in our territory.

To the barricades! CREA and the Competition Bureau to the rescue.

Privacy became a flavour of the month in 2003 and every member of CREA got a CD Privacy Toolkit.

It made a great coaster. In 2004 we heard the first threat of “disintermediation”, the removal of the intermediary – us – from the transaction. America Online was the “lion coming over the hill”. AOL lost interest, distracted by making money in media.

In 2004, in REM I wrote, “I wish I were from Alberta. Or Ontario. Then I could proudly proclaim, ‘My province has mandatory education!’” Got it now though don’t we? Took about 10 years.

Which brings us to 2005. The new Real Estate Services Act. Disclosure of remuneration.

Here’s an email I received: “Why? Is this some sort of April Fool’s joke, or what? Or is it some sort of socialistic-fascism being revisited here? Is this not an invasion of a Realtor’s privacy. . .How far can this idiotic bureaucracy go and get away with?” Apparently

we got over the outrage.

Enough. No point in complaining that balancing competition barriers across provincial boundaries cost us the “no part-time salesmen rule” we had enjoyed since 1958. No need to mention FINTRAC and identifying clients. We have adjusted to the post 9/11 world, encasing us in the need for certainty in who we are dealing with. But it wasn’t an easy adjustment.

Change is constant. And in the words of columnist Gene Miller, “Change is horrible – unless it benefits you or you thought of it yourself.” We have to think outside of ourselves to the opportunities available to the industry as a whole by the proposed restructuring.

Many of our current members have only a few years of history in our business. Many who vote on this issue will have moved on by the time the transition is complete.

The leaders of this change, the presidents of B.C.’s 11 real estate boards over two years, deserve our respect and thanks for their efforts.

Yes, for many of us it will be a leap of faith to vote “in favour”. But think about those leaders, those men and women who we elected to lead our boards and then the province. We elected them because of their willingness to serve, because of their talent and the respect in which they are held. We elected them to govern. We elected them to make decisions. We entrusted them with our industry.

They didn’t turn into idiots when they landed at YVR and breathed the Vancouver vapours. It’s time to respect and honour their recommendation.

I began this column with an old children’s nursery rhyme – one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go.

Motivational speaker Rosita Perez said, “A lot of people die, stuck in ‘three to get ready’. Take the next step.”

Contact Marty Douglas by email at mgdouglas247@gmail.com. Follow or connect with Marty on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. He is a managing broker for Re/Max Ocean Pacific Realty in Comox and Courtenay, B.C. He is a past chair of the Real Estate Errors and Omissions Insurance Corporation of B.C., the Real Estate Council of B.C., the B.C. Real Estate Association and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board.

REM

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30 REM JUNE 2016

Opinion: Bureau’s win is a godsend

By Chris Seepe

T

he breaking of the TREB and MLS stranglehold on the real estate industry is a godsend. Yes, I expect all kinds of flaming from the real estate morass but, despite most everyone’s profound sense of indignation about copyright and ownership infringement (the grass roots Realtors did not seem to care about TREB’s ‘privacy’ argument), the issue isn’t about whether intellectual property and privacy rights have been violated, but it’s about how TREB used that intellectual property to compete unfairly in the marketplace.

TREB’s current MLS system, even with its esthetic (but hardly functional) upgrade, is a technological dinosaur. There are amazing, even mind-boggling, innova-

15

tions that could be incorporated to empower Realtors with powerful competitive advantages that no end user could possibly match.

TREB has the means to create incredible value propositions for its members. Yet here TREB and many of its constituents sit wallowing in the past about the investment they already made and how it’s unfair that they should have to invest more to stay current and competitive.

Why did the Competition Bureau stick their nose in where most Realtors think it doesn’t belong? The bureau’s purpose is, among other things, to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises have an equitable opportunity to participate in the Canadian economy, and to provide consumers with competitive prices and product choices. Consumers (which every Realtor is as well) have rights that supersede the rights of manipulative organizations bent on corralling the revenues of an entire industry and imposing their view

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of how things should be done. If this was a political conversation, we’d be talking about dictatorships and tyranny.

This legal action isn’t anything new. Companies like Bell and Ontario Hydro, who got too big for their britches and arrogant in the manner in which they conducted their businesses (and controlled their prices), were shown the error of their monopolistic ways.

Canadian organized real estate, especially TREB, must adapt, change and re-invent itself or be inevitably replaced by the sea change of technology and multibillion dollar technology giants that are bearing down on it.

TREB’s non-transparency as a not-for-profit organization is troubling. It has repeatedly acted in its own self-interests, sometimes at odds with the voiced but unheard wishes and interests of its members. How many members voted that TREB should spend significant membership fees battling the government? Oh, right… they

were elected to make that decision for us.

Taking away the exclusivity of the MLS will greatly impact the gatekeepers of that data (especially TREB and other real estate boards) but it will play only a minor role on Realtors who provide a true value proposition to their clients. Now, any Realtor whose only contribution to a real estate transaction is knowing how to get information from the MLS is doomed.

