August 2013

Mould, mould everywhere 8

Focus on what’s important, says award-winning sales rep Page 16

Alberta Realtors deal with flood aftermathPage 3

Mould, mould everywhere Page 18

Focus on what’s important, says award-winning sales rep Page 16

Alberta Realtors deal with flood aftermathPage 3

Issue #290 August 2013

Cana

da P

ost P

ublic

atio

ns M

ail A

gree

men

t No.

422

1852

3 -

Retu

rn u

ndel

iver

able

Can

adia

n ad

dres

ses

to 2

255B

Que

en S

t. E.

, #11

78, T

oron

to O

N M

4E 1

G3

Canada’s billion-dollar

sales repChristopher Invidiata leads

the No. 1 Re/Max team Page 8

MONTHOFMiracles

MONTHOFMiracles

MONTHOFMiracles

MONTHOFMiracles

MONTHOFMiracles

Each RE/MAX office is independently owned and operated. www.remax.ca

In the month of August, RE/MAX wishes

to thank their clients for helping raise

funds through the Miracle Home®

program. RE/MAX agents who are

part of the program voluntarily make

a donation for every home sold. Since

1992, RE/MAX agents have donated

over $50 million to Children's Miracle

Network member hospitals in Canada.

RE/MAX agents have been makingmiracles happen for millions of childrenacross Canada for over 20 years.

Miracle Home

verywhere Corinne Lyallgoes these days, she’s askedabout her views about

what’s ahead for homeowners insouthern Alberta. “People areunderstandably very emotionalright now,” says Lyall, a brokerwith Royal LePage Benchmark inCalgary. “I tell people that it’sgoing to take time to rebuild, andtime to put the flood of 2013behind us.”

Lyall urges people to rebuildtheir homes in a way that will pre-serve their resale value. Do thingsproperly and to code, with build-ing permits in hand to ensure youhave the documentation to sup-port what you’ve done, she says.

Those permits and other docu-mentation are taking longer toacquire so be patient, saysColdwell Banker’s Susanita DeDiego, who is a sellingbroker/owner in the Calgary mar-ket. The situation is “unprece-dented in my 26 years in realestate. Some buyers are gun shy,”she says.

One of her clients had a condi-tional offer and pulled out of thedeal. Another buyer had an offeron a property that was in the floodplain but was not affected by theflood. “These clients chose to goahead. They figured it was a 100-year flood and that this propertywas dry. There’s no guarantee, butthey felt comfortable buying itanyway.”

Hundreds of property owners

REM AUGUST 2013 3

E

Alberta Realtors deal with flood aftermathBy Connie AdairPhotos by Rhonda L Anderson

are simply walking away, resultingin hesitation on the part of somelenders for properties in the floodplain.

In Calgary, some affluent buy-ers, rather than living through thechaos, are moving to higher

ground while their homes arebeing rebuilt. This is creating ashortage of inventory.

As for sales involving homesthat are no longer liveable, theyare up in the air as everyone waitsto see what the insurance compa-

nies do, De Diego says. Someother people will never go back,she adds. “We anticipate marketvalue will be affected in the shortterm (but) memories are short,”she says.

After the last big flood, homesalong the river became the mostexpensive properties. “The marketwill recover,” De Diego says.

Realtors are being called on tobe advocates for their clients.They’re also joining otherCalgarians and extending a help-ing hand in whatever way theycan – a challenge as they work tokeep their own businesses afloatand to rebuild their own homes.

Blair Gordon, broker/owner ofCentury 21 Foothills Real Estateremembers hearing stories of aflood of this magnitude that tookplace the 1930s, but he neverthought he’d experience one first-hand. Although his house andoffice were spared, his daughterwas not so lucky. She lost every-thing.

The grocery store and hospitalin High River are closed and manyma and pa businesses downtownwere flooded. People in the 40,000trading area have been forced togo elsewhere, driving to nearbyOkotoks to go to the post office,the grocery store and the bank, hesays.

But on the positive side, a 175-bed assisted living residence will

still be built and the people whowork at the meat processing plantneed a place to live, he says. Theimplement dealers will also stay, aswill some commerce. But it’stough for small retailers to com-pete and some might not reopen,he says.

Gordon’s office had 42 closingsbetween June and mid-August inHigh River. “Half we won’t be ableto save,” he says. “Others areawaiting outside guidance fromlaw firms.”

In some cases, that provides anobstacle in itself. The three locallaw offices’ records were destroyed,says Gordon, who has been a bro-ker for 35 years.

Ted Zaharko and his team atRoyal LePage Foothills haveoffices in Calgary and High River.The High River office is beyondrepair and one of the office’sagents lost everything.

Many others have experienceddamage to their homes. “Our firstpriority is helping our own peopleand we have established a fund tobring aid to these individuals,”Zaharko says.

Many of his people went intoflooded areas to pump out base-ments with their own equipmentand to help move trash to bins.

At Royal LePage Solutions inCalgary, a group of agents beganvolunteering on a rotating sched-ule to help homeowners in thehardest hit areas. They worked for10 days. At the same time, theoffice was dealing with 50 closingsset for the July 1 weekend undervery difficult circumstances, saysbroker Diane Scott. “Lawyers indowntown offices were not able toopen due to lack of infrastructureso funding was not comingthrough.”

Scott says, “It was chaos butour in-house lawyer and our agentsdid a brilliant job of workingaround the clock to close transac-tions and to get people moved.”

Through it all, Calgarians ofall walks of live have reached outto help each other.

De Diego says, “We’re devas-tated but I’m proud of howCalgarians have worked together.”

REM

Blair Gordon, who has been abroker for 35 years, says henever thought he would see aflood of this magnitude.

Real estate professionals pitched in to help pump out basements andmove out flood-damaged materials. Flooding washed out several backyards.

4 REM AUGUST 2013

Multiple ListingsDo you have news to share with Canada’s real estate community?Let REM know about it! Email: [email protected]

By Jim Adair, REM Editor

reach their individual goals in eachspecific market.”

Shyiak gained knowledge ofreal estate industry board practiceswhile selling MLS systems toVancouver, Fraser Valley, Calgary,Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawaas the Canadian regional managerof sales for Interealty.

■ ■ ■

An established Georgetown,Ont. real estate operation formerlyknown as The Desjardins Teamhas joined Coldwell Banker. Thebrand’s newest affiliate will operateas Coldwell Banker FieldstoneRealty. Owner and broker of recordEvan DeBrincat has five experi-enced sales professionals and a sup-

odd Shyiak has joinedCentury 21 Canada asdirector of operations,

Western Canada. Shyiak has anextensive background in real estatesales, technology and broker man-agement solutions, the companysays. Most recently, he was thefounder and president of CogentStep Recruiting, an executiverecruiting firm for experienced andproductive sales representatives inthe real estate industry.

“Todd has incredible insightinto the decisions facing brokers, aswell as solutions for their dynamicbusinesses,” says Brian Rushton,senior vice-president of operationsat Century 21 Canada. “He’ll helpthem to develop approaches to

T

MCC’s offerings.” MCC will continue to operate

as an independent brand and thepurchase will not affect the day-to-day operations of MCC or DLC,the company says.

■ ■ ■

Better Homes and GardensReal Estate Niagara Premiererecently opened in the Niagararegion of Ontario, under the lead-ership of broker Robert Preece.

Preece has been a broker fornine years. The brokerage will ser-vice the entire Niagara Peninsula.

The brokerage will settle inover the summer months, leadingto a grand opening in September,the company says.

■ ■ ■

Exit Realty says the “most suc-cessful real estate team in theprovince of Newfoundland andLabrador” has joined Exit RealtyOn The Rock in St. John’s. TheHome Team, led by broker CraigWilliams, generates more than $21million of sales annually, the com-pany says.

When Williams was with theWilliams Hollett Sales Team atRealty Executives, it was namedthe No. 1 team world-wide for thatbrand in 2011. Williams wasnamed Builder Member of the Yearin 2010 by the Canadian HomeBuilders’ Association and he ledthe top team for the CHBA ofEastern Newfoundland for 2009,2010, 2011 and 2012.

■ ■ ■

When the Society of NotariesPublic suspended a notary publicwith a name similar to WinnieChung of Royal Pacific RealtyGroup, the sales rep began gettingphone calls from clients andRealtors who thought she was introuble. It prompted AndrewPeck, vice-president and generalmanager of Royal Pacific Group, toissue a news release entitledWinnie Chung is NOT AgathaChung.

“The Vancouver Sun reportedthat the Society of Notaries Publicof B.C. had suspended a notarypublic with a similar name –Agatha Chung – for financialirregularities,” says Peck. “Giventhe similarity of their names, thisimmediately began causing prob-lems and embarrassment forWinnie Chung.”

The release notes that WinnieChung has been a licensed Realtorsince 1991. “She is known to behighly ethical and dedicated to herprofession and has won numerousawards,” says the release. She hasbeen awarded a lifetime member-ship in the Real Estate Board ofGreater Vancouver.

■ ■ ■

Darcy Griffiths, a Realtor inthe Okanagan Valley for 22 years,recently purchased a 50 per centshare in Royal LePage DowntownRealty and joins current ownerRiley Twyford in Vernon andArmstrong B.C. Griffiths is cur-rently a trainer for BCREA andthe vice-president of theOkanagan Mainline Real EstateBoard.

■ ■ ■

Re/Max Rouge River Realtyrecently opened a new branch inCourtice, Ont., led by broker/man-ager Melody Pearce.

“Courtice is a natural choicefor growth as it fits seamlessly inour path eastwards from Toronto,”says David Pearce, broker ofrecord/owner of the brokerage.Established in 1987, Re/MaxRouge River Realty is familyowned and operated with 170salespeople in offices in Toronto,Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and nowCourtice.

■ ■ ■

Coldwell Banker Haida Realtyin Leduc, Alta. held its 15th annu-al flag-planting event on CanadaDay, with volunteers rising withthe sun to plant miniature

port team led by office administra-tor and client care co-ordinatorSarah DeBrincat. The sales teamconsists of Evan DeBrincat,Martha Bonanno, SamanthaRead, Monica Darabos and SteveNyarady.

The brokerage plans to hold akick-off event to celebrate theirnew identity later this summer,which will be attended byColdwell Banker national leader-ship.

■ ■ ■

Dominion Lending Centrespurchased Mortgage CentreCanada (MCC) from theCanadian Imperial Bank ofCommerce (CIBC) in June.

MCC consists of 90 franchisesoperating out of 160 locationsacross the country with 1,133mortgage professionals. In 2012,MCC successfully funded morethan $6.9 billion in mortgage vol-ume.

DLC says in a news release thatit “went through tremendous duediligence before deciding toacquire MCC and is committed tothe brand with the intention ofadding fresh perspective, support,technology and enhancements to

Continued on page 6

Todd Shyiak

Anne Squires, owner of Exit Realty On The Rock, welcomes CraigWilliams and his Home Team to the brokerage. From left: Ryan Walsh,Danielle Sampson, Brett Lepore, Kelly Layman, Jason Pircey, AlisonThompson, Anne Squires, Craig Williams, Jennifer Smith, Susan Rose,Julie Hannaford, Jessica Chambers, Paul Amminson and Amy Voisey.

Robert Preece

Winnie Chung Darcy Griffiths Jim Jardine Bob Van De Vrande

Riley Twyford Pat Garritty

THE

ResultTHE

THE

“The CENTURY 21 technology platform and brand recognition give us a competitive edge. The CENTURY 21 name alone provides many additional transactions.”

Paul Baron,Leading Edge Realty Inc.

The proof that our approach works:

1.855.228.7338Century21franchise.ca Century21careers.ca

JOIN US TODAY! SMARTER. BOLDER. FASTER.TM

Independently Owned and Operated. ®/™ trademarks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC used under license or authorized sub-license. © 2013 Century 21 Canada Limited Partnership ®™ Trademarks of AIR MILES International Trading B.V. Used under

license by LoyaltyOne, Inc. and Century 21 Canada Limited Partnership.

facebook.com/ CENTURY21Canada

twitter.com/ CENTURY21Canada

youtube.com/user/Century21Canada

*Source: 2012 Ad Tracking Study. The study was conducted in two waves by Millward Brown, a leading global market research organization during the following time periods: Wave 1 between February 5th – February 19th 2012, Wave 2 between August 12th- August 26th 2012. The survey results are based on 1,204 online interviews with a national random sample of adults (ages 18+) who are equal decision makers and who have bought or sold a home within the past two years or plan to purchase or sell a home within the next two years. Brand awareness, Consideration and Likelihood to Recommend questions based on a sample of 1,204 respondents at a 90% confidence level, with a margin of error of +/-2.4%.

We leverage this significant exposure for our REALTORS® to increase their bottom line.We provide:ü Branded, customizable marketing tools to build lasting client relationships.ü National brand marketing campaigns that showcase our REALTORS® as local experts.ü Targeted advertising where consumers visit most.

96%AWARENESS amongst home buyers & sellers*

The CENTURY 21 Brand enjoys

c21_rem_ad_aug_ss.indd 1 7/18/2013 1:47:36 PM

Multiple ListingsContinued from page 4

6 REM AUGUST 2013

PublisherHEINO MOLLS

email: [email protected]

Director, Sales & MarketingDENNIS ROCK


Manager, French EditionMICHEL [email protected]

Digital Media Manager WILLIAM [email protected]

Editor in ChiefJIM ADAIR


Distribution & ProductionMILA PURCELL

[email protected]

Art DirectorLIZ MACKIN

Graphic DesignSHAWN KELLY

Brand DesignSANDRA GOODER

REM complies fully with the Canadian Real Estate Association's Rules for Trademarks (CREA Rule 16.5.3.1)

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 ListingService® are trademarks owned by CREA and identify the services rendered by members of CREA.

REM is published 12 times a year. It is an independently owned and operated company and is not affiliated with anyreal estate association, board or company. REM is distributed across Canada by leading real estate boards and by directdelivery in selected areas. For subscription information, email [email protected]. Entire contents copyright2013 REM. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is pro-hibited. The opinions expressed in REM are not necessarily those of the publisher.

ISSN 1201-1223

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

Phone: 416.425.3504www.remonline.com

www.remenligne.com

Cover photo: MARKO SHARK

Prin

ted

by M

etro

land

Med

ia G

roup

, Ltd

. A

certi

fied

SFI P

rinte

r

Canadian flags on every Leduc res-ident’s lawn. The volunteers plant-ed about 12,000 flags in a three-hour period as the sun came up.

