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RAHB’s Latest Updates

RAHB Board of Directors 2021

Nov 25, 2020 | | 0 Comments

Please welcome your seven new Directors who were elected this morning at the Annual Election Meeting:

  • Jacqueline Norton
  • Lou Piriano
  • Diane Price
  • Julie Sergi
  • Brian Shaw
  • Nicolas von Bredow
  • David Zalepa

They will be joining the following Directors to form the 2021 Board of Directors.

  • Donna Bacher, President
  • Kathy Della-Nebbia, Immediate Past President
  • Stephanie Pinet
  • Conrad Zurini

Important Changes Coming to REALTOR.ca DDF® Data Feeds

Nov 20, 2020 | | 0 Comments

For years, REALTOR.ca DDF® has made it easier for REALTORS® to showcase listings on their personal website through data feeds.

Due to the technical nature of setting up these data feeds, most REALTORS® enlist a technology provider’s help to set up and maintain the data feeds on their website. More than 500 technology providers currently work with REALTORS® across Canada and have access to data feeds, and supporting services, with no associated fees.

To ensure CREA continues to offer the best—and only—national data feeds to members, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is introducing a tiered pricing model for technology providers to access feeds and supporting services. The pricing model is structured to allow technology providers of all sizes to continue to provide their services to REALTORS® without interruption. This pricing model also better aligns with current market standards for data services and will allow CREA to provide REALTOR.ca DDF® data feeds for the long term. This new fee structure for technology providers will come into effect on April 1, 2021.

Please note: data feeds are still and always will be free for members. Charges will only be applied to technology providers, as per the new pricing model.

By introducing new charges to technology providers, CREA understands members may be impacted through increased service prices or technology providers choosing not to provide service anymore.

In the rare case of disruptions or rate increases, a complete list of technology providers who can ensure websites can continue receiving listings from REALTOR.ca DDF® has been provided.

**See the list of Technology Providers**

Please contact boardsupport@crea.ca with any questions.

RAHB COVID-19 Update for November 14, 2020 – Red Zones & Open Houses

Nov 14, 2020 | | 0 Comments

As of Monday, November 16 at 12:01 a.m., Hamilton and Burlington (Halton) will be moving into the COVID-19 Red Zone (Control), as is outlined in the Province’s newly updated COVID-19 Response Framework.

As per the Framework, the Government of Ontario has officially prohibited the hosting of in-person open houses in these Red Zone areas. Real estate brokerages, brokers and salespeople must cease hosting and attending open houses in Hamilton and Burlington. Members can continue to submit virtual open houses through Matrix.

The (in-person) Open Houses feature in Matrix will be disabled for all RAHB areas as of 12:01 a.m. on Monday, November 16, as we are unable to limit by geographic regions at this time. RAHB will continue to work with Corelogic to separate out the various RAHB areas. Members can continue to submit virtual open houses for all RAHB areas through Matrix.

To view the Framework and level by region, please click the below button.

Ontario COVID-19 Response Framework

*Please Note – Although in-person open houses are still permitted in Haldimand (Yellow Zone) and Niagara (Orange Zone), RAHB and OREA strongly urge Members to use virtual means to show properties.

While, under normal circumstances, in-person open houses would be an effective tool for marketing a home, there are many options available to view properties which pose less health and safety risk to Members and clients. We will continue to advise Members against hosting in-person open houses until the pandemic is under better control in Ontario.

For further information, please visit the OREA website by clicking the button below.

OREA Information on Framework and Open Houses

 

For resources on hosting a virtual open house /  live stream, please click the below button:

Virtual Open Houses/ Live Streams

BrokerBay is Coming to RAHB!

Nov 10, 2020 | | 0 Comments

 

 

 

We have BIG NEWS to share!  RAHB is very excited to announce that we are partnering with BrokerBay to make their full brokerage / agent ecosystem available to all Members as a value-added core service through the RAHB MLS® in early 2021. As a result of adding this unique and highly popular enhancement to RAHB’s suite of MLS® services, ShowingTime will be discontinued as of February 5, 2021.