Now, think about how many entities have their hands in your pockets, demanding that you pay upfront for services whether you’re making a living from the business or not. In Toronto, it includes OREA dues, CREA dues, RECO license, RECO insurance, brokerage fees (you have to belong to a brokerage to be licensed), franchise fees, mandatory education and update fees, and of course, TREB fees – and that’s all before you invest one dollar in your career and business. Things would be very different if those organizations

(RECO excepted) were tied to the quality of Realtors rather than the quantity of Realtors.

Breaking the MLS stranglehold will dramatically improve our ability to overcome the greatest threat to our profession – our industry’s lack of professionalism. Organized real estate will have no choice now but to raise the bar of professionalism in order to combat the threat from without. I can’t wait to see the day when that happens.

CMHC, take note. Some of your business practices bear an unhealthy parallel to what’s happening here with TREB. Chris Seepe is a published writer and author, “landlording” course instructor, president of the Landlords Association of Durham and a commercial real estate broker of record at Aztech Realty in Toronto, specializing in income-generating and multi-residential investment properties. (416) 525-1558 Email cseepe@aztechrealty.com; website: www.aztechrealty.com. REM

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Anthony Carter and friend

Good Works S

cott Shaw, co-founder of Sutton Group, pledged to personally donate up to $100,000 to match donations that were made to the Sutton Group Wildfire Relief - Chimp Charitable Campaign up to May 26. All funds will go to the Canadian Red Cross.

“The federal government has also pledged to match donations

to the Canadian Red Cross, so donors could effectively quadruple their donations,” says Melissa Mungall, a sales rep from Sutton Group Realty Services Ltd. in Burnaby.

Donations will help the Canadian Red Cross provide emergency food, clothing, shelter, personal services and other necessities. It is reported that more

Royal LePage Crown Realty Services administrative team Debbie Dennison and Mary Boudewyn pose between the table of raffle items and players at Euchre-Rama.

Royal LePage Team Realty in Ottawa raised more than $10,000 to help fight the spread of the Zika virus in Dominica. From left: Brian Sukkau, broker/manager, Laura White, CFO, Alyssa James, receptionist and listing administrator; Rochelle James, receptionist and Madat Kara, salesperson.

Volunteers from Royal LePage Lakeland Real Estate stand outside the kitchen at the Bold Centre in Lac la Biche as they prepare a dinner on May 6 for evacuees. From left: Roy Worthington, Carrie Dechaine, Tracey Thompson, Ron Moore, Jane Moore, Patrick Cheung, Tyler MacDonald, Taisya Reutov, Alexander Reutov, Tanya Duchnych and Cory Sturek.

Nicole Werkman at the clinic in Nicaragua.

Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty’s Georgetown Office took part in the annual 22 minute makeover in honour of Earth Day recently, taking 22 minutes of their day to help clean up the community.

In Georgetown, Ont., Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty participated in the 13th annual Grate Groan Up Spelling Bee in support of North Halton Literacy Group. “Our Royal LePage Assassins and Meadowtowne Assassins did us proud by making it to the quarter finals,” says agent services administrator Ashley Dwyer.

Sales reps and staff from Sutton Group - Select Realty in London serve dinner at the Salvation Army.

Organizers of the 9th Annual Golf Skills Challenge hosted by Royal LePage Solutions and Royal LePage Benchmark in Calgary. Front row: Ben Ginzberg and Marc Anderson. Back row: Shayne Pardee, Josh Nelson, Cheri Long, Andrew Hanney, Madison Jager, Sharon Abrahamson, Alexander Bradley, Dorothy Burnett, Rob Smith, Erin Pierce and Corinne Lyall.

Royal LePage Wolle Realty raised $10,000 at its garage sale.

More than 2,400 buildings have been lost in the Fort McMurray fire.

REM JUNE 2016 33

than 2,400 buildings have been lost in the fire. â– â– â–

The community of Lac La Biche, Alta. found itself front and centre in lending a helping hand to the streams of evacuees who fled their communities as a result of the wildfires in Northern Alberta.

Roy Worthington, broker/ owner at Royal LePage Lakeland Real Estate in Lac la Biche, says his company is one of many from the community that helped out at the Bold Centre to house, feed and outfit the more than 300 people who temporarily called the centre home. “Everyone in the community has come together to lend a hand to what has become a 24-hour operation, involving hundreds of volunteers,â€? says Worthington. “The community is pitching in as the evacuation of nearby communities continues, which started with residents of Fort McMurray and has expanded rapidly to include many others.â€? â– â– â–

Hundreds of Nicaraguans in need of medical care recently received treatment thanks to a team of volunteers including sales rep Nicole Werkman of Sutton Group - Summit Realty in Mississauga, Ont. Nicaragua is a Central American country with a population of more than six million people subsisting on an average income of $2,600 per year.

Werkman travelled to Nicaragua in February with Volunteers in Medical Missions (VIMM) and her travel was partially financed by a charitable fund established by the brokerage. “Our eight-person team consisted of two medical doctors, one physician’s assistant, two nurses, one health care worker, one teacher and I assisted as a translator,� says Werkman. “Overall, we saw 680 patients during the week.�

This trip to Nicaragua was Nicole’s seventh volunteer mission. â– â– â–

Royal LePage Crown Realty in Cambridge, Ont. recently hosted its popular card tournament, Euchre-Rama. The event attracted 180 players.