“When we started it, we want-ed to try and stimulate some inter-est in the community and get peo-ple to do their own Canada Dayactivities,” Bob Buttar, broker/owner of Coldwell Banker Haida,told Leducrep.com.

The tradition also supports thelocal food bank. Residents wereasked to leave non-perishable foodout on their front door stepsbetween 7 am and 9 am. Food wascollected by volunteers from LeducComposite High School sportsteams.

■ ■ ■

The Aventure Realty Networkof independent brokerages is wel-coming two new members. TheTrilliant Real Estate Group ofSylvan Lake/Red Deer, Alta., ledby broker/owners Pat Garritty andJim Jardine, “bring a long historyof success and market strength tothe network as both industry lead-ers and as sales professionals,” says

Aventure president Bernie Vogt.Apex Results Realty, one of the

largest independent companies inthe Burlington, Ont. market hasalso joined the network. Bob VanDe Vrande, broker of record andowner, operates the brokerage witha team of more than 50 Realtorsand brings a full suite of services tothe community. Last October, VanDe Vrande switched from operat-ing as a Sutton Group affiliate tofocus on building a strong indepen-dent brand, says Vogt. In less thannine months, the company hasgrown by 50 per cent.

■ ■ ■

The Real Estate Council ofBritish Columbia (RECBC) hassuspended the licence of JohnsonCastaneto Salanga, formerly withSutton Group -West Coast Realty(Cambie Street) in Vancouverand, more recently, with RoyalPacific Realty (Kingsway) inVancouver.

RECBC says it “suspended thislicence in the public interest as aresult of Mr. Salanga’s failure toproperly account for trust monieshe was holding on behalf of bro-kerage clients while licensed withSutton Group-West Coast Realty.”

REM

Hugh Mervyn, a sales rep with Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty inKelowna, is retiring after 45 years in the real estate business. Best wishescan be sent to [email protected]

wo former real estateboard executive officershave opened the first

Keller Williams Realty office inQuebec.

KW Urbain in Montreal waslaunched by Anne St. Dennis andMichel Beauséjour. St. Dennis wasCEO of the real estate board inVictoria and Beauséjour held thesame position in Montreal. Theyalso worked together at theGreater Montreal Real EstateBoard for 10 years, withBeauséjour at the helm as theCEO and St. Dennis as managerof communications, industry rela-tions and legal affairs.

The move by Keller Williamstook roughly three years of plan-ning, as the Austin-based corpo-rate head office familiarized itselfwith the language laws and theQuebec brokerage act.

“We saw the immense poten-tial of opening a real estate fran-chise in Quebec that is complete-ly broker-centric, learning-basedand treats our brokers like part-ners, to the extent that we shareprofits with our brokers and haveopen books,” says Beauséjour.

He says that before KellerWilliams was ready to commit, itsprincipals had to better under-stand the cultural, language andlegal aspects of Quebec.

Aside from the complexities ofa different culture, the move intoQuebec meant a major invest-

ment for the company for thetranslation required to ensure thatMontreal brokers had the samefundamental tools and training aselsewhere.

Even the name, KW Urbain,was fundamental to the openingsuccess of the first franchise inQuebec, Beauséjour says. It waschosen to be respectful of Quebecculture and to reflect its down-town location, in the heart ofMontreal, at 1100 rue University.

St. Dennis and Beauséjour say

they are planning for more expan-sion in Quebec in the comingyears.

“Our business backgroundsand neutrality, since we didn’tcome from any other franchise,are seen as a real plus to KellerWilliams Realty,” says Beauséjour.

The first hire for KW Urbainwas its CEO/team leader, DonnaDalonzo, who from 1997 until2002 co-owned six MontrealRe/Max real estate franchises.

REM

Former board EOsopen first Quebec-based Keller WilliamsofficeT

From left: Co-founders Michel Beauséjour and Ann St Dennis;CEO/team leader Donna Dalonzo and administrator Mario Picotte.

On the streets of Montreal or by the water in Vancouver – the ICX.ca app keeps Canada’s commercial listings in the palm of your hand. Brought to you by CREA, it provides instant access to the most popular features of ICX.ca – Canada’s gateway to commercial real estate.

Canada’s billion-dollar sales repFor more than a decade, Christopher Invidiata has led the No. 1 residential sales team for Re/Max in Canada, racking up more than $1 billion in sales volume. By Susan Doran

8 REM AUGUST 2013

Christopher Invidiata says he didn’t set out to become one

of the top real estate professionals in the world.

After a career in the fashion business – first designing gold jewellery and leather goods and later selling clothing to stores such as Holt Renfrew while representing high-end fashion manufacturers – in 1985 he decided to get into real estate so he could spend more time with his family.

“I was in a hotel room in Edmonton and my wife called and told me that my daughter had just picked herself up and started to take her first steps,” he says. “I thought, ‘I don’t want to miss this stuff. I want a career where I can stay home’.”

That thought spurred him into real estate, initially as a part-time agent. After about six months, he decided to make more of a commitment to the business – to really “go for it,” as he puts it. Although he likes to describe himself as the slow-but-steady tortoise rather than the speedy hare, go for it he did, with a vengeance. He says that he naturally gravitated to the top end of the market due to his work history with high-end retailers.

Invidiata is with Re/Max Aboutowne Realty in Oakville, Ont., a pretty community on the north shore of Lake Ontario that is part of the Greater Toronto Area and is consistently ranked as one of the richest cities in Canada. He heads up the top-selling Invidiata Team, which has been the No. 1 residential Re/Max team in Canada for more than a decade, as well as the company’s leading team worldwide both in 2007 and 2012. Specializing in luxury waterfront properties in Oakville, Burlington and Mississauga, the team’s sales volume was more than $350 million in 2012. The

Invidiata Team includes 17 licensed sales reps and various support staff.

The team has also garnered membership in the exclusive Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate, a portal for luxury properties on the Internet, featuring a global network of more than 70,000 real estate professionals representing the top luxury real estate brokerages in the world. Invidiata is on the network’s board of regents and has received the Billionaire’s Club Award, given to agents who during their careers have surpassed $1 billion in sales volume. Yes, you read that right...over $1 billion in sales volume.

One of the Invidiata Team’s current listings is a $15-million estate in Mississauga, which is probably a record high price for the area, Invidiata says. The home is 14,000 square feet with tennis courts, a pool and a 16-car garage.

This type of property takes time to sell and requires a special kind of marketing.

“The process of how people feel when they buy is important,” says Invidiata. “If you create venues that give good client experiences, they will be more likely to be emotionally attached to their decision. You can’t expect people to buy if you’re simply opening the door for them. You must give them a unique sales experience and provide them with all the answers they want.”

His team takes showings to new heights – the ultimate real estate experience. We’re not just talking food and wine. The team has a Mercedes marketing truck to transport an event tent. Clients get the red carpet treatment (literally, as along with the tent the truck transports a red carpet to the event). The Invidiata Team also enlists various its marketing partners to attend events and

showcase everything from luxury cars to jewellery and high fashion. “There may be a fashion show at the event, and different restaurants doing a tasting menu,” says Invidiata. The cost is shared by the marketing partners.

The Invidiata Team markets its listings worldwide including to mainland China, India, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

It targets its wealthy clientele as directly as possible, with specialized event marketing, trade shows around the world, referrals and membership in Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate.

The team also has the quarterly publication of the Invidiata Collection, a glossy luxury real estate magazine with a yearly distribution of close to 140,000 to high-end households through targeted inclusion in the Globe & Mail, direct mail and various other means. The magazine and its ability to attract advertisers/marketing partners such as Disney and Fairmont Hotels has been a boon in helping Invidiata partner with sought-after brands.

A popular public speaker and mentor to real estate professionals, Invidiata has been quoted as saying that to sell the types of exclusive properties his team does, it’s necessary to:

• have an active and detailed web presence;

• market effectively, targeting the right people (including CEOs, CFOs and entrepreneurs) and high-end neighbourhoods;

• Screen potential clients carefully, in order to ensure that they are serious and not simply curious to get a peek at a prestigious property.

Clearly Invidiata markets to the elite, but he is adamant that in real estate it is crucial that relationships take priority over money.

“The best agents have a heart for people,” he says. “Making buyers happy makes a good agent.”

Mandatory two-year articling for new Realtors is something else he strongly believes would help agents be the best they can be. Hair stylists have to work alongside an experienced stylist for something like 1,800 hours before they can work solo, he says. There is “something wrong” that a real estate salesperson can jump into the business without any mentoring at all, he says.

“The industry needs to mandate a law about this.”

His advice for new agents is to, “Learn from people with experience. Learn from your mistakes....and take as many courses as you can.”

As for Invidiata’s advice to himself 28 years ago – to find a career that allowed him to spend more time with his family – one has to wonder, considering how phenomenally successful he has become, whether over the years the real estate profession has allowed him the family time with his wife and two children that he desired. He says the answer is a resounding yes.

“I don’t work on Sundays. I’m home for dinner most nights. The secret is in the scheduling. I time-block all the personal stuff first and then block business around my personal life, not vice versa,” he says. “Having a great life experience with family is first and my vocation comes after.” REM

Christopher Invidiata (Photo by Marko Shark)

CharaCterand

Commitment

Your reputation is everything to you, and

it means everything to us. When you

refer your clients to Pillar To Post Home

Inspectors, you are trusting us with your

good name, and we’ll always deliver on

our promise of professionalism, character,

and integrity.

pillartopost.com 1-800-294-5591

Choice of exclusive Home Inspection Packages

E&O insurance to protect the referring agent

Report delivered on site at the time of inspection

10 REM AUGUST 2013

1.800.410.4510 • [email protected]

www.colourtech.com/calendars

AVAILABLE NOW

Don’t ‘Fall’ behind with your marketing!

CANADIAN MADE | CANADIAN HOLIDAYS

BEST QUALITY Magnet Calendars

• Winter calendar 14 month Nov. 2013 - Dec. 2014• Large numbers and Canadian holidays• Lines for notes on each page• Removable punch out magnet• Mailing envelopes included• Ideal give away with your business card attached

Autumn calendar15 month Oct. 2013 - Dec. 2014

Forget the rest... your customers deserve the BEST!

he Ontario Real EstateAssociation’s SellerProperty Information

Sheet (or SPIS form), was designedwith the best of intentions. But ithas become a good example of theold adage, “the cure is worse thanthe disease”. Now the confusionand uncertainty surrounding thisform has been magnified byOREA’s introduction of a so-called“clarifying” form – one that seemsdesigned to actually warn sellersagainst signing the SPIS at all.

But let’s back up a moment:Why is the SPIS form often so con-fusing, ineffective and controver-sial?

The SPIS form – known asOREA Form 220 – contains aseries of questions about the prop-erty that the seller is supposed to fillout. Ostensibly, this is in order tocomply with the existing legalrequirement imposed on all sellersto disclose hidden material defectsin the property.

In theory, its main purpose istwo-fold: on the one hand, it isdesigned to protect buyers by“establishing that correct informa-tion concerning the property isbeing provided” to them. On theother hand, the form is alsodesigned to protect sellers, by con-firming that buyers are still obligedto make their own inquiries aboutthe property. This shields sellers –and hopefully, their real estateagents – from disputes that ariseover misinformation.

Why the controversy? Butwhatever the intention may be, inreality the SPIS form itself hasprompted more confusion and dis-pute – not to mention a significant

Disclosure forms: confusing and controversial

By Martin Rumack

T

amount of litigation – than existedbefore it was introduced in 1997. Inshort, it has further complicatedthe already-uncertain area of realestate law relating to seller disclo-sure obligations.

The reasons for this are many.For one thing, it is a complex,

technical and sometimes repetitivedocument. Too convoluted to beunderstood by the average seller, italso presupposes (often inaccurate-ly) that he has a certain detailedlevel of information and knowledgeabout the property. The form alsoasks technical legal questions thatare well beyond the expertise of vir-tually all sellers.

Secondly, the SPIS form hasbeen inconsistently adopted. Somereal estate boards make its usemandatory, while others have left itas optional. Certain boards that ini-tially required the use of the SPISform have now reconsidered. Andin regions where it is discretionary,some individual agents push for itsuse, while others do not.

Thirdly, courts have been “allover the map” when ruling on howthe form should be interpreted,how the information provided onthe form should be applied,whether they should be upheld andwhat their legal effect really is.

Essentially, with its inherentflaws and its (sometimes) optionaladd-on role in the disclosureprocess, the SPIS form seems tobring uncertainty rather than clari-ty to the minds of those it isdesigned to protect.

What is this new “warning”form? The latest “informationstatement” that OREA published,titled the Seller PropertyInformation Statement –ImportantInformation for Sellers (Form 225),is essentially an “informed consent”form that purports to “clarify thepurpose and use of the SellerProperty Information Statement”.However, the real purpose, one canassume, is to advise sellers and theiragents about the potential dangersinherent in its use.

Form 225 begins helpfullyenough: It advises that “The SellerProperty Information Statement,

when properly completed, can beof benefit to both the sellers andthe buyers. However, care must betaken when the form is completed.Sellers should answer the questionson the form as fully and accuratelyas possible.” It also recommendsthat it is better to err on the side ofcaution.

But the new form does little toclarify matters beyond that; it failsto elaborate on the scope of a sell-er’s disclosure duty and avoids firm-ly identifying the role or legalimpact of the original SPIS form. Itdoes advise against attaching theoriginal SPIS form as a schedule tothe Agreement of Purchase andSale. However, it then merely goeson to restate the existing law, bypointing out that:

1) whether or not the sellercompletes an SPIS, the law requireshim to disclose known hiddenmaterial defects of a property; and

2) by filling out the SPIS formin the first place, the seller is notgiving the potential buyer any sortof warranty.

While Form 225 provides aspace for the seller to sign, as ameans of acknowledging that thisso-called “clarifying” additionalinformation has been received, onehas to wonder whether the averageseller will have gained very muchclear and helpful information at all,by reading and signing it.

What’s the bottom line? Wealready know that the SPIS formhas a troubled history and hassparked confusion, not to mentionlitigation. The Informed ConsentForm for SPIS, though ostensiblydesigned to provide information,can be read as an implicit warningagainst using the SPIS form at all.That’s probably great advice.

Toronto lawyer Martin Rumack’spractice areas include real estate law,corporate and commercial law, wills,estates, powers of attorney, family lawand civil litigation. He is co-author ofLegal Responsibilities of Real EstateAgents, 3rd Edition, available atwww.lexisnexis.ca/bookstore. VisitMartin Rumack’s website atwww.martinrumack.com. REM

our sales engine needs torun smoothly. If there issand in your gearbox, the

engine doesn’t run very well. Thealternative is to add oil periodi-cally to keep things fresh andclean and running smoothly.How often do you add oil to yourgearbox?