In the below video BrokerBay’s Co-founder Costa Ntoukas gives an overview of his company’s new partnership with RAHB.

For more information about BrokerBay’s advanced, user-friendly features, functions and benefits, please visit www.brokerbay.ca.

Additional information will be provided to RAHB Members in the coming weeks – including how to sign up, what training is available, and how existing BrokerBay contracts with brokerages will be transitioned.  So, please stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact sales@brokerbay.ca.

Thank you for your support as we continue to increase value-added member services that empower you – the RAHB REALTOR® – to succeed.

Stats Error Corrected

Nov 10, 2020 | | 0 Comments

*Please note* Some Burlington documents within the November 3 Market Statistics release have been updated as of November 5. An error was discovered showing Burlington sales at 376; however, the sales number should have been 374. This error has been corrected.

Welcome New Members!

Nov 3, 2020 | , | 0 Comments

We extend a warm welcome to RAHB’s newest members who joined our association between September 23 and November 3, 2020!

Meagan Anderson
Ambitious Realty Advisors Inc.

John Burns
Blair Blanchard Stapleton Ltd.

Heidi Rocheleau
CBRE Ltd.

Codruta Smith
Coldwell Banker Commercial Integrity Real Estate

Vendy Volac
EXP Realty of Canada Inc.

Kris Dennis
Greater Property Group

Vivien Chan
Gulf Lake Realty Inc.

Darren Do
IPRO Realty Ltd.

Rita Desfosses
Tanya Idzanovic
Emily Johnson
Lise Ledoux
Kyle Miles
Alexander Piccinin
Katelynn Sutton
Jyotsha Verma
Keller Williams Complete Realty

Alok Chadha
Kyrsten Feere
Zack Snider
Robert Veevers
Emily Victory
Linda Volaric
Keller Williams Edge Realty

Gina Milki
PureRealty

Debra Varey
Purplebricks

Harrison Stewart
Realty Network: 100 Inc.

Steven Kempf
Mariana Makramalla
RE/MAX Escarpment Realty

Christopher Ingram
RE/MAX Escarpment Golfi Realty

Joravar Bains
John Berezowski
Naefel Fadel
Brook Fillma
Naim Demolli
Simona Sarkoziova
RE/MAX Real Estate Centre

Dean Serravalle
Revel Realty Inc.

Adaline John
Pabhdeep Kaur
Maisie King
Vlado Njezic
Randy Padda
Steve Stolte
Right At Home Realty

Nancy Cormack
Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services

Taylor Brisebois
Crystal Verescak
Royal LePage State Realty

Muniba Gul
Sutton Group – Summit Realty Inc.

Jason Baker
Sutton Group Quantum Realty Inc.

Jarod Brandon
Three Pillars Realty Inc.

Sumi Bonyun
Andrea Ramsay
Zoocasa Realty Inc.

Jagraj Sarai
Zolo Realty

CREA WEBForms® Legacy to be Discontinued as of December 17, 2020

Nov 3, 2020 | | 0 Comments

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) will discontinue the Legacy version of WEBForms® as of December 17, 2020.

There are some members who use CREA WEBForms® Legacy to download or view older transactions and files. To ensure nothing is lost, CREA will communicate with members through e-mail, social media and online, encouraging them to download all the files from the Legacy version they need and migrate their kits to the new CREA WEBForms® as soon as possible.

To do so members will need to log in to CREA WEBForms®.

Members can learn how to migrate their transaction kits by watching our step by step how-to video: Migrate transactions from CREA WEBForms® Legacy. They can also register for a free CREA WEBForms® webinar with one of our experts.

The new CREA WEBForms® is a complete transaction management system offering REALTORS® the ability to do everything without leaving the platform, including sharing documents and templates with everyone in their office.

Training resources and support articles are available to all members on CREA’s Learning Hub.

CREA will send a reminder notice later this year to ensure members download or transfer all the information they need from the Legacy version before it’s discontinued.

If you have any questions, contact Member Support by phone at 1-888-237-7945 or email at support@crea.ca.