More than $10,000 was raised for the Royal LePage Shelter

Foundation, to be directed to Argus House. Broker of record Angela Asadoorian and her entire team participated in the event, providing donations, volunteering their time or attending the event. â– â– â–

Seeing the sad plight of dogs and cats at overcrowded animal shelters inspired Jennifer Morrison and Anthony Carter of Sutton Group - Professionals Realty in Halifax to take action.

They co-founded the PAWSAbilities Rescue Society along with Abby Khalek, Tyler Lightfoot and fellow Realtor Cory McNutt. Since launching the non-profit society on Jan. 1, they have worked to rescue, rehabilitate and find homes for as many pets as possible. With the help of volunteers, they foster animals, arrange adoptions and take the animals for veterinary care including spay and neuter procedures.

In addition to finding suitable homes for pets and helping to prevent overpopulation, the founders also look forward to eventually having the financial resources to develop outreach and education programs. “Currently, it is challenging to have to turn away animals in need because we do not have the full capacity yet or funds to care for all of them. It is heart-breaking to have to make these hard decisions,� says Morrison.

PAWSAbilities will be holding an online fundraising auction on June 24. For details, visit https://www.facebook.com/PAWS AbilitiesAnimalRescue . â– â– â–

Two employees at Royal LePage Team Realty in Ottawa, Rochelle James and Alyssa James, are originally from the tiny island of Dominica. In August 2015, the island was destroyed by Tropical Storm Erika. As the country tries to rebuild, many areas of stagnant water are pooled on the island, and now the Zika virus has become a serious threat to the residents.

Madat Kara, a salesperson with Royal LePage Team Realty, coordinated a company-wide fundraising effort, including an afternoon with the Ottawa Senators where tickets were sold to colleagues, clients and friends.

Through sales of tickets and with cash donations from the broker-

age’s salespeople and administrative staff, more than $10,000 was raised.

Madat worked with the Red Cross to purchase three mosquito fogging machines and the necessary chemicals to help fight the spread of the virus. â– â– â–

Almost once a month for the past five years, representatives from Sutton Group - Select Realty in London, Ont. buy groceries and prepare and serve dinner to the Salvation Army’s clientele. The sales reps and staff who participate in these four-hour shifts have fun in the kitchen together preparing a nourishing meal for people in need.

When the Salvation Army made an urgent plea for volunteers, it was sales associate Paula Hodgson who answered the call.

She continues to take on the tasks of buying groceries and scheduling volunteers from the office. “This really is a collective effort and everyone’s contribution is important,� says Ron Nieman, a sales associate and one of the frequent volunteers. “We all appreciate that Paula organizes this project, which directly benefits so many of our neighbours in need.�

ANNOUNCEMENT

Duncan n Bradley Bra y Directtor Recruiting R

Royal yal LePage Real Es Esttate ate Servi rvices Ltd, Bro okerag age ge 4025 Yonge e Street eet, Suite #203 Toront To nto, o, ON M2P 2E3 Directt Lin Dir ne 416.457.4310 ne 0

It is with grea at pleasure that I announce the appointmentt o at of Duncan Brad adley to the position on of Director Recruiting, effec fective April 4, 20 2016. Duncan willl b be based out of our 4025 5 Yonge Street, Toronto, To location..

asp spirations: working g diligently to ensure that they ey enjoy where they work, who the th hey work with and above all what they do! As a result, he hass e enjoyed a 15+ year internatio ational proven track

their career ambitions.

As a Fello low of the Institute of Rec cruitment Professionals, Duncan n operates with the utmost integrity, professionalism and res espect when building relatio onships to help those who have e either decided to make a change, or those who are cons nsidering one now or in the future. fu Du Duncan welcomes anyone who wh would like to learn why Royal

Please join me in welcom oming Duncan to our team and in wishing him all the best!

Gino Romanese Senior Vice President, Broker of Record Royal LePage Real Esta tate Services Ltd., Brokerage

â– â– â–

Carolyn Cheng Appointed Chief Operating OfďŹ cer, Royal LePage

Royal LePage Solutions and Royal LePage Benchmark in Calgary recently hosted the 9th annual Royal LePage Calgary Shelter Foundation Golf Skills Challenge. More than $22,000 was raised to support the Children’s Cottage Society and the Calgary Woman’s Emergency Shelter.

There were 120 golfers competing in longest drive, closest to the pin, chipping and putting challenges.

The event also included a dinner, prizes and a silent auction.

Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage is pleased to o announce the promotion of Carolyn Che eng to Chief Operating OfďŹ cer.

In this newly created role, Carolyn will lead a consolidate ed broker and agent services team, and pllay a key role in the ongoing development and execution of products and services dessigned to increase brokerage proďŹ tability a and maximize agent potential. “This appoin ntment comes on the heels of a period o of tremendous growth for the company,â€? says s Soper.“ The Royal LePage brand is reso onating as never before as a wholly-owne ed Canadian company that designs and delivers leading real estate services for C Canadians.â€?