Here are 10 things you couldadd to your “sales engine” rightaway:

1. Record your lead genera-tion calls for 15 minutes and lis-ten to your conversations.

2. Read inspirational material30 minutes every morning andevery night.

3. Get an accountability part-

12 REM AUGUST 2013

Y

baseTouchpowered by

106,000 Mobile Professionals in Canadian Real Estate +Mobile Usage, Growing 60% this year +Canada’s Leader in Real Esate Communication Solutions =SM2, Free Mobile App for all Touchbase users

touchbaseSM2.ca

S A L E S C O A C H

By Bruce Keith

10 ideas for sales successner and check in with themevery day.

4. Pick one bad habit youwant to eliminate and cut it outright away.

5. Identify one good habit youwant to start immediately.

6. Show your clients a typedagenda of what you are going tocover as you start every meeting.

7. Put your personal goals onpaper. Be one of the three percent who actually do this.

8. Buy this book: TheCompound Effect by DarrenHardy. It will change you forever.

9. Revise your “asking forreferrals” line. Here is mine: “Asyou know, I’m always looking formore people to help in my busi-ness.... I was wondering, who doyou know that needs my help tobuy or sell a home in the next lit-tle while?”

10. Call five people per dayfrom your past clients and centresof influence list and ask for refer-rals.

Bonus point! Tell yourspouse/partner (and your chil-

dren) that you love them... do itright now!

Kick start your engine andgive it a supercharged boost. Takeon some of these ideas immedi-ately... pick two or three and getstarted. If you decide your salesengine needs a complete oilchange, do them all! Either wayyour business will run smootherand faster. No excuses.

■ ■ ■

Water shortage: We used toneed a hand pump to get water.You pumped away, put some effortinto the exercise and water magi-cally appeared from the spout. Itmust have been an amazinginvention when it first arrived.

Part of that exercise was tomake sure that you kept the pumpprimed. Users learned very quick-ly that they had to keep putting alittle water back in the well toensure a constant flow the nexttime they needed more water.

The sales business works thesame way...you cannot afford tohave your sales well run dry. Here

are some instructions from themanual.

1. Make sure there is a con-stant supply of leads in your well.

2. Use the pump every day toensure a steady flow of leads.

3. Keep the pump parts oiledat all times to maintain ease ofoperation.

4. Critical point: Be sure to

add leads to your well every day sothe pump is always functional.Never let it run dry!

Everyone needs water to sur-vive... it is right up there withoxygen. Every sales businessneeds leads... it is right up therewith high energy and a strongmindset. Be sure to look afteryour sales well every day. Thealternative is that will you haveto go out and dig another well.That’s not an acceptable option.It certainly is a lot more work.Follow the instruction manualand keep your water flow con-stant. Never be thirsty! Noexcuses.

Bruce Keith, the “ResultsCoach” has over 23 years of experi-ence. He is a sales and marketingcoach and seminar leader in the realestate business, teaching what to sayand how to say it. His high-energy,high-impact training style is soughtafter and acclaimed across NorthAmerica. He says, “Success is pos-sible; there are no excuses”.www.brucekeithresults.com REM

Kick startyour engine

and give it a

superchargedboost.

A generation of opportunity.

Discover the advantages of NAR’s Seniors Real Estate Specialist® designation.

Build your real estate business with specialized knowledge of the wants, needs and expectations of home buyers and sellers aged 50+. By earning your SRES® designation via the 2-day course, you gain familiarity with these unique buyers and sellers, and connect with a specialized referral network of more than 13,000 REALTORS®.

Tap the potential of an SRES® designation. Visit seniorsrealestate.com to learn more.

Right at your fingertips.

14 REM AUGUST 2013

Insurance Renewal 2013The Real Estate Council of Ontario’s (RECO) insurance broker, Alternative Risk Services Inc., has renewedits insurance coverage with Lloyd’s for the Sept. 1, 2013 to Sept. 1, 2014 policy period. The insurance program is managed by Dion, Durrell + Associates Inc. Coverage includes Errors and Omissions, CommissionProtection and Consumer Deposit insurance.

Insurance renewal invoices will be mailed in early July to all registrants. A copy of the renewal package is also available on RECO’s website at www.reco.on.ca.

H t i iHHoHoww ttoto p payay y youourr iininsusurarancncee prprememiiuiumm

Use yoy ur MasterCard or Visa to pap y yy your insurance online througgh MyWey b, , RECO’s exclusive web porp tal ffor re igisg trants I. Iff yyou ddon’’t lalr dead hy hy ave a M WMyWy beb account, , cre iating g one i is easy y dand f free,, i si lmplp y vy i iisithttps://myweb.reco.on.ca to to si signgn g upup.p P Plealeasese makmake ye yyourour pa pap ymeymey ntnt asas soosoon an as ps ppossossibliblee. RE RECOCO doedoess notnot ac accepcept pt paymaymentents bs by py phonhone.e.

Contact RECO’s Insurance Department Directly At:

Additional insurance program details and FAQ sheets are available on MyWeb.

Suspension processRegistrants who fail to make their insurance payment by the due date will become part of the suspension process and will be required to pay an additional $35 for expenses related to administration of the suspension process. The total cost of insurance after the due date is $435. Non-paymentresults in suspension of registration effective Sept. 1, 2013.

Retiring or leaving the business before September?Terminate your registration by Aug. 2, 2013 to avoid becoming involved in thesuspension process. You have two options for completing your termination:

Send a completed “Notice of Change: Termination” form and a copy of your resignation letter to RECO’s Registration Department; or

Have your Broker of Record or Branch Manager complete the terminationprocess for you on MyWeb. See RECO’s website for further details.

Commission protection coverageRegistrants may claim commissions owed to them from the two-year period prior to the date of loss established by the insurer (eg. bankruptcy date of a brokerage). Once the date of loss is established during thepolicy period, all commission claims must be reported to the insurerwithin the two-year period following the date of loss. Visit MyWeb athttps://myweb.reco.on.ca to view the complete insurance policy.

Online (MyWeb): https://myweb.reco.on.ca | Phone: 416-207-4841 | Toll Free: 1-866-757-7772 | Fax: 416-207-9020 or 416-207-4820 | E-mail: [email protected]

Insurance payments are due by Aug. 16, 2013. The total cost of insurance, including taxes and expenses, for the 2013 - 2014policy period is $400.

e often need to changeour traditional way ofthinking – and some-

times a change will bring astound-ing results.

When I talk about referrals, inconversation or to any audience,everyone agrees they are great toreceive and that they guaranteealmost 100-per-cent conversion,normally at full price or commis-sion.

Is it possible to target for refer-rals?

Where we need to change ourthinking is rather than feeling it is“rather nice” when a referral“comes along”, we can actually set atarget for referrals each year – some-thing that most businesses, whetherreal estate or not, do not do.

By Ian Grace

How to generate referral richesBut can it be done? Surely,

referrals just happen when theyhappen, out of your control?

Well, a North AmericanRealtor (in the top one per cent bythe way), who I’ve known for over10 years now, proves YES conclu-sively.

In 2001, he told me his totalreferrals for the year were 250 –amazing in itself! But then heinformed me his target for the nextyear was 300. That really got myinterest.

He achieved it and over thenext few years I watched him gofrom 300 to 400 and then a stag-gering 500+ referrals. So yes, it canbe done.

Let’s get started! First, lookback at previously acquired list-ings/sales during the past year ortwo and determine what percent-age of them has been repeat orreferral business. Put this on agraph on your office wall, with thetarget you have set for repeat andreferral business (for example, youmight currently be running at 20-per-cent repeat and referral busi-

ness and the target you have set is65 per cent).

If the top 10 per cent of sales-people achieve around 65 per centor more, let’s use that as a bench-mark.

Think carefully as to whether,in this instance, this would be aone-year target or perhaps an 18-month to two-year target. Don’t setyour target too high.

Now put a system in place tohave a meaningful dialogue withevery client every six months (youmay wish to vary this timeframe,either now or later, based onresults). Ask if you can assist themin any way and offer them a helpfulsuggestion/information of somekind. Then ask them if there is any-one they can refer (and documentthat this has happened on a simplespreadsheet – this is absolutelyvital).

Just the mere fact of doing thiswill generate business – purely byasking the right question at theright time.

Make it easy for them – whenyou ask, either verbally or in writ-

ing for a referral, break it into men-tal bite-sized chunks such as:

• Family and relatives• Friends• Business colleagues and con-

tacts• Social, sporting and school

contactsWhen you just ask for “a refer-

ral”, they know so many peoplethat it’s hard for them to get theirheads around it. This way, bybreaking it into these smallergroups, it’s much easier for them tovirtually put faces with names andyou’ll find your response factorincreases dramatically.

Now ask yourself how often youcould get a referral from each ofyour current clients. Would justone per year be feasible? (Don’t for-get, you are now going to be in reg-ular meaningful contact withthem).

If so, you have just set a target ofone referral per client per year andthat goes on to the spreadsheetmentioned earlier.

Simple isn’t it? If you have 300clients, your referral target is 300 (if

you have 2,000 clients, it’s 2,000)and we know what that will do foryour business (hopefully with 100-per-cent conversion).

Let’s face it; if you achieve just afraction of that target, you will bemore than happy.

Just follow those simple tipsabove and you are now on your wayto targeting and managing referrals,which most businesses don’t do,thereby leaving your competitorsfar behind.

Perhaps a topic for anothertime is to set up a system for reward-ing your clients – first for the actu-al referral and secondly when busi-ness is completed. Good luck!

Known internationally as “Mr.Real Estate Advertising”, Australianborn Ian Grace is acknowledged asone of the world’s leading authoritieson real estate advertising. Since 1994,he has delivered his programs through-out Australia, New Zealand, U.S.A,Canada and the U.K. His articlesabout real estate advertising have beenpublished around the world.www.iangrace.com REM

W

16 REM AUGUST 2013

Focus on what’s important, says award-winning sales rep

aseball legend LeoDurocher once said niceguys finish last. No one told

Lisa McCormack that.A sales rep with Re/Max 3000

in Miramichi, N.B., McCormacktreats everyone with care andkindness, and that’s the real secretto her success, says her assistantTanya Sturgeon. She emailedREM to suggest a story about theboss she says “is an inspiration towork for.”

McCormack got her real estatelicense in 2003, first working for a local firm and then joining Re/Max 3000 in 2006. Her achievements include top producer in Miramichi andNorthhumberland County in2008-2012 (based on MLS statis-tics); top producer for Re/Max3000 from 2007-2012; Re/MaxHall of Fame inductee in 2011;Re/Max International PlatinumAward winner in 2011 and 2012;and Re/Max’s 100% Club from

B 2007 – 2010. She was alsoMiramichi Young Professional ofthe Year 2009.

Born and raised in Miramichi,at the age of 24, McCormack andher husband, Cory, opened ahealth club, where she worked as apersonal trainer for eight years.

After they sold the business,McCormack explored real estate asa career. The couple had dabbledin real estate, buying and sellinghouses, and she says she liked thenegotiation process and the excite-ment of the transaction. Realestate is an ideal job forMcCormack, a “people person”who enjoys being independent andself-employed.

Over the years, McCormackhas concentrated on building herbusiness. Her years as a personaltrainer taught her to stay focusedon her goals, to be driven and toalways do her best. She says she’snot competitive and doesn’t likethat aspect of the real estate busi-

ness. Instead of competing withothers, she competes with herself,working to achieve higher goalsand to focus on what’s important,she says.

Her personal trainer experi-ence also benefits her clients. Sheencourages them to follow theirhearts when making a real estatedecision. “I enjoyed being a per-sonal trainer and helping peopleachieve their goals. This is astrength that I still use today in myreal estate business.”

With a “facilitator personality,”McCormack says she works to cre-ate a win-win situation. “Everyonecan be comfortable in a transac-tion. I think my competitorsrespect me because I’m honest andnever a vicious negotiator.” Thatsaid, she does get deals done for herclients. “You can never be wrong ifyou’re honest. Loving and caringbring results.”

In 2009, she hired Sturgeon asher “wow co-ordinator” – someone

who would help add the “wow” toher business. Sturgeon, who earnedher real estate licence last year, isone of McCormack’s biggest fans.The feeling is mutual, McCormacksays. McCormack’s husband Cory,who chose not to become aRealtor, is McCormack’s “sign guyand driver.” The high schoolsweethearts have been togethersince 1987. “We’re different but wehave the same goals in life. Wehave different strengths. I couldn’tdo this business without his sup-port. He is my rock,” she says.

McCormack also makes fansand friends when she meets peoplethrough her many communityactivities, including work with theMiramichi Chamber ofCommerce, Women’s NetworkBoard of Directors, MYPIE Boardof Directors, mentor for the JuniorAchievement program and presi-dent of Miramichi Toastmasters.

Looking forward, McCormacksays she is looking to hire a buyers’

agent and over the next year plansto expand her business. She’ll dothat by sticking to her tips for suc-cess:

1. Focus on what’s importantand pursue it with all your energy.

2. Prioritize. Real estate is sucha busy business, it’s important toput important things, includingfamily, first.

3. Treat people with love.4. Never work for your pay-

cheque. Work for your client andthe paycheque will come.

5. Remember what is impor-tant. – Connie Adair REM

Lisa McCormack with husbandCory, who she says is her rock.

2121stst

he weather is a constantsource of conversation inCanada and a bone of

contention. Every spring we seeflooding occur across the country.The Prairies encounter floodingfrequently during the spring andevery fall, Eastern Canada getshammered with tropical stormsand hurricanes. After all of theseevents we have to deal with theafter-effects: mould.

Mould is everywhere. Thesmall spores are floating in the airyou’re breathing even as you readthis. It’s a ubiquitous part ofnature. These microscopic sporesfloat through the air, landing onsurfaces. If the conditions are notfavourable for growth, nothinghappens. But when they land on asurface with the right conditions –dampness and a suitable foodsource, such as wood or otherorganic material – a problem willsoon occur.

When a spore lands on a suit-able surface it begins to grow roots,stem and finally a head, which pro-duces many spores in as little as 12hours, given the right conditions.These spores are caught by air cur-rents and can then spread.

The spores are small – a typicalmould spore is only around threeto 40 microns in diameter. Tounderstand just how small this is,consider that human hairs measurebetween 30 and 120 microns indiameter.