Extended Member Support team hours for CREA WEBForms®:

Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to midnight (EST)
Saturday and Sunday: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (EST)

RAHB REALTORS® RELEASE OCTOBER 2020 MARKET STATISTICS

Nov 2, 2020 | | 0 Comments

*Please note* Some Burlington documents below have been updated as of November 5. An error was discovered showing Burlington sales at 376; however, the sales number should have been 374. This error has been corrected.

The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,615 sales of residential properties located within the RAHB market area were processed through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in October 2020. Sales were down 7.6 per cent over last month and up 23.7 per cent over October of last year. New listings were down 12.8 per cent over September 2020 and up 5.5 per cent over last October. The average price for residential properties was $721,523, which was up 0.02 per cent from last month and up 19.8 per cent from October 2019. The number of active listings available at the end of the month was 39.8 per cent lower compared to the previous year.

*The news release will be posted to www.rahb.ca/market-stats/ on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.*

Follow the links below for:​

Burlington

Halidmand

Hamilton

Niagara North

 

Social Media Posts: First-Time Home Buyers’ Month 2020

Oct 28, 2020 | | 0 Comments

RAHB is recognizing November as First-Time Home Buyers’ Month, and has developed several resources – such as social media graphics and messaging – that Members can share on their social media accounts. RAHB will send e-mails to Members each Sunday that include easily sharable content for First-Time Home Buyers’ Month that may be beneficial to your clients, potential clients and the general public.

These e-mails will have social share buttons that will post automatically to your Facebook, Twitter and/or LinkedIn accounts when clicked. There will also be the option to share via e-mail.

Here you will find graphics and captions that are to be shared on social media. The e-mail dates and topics are as follows:

Please note that there is not the option to share via Instagram directly through the e-mails. Below are social media posts that can be used for Instagram.

You can automatically download all the graphics by clicking the button below:

All Social Media Graphics

The Week of November 8: What is the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive?

How to share on social media:

To share the resource, please download the social media graphic by clicking on it and then right clicking and select “save image as” to download the graphic to your computer.

Below the graphic is a sample social media message. Please cut and paste the messages directly into your social media channel, and post the accompanying graphic.

Please copy the below message and paste it to your social media channel – and include the graphic.

For Social Media:

November is First-Time Home Buyers’ Month! Check out the #RAHB website for a podcast & resources on the FTHB Incentive #RealEstate #FTHB2020 #HamOnt #Burlington #Haldimand #Niagara #REALTORS https://www.rahb.ca/fthb-first-time-home-buyer-incentive/

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Week of November 15: The First Meeting (With a Mortgage Specialist)

How to share on social media:

To share the resource, please download the social media graphic by clicking on it and then right clicking and select “save image as” to download the graphic to your computer.

Below the graphic is a sample social media message. Please cut and paste the messages directly into your social media channel, and post the accompanying graphic.

Please copy the below message and paste it to your social media channel – and include the graphic.

For Social Media:

November is First-Time Home Buyers’ Month! What do you do at the first meeting with a mortgage specialist? #RAHB has info & resources to prepare #RealEstate #FTHB2020 #HamOnt #Burlington #Haldimand #Niagara #REALTORS https://www.rahb.ca/the-first-meeting/

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Week of November 22: Essential Key Terms for First-Time Home Buyers

How to share on social media:

To share the resource, please download the social media graphic by clicking on it and then right clicking and select “save image as” to download the graphic to your computer.

Below the graphic is a sample social media message. Please cut and paste the messages directly into your social media channel, and post the accompanying graphic.

Please copy the below message and paste it to your social media channel – and include the graphic.

For Social Media:

November is First-Time Home Buyers’ Month! There are essential key terms every FTHB must know. For a list, visit the #RAHB website #RealEstate #FTHB2020 #HamOnt #Burlington #Haldimand #Niagara #REALTORS https://www.rahb.ca/key-terms-to-know-and-understand/

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Realty Shoppe Update

Oct 27, 2020 | | 0 Comments

The Realty Shoppe has now expanded in-person shopping to Monday through Friday:  9 a.m. – Noon, and 1  – 4 p.m.  Please note that for the safety of all, adherence to COVID protocols is required.  We look forward to seeing you again!