â– â– â–

Royal LePage Wolle Realty in Kitchener, Ont. was one of many Royal LePage offices taking part in the 6th Annual National Garage Sale for Shelter recently. A trailer full of donated items was sold in the office parking lot and along with proceeds from a barbecue and bake sale, donations from agents and staff and corporate donations, the brokerage raised more than $10,000 for Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region and The Woolwich Community REM Services.

Carolyn has led the development and C in ntrrodu uction of new services at Royal LePage uc sin nce 2003. She has set the pace for sales, tra ain nin ng and technology leadership for agents ng and a d re ec ecruitin g for brokers.

Prior to joinin ng Royal LePage, Carolyn worked as a Senior Se Consultant at Deloitte Consulting C and re received d her Master’s of Science in In nte ern national Relations from the London Scho Sc ool of Ec conomics and Political Science.

We congr o attulate Carolyn on her appo ointmen oi nt and wish her much conti nttinued s success.

royallepage.ca

34 REM JUNE 2016

A REM movie review: High-Rise

Announcement Welcome New Owner Nick Chintakis!

Struggles within elite tower expose base natures

It is our pleasure to announce RE/MAX INTEGRA’s newest owner, Nick Chintakis, owner of RE/MAX Cornwall Realty Inc.!

A veteran entrepreneur, Nick has a history of real estate acquisitions and redevelopment in Cornwall. For many years, Nick has dealt with RE/MAX Cornwall Inc. as a client and knew the previous owners, Terry Landon and Jamie Cameron well.

Terry & Jamie continue to be actively involved with RE/MAX, with Terry being the Cornwall office’s Broker of Record.

Nick was attracted to RE/MAX as the brand recognition in Canada is second to none. RE/MAX also has a great business model that attracts quality agents, who are experienced in the industry.

RE/MAX Cornwall Realty Inc. operates in the Greater Cornwall Area, in the Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry counties.

By Dan St. Yves High-Rise from Magnolia Pictures Previewed September 2015 at Toronto International Film Festival Opened in Toronto and Vancouver May 20 3.5 out of 5 stars

P

Please join us in welcoming Nick, and wishing him great success!

Grow with those who know.

Nick Chintakis Owner

Cornwall Realty Inc. 649 Second St. E. Cornwall, ON

If you are interested in ownership opportunities with RE/MAX, the largest most productive real estate brand, contact Christopher Alexander at 1-416-786-5552 to arrange your confidential meeting, or visit remaxintegra.com.

Announcement Welcome to RE/MAX, Debbie!

Please join us in welcoming our newest franchisee, Debbie Kolli!

Debbie has converted her independent brokerage, formerly Aim North Realty Ltd., to a RE/MAX office, serving Timmins, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls and Matheson.

An active member in the real estate community, Debbie is formerly the President of the Timmins Real Estate Board, and has sat on many committees throughout her real estate career.

utting the disturbing in dystopian, Ben Wheatley’s new film High-Rise takes a sobering look at class structures, most specifically between the haves and the have-somewhatlesses.

As the title suggests, the setting is a unique self-contained high-rise building, where a high society reclusive architect stays isolated even within a strictly regimented and segmented assortment of residents, sorted in ascendance by their social standing.

If you wanted that spelled out, consider the architect’s name, Mr. Royal (Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons). Royal resides far above the surreal assortment of milieus bustling beneath his exotic penthouse.

Arriving at the residence with unforeseen bad timing is Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston), who is just making his plunge into

high society with this move. While that life quickly proves to be filled with perks, it is even faster to reveal the downside of separated classes once the building starts to fail and those classes decide they want more for themselves.

The entire proceedings have a feel of cutting-edge movies from the late 1960s and the early 1970s, which is apropos, given that the film is based on the 1975 novel of the same name from J.G. Ballard.

His work has leapt from page to screen before (Crash, with David Cronenberg, and Empire of the Sun with Steven Spielberg). This film is a little spooky as despite the age of the subject material, it catches some of the anxiety going on in the polarized U.S. right now – especially some of the violence that has erupted during the political rallies.

It also has a feel of Kubrick or Tarantino in the surrealism, violence and bawdiness. High-Rise really reminded me of movies I saw growing up on late night TV, which would never see the light of day on pasteurized network television now. Interesting how progressive Canadian TV really was 30 or 40 years ago.

What makes this movie watchable are the talented cast members playing often intense and complex characters.

Debbie is an experienced broker, with nearly 30 years in the industry. By joining RE/MAX, she is now positioned for significant growth, and excited to offer the vast array of RE/MAX tools and services to her existing associates and those who join the company.

We are thrilled to welcome Debbie and her sales team to the RE/MAX family. Congratulations on this decision, and we can’t wait to watch you grow!

Debbie Kolli Broker/Owner

Aim North Realty 151 Second Ave. Timmins, ON

If you are interested in ownership opportunities with RE/MAX, the largest most productive real estate brand, contact Christopher Alexander at 1-416-786-5552 to arrange your confidential meeting, or visit remaxintegra.com.