Spores can travel very easily,seeking new places to grow.Sometimes they travel throughouta building using the ventilationsystem or natural air movementand spread, settling on surfaces,waiting for the opportunity togrow. Others don’t travel far, if theair movement isn’t favourable. Inthese cases, you can have largecolonies growing in a relativelyconfined area in a short period oftime. Each plant produces manyspores, which create more growth,which creates more spores…and itgoes on until either the food isgone or the conditions change.

Mould causes various issues,both for the building and for the

18 REM AUGUST 2013

T

Mould, mould everywhereWhen mould spores land on a surface with the right conditions – dampness and a suitable food source, such as wood or other organic material – a problem will soon occur.By Matthew Brewer

occupants. It uses the buildingstructure as food, which can causestaining or structural damage. Theodours of mould growth canbecome quite unpleasant – thesmell is usually a good indicator ofwhen there is a problem. Simplyput: if you see or smell mould, youhave mould.

In recent years the term “blackmould” has permeated the mediaand society. When I did buildingassessments, I would often be askedif the mould that was present wasblack mould. My reply has oftenbeen, “If it isn’t black mould,would you still want it?” In build-ing structures, no mould growthshould be considered acceptable,no matter the colour. Whilestachybotrys is black and one ofthe types with greater recognizedrisks, having any visible mould is a

clear indication that a problemcondition exists and should befixed.

When our health is broughtinto the picture, things get evenmore challenging. Some peoplehave sensitivities to mould and canreact from the toxins given off bysome types – even mould that hasdied. The spores of some types ofmould can cause allergic responsesin more sensitive people, includingthose with bronchitis, asthma andother respiratory conditions. Ifviable (live) mould is airborne andinhaled by occupants with com-promised immune systems, thosepeople can be at increased riskfrom life-threatening infections.In general, most of the populationonly notices the odours frommould growth and takes issue withthe esthetic aspect.

How do we prevent it fromgrowing? The simplest method isto keep it from entering in thefirst place. Barring that, the nextstep is to remove the moisturefrom the area. When flooding orwater infiltration occurs, it’s keyto get the water removed as quick-ly as possible. The longer themoisture sets, the further it canpenetrate, making removal moredifficult and giving mould a betterchance to take hold and createmore damage.

When significant growth orwater infiltration is suspected, it isstrongly recommended that a qual-ified consultant be brought in. Anexperienced consultant can deter-mine where the moisture may becoming into the building, as well asfind both visible and hidden areasof growth.

If mould has been allowed togrow, how do you get it out? Afterthe moisture source has been foundand removed, cleaning should bedetermined based on the size of thearea. If it is a small area, less than1 m2 (10 square feet), it can oftenbe scrubbed with household clean-ers, if it is only a surface growth.Simple cleaning products such astrisodium phosphate (TSP) can bepurchased at many stores, or othermould-specific cleaning productscan also be used. While bleach isoften used, it isn’t recommendeddue to the damage that the mouldcan do to the underlying material,as well as the potential for reactingwith any toxins and respiratoryrisks to the users.

If it appears that the mould isthick, has exceeded one squaremeter or has compromised thematerial, it is strongly suggestedthat a professional mould remedia-tion company do the work. It canquickly become a large projectrequiring specialized equipmentand training.

The remediation crew broughtin to clean should be expected tofollow industry guidelines. A valu-able resource is the Canadian con-struction industry’s publicationCCA-82, Mould guidelines for theCanadian construction industry. Itoffers professionals with informa-tion that can be used to do profes-sional cleaning. Another resourceis the Institute of Inspection,Cleaning and RestorationCertification (IICRC).

For many property mainte-nance or other professionals whomay encounter mould, having anawareness course is always benefi-cial. These courses are readilyavailable across Canada, and alsoare available online.

Matthew Brewer is an occupa-tional hygienist. He offers onlineawareness training in hazardousbuilding materials, such as mould,asbestos and lead through his compa-ny, Hazman Environmental TrainingServices. www.hazmantraining.com

REM

When I did building assessments, I would often be asked if the mould that

was present was black mould. My reply hasoften been, “If it isn’t black mould,

would you still want it?”

20 REM AUGUST 2013

SUPER SAVER

MONTHLY SPECIAL

$9.99FOR

Join eprintagent.com today! [email protected]

Prices are subject to change without notice.All prices quoted in CAD. Shipping and taxes are extra where applicable.

Login to eprintagent.com and order your High Quality Business Cards during our

Super Saver Special!

Order Today and

SAVE 35%!$9.99$15.60

500 - 1 or 2 SIDED CARDS

Sale ends August 3

1st, 2013

500 BUSINESS CARDS

n addition to compulsoryinsurance plans, professionalsoften take out additional

insurance. A recent American casepoints out the dangers of failing toread and comply with the insur-ance policy wordings.

A class action complaint wasmade and subsequently settled.One of the insurance carriers,whose portion of a $350 millionsettlement would have been $20million, declined coverage under a“claims made and reported” policy.Simply put, it says the claim, oncemade, must be reported to theinsurance company within the pol-

Read your insurance policy

I

LEGAL ISSUES

By Donald H. Lapowich

icy period so that it can investi-gate, appoint counsel and setreserves.

In this instance, the notice(reporting) provision under thepolicy “required written notice of aclaim to the insurance company’sclaims department” in New York.No “notice” was sent in compli-ance with this term. The courtdetermined that the insured couldnot simply provide a loss runreflecting the subject matter to theunderwriting department – thiswas held to be insufficient.

■ ■ ■

Boilerplate provisions:Recently law professors in theUnited States and Canada havemade extensive comments on boil-erplate language in contracts.There is real criticism against boil-erplate provisions that attempt toexclude negligence and/or liabilitybeing enforced by consumers orothers through contractual terms.

Take, for example, an oldercase, Tilden Rent-a-Car, where the

procedure was a hurried sign-in/drive-out program. The renterhad to sign a contract that he hadno chance to read. Buried in thatcontract was a collision damagewaiver that made the contract voidif the person who rented the vehi-cle had any liquor whatsoever inany amount in their system whiledriving the car.

The defendant (who ended updamaging the car) had consumed adrink, but stressed he was notintoxicated. When the car wasdamaged, the defendant refused topay damages. Both the trial courtand the appeal court dismissed thecompany’s action as the circum-stances did not really involve thecustomer assenting to the boiler-plate provision and therefore thecompany could not rely on unusu-al and onerous printed terms in thecontract that were not drawn tothe customer’s attention.

In essence, the courts are look-ing to the contracting partiesassenting to such boilerplate pro-visions. There must be fairness

applied to the “standard form con-tract”. There must be reasonable-ness in such all-encompassingcontractual exemptions in thecontract and they are open to acourt’s review and avoidance ifthe terms are unreasonable, unfairand unexpected.

This principle should be at theback of everyone’s mind whendrafting a contract to isolate one-self from liability. Going overboardwill obviously raise suspicions oftaking unfair advantage.

■ ■ ■

Both sides are vulnerable: In acase that confirms that you cannottake advantage of the other side ina sale/purchase unless you yourselfare ready to close, a purchaseragreed to buy a condominium unitfrom the vendor.

The purchaser paid a highdeposit of $70,000.

At the time of closing, the ven-dors were out of the country. Theyhad a power of attorney but it wasdefective so the deal could not be

registered or closed. The purchaseralso admitted that she was not in afinancial position to complete thepurchase.

When the vendor/purchaserssued each other, the issue aroseabout the deposit.

The court confirmed that bothparties being in default, timeceased to be of essence, the agree-ment remained alive and eitherparty had to stipulate a new com-pletion date. However, both ven-dor and purchasers chose theagreement to be at an end. Becausethe vendor was in breach at thetime it was to close, the vendor wasnot entitled to retain the deposit ofthe purchasers. (Malek v.Tanbakookar, 2012 BCSC 1742,available at canlii.org)

Donald Lapowich, Q.C. is apartner at the law firm of Koskie,Minsky in Toronto, where he prac-tices civil litigation, with a particularemphasis on real estate litigation andmediation, acting for builders, realestate agents and lawyers. REM

REM AUGUST 2013 21

he other day I was askedto sit in on a meetingbetween one of our expe-

rienced agents and her friend,who is about to get his licence.Over the next 30 minutes or so,we discussed some of their ideasabout how to develop lead gener-ation.

One idea was to send flyers toa large subdivision area of 2,500homes. I suggested that may betoo many homes to reach on aregular basis because it would bevery costly, and that it would beimpractical to try and contact theresidents on a regular basis.

From a logistic and financialpoint of view, I argued that unlessthey spend a great deal of money,the rate of return on their invest-ment would be nominal. Wekicked around the idea of takingsmaller areas within the subdivi-sion and they agreed. I suggestedcontacting that target area everythree weeks by phone or by directdoor-to-door contact with someneat handouts. I suggested somefree brochures that you can getfrom CREA, CMHC, homebuilders’ associations and utilitycompanies. They could have acustomized stamp on each stat-ing, “Distributed courtesy of...”

I’ve mentioned many times inmy articles that you don’t haveto spend a lot of money to makemoney. Giving homeowners afree brochure that has great infor-mation that is helpful to themwould stand the agents in goodstead.

AS I SEE IT FROM MY DESK

By Stan Albert

What does it taketo be a success?

T

We also talked about callingapartment buildings and suggest-ing to tenants that the agentscould help them buy their firsthome with creative financing andusing the Home Buyer’s Plan,which allows access to theirRRSPs as a partial down pay-ment. First-time buyers are stilldriving a great deal of the homesales across Canada. This was aneye-opener for the young agents,who never thought to call on ten-ants (and yes, there are scripts forthat as well).

As the discussion was wrap-ping up, the Phase 3 agent-to-beasked me an age-old question.What does it take to be a success?Actually he zeroed in morespecifically by asking what fivethings it takes to be a success inreal estate.

I thought for a moment ortwo, and then gave him what Ithought were the basic ingredi-ents in the formula of what ittakes.

1. Be accountable to yourself,your broker and your family.

2. Study real estate every dayfrom day one when you get yourlicence.

3. Preview properties everyweek and hold at least one openhouse each week for the public.

4. Make a plan and stick to itand review it regularly.

5. Buy a property every 18months.

The young man looked at mefor a minute or two after he’dtyped the foregoing into his iPadand then said to me, “Now Iknow why being old is gold!”

I smiled and thanked him forhis kind words. It was the nicestthing anyone could say to me aweek before I turned 77 yearsyoung!

Stan Albert, broker/manager,ABR, ASA at Re/Max Premier inVaughan, Ont. can be reached forconsultation at [email protected] is now celebrating his 43rd yearas an active real estate professional.

REM

22 REM AUGUST 2013

By Tim Syrianos

Do you have a MOP and MAP?great deal of respect. I continueto be impressed with the volumeof sales he gets and his domi-nance in the market. I wasclearly reminded that to be ableto operate at that level andbeyond, systems are necessary.

MOP stands for MarketingOperation Procedure. Any suc-cessful business has a manuallike this. It outlines exactlywhat you do and how to dealwith buyers and sellers in thereal estate business. It is theblueprint to eliminate errors inperformance and a manual thatall team leaders as well as agents

should build and use.The MOP also includes a

MAP or Marketing Action Plan.When listing a property forsale, it is designed into a com-puter program and attached tothe inside of the property folderto make sure the execution ofall marketing efforts is complet-ed to achieve results. Once theproperty is sold, then the salesrep should apply the After SalePlan. If you have a buyer client,you apply the Working with aBuyer Plan and the Buyer SoldPlan.

As you can see, it’s all about

systems and these are types ofaction plans executed on anautomatic basis that keep youorganized and focussed. Thesesystems and plans allow you toconcentrate on productiveactivities and simplify your busi-ness.

It amazes me how manyRealtors just “wing it” and don’thave a consistent plan. Can youimagine an airline pilot not fol-lowing a checklist from depar-ture to arrival? It could make fora very bumpy and scary ride foryour passengers……your clients!How many referrals would you

get after that type of ride?Our clients trust us with their

homes and their financial well-being and we must do every-thing possible to protect them.Being successful begins withbeing organized and having aplan. It’s a great start!

Tim Syrianos is the broker ofrecord and owner of Re/MaxUltimate in Toronto, with close to200 Realtors. He started his realestate career at the age of 19, some24 years ago. Email [email protected] or phone 416-487-5131. REM

ou’re probably thinking,what does a MOP have todo with real estate? I can

assure you that cleaning floors isnot the type of MOP I wasthinking about.

I was recently speaking to atop producer for whom I have a

Y

hen preparing to buy ahome, a strong creditrating is an important

factor in obtaining financing.Lenders will look at a borrower’scredit record and credit score toevaluate their willingness andability to pay their debts.

A good credit rating isachieved by paying all bills ontime. It’s important that con-sumers understand this includesnot only their credit card state-ments, but also all other regularexpenses such as taxes, hydro, gas,cable, telephone and so on. Lateor missed payments are reflectedon a credit report and can lead tolonger-term problems that impactan individual’s credit rating. Thegoal should be to demonstrate atrack record of paying all bills on-time and in full.

A borrower’s credit score,along with their credit profile, willbe reviewed by individual lendersto establish credit worthiness. A

low credit score can affect thatindividual’s ability to buy a homequite severely because there is aminimum score required.

Encourage your customers toreview their own credit report andscore before applying for a loan.This will allow them to uncoverany errors or signs of fraud. For asmall fee, a credit bureau (Equifaxor TransUnion) will provide aninstantaneous online report thatdetails current debts and paymenthistory. The report includes infor-mation on what the score levelmeans, how it compares to othersand how it can be improved. Thereport can also be requested bymail for free.

If your customer’s credit ratingis scoring on the lower end, youcan encourage them to not give upand provide guidance on how toimprove their score. By payingdown existing debts and makingsure future bills are paid on time,they can see their rating improve.

In general, anyone who wantsto improve their credit profileshould live within their means andcontrol their spending habits ifthey truly want to become ahomeowner.

Kiki Sauriol-Roode is VP, strate-gic alliances for Genworth Canada.For more articles and videos onadvice for first-time homebuyers, visitwww.homeownership.ca. REM

Good credit versus bad credit

By Kiki Sauriol-Roode

W

n 1951 the Supreme Court ofCanada restricted the reachof Ontario’s Real Estate and

Business Brokers Act (REBBA)when it decided that REBBA doesnot apply to the sale of shares of abusiness. The Supreme Courtfound that the legislation was arti-ficial and greatly extended. Thelower courts have continued torestrict REBBA’s reach.