Shopping Options:
In-person (Updated!):        Monday through Friday:  9 a.m. – Noon, and 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Online:                                  store.rahb.ca
Call or email:                       realtyshoppe@rahb.ca or 905.529.5979

Ensure Correct Property Type

Oct 23, 2020 | | 0 Comments

Recently staff has received numerous complaints surrounding listings with the incorrect “Property Type”, particularly, properties that are a Link.
If you are unsure as to what the correct Property Type is for your listing, you can confirm this by looking up the property address in GeoWarehouse, under “Structure”, and “Property Description, as shown below.
If you have any questions, please contact the MLS® Help Desk at 905.667.4650 or e-mail support@rahb.ca

Change to Seller Instructions – Permission to Contact after Expiry on RAHB’s Property Information Forms

Oct 22, 2020 | | 1 Comment

The Board of Directors recently approved a change to RAHB’s Residential and Commercial Property Information forms, specifically the Seller’s Instructions under “Permission to Contact”. The “Permission to Contact” field allows the Seller to check and initial whether they consent to be contacted after the listing expires.

The Seller Instruction, Permission to Contact after Expiry, has now been changed to “Permission to Contact after Expiry, Cancellation or Termination”, which will now be consistent with the wording on OREA’s Form #200, as shown below:

The change will be reflected on RAHB’s Residential and Commercial Property Information Forms in WEBForms™ on October 22.

Should you have any questions, please contact the MLS® Help Desk at 905.667.4650 or e-mail support@rahb.ca

Terminology re: Master Bedroom Change

Oct 22, 2020 | | 0 Comments

The Board of Directors recently approved a change to the terminology surrounding the term “Master Bedroom”. Beginning October 22, the term “Master Bedroom” will be changed to “Primary Bedroom” and will be reflected in Matrix and on RAHB’s residential property information form on October 22.

If you have any questions, please contact the MLS® Support Desk at 905.667.4650 or e-mail support@rahb.ca.

Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM)

Oct 22, 2020 | | 4 Comments

Effective Tuesday, November 10, 2020, the Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) business rule will be implemented once again in the RAHB Matrix.

On December 10, 2019, CDOM was implemented in the RAHB Matrix system; however, it was discovered the business rule was not functioning exactly as intended and it was disabled.

The new CDOM business rule is as follows:

When a listing is “cancelled” or “expires” and is relisted with the same Brokerage within a period of sixty (60) days from the date of cancellation or expiry, the cumulative days on market will continue counting the total days on market.
When a listing is “cancelled” or “expires” and is relisted after a period of sixty (60) days with the same Brokerage, the CDOM counter will reset and begin counting at zero.
If a listing is “cancelled” or “expires” and is relisted with a different Brokerage, the CDOM rule will not apply.

This change will ensure the actual Days on Market is reflected in the listing history.

The CDOM will appear on the REALTOR® Full report for all property types.

Should you have any questions, please call the MLS® Help Desk at 905.667.4650 or e-mail support@rahb.ca.

Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) Subscriber Agreement

Oct 20, 2020 | | 0 Comments

RAHB and TRREB have recently signed a Subscriber Agreement, which allows RAHB members to subscribe to access TRREB’s MLS® Data.

TRREB provided notice on March 19, 2020 to their, then current, subscribers that they had decided to withdraw from the Universal Data Sharing Agreement (UDSA) Program effective June 30, 2020. The UDSA became in existence in 1993, allowing Signatory Board Members to subscribe to other Signatory Member Boards’ MLS® Data. With the UDSA, individual board agreements were not necessary.

If you have questions pertaining to this agreement or if you wish to subscribe, please contact TRREB’s membership department at 416.443.8100.

Have Your Voice Heard – Residential Zoning Project

Oct 19, 2020 | | 0 Comments

The City of Hamilton’s Comprehensive Zoning By-law No. 05-200 came into effect on May 25, 2005, and is being implemented in stages. This Zoning By-law applies to the entire City of Hamilton and is replacing the Zoning By-laws of the former municipalities.