Elizabeth Moss and Tom Hiddleston in High-Rise.

(Photo: Magnolia Pictures)

As Laing, Hiddleston (2015’s Hank Williams biopic I Saw The Light, Loki in Marvel’s Thor movies) is a rudder steering through the fray as emotionlessly as he is able, but he is unable to avoid circumstances as they begin to unravel. Hiddleston onscreen has an air and charisma about him that might lend itself to his stepping into Daniel Craig’s shoes, if James Bond remains as he has on film for the past few decades.

Mad Men’s Elizabeth Moss is haunting as a pregnant wife left entirely out of her husband’s obsessions (Luke Evans as Wilder, a boisterous filmmaker who has seen better days).

Haunting could also apply to the final few scenes for Sienna Miller as she portrays the aloof seductress who is unable to fend off Wilder’s craven interest in her. As the world within the high-rise collapses, the film is far more apocalyptic Mad Max than it is the swagger and martini parties of the privileged in Mad Men. In a Director’s Statement provided in the press kit, Ben Wheatley writes, “I have endeavoured to marry the emotional intensity of Down Terrace and Kill List, the comedy of Sightseers and the formal exercises of A Field in England. I hope you find it boldly funny and invigoratingly shocking.”

Therein lies the subjectivity of humour, most especially satire. I didn’t find much boldly funny, or even mildly funny. But High-Rise certainly keeps your attention, as it speaks to one possible outcome if the one per cent ever finds the worms turning below them and rising to claim what they feel they are owed.

Humour columnist and author Dan St. Yves was licensed with Royal LePage Kelowna for 11 years. Check out his website at www.nonsenseandstuff.com, or contact him at danst.yves@hotmail.com. REM

REM JUNE 2016 35

What’s

New Lone Wolf acquires WhereToLive.com Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies of Cambridge, Ont. has purchased WhereToLive.com.

Founded in 1999, WhereTo Live.com has been creating technology tools to power real estate brands across the United States and Canada for 16 years.

“This acquisition aligns with our vision of a completely integrated real estate business,” says Lorne C. Wallace, CEO of Lone Wolf.

“We have a clear vision of a real estate eco-system. We believe that a single point of entry, whether for leads, agents or listings, is critical for an efficient and successful brokerage.”

Lone Wolf was recently named among Canada’s leading IT companies, as it rose to the 104th spot on this year’s Branham300 Top 250 list. For nearly a quarter of a century, Branham Group has provided the most comprehensive listing of publicly traded and privately held IT companies in Canada, known as the Branham300, the company says.

Nicaragua real estate tour offered Nica Investments has joined forces with Experience Nica Tours to offer real estate investors an opportunity to spend five days in Nicaragua to learn about the country’s real estate market.

“Nicaragua is the most lucrative, yet most affordable real estate investment market in all of the Americas. Unfortunately there’s a great deal of incorrect, outdated or outright misleading information in circulation,” say the tour organizers.

Nica Investments is a Canadian-owned land acquisition

and development consultancy operating in Granada, Nicaragua.

Len Bowcott, CEO of the company, assists foreign investors in identifying properties to fill the client’s needs. Not all real estate in Nicaragua is transferable, although it is often offered for sale, the company says.

The tour is set for June 26 to June 30, 2016. Participants will spend part of each day visiting the hottest property markets in Nicaragua, Granada, Rivas, San Juan del Sur, Laguna de Apoyo and Managua. Speakers are both corporate law lawyers and lawyers involved in immigration matters, architects, tax accountants, real estate professionals and government spokespeople. For information: http://tinyurl.com/h5cvr34

CREB partners with SentriLock The Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) has partnered with SentriLock to provide its members with SentriLock’s Realtor Lockbox System.

“CREB chose SentriLock because we believe their key management system will serve our members’ needs now and in the future,” says CREB president Cliff Stevenson. “While there were many factors that influenced our decision, it was the product features and the fast and efficient customer support that stood out.

We’re excited to move forward with our conversion this fall.”

SentriLock now serves more than 300 Realtor boards and MLSs throughout North America, including 18 Canadian boards.

Trade Shows and Conferences Atlantic Connection July 26 - 29 Delta Prince Edward & P.E.I. Convention Centre, Charlottetown www.atlanticconnection.ca/ Activate 2016 Hosted by Re/Max of Western Canada Oct. 18 - 20 Fairmont Chateau Whistler Whistler, B.C. 2016 Coldwell Banker Gen Blue Experience Oct. 18 - 20 Miami Beach, Fla. http://genblue.coldwellbanker.com/

Royal LePage partners with Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate Royal LePage, via the company’s Carriage Trade luxury brand, has partnered with Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate. The new arrangement includes the opportunity for sales reps to post Carriage Trade listings on LuxuryRealEstate.com. The site remains the No. 1 portal for luxury properties, says Royal LePage, attracting more than 500,000 visitors per month from more than 200 countries.

“We are extremely excited to offer this new partnership,” says Kelly McCain, director, Strategic Business Services at Royal LePage.