For example, a single transac-tion has been divided into twoparts: one that was covered byREBBA (the real estate assets) andthe other part was not (the non-real estate assets). The courtshave also required clear andunqualified proof that REBBAapplies to stay a proceeding.

Recently an Ontario court wasasked to consider, for the first timeever, whether the sale of a licenceis captured by REBBA. In otherwords, does someone need to beregistered under REBBA todemand a commission for broker-ing the sale of a licence?

In Geofre v. Ki Kit Li, Li hired

Geofre, his accountant, to find abuyer for his two licenses andagreed to pay Geofre a consultingfee on closing based on a sellingprice of $1.75 million. Geofrefound a buyer for the licenses andthat buyer paid for the licenses.The Ministry of Health transferredthe licenses and started depositingthe revenues from the licenses tothe buyer’s bank account.

The licenses at issue are veryvaluable; they enjoy special OHIP(the provincial health care pro-gram) billing privileges becausethey are grandfathered designatedphysiotherapy clinics. This grand-fathered status means that thephysiotherapy services renderedare paid for by OHIP, not by thepatients personally.

Geofre introduced the buyer toLi and Li’s lawyer confirmed thatthe deal was closed. Geofre’s oblig-ations under the agreement weresatisfied and he sought payment ofthe consulting fee. Despite repeat-ed demands for payment, Lirefused to pay, forcing Geofre tosue. Li sought to have the lawsuitthrown out of court on a techni-cality – Geofre is not registered

under REBBA. Li argued that because Geofre

is not registered under REBBA,the consulting fee was illegal andthe court should throw the lawsuitout of court.

The court disagreed with Liand held that the license fell out-side the definition of real estate inREBBA. The court also foundthat this would hold true even ifthe rest of the business sold haslittle independent value from thelicences.

The result was not surprising inthe circumstances; a licence is notreal estate. The real questions are:What are we going to see in thefuture? Will the court continue tocut back the reach of REBBA?How far will the courts cut backREBBA? These and other ques-tions remain open.

Thomas Arndt is a litigation part-ner at the Toronto offices of DickinsonWright LLP. Together with his part-ner, Mark Shapiro, Arndt successful-ly represented the plaintiffs in Geofrev. Ki Kit Li. Arndt can be reached [email protected].

REM

By Thomas Arndt

Ontario courtsays licences arenot ‘real estate’

I

hink about iPads, tablets,real estate CRMs, QRcodes, blogging, digital

document storage and other tech-nology tools. If you’re not embrac-ing them, they’re not fully workingfor you.

Here’s the problem. Many realestate agents don’t consider them-selves “tech savvy”. They may beinterested in technology, but theyhaven’t fully embraced it.

As a Realtor, embracing tech-nology is essential to future success.The first step is being open tolearning and willing to expandyour horizons.

When you are interested andinvested in technology, and have

REM AUGUST 2013 23

T

1-800-542-7324 416-695-9000 [email protected] www.reic.ca

��

��

Earn PDP, MCE,

CPE credits

(where applicable)

��

�� !�"��#��

$�� "�� " ��%�� "��!�� "��!��

Education Experience Ethical Conduct

By Matthew Collis

Is technology working for or against you?taken the necessary steps to inte-grate it into your business, therewards can be extraordinary.

For instance, many of our cus-tomers at IXACT Contact havebuilt their entire business fromreferrals and repeat clients. This isa result of using their real estateCRM to properly keep in touchwith past clients and importantreferral sources on a long-term,ongoing basis.

A real estate CRM is just thebeginning. I know many Realtorswho can easily “wow” theirprospects and clients with sleek,technology-driven listing presenta-tions, state-of-the-art propertyvideos, an impactful, feature-richwebsite and unique and innovativemarketing and advertising tools.

There are two enlighteningstudies that were conducted by theonline real estate communityActiveRain. The first, Real EstateMarketing and Software: The

Price is Right, found that “agentsearning more than $100,000 spend79 per cent and 22 per cent moreon their website and CRM respec-tively than agents earning less than$35,000.” The second study, RichReal Estate Agent, Poor RealEstate Agent, found that thosemaking over $100,000 invest sixtimes as much in technology thanthose earning under $35,000 ayear. Almost twice as many ofthese successful agents use a realestate CRM than the poor ones.

Both of these studies under-score the strong correlationbetween investing in and embrac-ing technology and business suc-cess.

Dave Liniger, chairman andco-founder of Re/MaxInternational, is a strong advo-cate of agents taking technologyand using it to improve their busi-ness. When Liniger was namedthe “People’s Choice Most

Influential Real Estate Leader” byInman News last year, he used hisacceptance speech to extol thevirtues of agents adapting to tech-nology and the dangers inherentif they don’t.

He mentioned that not verylong ago (three or four years agonow), most of us had never evenheard of an app or iPad. Now, theword iPad is a household name andmore than 600,000 iPad apps havebeen created.

The issue may not have any-thing to do with technology andmay be the bigger issue of change.Are you someone who readilyadapts to change or do you tend tocringe and resist it?

If you fall into the latter cate-gory, your job may become increas-ingly difficult in the years ahead (ifit hasn’t already) as technologycontinues to evolve at a rapid paceand your competition uses it totheir advantage. This all happens

as you trail behind, missing out oneasy leads (perhaps low-hangingfruit) and great sources of newbusiness and income.

Incorporating technology intoyour business can feel like a daunt-ing task. Where do you start andhow do you do it? The bestapproach is to prioritize the tech-nologies you think might help youthe most and then implementthem one at a time in a step-by-step fashion. Don’t try to “eat theelephant” all in one meal. Instead,break it down into smaller stepswhere you can learn one or twofunctions that you can then applyto your business.

If you invest just 30 minutesevery day, you’ll be amazed at howquickly you’ll start to see realresults.

Matthew Collis is part of the salesand marketing team at IXACTContact Solutions Inc., a NorthAmerican real estate CRM firm. Inaddition to overseeing many key salesand marketing programs, he workswith Realtors to help them achievetheir real estate goals through effectivecontact management and relationshipmarketing. REM

e love the outdoors insummer because it’s arevitalizing break from

our long Canadian winters, duringwhich hibernating in front of ourbig screens is pretty much standardoperating procedure. The milderweather gives way to lush greenlawns, flowering plants and birdsand bees and gives us the opportu-nity to get closer to nature, fresh airand sunshine.

So why do we assault ourhealthy outdoor settings withchemicals and noise-pollutinglawn and gardening equipmentthat devour copious amounts offuel and energy? Showcasing a

24 REM AUGUST 2013

W

Dianne Usher President

Paul Etherington President-Elect

Ann HannahPast President

Gurcharan (Garry) BhauraWest Brokerage

Director

Stuart Braund West Non-Brokerage

Director

Larry Cerqua Central Non-Brokerage

Director

John (Jerry) England Director-at-Large

Karen GerrardNorth Non-Brokerage

Director

Don KottickDirector-at-Large

John Lusink North Brokerage

Director

Michelle Makos East Non-Brokerage

Director

Mark McLean Director-at-Large

Toronto Real Estate Board2013/2014 Board of Directors

Rosalind Menary East Brokerage

Director

Shirley Porter Director-at-Large

Tim Syrianos Central Brokerage

Director

Cynthia Lai Chair, Executive Council

Commercial Division

An earth-easy oasisGREEN REAL ESTATE

By Elden Freeman

beautiful lawn with its associatedgardens and perhaps a pool or hottub is practically a rite of passage insome households. So let’s considerways to do so in a kinder and gen-tler fashion.

When it comes to grass, biggeris not necessarily better. Do youreally need all that turf? Considerreplacing sections with low orlower maintenance rock gardens,pretty flowering ground covers,ornamental grasses or perhaps astone area with a bench or somesuch other decorative feature. Notonly will you be going easy on theearth thanks to less cutting, water-ing and chemicals, you’ll also savetime and money.

Try grasscycling, which meansleaving your grass clippings todecompose after cutting the lawn.This is a great fertilizer for youryard as the clippings provide nutri-ents to your lawn. Try not to letyour grass get too long – otherwiseyou may end up with clumps ofgrass. If that happens just run yourmower over them again.

If you can’t stand the idea of

clippings breaking down in youryard, rake them up and use them inyour compost bin or as mulch inyour flower beds.

If your lawn isn’t a great bigcountry-sized one, why not consid-er a push mower? These mowershave so many benefits it’s surpris-ing they haven’t yet made a greatbig comeback. Compared to gas orelectric mowers, push mowers arecheap to buy, dead-easy to main-tain, easier to use and manoeuvre,quiet as a mouse and best of all,earth friendly because they emit nopollutants and don’t need fuel orenergy to run. Think about thecalories you’ll burn and the mus-cles you’ll work pushing thatmower around.

For shrubs, hedges and trees,pruning is your best bet if you wantthicker foliage, more flowers and agenerally healthier plant. Handpruners are great for floweringshrubs, while loppers and a handsaw might be required for moregnarly growth you find on oldershrubs that have been neglected oron small trees. No need for heavy-

duty electrical or gas-powered cut-ters.

If you own a swimming pool ora hot tub, there are ways to enjoythe water that put fewer burdenson the environment. Coveringyour pool with a solar blanket pre-vents the loss of heat, water andthe evaporation of chlorine. Keepdebris and leaves away from yourpool because they place addedstress on your filtration and chem-ical systems, causing them to workharder and use more energy andchemicals. Try natural enzymes inyour pool or hot tub. They removeorganic build-up and reduce chlo-rine demand and can enhanceyour water quality significantly.Pointing your jets downwards willdirect heated water toward thebottom of the pool, causing thewater to warm faster.

While chlorine is the chemicalof choice for many pool owners,heightened interest in less harshand more natural products haspaved the way for alternatives. Insome systems, water is pumpedthrough a chamber containing

titanium plates and copper andzinc ions, while other systemsresult in a reduced dependence onchlorine. In Europe, natural swim-ming pools, which look and func-tion as self-cleaning mini eco-sys-tems, have been around for years.These green pools or ponds, asthey’re sometimes called, useaquatic greenery that acts as a bio-logical filter. North Americans arestarting to take notice but havebeen slow to do so, some say, due toour obsession with hyper cleanli-ness.

By trying a few of these sugges-tions you’re likely to save time,money and wear and tear on theplanet. If nothing else, that shouldprompt you to stop and smell theroses every so often.

The National Association ofGreen Agents and Brokers(NAGAB) provides a Greenbrokerand Greenagent certification programto Realtors across Canada. To getmore information or to sign up for acourse, visit www.nagab.org. EldenFreeman M.E.S., AGB, broker isthe founder and executive director ofthe non-profit organization. 1-877-524-9494; Email [email protected].

REM

REM AUGUST 2013 25

WINNER

CANADIAN MORTGAGE AWARDS

2013

RECOGNIZED BY THE CANADIAN MORTGAGE AWARDS 2013

FIND A MORTGAGE BROKER NEAR YOU.www.verico.ca

VERICO Financial Group Inc.

VERICO Financial Group Inc.

CANADA’S #1MORTGAGE BROKERSNETWORK.

®

ecently my wife and I hadto remove a sectional sofafrom our TV room to

make way for a new and improvedset. In retrospect, it seemed likesuch a simple task...in practice, itwas anything but.

The replacement was anundersized sectional sofa set thatwe spent weeks searching for,specifically to accommodate thedimensions of the cramped room.From the House Of Seven Dwarfscollection. We had a great sales-person at the furniture store – apatient and jovial chap, until afterthe third hour of our absoluteinability to choose even the basiccolour of the sectional. At thatpoint he excused himself to goweep in the store’s basementstockroom.

We were eventually able tomake a decision, and ordered thesofa. This new sectional seemedto be perfect after it arrived – itreclined and had plenty of roomfor me to sprawl out. By the sec-ond week though, my wife hadgrown to hate it – hated theshape, hated the colour we hadpicked in haste, hated the factthat it had ever been born. Thesectional’s days were suddenlynumbered.

After failing to sell theshunned sofa in online ads, wehad to haul it out to the garage tomake room for its replacement.We did gain invaluable lessons infurniture relocation, which Ifreely share with you now:

1. If your moving partnerdrops an end of a heavy sofa sec-tion without warning you in

Leave moving tothe professionals

By Dan St. Yves

advance, there is a good chancethat you may hurt yourself (andyour best dress corduroys, whichyou should have changed out ofbefore beginning this effort in thefirst place). In my case, a verticallength of my looser knee flesh wassacrificed to the moving gods.

2. When trying to reinstall aspring that has fallen off the reclin-er mechanism, do not be surprisedif it slips off of your tool and rock-ets straight out of the garage,removing (I kid you not) a portionof the flesh on your moving part-ner’s index finger. Man, can thosethings propel! They don’t callthem “springs” for nothing.

3. If you are primarily as seden-tary as a forest log in your day-to-day life, when you attempt tomove something about the samesize as a 1957 Buick with nowarm-up or muscles, you may pullyour back a bit. You may even,like me, hear something similar toa shotgun pop, just before yourshoulders settle onto your upperbuttocks.

4. Basic rule of physics: sharpcorners and feet on the bottom ofthe sofa are much more durablethan wood trim, drywall and carpeting. Any repair tips for those items would be greatlyappreciated.

5. If you, like myself are one ofthose men who scoffs at operationor assembly manuals, do not alertyour spouse (AFTER you are donemoving a piece of furniture) tothe fact that the sofa you have justrepeatedly wounded yourself mov-ing comes apart to an even morecondensed version than youthought it did (with just a fewvery simple levers whose purposeyou never could understand).

What’s done is done, I said,laughing nervously. I’m sure we’llappreciate the new sofa. Oncewe’re able to climb stairs again.

Humour columnist and authorDan St. Yves was licensed with RoyalLePage Kelowna for 11 years. Checkout his website at www.nonsenseand-stuff.com, or contact him [email protected]. REM

R

he Real Estate Institute ofCanada installed the 2013-2014 Board of Directors at

the institute’s 2013 AnnualConference and AGM, held thisyear in Toronto.

The new president of the boardis Ron Fraser, director of capitalplanning in the Asset Managementunit with Infrastructure Ontario(IO). He has been an REIC mem-ber for more than 20 years and ispast-president of the both REICToronto Chapter and the LondonChapter.