The final phase of this project – Residential Zoning Project — is focused on residential zones in the urban area.

For more information on Zoning Bylaw No. 05-200, please click the button below:

Zoning Bylaw No. 05-200

The City of Hamilton is now asking for your input on the Residential Zoning Project through the Engage Hamilton portal. To view the Engage Hamilton Residential Zoning Project webpage, please click the button below:

Residential Zoning Project

There are four key dates associated with the Residential Zoning Project:

  • Secondary Dwelling Unit Surveys Open (October 19)
  • Secondary Dwelling Unit Surveys Close (November 16)
  • Virtual Town Hall # 1 (November 12) – Registration details to come
  • Virtual Town Hall # 2 (November 16) – Registration details to come

The two surveys — Urban and Rural Secondary Dwelling Units — can be found by clicking the buttons below:

Urban Secondary Dwelling Units (SDU) Survey
Rural Secondary Dwelling Units (SDU) Survey

Please note, to participate in the two surveys, you must have an Engage Hamilton account. To register for an Engage Hamilton account, please click the button below:

Engage Hamilton Registration

Saved Passwords

Oct 15, 2020 | | 1 Comment

Thank you for your comments and suggestions regarding the authentication platform utilized by RAHB. We appreciate your feedback and certainly understand that having to manually enter your password when logging into my.rahb.ca may be viewed as an inconvenience, especially with the number of passwords most of us are required to maintain across the many systems we all use regularly. To view why Clareity does not currently allow saved passwords, as well as what is on the roadmap for the future, please the information below.
 
Background on the Clareity SafeMLS authentication and security platform:
 
The Corelogic (Clareity SafeMLS) system was put in place to secure your login to RAHB’s Matrix system and other associated applications and resources which are available to you as a member.  Clareity’s SafeMLS Single Sign On system is designed to operate as a Single Sign On provider which collects behavioral data associated with all logins to the system to help mitigate security threats.  The behavioral data collected by the system includes information such as login times, system fingerprint information (i.e. device type, operating system, browser version), keystroke dynamics, GeoIP location information, IP address, and a variety of other characteristics. This information is collected and monitored on a regular basis and is used to build risk profiles. When any of these patterns consistently differ in a significant way, it triggers the system to generate an additional risk profile which is associated with your account. When more than one risk profile is associated with your account, the system will measure the risk score differences between profiles and if that score is above the allowed threshold, the system will start a remediation process to help mitigate any potential risks which may indicate that your account is being used by more than one person.
Why Save Passwords are not allowed:
The reason the ability to use Saved Passwords is disabled during the login process is due to the Keystroke pattern analysis which is performed on each login. When entering a password, each person has a consistent pattern associated with the way they type. The system pairs this pattern with other information to account for differences which may be caused by different devices.  This particular indicator is very effective in identifying scenarios where a password has either been compromised or shared with another party.  If the ability to utilize saved passwords was enabled, the system would be unable to collect accurate keystroke data for analysis.
What Alternatives are being considered:
Both RAHB and Corelogic (Clareity) understand that having to manually enter a password to authenticate with the system may be viewed as an inconvenience to some users. We are always reviewing ways to improve the security and usability of the systems provided to our members. Corelogic’s Clareity SafeMLS team has indicated to us that they have been exploring and considering alternate methods of authentication for future adoption within their system. Some examples of the alternative methods being considered are as follows:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is an authentication method that requires two or more independent ways to identify a user. Examples include codes generated from the user’s smartphone, Captcha tests, fingerprints, or facial recognition
  • Certificate-based authentication technologies identify users, machines or devices by using digital certificates. A digital certificate is an electronic document based on the idea of a driver’s license or a passport
  • Additional Biometric information as an alternative to keystroke biometrics. Examples include: facial recognition, fingerprint recognition and voice identification
The security of your data, your clients data and the associations data is extremely important, especially with the security threat landscape which exists today. While we would like to turn on the ability for Saved Passwords to be used, that is not an available option at this time within the Clareity SafeMLS platform.
We will continue to investigate and work with our technology partners to research, consider and adopt new and improved methods of providing effective and efficient security authentication, identification, and analysis to our members.