“With widespread exposure to luxury buyers from around the globe, this partnership will enable Royal LePage real estate professionals who transact in Carriage Trade level properties to maintain a global presence for their listings and offer unprecedented exposure for their clients.”

The deal comes with negotiated annual pricing that provides a variety of benefits including an unlimited number of Carriage Trade listings over $650,000 to be posted on LuxuryRealEstate.com, access to customized marketing materials and statistics for listing presentations, invitations to exclusive Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate webinars and conferences and discounted rates in luxury publications including Luxury Real Estate Magazine, Wall Street Journal, duPont Registry and Unique Homes. REM

Trust That Your Toronto Referrals will be Treated Like Gold!

We want your Toronto referrals. As trusted advisors and top real estate professionals, you can trust that we will treat your referral clients as one of our own.

Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound AGM & Tradeshow Wednesday, Oct. 26 Bayshore Community Centre Owen Sound ea@ragbos.com Century 21 Canada Conference Supplier Expo Oct. 28 - 29 Westin Bayshore, Vancouver Carla Ty – supplier.expo@century21.ca National Association of Realtors Realtors Conference & Expo Nov. 13 – 16 San Diego, Calif. www.realtor.org/convention.nsf/ Compiled with the assistance of Bob Campbell at Colour Tech Marketing, www.colourtech.com

Full service, OBEO tours, website, YouTube - all it takes to turn your referral into a sold. Here is the best part, our program gives you referrals for life!

Barry Lebow,

FRI, Master ASA, SRES, ABR, IFAS

Professional Land Economist, Arbitrator & Mediator Broker

RE/MAX Ultimate Realty Inc. Brokerage

Barry Lebow:

Cell Phone: 416-399-2852 barry@barrylebow.com

Lisa Ursini,

Cell Phone: 416-937-5471 lisaursini@rogers.com

Salesperson

“Your Toronto Source”

36 REM JUNE 2016

Real Estate Technology Real-time home showing software SmartShow, developed by RTP Solutions of Surrey, B.C. is offering a real-time home showing application, available initially to B.C. agents only, which allows them to use their smartphone or tablet to show a home to multiple remote buyers with just a few clicks. Buyers can see a home through the sales rep’s eyes, interact by asking questions, and feel like they are walking around the home in person.

While SmartShow currently runs on smartphones and tablets, it will also support what are known as SmartGlasses – Android powered wearable eyewear. SmartShow is the first application created for real estate sales to use SmartGlasses, the company says. It will run on the Vuzix M300 SmartGlasses, which will be released in mid to late 2016. Even though purchasing and using SmartGlasses is not required to use the application, Ted Venema, VP business development at SmartShow, says they are the most ideal way to use the platform.

Jim Titus, a sales rep with HomeLife Benchmark Titus Realty in Surrey, says, “Showing a home with SmartShow is easy, fun and saves time – both for myself and for my overseas buyers.”

The software allows buyers to

view a video of the showing after it’s completed and share it with friends and family.

Although any sales rep can sign up for an account or subscribe for future updates on the platform at smartshow.com, only B.C. Realtors are currently being granted access to SmartShow’s 30-day free trial. SmartShow says it will be working closely with local Realtors before opening the platform to other provinces and states.

Revamped remax.ca goes live Re/Max has updated its website at remax.ca with “the comfort and convenience of a user friendly space that provides consumers with the real estate information they need easily and efficiently,” the company says.

“Consumers will be able to find their dream home easier with a unified search experience that automatically suggests listings, agents, offices, neighbourhoods and editorial content,” says Re/Max. “The Enhanced Listing Detail Page highlights must-know information for clients when searching for their home including additional photos, a comprehensive details list, demographics and comparables.”

The new site offers Smart Agent Profiles, making it easier for consumers to find local sales asso-

• You have a small claims court matter to deal with?

• Your client has a “tenant from hell”, and he/she has to be evicted?

• Your client wants to reduce his real estate taxes?

(A way to get more listings: offer this service.)

• You received a letter of complaint from RECO?

LET’S GET TOGETHER AND TALK

416.818.6130

Bizz Image launches in Toronto and Ottawa Michelle Sharpe and Matt Fudge recently launched Bizz Image, a real estate marketing solution, in the Greater Toronto and Ottawa areas.

“This new look will provide professional Realtors and online consumers with an enhanced viewing experience for listings and, as such, we will be discontinuing our association with Obeo,” says Sharpe.

With more than 16 years providing professional photography and virtual tours, Bizz Image is now a “one-stop-shop” business marketing service, providing photography, virtual tours, graphic and social design and, in some areas,

Michelle Sharpe

integrated digital floor plan measuring and video services. The company has an exclusive Canadian agreement with Vizzi Media Solutions and will be launching throughout Canada this year.

“One constant is our commitment to service and quality. Our team members are ready and committed to this new solution,” says Fudge. For information: www.WOWBizzImage.com

Better Homes and Gardens introduces revamped website

DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO IF THIS HAPPENS:

In addition, I'm a real estate broker with over 40 years of experience. I can provide you with valuable insight into the law.

ciates, the company says. It has featured team pages and updated calls to action.