The new Board of Directors are:Lindsay Carlson, Re/Max Elite,B.C.; Winson Chan, TridelCorporation, Ontario; Shey Ergil,Ergil Bains & Associates, Alberta;Scott Fischer, First Condo Group,

26 REM AUGUST 2013

T Ontario; Clayton Fitzsimmons,Fitzimmons Realty Services,Ontario; Candace Le Roux,Midwest Properties, BritishColumbia; Suzanne LeValley,Longley Condominiums, Alberta;Ron Penner, Globe GeneralAgencies, Manitoba; and TonyWagner, WPJ McCarthy &Company, British Columbia.

The Toronto andSaskatchewan chapters, two of 14REIC chapters across Canada,received high honours in REIC’sPursuit of Excellence Awards pro-gram as recipients of the 2013Chapter of the Year Award.

The award recognizes the smalland large chapter that has done anoutstanding job in advancing thegoals and objectives of the institute

through initiatives such as chapterevents, professional developmentseminars, community service, mar-keting and membership retentionprograms.

The Saskatchewan Chapteralso won the OutstandingCanadian Chapter Award from theInstitute of Real EstateManagement (IREM).

Other 2013 REIC Pursuit ofExcellence Awards went to:

REIC Emeritus Award –Myrton Bello, Services immobilierà la carte and Christine Stanley,Gateway Property ManagementCorporation.

J.A. Weber Award – JohnmarkRoberts, broker of record, B&BAssociates Realty.

Bentall Kennedy ExcellenceAward – Katherine Weiss, generalmanager, real estate services,Bentall Kennedy.

Bentall Kennedy LiteraryAward – Eugene Korneluk,PWGSC AFMS, Ontario Region.

Murray Bosley Sales &Leasing Council Member of theYear Award – Johnmark Roberts.

Real Estate ManagementCouncil Member of the Year

Award – Eugene Korneluk. REIC Community Services

Award – Realtors Association ofEdmonton .

WPJ McCarthy CorporateCitizen of the Year – MidwestProperty Management.

Association of the Year Award– Manitoba Housing & RenewalCorporation.

Chapter Initiative of the YearAward – Real Estate Institute ofManitoba and REIC TorontoChapter.

Don Hill Award, SmallChapter – IREM Quebec Chapter.

Don Hill Award, LargeChapter – REIC GreaterVancouver Chapter.

■ ■ ■

Ontario’s provincial budget,which passed in the legislature inJune, contains provisions that willbring electronic real estate agree-ments of purchase and sale onestep closer to reality in Ontario.

The budget bill includes anamendment to the ElectronicCommerce Act (ECA), 2000,extending the legal protections ofthe ECA to include electronic real

estate agreements of purchase andsale. Currently, Ontario Realtorsare reluctant to use electronicagreements due to their exclusionfrom the act, says the Ontario RealEstate Association (OREA).

“This amendment means thatRealtors and consumers will soonhave the confidence to use tech-nology that improves the speed,efficiency and reliability of realestate transactions,” says PhilDorner, president of OREA. “Thisis great news for Realtors as well asconsumers across the province.”

The government has includeda section that says it will come intoforce upon proclamation. This sec-tion is meant to allow the govern-ment time to speak with variousstakeholders, including OREA,before the amendment comes intoforce.

“We look forward to workingwith the government to get thisimportant change proclaimed intolaw,” said Dorner. “Electronicagreements of purchase and saleare commonly used in jurisdictionsacross the United States and it’sabout time Ontarians have accessto them.”

Ron Fraser Matthew Thornton

From left: REIC nationalpast-presidentSuzanneLeValley; REISChapter presi-dent JackiePresnell; and2013 AwardsTask ForceChair LindsayCarlson.

CREA president

Laura Leyserwith MREA

presidentBrian

Canart.

The REIC 2013-2014 Board of Directors. Wendy Hallihan with RandyLynch

Members of the Toronto Chapter gather for a group pic-ture. Back row, from left: Carmella Corrado, JoanneVacheresse, David Roberts, Don Kottick, EugeneKorneluk, REIC national president Ron Fraser,Johnmark Roberts, Scott Fischer, Cynthia Lai, WalterLui and Winson Chan. From row, from left: Alex Pino,Toronto Chapter president Ken Finch.

From left: Marlene Atcheson (OMDREB ScholarshipSelection Committee chair), Aziz Kanjee (president,OMDREB) Rob Burton (Mayor of Oakville), Adriane Pong,Taylor Westenberg, Leah Jensen, Zain Abideen, Tania DaCosta (Navigator Program, Halton Healthcare Services),Michele Gaboury (Membership Committee, chair) and TingaHeusser (Navigator Program, Halton Healthcare Services).

Jean Anderson Peter Atkinson

REM AUGUST 2013 27

■ ■ ■

The Association of ReginaRealtors (ARR) has honoured oneGrade 8 student from each of thecity’s public and Catholic elemen-tary schools with the RealtorsCitizenship Award. The award rec-ognizes young people who demon-strate an exemplary commitmentto their school and community.

ARR introduced the award in2012 as a lasting legacy of its 100thanniversary and as part of itsQuality of Life program.

■ ■ ■

Matthew Thornton has beennamed director of governmentrelations for the Ontario RealEstate Association. Thornton suc-ceeds Jim Flood, who will remainat OREA in an advisory capacity.

Thornton joined OREA’s gov-ernment relations department inJuly 2008. He holds a Bachelor ofArts (Honours) and a Master ofArts in Political Science from theUniversity of Western Ontario inaddition to his CertifiedAssociation Executive (CAE) des-ignation. Thornton is also a gradu-ate of the Ontario LegislatureInternship Program.

■ ■ ■

Realtors across the country are raising funds for Alberta flood relief. In support of the relief efforts, the CanadianRealtors Care Foundation is run-ning a nationwide campaign(www.Realtorscare.ca) with allmonies donated to the CanadianRed Cross.

CREA president Laura Leyser’srecent visit to Winnipeg helped

raise more than $2,000. Leysersponsored the 10th hole at theManitoba Real EstateAssociation’s President’s CharityGolf Classic, and she raised moremoney by selling Realtors Carekeys to golfers at $10 apiece. TheMREA Board of Directorsmatched the $1,100 Leyser raisedfor a total of $2,200.

OREA and the OntarioRealtors Care Foundation are giv-ing a combined donation of$40,000 to the Alberta FloodsFund. Phil Dorner, president ofOREA, says: “Realtor involve-ment and commitment to commu-nity is no secret. With thousands ofpeople in need in flood ravagedsouthern Alberta, our Realtor fam-ily is ready and willing to lend oursupport to the relief efforts.”

The Durham RegionAssociation of Realtors (DRAR)also donated $5,000.

“When terrible events occur,you often see a community pulltogether, and even though thisisn’t happening in our backyard,we feel compelled to help,” saysIan Smith, president of DRAR.

■ ■ ■

While in Winnipeg, Leyser,who is from Stratford, Ont., alsomade a presentation at MREA’sBoard of Directors meeting – thefirst time for a CREA president inmore than a decade. She sharedinformation from CREA about 10important issues being looked atright now, including the currentCREA governance review, FuturesPlanning and the topic Leyser con-siders the most essential: commu-nication.

“Across Canada, all of theboards and associations are part ofthe Realtor family, and they’re partof a relationship with CREA,”Leyser said after her presentation.“We’re trying to build those rela-tionships and enhance them, andif it means going face-to-face andsitting and listening and trying tocommunicate more directly, that’swhat we’re going to do. It’s aboutcollaboration and about buildingcommunity.”

■ ■ ■

A new poll conducted for theToronto Real Estate Board(TREB) is showing strong publicsupport for eliminating the city’sLand Transfer Tax.

“Torontonians know that theland transfer tax is bad for our city,and they want City Council to fol-low through on commitments tophase it out,” says Ann Hannah,president of TREB.

The poll, conducted by IpsosReid, found that:

• Two-thirds of Torontonianssupport plans to eliminate theToronto Land Transfer Tax;

• Support for eliminating theLand Transfer Tax with a gradualphase-out approach, as suggestedby Mayor Rob Ford, is strong (65per cent);

• 90 per cent of recent homebuyers feel that they received littleor no added value in municipal ser-vices for the Land Transfer Taxthat they paid to the city;

• 74 per cent of home buyersin Toronto and the GreaterToronto Area say they are morelikely to purchase a home outsideof Toronto specifically because of

the Toronto Land Transfer Tax; • 65 per cent of home buyers

who currently live in Toronto saythey are more likely to leaveToronto when they purchase theirnext home, specifically because ofthe Toronto Land Transfer Tax.

■ ■ ■

A program established to pro-mote the safety of both Realtorsand residents of apartment-stylecondominium buildings is growingtenfold over the summer inresponse to positive feedback on apilot project in Calgary.

One downtown buildingadopted CREB’s Lobbybox pro-gram last summer, after the systemwas proposed as a way of easing aproblem that led to an attack on alocal Realtor in November 2011.A second building came aboard afew months later, but 20 buildingswill have the new feature byLabour Day.

A Realtor safety task force, cre-ated after the attack, identified aninnovative program active inVictoria, where a centralized lock-box is placed in a secure, central-ized, safe location, usually the frontentrance or lobby. CREB adoptedthe program in 2012.

The new system ensures allkeys to individual units are storedwithin the building, reducing therisk of unwanted access.

■ ■ ■

The Oakville, Milton andDistrict Real Estate Board(OMDREB) awarded four $2,000scholarships to students fromOakville, Milton and Burlington-area high schools.

The award recipients, ZainAbideen (Abbey Park HighSchool), Leah Jensen (Lester B.Pearson High School), AdrianePong (Craig Kielburger SecondarySchool) and Taylor Westenberg(White Oaks Secondary School),were selected based on their writ-ten or video essay on the topic ofyouth and teenage mental health.

The board partnered withHalton Healthcare Services’Navigator Program as part of thisyear’s President’s Charity. TheNavigator Program, which assistschildren and youth who are strug-gling with mental health illness, isthe primary recipient of fundsraised by the board’s members for2013.

■ ■ ■

At a recent general meeting ofThe Real Estate Board of theFredericton Area, several memberswere recognized for their years ofmembership. President WendyHallihan presented them with cer-tificates and gifts.

Those honoured were DonnaGardiner Thompson and JoyPeterson for 25 years; JeanAnderson and Peter Atkinson for30 years; and Randy Lynch for 40years.

■ ■ ■

CorrectionA story in the June issue of

REM incorrectly stated that theDistinguished Realtor Award waspresented to Phillip Mack by theAssociation of Regina Realtors. Infact, it was presented by theAssociation of SaskatchewanRealtors. REM

ou may or may not beaware of this fact, but morepeople are choosing to use

a real estate agent than ever before.In correlation to the increaseddemand for real estate agents is theso-called democratization of infor-mation – the opening of the web,a.k.a. the Google factor, and thegeneral trend of consumers choos-ing how and when they purchaseproducts. When you analyze thestatistics surrounding Internetadoption and demand for realestate agents, an untold storyunfolds.

Let’s start with the number ofhome buyers working with aRealtor, as published in a recentU.S. report issued on Realtor.org.In 2001 about 69 per cent of allhome buyers worked with a realestate agent. Dramatically, by 2012that number increased to 89 percent, according to the NationalAssociation of Realtors (NAR).That’s a whopping 20 per centincrease.

That’s a good news story forCanadian real estate. After anonslaught of news about an uncer-tain economy over the last fouryears, along with a general openingup of information online, youwould be forgiven for assumingthat Realtors’ future in the market-

28 REM AUGUST 2013

YBy Jonathan Whiting

Demand for Realtors is increasingplace might be at risk. The num-bers are not reflecting that and thestory doesn’t stop there.

The increased demand for realestate agents may be related to asurprising factor. A growing demo-graphic of home buyers is adoptingthe Internet and technology intheir home-buying process. Ananalysis of the 2012 Profile ofHome Buyers and Sellers releasedby NAR found that home buyersusing the Internet were more like-ly to work with a real estate agent.Twenty per cent more likely, to beexact. This is counter to a commonassumption that the more access ahome buyer has to informationonline, the less they will need towork with a real estate agent.

In reality, “91 per cent of homebuyers who used the Internet tosearch for a home purchasedthrough a real estate agent, as did71 per cent of non-Internet users,”says the study.

Data released by theParliament of Canada reveals thatsince 2000, Internet usage inCanada increased by 35 per cent.Today 80 per cent of Canadianmobile phone users are on a smart-phone and 93 per cent ofCanadians go online for productinformation. These latest statisticsdivulge an interesting outcome.With the ability to search forhomes online Canadians havespoken through their actions.They like using the Internet tosearch for information about prop-erty and real estate agents whenpurchasing.

Perhaps the greatest value areal estate agent provides for the

home buyer is a sense of securitythat they are making the rightdecision and that the deal is puttogether correctly. With theincrease in accessible informationonline, it is likely home buyers arerealizing just how much informa-tion is available and are recogniz-ing the need for an expert in thepurchasing process

According to NAR, 87 percent of buyers surveyed viewed realestate agents as a source of valuableinformation. Another study by

Mustel Group Market Researchfound home buyers believe thatthe greatest value a real estateagent provides is dealing with thedetails and negotiating the bestprice.

One can conclude from all thisthat with the rise of technology,Canadian home buyers areembracing real estate agents.That’s not to say there isn’t uncer-tainty. But the numbers exposestrong demand for real estateagents from the most promising of

all consumers groups, the emerginghome-buying demographic.Canada’s youngest home buyersusing the Internet are also the mostlikely to work with a real estateagent. The future of Canada’s realestate agents is remarkably good.

Jonathan Wilding is a foundingpartner of StreetText.com, a text mes-sage and web marketing platform thatserves Canadian real estate agentsand mortgage brokers coast to coast.

REM

Royal LePage officescelebrate 100th

Royal LePage offices across Canada celebrated the company’s 100th anniversary on June 22. From barbecues and golf skills clinics to games and celebration events, Royal LePagers acrossCanada demonstrated their pride in their brand’s heritage and held a variety of community

events. Here are photos from a few of the parties that were held across the country.

At Royal LePage Top Producers inWinnipeg, from left, front row: JakeFrechette, Lee Ann Dueck, CaroleFrechette, Betty Dyck and MonikaMacAngus. Middle row: Tony Marino,Troy Niblock, Sheena Dayman, TodNiblock and Marlene Klump. Back row:Luke Vandenberg, Glen MacAngus,Terry Dyck and Elke Niblock.

At the partyheld byRoyal LePageCoast Capitalin Victoria, atug-of-warbrings outthe competi-tive sidebetweenRebeccaTycholiz,

who handles conveyancing at the Oak Bay office, andsales rep Bill Ethier. Rebecca’s son Owen does his bestto provide interference.