Reporting of Sales

Oct 14, 2020 | | 0 Comments

It has come to our attention that there is some confusion as to whether a sale should be reported if a deposit cheque has not been received. As per RAHB’s MLS® Rules and Regulations, Reporting of Sales, Section 9, sub-section 9.01, sales must be reported within two (2) Association business days following written acceptance of an offer from the Seller, regardless if a deposit cheque has been received.

9.01        An important part of the inherent value of the Association’s MLS® System is the transaction data accumulated for sales of listed properties. Therefore, it is the responsibility of all Members to ensure, regardless of their business model, that property sold information for properties listed on the Association’s MLS® System, including the reporting of conditionally sold properties and sale prices, be reported to the Association. Members are not permitted to avoid these reporting responsibilities to the Association by, for example, cancellation of a Listing between receipt (or anticipated receipt) and acceptance of an offer, or encouraging a Seller to do so. Accordingly, the Listing Brokerage will report by Broker Load all sales and conditional sales for Broker Loaded MLS® Listings effected during the Listing term and during the holdover period of an MLS® Listing, within two (2) Association business days following written acceptance of any Offer by the Seller. If the MLS® Listing is Board Loaded, the sale or conditional sale must be submitted in writing within two (2) Association business days following written acceptance of any Offer by the Seller. Power of Sale and commercial sales shall be reported not later than two (2) Association business days after closing.”

RAHB/ITSO Issues Resolved – October 9, 2020

Oct 9, 2020 | , | 0 Comments

RAHB is pleased to advise you that many of the issues reported by RAHB Members as a result of the ORTIS and the Ontario Collective (OC) cutover to the new ITSO system have been resolved as follows:

 

  • Missing photos for ITSO listings have been backfilled and photos are now available to view on reports.
  • ITSO status changes are now available to view on the Matrix reports. Previously, status changes such as conditional or firm sale information were missing on RAHB reports.
  • ITSO listings are now only displaying Total Square Footage (above grade only) on RAHB reports.
  • Commercial Listings from ORTIS and OC will now display if Sub-Property Type of (Industrial, investment, office, retail, sale of business or store) is selected.
  • Data is being mapped incorrectly from ITSO to RAHB’s “Type” and “Property Sub-Type” fields. This issue is primarily affecting ITSO listings, which would normally be searchable with a Type of Townhouse/Row House. Corelogic is aware of this issue and is currently working on updating these listings. We will provide an update regarding the status of this issue early next week.

 

CoreLogic is continuing to work on a few outstanding items; however, RAHB expects those to be resolved shortly, and will provide you an update at that time.

 

Thank you very much for your patience and understanding.

Printed Forms Discontinuation

Oct 7, 2020 | | 0 Comments

During the COVID-19 pandemic, RAHB Members have adapted and transitioned to using electronic forms. RAHB’s printed Residential Property Information Forms dated 01/2020 and RAHB’s Commercial Property Information Forms dated 05/2018 will continue to be accepted for use until January 31, 2021, as well as sold in the RAHB Realty Shoppe until this date or sold out. After January 31, they will only be available electronically via WEBForms®  or found under the Standard Forms & Clauses section at www.orea.com.

 

The RAHB Realty Shoppe will continue to sell OREA Form 200 Listing Agreement – Authority to Offer for Sale until 01/31/21 or sold out, to coincide with the Data Forms discontinuation date. However, if OREA updates the 2021 OREA Form 200 Listing Agreement – Authority to Offer for Sale, then the sale of that printed form will be discontinued as of 01/01/21.  We will update members if there are any changes to these dates.

 

The WEBForms® icon is available via the RAHB Dashboard, as shown below. Members can access WEBForms® by logging into the SSO dashboard via http://my.rahb.ca, and logging in with a user ID and Password.

Once in WEBForms® , click the “Forms” icon on the left side of the screen, and then select the file for REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington.

 

 

Once here, click on either the Commercial Data Input Form or the Residential Data Input Form, as shown below.

 

If you have any questions, please contact the MLS® Help Desk at support@rahb.ca.

 

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