Fax: (905) 882-6618 Website: avirosen.ca Email: avi@avirosen.ca

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate has completed a fullscale redesign of its Canadian web platform, BHGRECanada.ca. The website has undergone significant enhancements to provide dynamic offerings and capabilities to its users, the company says.

“This is an exciting moment for Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate as we underscore our

commitment to our Canadian operations and our focus on delivering exceptional service to our network and consumers,” says Sherry Chris, president and CEO. “Technology plays a significant role in our daily lives and our industry, with the online experience often serving as a first impression of the company or real estate professional associated with it. By recognizing this influence, we continue to ensure that we are evolving to meet the needs of today as well as tomorrow’s consumers through relevant content, offerings and functionality.”

The company says its new Canadian offerings include: • Improved website technologies and a scalable design allow for a seamless and consistent experience across both desktop and mobile • Modern design for an enriched look and feel captures the attention of consumers and real estate professionals, contributing to the site’s intuitive navigation • Enhanced performance and speed empowering direct access to features such as lifestyle content, listings and search results • Enriched content with full CREA DDF property search capabilities • Content from the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Life Blog (bhgrelife.com), offering advice and lifestyle trends for both consumers and real estate professionals Canadian consumers can now connect to entertainment, DIY and real estate content including BHGRE’s Ask a Pro Q&A portal.

clients. Clients do the cataloguing, photography and supervision of pickup, but leave dealing with the buyers, marketing and collection of payments to MaxSold.

MaxSold says its solution has a proven track record of over 2,500 auctions to date, with turnaround of less than two weeks (and shorter when needed), with a 98 per cent sell-through rate. It has sold items ranging from cars to Christmas decorations, through a competitive bidding platform with itemized tracking and reporting of the entire process, the company says.

For information: www.maxsold.com

Century 21 enhances global property search Century 21 Real Estate LLC has announced enhancements to its global website, century21global.com, which features more than 275,000 listings presented in 18 languages and 36 currency conversion options.

“The real estate industry is now global, so it’s more important than ever for international buyers to easily find and connect with Canadian Realtors and their clients’ properties,” says Martin Charlwood, vice chairman and CEO, Century 21 Canada. “Every

Tech comes to downsizing and estate sales If you haven’t spring cleaned in 40 years, MaxSold says there is an app for that. It was designed to help you solve the problem of what to do with all the excess items your clients are dealing with as part of a downsize or estate settlement. The MaxSold iPhone app allows you to figure out how much their things might net.

With the MaxSold managed model, the nearest MaxSold team will be dispatched to catalogue, photograph and measure the items.

Pictures and descriptions then get uploaded to the MaxSold’s bidding platform for online bidding.

MaxSold also offers a client managed model for tech savvy

The Century 21 Global website.

one of our Canadian listings is positioned in front of international buyers and Realtors on this website. It’s a powerful tool for our agents to show clients how they get the most exposure for their property.”

The enhancements include: • Mobile responsive design • On property details pages, images will open in a new viewer and showcase homes in a large photo gallery •Searching by metro areas such as Sydney or San Francisco will now include results for sur-

REM JUNE 2016 37

rounding cities that make up the metropolitan area • Hebrew, Arabic and Urdu have been added for a total of 18 languages supported on the site • As well as providing individual Realtor search functionality and webpages, customers can now search for teams.

Schedulock launches new mobile and web app Schedulock has launched a new real estate showing management tool and platform for real estate professionals. It allows sales reps to schedule their real estate showings, manage lockbox codes and track feedback all in one place.

“We believe that the process to schedule a real estate showing is very cumbersome on both ends,” says Alexander Poon, Schedulock co-founder. “Currently, there are very limited options to book showings on the go and there is still a ton of back and forth between agents, home sellers and real estate offices. We are looking to change the way current real estate showings are arranged through a mobile solution that makes the process more efficient, transparent and secure for everyone involved.”

The company says it offers transparency, security and control for sales reps and home sellers by authenticating every sales rep and tracking lockbox activity. Using Schedulock reduces the amount of time spent performing administrative work to arrange showings, it says.

Realtors from Toronto and the surrounding area can access a free feature that allows them to schedule real estate showings for any listings on the Toronto Real Estate Board.

For information: www.schedulock.com

bourhood or specific address. For example, the landmark CN Tower in Toronto could be entered, or a neighbourhood such as Yaletown in Vancouver, or a specific address, such as a school. Once the starting location is set, a desired commute duration is entered, along with a mode of transportation, to begin the search. The result is a map, overlaid with property listings.

“We know that for many homebuyers, one of the biggest considerations is commute times,” says Carolyn Cheng, COO of Royal LePage. “The travel between home and work or a frequently visited spot really matters to people, and this functionality answers that need with ease of use and prominent positioning on our national website.”

Coldwell Banker launches mobile-first CB Exchange platform Coldwell Banker Real Estate recently released CB Exchange, a mobile-first intranet for the company’s sales associates. CB Exchange provides convenient access to the brand’s content, tools and applications from a desktop computer, mobile phone or tablet.