At Royal LePageProfessionals 2000 in St.John’s, office adminVickie Walker, left,shares a laugh with agentIsabelle Quinlan.

Diane Digiandomenico, leftand Barbara Nieman, salesreps with the Kitchener, Ont.office of Royal LePage GrandValley Real Estate, enjoy theday.Sheila Jamison and Ahmed Helmi of the

downtown branch of Royal LePage RealEstate Services in Toronto sport their spe-cial 100-year glasses and Royal LePagesigns. In background are sales reps ChrisTyler and Aneeta Gill.

Need legal advice? Small claims court matters?Evaluating a complaint you have, and have to appear

before RECO?SPEAK TO ME FIRST.

I'm a real estate broker with over 40 years of experience.

I can provide you with valuable insight into the law.

Call or Text: (416) 818-6130Fax: (905) 882-6618Website: avirosen.caEmail: [email protected]

Call or Text: (416) 818-6130Fax: (905) 882-6618Website: avirosen.caEmail: [email protected]

REM AUGUST 2013 29

Trust That Your TorontoReferrals will be

Treated Like Gold!I want your Toronto referrals. As a trusted advisor and a top real estate professional for 45 years, you can trustthat I will treat your referral clients as oneof my own.

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

Barry Lebow, FRI, Master ASA, SRES, ABR, IFAS

Professional Land Economist, Arbitrator & MediatorBroker

RE/MAX Ultimate Realty Inc.Brokerage

Barry, Direct Lines: Home Office 416-784-9806Cell Phone: [email protected] www.TransitionsGTA.com

Having a love affair with real estate since 1968!

REM HOME DELIVERY

Get REM at home! Call 416-425-3504 Ext. 4 or contact

[email protected] and start receiving REM Home Delivery.

he dog days of summer – Iwish! The wettest June onrecord – no disrespect to

my Alberta friends and the floodtragedy – but there’s somethingdepressing about looking out andrealizing gumboots and raincoatsare the dress of the day – still! Sowith the real estate market enter-ing the summer hiatus, I’ve got alittle time to bring up an irritant –FICOM (B.C.’s FinancialInstitutions Commission). Or per-haps more specifically, FINTRAC(Financial Transactions andReports Analysis Centre ofCanada).

I had a procedural questionrecently concerning the viabilityof the individual ID forms createdfor us on Webforms. The questionwas simple really – if the driver’slicense was valid when I took theoriginal ID, can I use the sameform for repeat business by thesame customer, after the driver’slicense has expired? I went search-ing for the answers in the CREAFAQ created in 2008.

You remember, I’m sure, thoseheady days in 2008-9 when wewere thrust, un-deputized, intothe fight against crime, pitting ourlaptops and our wits – at least halfof them – against the drug cartelsexisting in the minds of theOttawa bureaucrats charged withthe duty of keeping Canadianssafe – and unlaundered – from ter-ror.

CREA jumped in, createdsome forms, a pop-quiz trainingprogram, links to an FAQ pageand to FICOM, where we couldaccess the 100-or-so-page terroristlist. We discovered two things:none of our names were on the listand the list seemed to racially pro-file on the basis of Tales of theArabian Nights.

So, you might ask, what’s hap-pened since Aug. 7, 2008, whichwas CREA’s last entry?

METES & BOUNDS

By Marty Douglas

What’s up withFINTRAC?Precious little

Precious little.Unless you count the $6,750

administrative penalty levied byFINTRAC to Weagle Realty inSmith Falls, Ont. or the $27,000to Hamilton’s HomeLife Effect inMarch of 2010. Pretty importantto those brokerages who are stillactive according to Google, butwhat happened? Did they appealthe fine? Get any legal help fromCREA’s much-vaunted legaldefense fund?

By the way, their ‘crimes’ werefailure to appoint a person respon-sible for compliance, failure to setup a training regime and failure tohave written policies. Whoamong you shall cast the firststone?

The FINTRAC website listsWeagle and Effect as the only twopenalties assessed on real estatebrokerages – apparently a lot moreopportunity in money exchangersand credit unions. The interestingpart was I couldn’t access any ofthis from the CREA website – Ihad to go to Google. In fact, theonly document on the CREAwebsite is their booklet, revisedAug. 7, 2008. Somewhere inCREA’s headquarters is a dustyfile on FINTRAC, sitting in thetray with an even older requestfrom me asking if it would be pos-sible for managing brokers toaccess the listing stats of theirsalespeople.

Oh well. Other than that my summer

so far is one of travel and obser-vation. I was trapped onHighway 1 on a driving trip toPenticton, B.C. There are nostoplights from Horseshoe Bayuntil Merritt – it must be close to400 km – so I didn’t find (need) arest stop until Peachland. I wit-nessed the unnerving sight of avery small dog being strappedinto a kangaroo pouch worn bythe passenger on a three-wheeledYamaha motorcycle, ridden bytouring seniors who couldn’tleave Fluffy/ Foo-Foo behind.Once strapped in, a two-personoperation followed, one to hold

the rat, er, beloved pet and theother to secure the dog’s pink gog-gles!

No trip to the Okanagan iscomplete without a vineyard tour.How many vineyards does it takeuntil you are very thankful you areon a bus? Three. We asked our busdriver why there aren’t more chil-dren of vineyard owners takingover the business. His reply:“They’re not interested becauseyou can’t text and prune at thesame time.”

On B.C. Ferries, a necessaryevil if you are driving offVancouver Island, I ran into afriend from my musical theatresummers. Recently I changedjobs (not really, I changedbrands, but stressful enough).My friend John went from full-time theatre and voice actor todriving small ferries crossingFalse Creek to quartermaster forB.C. Ferries through Active Pass.Not happy with the prospect ofadvancement because of his lateentry into the career, he’s nowoperating heavy equipment andheading for the oil patch – a 50-something Euclid driver with abackground in professional musi-cal theatre, movies, animationvoice-over and commercials.Now there’s a career change. Forthose of you failing in real estate,please consider. Soon.

By the way, the answer to myquestion on the ID forms didn’tcome from CREA but I did getour provincial association presi-dent (three cheers for JenniferLynch – I’m a big fan!) involvedand she got an answer fromFICOM or FINTRAC or one ofthose alphabet organizations –and, wait for it – yes you can!

Common sense from govern-ment. Now I’m really worried.

Contact Marty Douglas by email at [email protected] or connect with Marty onTwitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Heis a managing broker for Re/MaxOcean Pacific Realty in Comox andCourtenay, B.C. REM

T

omeLife’s 12th AnnualCharity Golf Classic,held recently in Surrey,

B.C., raised $45,000 for CanuckPlace Children’s Hospice.

The hospice provides special-ized pediatric palliative care forchildren living with life-threaten-ing illnesses and support for theirfamilies throughout BritishColumbia. It is an inter-discipli-nary team consisting of a diversegroup of healthcare professionals,support staff and volunteers pro-viding 24-hour, seven-days-a-weekcare and support.

The golf tournament’sfundraising was combined withthe Ride 4 Hope, a one-day, 200-km bike ride from Hope toMorgan Crossing.

■ ■ ■

30 REM AUGUST 2013

HGood WorksGood Works

The Ladner Pioneer May DaysFair, which was established in1896, is one of British Columbia’slargest free family fairs. SuttonGroup - Seafair Realty was a spon-sor this year, donating equipmentand joining the Wild West parade.In a truck festooned with balloons,Realtors and staff handed outcandy and Sutton Seafair tattoosto children along the 2.5-kmparade route that meanderedthrough the heart of historicLadner Village.

“We really wanted to be a partof the Ladner May Days as we arestrong believers in family and com-munity,” says Marie Piperni,administrator at Sutton Group –Seafair Realty. “The May Days co-ordinators estimate that approxi-mately 10,000 people came out towatch the parade.”

Presenting the HomeLife Golf Classic cheque, from left: Rick Dubord(president, HomeLife Realty Services), Mark Greenhalgh, Greg Fraser,Michael Dreyer, Ralph Janzen, Laurie Shopland (Canuck Place), DanBennett, Heather Schoutens, Natalie Gauvreau (front), Bettina Reid andKendra Andreassen.

Valerie Miles, left, with her broker ofrecord Vicki Parlette.

The team from Century 21 Heritage in Bradford, Ont.

The riders from Century 21 Heritage in Newmarket,Ont. A team from Re/Max Group Four Realty in

Fredericton, N.B. recently took part in the Re/MaxRelay for Life, staying up all night to raise over$8,500 for cancer research.

Committee members of the 20th Annual Royal LePageGTA Charity Golf Tournament presenting a cheque for$20,000, from left: Gus Monteleone, Holly Yake,Joanne Verissimo and Al Orlando. Missing from thephoto are Walter Mudyk, Helen Knowlton, JoyceMintzer and Kathy McLeod.

Alysse Leite-Rogers

The Comedy Mystery Night organizing committee from RoyalLePage Grand Valley Realty – front row, from left: SabineNassar, Laura Silcox, managing broker Goran Askraba, IzabelaDzsurdzsa and Nelly Kilianski. Back row, from left: AlasdairDouglas, Andrew Fielding, Harjit Bansal, Dorinda Orser,Kathleen Anne Clyson, Jelena Nidogon, Kelly Affeldt and bro-ker Keith Church. Missing are Denyse Perkins, Nick Perrellaand Nermina Radojcic.

Ben Lim withDerek, a 10-month-oldHusky.

On barbecue duty at the Royal LePage PremierReal Estate Charity Golf Classic in St. Albert,Alta., from left: Brian Macleod, Paul Perron, DonCholak and broker/owner Shirley Williams.

Enjoying theLadner PioneerMay Days, fromleft: KendallAyres, EllyWilliams, LibbyWilliams, VipinBajpai, JulieRichard, KellyTsaoussis andVicky Hamilton.

REM AUGUST 2013 31

■ ■ ■

In honour of Royal LePage’s100th Anniversary, a group of 12golf enthusiasts, including compa-ny president and CEO Phil Soper,each played 100 holes at PheasantRun Golf Club in Sharon, Ont.The fundraiser was in support ofthe Royal LePage ShelterFoundation. Braving a torrentialand record-breaking downpour,they played the 27-hole course sev-eral times over 10 hours in supportof women and children seeking anescape from domestic violence.Cheering on the challenge teamswere 36 golfers playing in theShelter Foundation’s concurrent18-hole President’s Invitationalcharity golf tournament.

The two events raised $50,000.

■ ■ ■

Valerie Miles, a sales rep withRe/Max Country Classics inBancroft, Ont., recently shavedher head to raise funds for breastcancer research under the YardSale For the Cure Banner. Milesheld a pie auction, a poker tourna-ment and a bowling tournament inaddition to shaving her head, rais-ing $5,443. The big shave was heldat the Bancroft Bowling Lanes andattended by more than 40 partici-pants.

■ ■ ■

Sales reps and staff of Century

21 Heritage Group in Newmarketand Bradford, Ont. recently partic-ipated in the first of four Big Bikerides for The Heart and StrokeFoundation as part of theirHeritage Has Heart campaign2013.

In Newmarket, captains SuePhilips, a sales rep and staff mem-ber Jill Earl-Preston of the staffrecruited members. The riders ped-alled a 29-seat bike downNewmarket streets, includingYonge Street. The group raised$2,550. Top fundraisers were salesreps Ruth-Anne Douris, DeborahIngram and Diana Arter.

At the Bradford office, the cap-tains were sales rep JoAnneMcGee and PR manager LisaFedele. The group raised $3,215,making them the top fundraisers ofday and setting a new office recordfor money raised.

■ ■ ■

Dan and Anne-MarieGrantham of Sutton Group -Preferred Realty in London, Ont.volunteer their time to providehope and opportunities for peoplelocally and as far away as SouthAmerica. Dan travelled to Boliviain November to see homes underconstruction with the aid ofHabitat for HumanityInternational and $90,000 con-tributed by the Forest CityCommunity Church. To raisemoney for projects like this, the

church hosts the annual ForestCity Charity Golf Classic. Danserved as the golf committee chair-person for the past five years. Hevolunteered more than 100 hoursso far to help build homes for strug-gling Bolivians and raise awarenessof the work done by Habitat forHumanity internationally andacross Canada.

Youth OpportunitiesUnlimited is another project hesupports. This organization assistsyouth with housing, education andemployment and recently itacquired a vacant building indowntown London.

“We are transforming it into afacility with 28 affordable housingunits, an alternative high schoolfor about 30 young people, a caféand a training facility where youngpeople learn culinary skills forfuture employment in the hospital-ity industry,” says Dan. “I believethat by offering a hand-up, not ahand-out, we empower them to besuccessful.”

■ ■ ■

Since 1993, the Royal LePageGTA Charity Golf Tournamenthas brought together brokers,agents, suppliers and clients ofRoyal LePage Real Estate Servicesfor a day of golf and fundraising.This year’s event saw more than140 golfers hit the links in friendlycompetition for the newly intro-duced Travelling Trophy. JoyceMintzer’s team from the Kingswayoffice won the prize, earning bothbragging rights and possession ofthe trophy until next year’s tourna-ment. Proceeds totalling $20,000will be donated to the RoyalLePage Shelter Foundation.

■ ■ ■

Mississauga Realtors Lorne andAneta Andrews of Sutton GroupElite Realty have volunteered hun-dreds of hours annually to supportthe PACT Urban Peace Program.Borne out of an initiative to pre-vent family violence, the programis an award-winning Canadiancharity that offers life skills com-munity service projects for at-riskyouth, including those in conflictwith the law.

Powerhouse of Terror was anannual charity haunt that was heldin Mimico. Through the PACTHaunted Theatre program, teenshelped create sets and costumesand even operated the attraction.Although the program has seen itslast haunt, it delivered such suc-

cessful results that the PACTUrban Peace Program’s costumedesign program will continue thisspring as the organization sourcesopportunities to connect withother haunts.

■ ■ ■

Pickering/Ajax RealtorNorman Jones of The PrudentialAchievers Realty also has a softspot for young people. He is part ofa group of east-end Realtors whohave met every Wednesday for thepast 25 years to share breakfast andshowcase their listings. Throughthe group, Jones has chaired acommittee to support theSunshine Kids Foundation, whichfunds trips for children who arebattling cancer, offering them theopportunity to connect with otheryoung people facing similar chal-lenges.

One trip, in 2011, took a groupof five teens to Las Vegas. All hadeither already undergone or werecurrently undergoing extensivechemotherapy. While in Las Vegastheir activities included visitingthe Hoover Dam and taking inshows featuring Cirque de Soleiland the Blue Man group.

Jones estimates his committeehas raised thousands of dollars inthe past eight years. This year, hehas set a goal of raising $30,000 pri-marily through an annual danceand silent auction.

■ ■ ■

Newmarket/Aurora areaRealtor Eric McCartney ofCentury 21 Heritage Group worksto brighten the lives of those lessfortunate. In recent years he hascontributed to a door-to-doorfundraising campaign in support ofthe York Region North Heart andStroke Foundation and served as ateam captain for Big Bike (seeabove).

He developed a website to raiseawareness of his team’s efforts forthe Heart and Stroke Foundation,which supports approximately 900leading researchers and teams inhospitals and universities.

■ ■ ■

Alysse Leite-Rogers, a salesrep with Sutton Group – WestCoast Realty, is raising funds andawareness for the FistulaFoundation in connection withan upcoming Mount Kilimanjaroclimb.

“I first heard about theFistula Foundation while enjoy-

ing my secret indulgence ofOprah,” she says. “On this partic-ular day in 2003, her guest was afrail-looking woman by the nameof Dr. Hamlin. She spoke abouther lifelong work of correctivesurgeries for fistula in Africa.”The patients were girls andwomen who endured countlesshours of labour only to lose theirbabies and develop tears in inter-nal organs. Without medicalcare, those wounds do not healproperly.

“As a woman and a mother, Ifeel so much gratitude and privi-lege. With that comes responsi-bility.... I hope to raise enoughmoney to pay for 10 women tohave this surgery that will changetheir lives. Each surgery costs$450. It’s not a lot to give themback their dignity.” To learnmore and donate, visit www.she-sellsvancouver.com.

■ ■ ■

More than 100 Royal LePagegolfers and clients gathered in St.Albert, Alta. to participate in thefirst annual Royal LePage PremierReal Estate Charity Golf Classic.Golfers were treated to entertain-ing activities on the course, whichadded to the spirit of fun andfundraising. The event raised$15,900 in support of the RoyalLePage Shelter Foundation andthe local charity, Stop Abuse inFamilies of St. Albert.

■ ■ ■

Ben Lim, a sales rep at SuttonGroup - Seafair Realty in Delta,B.C. volunteers in his spare timeas a dog walker at the RichmondAnimal Community Shelter andplans to participate in the SPCA’sPaws for a Cause walk inSeptember. He has pledged toraise at least $500 in an unortho-dox way: he will video himself eat-ing a dog treat each time donationsto his campaign reach a milestonesuch as $100 or $200 and then postthe videos on YouTube.

“Rather than doing the normalpledge, I was thinking of doingsomething a bit different to getattention and encourage people toopen their wallets,” says Lim.

■ ■ ■

Royal LePage Grand ValleyRealty in Kitchener, Ont. hostedits first annual Comedy Mystery

Continued on page 32

The TahitiFlashersraise moneyfor thosesufferingfrom breastcancer.

Holding the celebratory cake is Barney Gordon, manager of RoyalLePage State’s Ancaster office, and broker of record Joe Ferrante.

Night recently in support of theRoyal LePage Shelter Foundation.Guests were treated to a prime ribdinner at Golf’s Steak House andwere entertained with an interactivemystery show performed by a localacting troupe. The event raisedmore than $8,000, with 100 per centdirected to local shelters, Mary’sPlace and Anselma House.

■ ■ ■

It is estimated that more than22,000 women in Canada are diag-nosed with breast cancer each year.Even in Ontario, where theprovincial government covers

many medical costs, the averageout-of-pocket expense for womenin treatment for breast cancer is$213 per month. Shannon Doell,a sales rep with Sutton Group -First Choice Realty in Stratford,Ont. gathered more than a dozenfriends and family members, creat-ed costumes (included flashingbras) and participated in a uniqueBraz for the Cause fundraiser.

“This is a popular event thatsells out fast. I started signingpeople up in January then wepicked a theme – this year wewere the Tahiti Flashers,” saysDoell. “Everyone wears bras out-side their clothes and ours hadlittle LED lights that flashed andwe wore hula-type skirts. Asidefrom the entry fee and creating

our costumes, we also pooled ourmoney and bought a donationprize for the table for the raffle.The evening included dinner,entertainment, a live auction anda raffle.”

■ ■ ■

The third annual Royal LePageState BBQ for Shelter raised $4,500for local women’s shelters in theHamilton area. The popularlunchtime event welcomed morethan 175 community members.

“We were absolutely thrilledwith the turn out and the incrediblesupport from the community,” saysbroker Joe Ferrante. “The generosityof our clients, partners, sponsors,volunteers and the public was trulyheart warming.” REM

32 REM AUGUST 2013

Trade Showsand ConferencesTrade Showsand Conferences

For complete listings, visit www.remonline.comTo add a listing to this calendar, email [email protected]

Compiled with the assistance of Bob Campbell atColour Tech Marketing, www.colourtech.com

Century 21 CanadaLeadership ConferenceWednesday, Sept. 11Delta Grand OkanaganResort & ConferenceCentre, Kelowna, [email protected]

Century 21 AnnualCanadian Conference2013Sept. 11- 13Delta Grand OkanaganResort & ConferenceCentre, Kelowna, [email protected]

Century 21 CanadianConference Supplier ExpoSept. 11 - 12Delta Grand OkanaganResort & ConferenceCentreKelowna, [email protected]

Oakville, Milton andDistrict Real Estate BoardHalton Symposium andTradeshowThursday, Sept. 19Oakville ConferenceCentre, OakvilleCyndi Amodeo 905-844-6491, Ext. 106

Dominion Lending CentresNational Sales ConferenceSept. 22 - 25The Sheraton of NewOrleansNew Orleans, La.www.dominion-lendingevents.ca

WinnipegRealtorsTechnology Conferenceand Trade ShowThursday, Oct. 3Victoria InnWinnipegLucy Hajkowski – 204-786-8854 or [email protected] or visit www.wrexpo.ca

National Association ofRealtorsRealtors Conference &ExpoNov. 8 – 11Moscone CenterSan Franciscowww.realtor.org/convention.nsf/

Realtors Association ofGrey Bruce Owen SoundTrade ShowTuesday, Nov. 26Harry Lumley BayshoreCommunity CentreOwen Sound, Ont.Marilyn Newbigging –[email protected]

App keeps track ofopen house visitors

Australian sales rep PhilipMiddlemiss has invented an appthat he says saves the countlesshours he used to spend getting hisdatabase in order following openhome inspections.

Middlemiss, an agent for 12years, launched Open HomeRecorder for iPad on the AppleiTunes Store. “It’s my contributionto the industry as a whole, I guess,”Middlemiss says. “I always knewthere was a better way to operateand I am very proud to be givingsomething back.”

Open Home Recorder is usedto take essential details of peopleinspecting properties. The proper-ties are pre-loaded so there is nodowntime as prospects start com-ing through the door.

“At any given time, the appcan then send group email mes-sages to people who have looked ata certain property,” Middlemisssays. He says that “one of the otherreally cool things about the app” isthat it can also be used to recordpossible interest in other servicessuch as finance and conveyancing.

“Referrals make the businessworld go around and, at the tick ofa check box, Open Home

Real EstateTechnologyReal EstateTechnology

Recorder can also be used to builda referral database,” he says. Theapp exports all collected data as a.csv file, which can then beimported into a customer relation-ship management system.

Open Home Recorder can bepurchased for $4.99 (US) fromthe iTunes App Store. For infor-mation: www.openhomere-corder.com.

Interactive table forsales offices

Great Gulf has introduced an

interactive table that allows condobuyers to “engage with all theaspects of their potential homeright from within the sales officewithout the assistance of a salesassociate,” the company says.

Community, a boutiqueadvertising agency, launched thenew sales tool, which allows usersto see a snapshot of nearbyneighbourhood attractions, unitimages and sky line views frombalconies.

Premiering at Great Gulf’sYonge + Rich sales office inToronto, the table features unit-to-unit comparisons, a neigh-bourhood map and attractions,the developer story, the neigh-bourhood story and floor plans.

Each portion of the table istouch screen and completely inter-active.

The comparison tool for suitefloor plans allows purchasers tocompare two specific units at onetime to confirm which of the unitsbest fits their needs. REM

Great Gulf is using an interactive table in the sales office to promotethe Yonge + Rich development in Toronto.

Good WorksContinued from page 31

John Fancy, National Account Manager, Supra

REM is the first place the Canadian real estate industry turns to for news and information. John Fancy turns to REM as the first place to advertise Supra.

The Supra lockbox was created over 55 years ago by a U.S. real estate professional who was tired of spending time obtaining keys and then returning them in order to show homes to clients. As society advanced, the real estate industry demanded a more secure keybox. In 2010 Supra introduced Bluetooth® wireless technology to the lockbox industry so that Bluetooth® smartphones can communicate directly with the iBox BT LE with no other hardware needed.

As National Account Manager for Supra and a proud Nova Scotian with over 25 years of experience in the real estate industry, John understands the Canadian real estate industry and its ever-increasing need for the most secure product available.

If you have a message for Canada’s real estate professionals, REM is where your advertising should be. Contact REM today, 416-425–3504 or www.remonline.com

www.remonline.com

34 REM AUGUST 2013

THE PUBLISHER’SPAGE

By Heino Molls

MARK

ETPL

ACE

Nelson Mandela and John Diefenbakerevents that shaped our lives.

Two of those people wereNelson Mandela and JohnDiefenbaker. During the ’60s, onewas declared a great statesman.The other was thrown in jail for 27years.

In 1961 South Africa appliedfor entry to the Commonwealth asa republic. Its membership wasendorsed by a number of membernations such as the UnitedKingdom and New Zealand. Thedecision came down to Canadaand Prime Minister JohnDiefenbaker. “Dief the Chief”stood up and said that Canadawould not welcome the member-ship of the republic of South Africaunless equality and freedom wasextended to all people. SouthAfrica declined to agree and withthat, Canada effectively tossed

here is no need for me of allpeople, in this forum of allplaces to inform anyone

about the meaningful life ofNelson Mandela. His life hastouched all of us, even those whodon’t even know it or think aboutit. Nelson Mandela stood for andsacrificed most of his life for free-dom for everyone.

Sometimes freedom is givenfreely and automatically at birth,like it is here. Other times it is

T

for franchise information call:

1-855-526-3939or visit our website:

housemaster.com

Franchise Territories AVAILABLE

Advertising Lead Generation

Training Marketing

We Provide:

given after much sacrifice, like it isin other places. Those places stillexist – Somalia, Syria, NorthKorea and many other parts of theworld. You don’t get to own ahome in these places. You don’teven get to dream that.

I grew up during the ’60s. I amoften chided for it. The heroes ofthis era were people whose livesleft an impression on all of us andremain with us today. Amongthem were Dr. Martin Luther Kingand Bobby Kennedy as well asthose whose influence came beforethe decade arrived, such asMahatma Gandhi and AlbertEinstein. From these heroes wehad the tools to create socialchange and encouraged peoplesuch as Pierre Trudeau, the Beatles,the Chicago Seven and the manyother individuals, groups and

Canada’s largest Home Inspection company provides Peace of Mind to REALTORS® and

Homeowners across the country. All our inspectors are Certified & Insured

and are available 7 days a week!To find a home inspector near you go to

www.abuyerschoice.comFranchises available

them out of the Commonwealth.Many have said that it wasDiefenbaker’s finest hour.

In 1962 Nelson Mandela waspart of a group protesting for civilrights and equality for all. He wasarrested and charged with conspir-acy to overthrow the government.When he was finally released in1990, Mandela did not live anembittered life, but continued tostrive for the abolishment ofapartheid and he accomplishedthis lifelong goal peacefully. Hewas elected president of SouthAfrica in 1994.

Today South Africa is a freesociety. Today home ownership isavailable to all in all parts of thecountry. The dream of home own-ership is free to everyone in thecountry, just like it was in Canadain 1961 and remains so today.

John Diefenbaker passed awayin 1979. A statue of him onParliament Hill in Ottawa depictshim with the Bill of Rights underhis arm.

On June 7, 2001, NelsonMandela became an honouraryCanadian citizen in recognitionof his “great moral leadership to South Africa and to allhumanity.”

They should inspire all of us todo everything we can to promotefreedom and peace throughout theworld. How can we let this go onin North Korea, Syria, Somaliaand so many other places in theworld without protest (peacefuldemonstration and protest)?

Heino Molls is publisher of REM.Email [email protected].

REM

Play it, Try it & You will love it

Sign Up Now @ www.promaxnewsletterdiy.com

Promax Newsletter DIY®

FIT TOGETHER • WORK TOGETHER • GROW TOGETHER

Our Complete Enterprise Solution integrates your back office, front office, web solutions & more.

LEARN MORE TODAY! www.lwolf.com | 1.866.CRY.WOLF(279.9653) | [email protected]

Real Estate systems that fit together and work together

to grow your business...

Get the pieces your office needs today!

Back office managementwww.lwolf.com/brokerWOLF

Front office managementwww.lwolf.com/WOLFconnect

Public website solutionwww.lwolf.com/globalWOLF

Ad revenue programwww.WOLFmedianetwork.com

Agent toolboxwww.agentWOLF.com

Lone Wolf’s globalWOLF websites offer professionally designed, user-friendly website layouts with functionality to attract buyers and sellers,

and build traffic to your site using our simple suite of customizable tools.

Learn how to get your globalWOLF website today!

Features include: Powerful listing enhancement tools Bing™ Maps to pinpoint local search Lead management and distribution Home Hunter personal property search Listing search functions and robust open houses Social media features SEO tools and so much more!

MAXIMIZE

EXPOSURE!YOUR ONLINE

LOOK FOR US IN OTTAWA AT THE

AUGUST 11–13, 2013BOOTH #113

Broker OwnerConference

REM Ad July 2013.indd 1 2013-07-09 9:31 AM

To learn more about the iBoxTM

contact John Fancy.

Tel 902-252-3610Toll free 888-652-3540Mobile 902-579-2648Email [email protected]

�e BT iBoxTM and eKEY are inseparable.

Your smartphone communicates directly with the iBox using Bluetooth® technology,so your phone is your key!

�e BT iBoxTM and eKEY togetherwill simplify your life considerably... and who wouldn’t like that?

Contact us at 1-888-652-3540 or visit www.supraekey.com

©2011 UTC Fire & Security. All rights reserved.

Simplify Your Life!

REM Full Page Bleed.indd 1 12-05-04 11:20 AM

August 2013

Documents

Transcript of August 2013