Coldwell Banker recently launched its mobile-first CB Exchange intranet.

“It is vital in today’s connected landscape to have access to the content you need and want instantaneously, which is why CB Exchange was designed as a mobile-first experience and will completely overhaul the concept of a traditional corporate intranet,” says Sean Blankenship, chief marketing officer for the company. “Our platform knows who is accessing it, their role within their company and what information the user wants to receive. It makes finding content and information from our brand as easy as searching for something on Google, wherever and whenever it may be needed.”

Features include: • Users can modify their home page based on the resource tools and information most important to them, helping them find the content they need faster.

• Springboard serves as the app’s central hub, allowing users to customize their home page with links to the tools and applications that help drive their business.

• News Feeds organize content that is most relevant to each user. This includes My Feed, which uses Tags to build a personalized stream of information, and Exchange Feed, which contains all content shared on the platform.

• A central dashboard features a snapshot of personal statistics and data from coldwellbanker.com based on each user’s role in their company.

• Users enter the question, “What are you searching for?” into a search bar to find what they need. This function also allows users to watch a video or preview a presentation before having to download it.

Royal LePage introduces Travel Time search New functionality on Royal LePage’s national website, royallepage.ca, provides front-andcentre details on how long it takes to travel between a desired neighbourhood and work or other frequently visited places.

Visitors to the site can use the “By Travel Time” tab on the homepage to enter a starting point, which can be a landmark, neigh-

Royal LePage now offers the “By Travel Time” feature on its website.

The Sutton Social app

Sutton events launch new app At recent sold-out events in Toronto and Vancouver, 700 Sutton salespeople and brokers were the first to experience Sutton Social, a new app that makes it easy to post content and listings to multiple social media sites, the company says. It also offers analytics for tracking and scheduling options.

Event attendees also learned how to “drive, dominate and win

listings” from speaker Verl Workman. Each event was capped off by a networking reception.

“We have had great feedback on the official launch of Sutton Social. People at the events were excited to hear about this new social media tool and learn how it can have a positive impact on their productivity,” says Sutton Group Realty Services representative Melissa Mungall. REM

38 REM JUNE 2016

THE PUBLISHER’S PAGE

By Heino Molls

I

MARKETPLACE

am a fan of vintage films.

Spare me the jokes that the reason why I like old movies is because I am an old man. That may be so but I have always been endeared to the old times, the old days and the romance of days gone by. The vast majority of old films are American so I am inundated with language and terms that are different from the way we talk here in Canada.

Take money, for instance.

Sometimes in old movies if an American has a couple of dollars,

Think you know money? he or she might refer to that as “a couple of Washingtons”. When referring to a five-dollar bill, they may say a “Lincoln”. Same thing for a hundred or a “Benjamin Franklin” and so on.

We don’t do that in Canada.

Which made me think about the people who are depicted on our currency bills. Just for fun I quizzed some folks to see if anyone could name all of the people on our paper money. Nobody except one person in my family, who used to work in a bank, was able to name every person on our paper money. I found that most interesting.

We only have the five, the 10, the 20, the 50 and the 100-dollar bill in circulation, yet very few people can name the people depicted on them. Try it. Don’t look, just see if you can do it. Based on my unscientific survey, I bet you can’t.

To cut to the chase: the five is

Wilfred Laurier, the 10 is John A. Macdonald, the 20 is the Queen, the 50 is William Lyon Mackenzie King and the 100 is Robert Borden.

It is worth noting that all people on Canadian banknotes are men and former prime ministers except for Her Majesty on the 20 and on our coins. There is a movement afoot to replace one of the men with a woman.

I know who is on our money but the reason I know is not because I am any smarter than the people I have quizzed. I think it’s partly because I was not born in this country so like most immigrants, I have a natural fascination with its history. It’s also because I had so little of it when I was young. I think mostly it is because I am an old man and back in the old days we were more intimate with our money and what was on it.

The plastic cards people carry

are used for so many things these days that many people don’t carry money in their pockets anymore.

My children and my grandchildren understand more about money transactions on the Internet than I will ever know. I can’t even remember the security codes for my credit cards; let alone how to buy things with them. But hey, I still know who’s on my money and I know who William Lyon Mackenzie King is.

I remember Grade Two and learning about the Canadian dime.

I learned back then how important the depiction of the Bluenose schooner on that coin was to our country. I heard the passion in the teacher’s voice, speaking about this great sailboat from Nova Scotia, a boat that actually worked as a fishing vessel. How it took time off work to win big races on the ocean against formidable boats from

America and other countries that were built just for racing. Those other boats didn’t have to work like our little Bluenose, yet our boat beat them all. How proud we were back then to hear that story at school. I understand to this day why that wonderful little boat is on our dime.

I wish that everybody would learn not just who is on our money but why they are there. Who the people are, why the animals were chosen and what the scenes on the back of our paper money really mean to us. It is important. Nobody has to be an expert on money and tell people that the moose on our 25 cent piece is not a moose but actually a caribou, but we should know a little more about our money and a lot more about our country.

But hey, what do I know? I’m just an old man who watches old movies.

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

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