RAHB’s Latest Updates
Matrix Issues – Update
CREA’s HPI Tool and Powerpoint Presentation
CREA’s HPI Tool – Tableau
For more information on how to use the HPI Tool, please visit www.crea.ca/housing-market-stats/mls-home-price-index/getting-started/.
On November 8th, CREA’s Chief Economist, Gregory Klump presented two sessions at RAHB about the HPI Tool. If you would like to view his powerpoint presentation, click the button below.
A video from the session will also be posted.
The Realty Shoppe Update
Real Estate Outlook 2019
RAHB and CMHC are teaming up to present Real Estate Outlook 2019, where you will learn about economic, geographic and demographic variables that will influence the housing market in the Hamilton-Burlington area in 2019.
On the agenda for this half-day event are:
- Anthony Passerelli, CMHC’s Senior Market Analyst, will discuss the state of Hamilton’s and Burlington’s housing markets, and present CMHC’s forecast for the 2019 housing market
- Lorraine Huinink, Vice President Corporate Real Estate for Metrolinx
Tickets are now on sale!
RAHB member = $42 +HST
non-RAHB member = $52 +HST
Broker table (10) = $420 +HST
Thank You To Our Sponsors
RBC - Signature Sponsor
CIBC - Silver Sponsor
Scotiabank - Silver Sponsor
Two Additions to Photo Policies
The RAHB Board of Directors recently approved the addition of two new policies to the RAHB MLS® Policies for photos.
The additions and attendant revisions to the (now) Photos/Images policy are noted in bold text below.
| Current Photos Policy | Approved Amended Policy |
PHOTOS
|
PHOTOS/ IMAGES
|
RAHB REALTORS® Release October Statistics
The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington reported 1,035 sales of residential properties located within the RAHB market area were processed through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in October, 2018.
Please click here to read the full report.
Follow the links below for:
- Residential Market Activity for RAHB Area
- All RAHB Residential Market Activity and HPI Report (17 pages)
- RAHB Residential Market at a Glance
- Social Media Stats Kit
- Stats Map for Entire RAHB Area
- RAHB Commercial Activity
Burlington
- Residential Real Estate Market Activity Table for Burlington
- Burlington Market Activity and HPI Report (72 pages)
- Burlington Area Map
Halidmand
- Residential Real Estate Market Activity Table for Haldimand
- Haldimand Market Activity and HPI Report (62 pages)
- Haldimand Area Map
Hamilton
- Residential Real Estate Market Activity Table for Hamilton
- Hamilton Market Activity and HPI Report (199 pages)
- Hamilton Area Map
Niagara North
Habitat for Humanity Hamilton Needs Your Help
On October 15, Habitat for Humanity Hamilton experienced a massive theft when over $10,000 worth of supplies and equipment was stolen from its warehouse. Items taken include compressors, saws, nail guns, cordless drills and copper pipe. Habitat for Humanity was in the midst of building a home in downtown Hamilton on Wilson Street and the theft will affect that, as well as other projects.
Habitat for Humanity Hamilton is appealing to the community for donations of new or slightly used tools, as well as monetary contributions. The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington will be donating financially to the organization, and if you would personally like to donate please call 905-560-6707, or e-mail their CEO Sean Ferris directly at sean@habitathamilton.ca.
Welcome New Members!
We extend a warm welcome to RAHB’s newest members who joined our Association between
September 29 and October 30, 2018!
Mary Dzambas
Century 21 New Age Realty Inc.
Nasr Bistawrous
Homelife Professionals Realty Inc.
Gordon Burns
Elaine Tolley
iPro Realty Ltd.
Sara Caterini
Adam Cooke
Alyssa Drummond
Julie Hilw
Keller Williams Complete Realty
Susan Blazey
Fathalla Denno
Troy Challe
Glenda DiStefano
Elsa Sewell
Michelle Whitelaw
Keller Williams Edge Realty
Ana Carter
Kingsway Real Estate
Sabi Dhawan
LEADEX Realty Inc.
Stacey Keric
Lenore Lennox
Rob McKichan
Danny Mistry
Demis Rasho
Tyler Robins
Lex Thavarajah
RE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.
Krista Toussaint
RE/MAX Escarpment Golfi Realty Inc.
Marcelo Ferreira
RE/MAX Real Estate Centre Inc.
Cristian Enache
Right At Home Realty Inc.
Laura D’Alimonte
Brandon Iaboni
Rachel Taylor
Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services
Suzanne McKinnon
Royal LePage Macro Realty
Yossi Klein
Lisa Templeman
Zolo Realty
Do You Have Questions About Your RAHB Account?
You can review your current – and past – RAHB invoices, print the invoices and even print your full 2018 invoice of charges, payments and HST paid to RAHB any time you want – it’s easy!
1. From your Single Sign On (SSO) dashboard at my.rahb.ca, click on the RAHB Education/Account Services icon (it’s in the second row of icons on your dashboard).
2. Sign in to your account (this is a temporary step until full launch of this member portal).
Note: Contact Corporate Services at 905.529.8101 for assistance if your password doesn’t work.
3(a). When you are on the new Member Portal, look for Account Balances in the upper right of the screen:
Click on Pay Now. Don’t worry – you don’t have to pay your account right away! Clicking on this button will allow you to see your account details.
3(b). Alternatively, instead of clicking on Pay Now, you can hover over the green Member tab at the top of the page, and choose My Account to view your account. This will take you to the same page as using the Pay Now link.
4. On your My Account page, you will see your monthly charges. If you see only the current month, these are charges you are accruing during this month. These charges have not yet been billed, so you do not owe this amount yet.
If, however, you see more than one month, then the earlier months have not yet been paid, and you owe those amounts.
(You can pay your invoice amounts by selecting the document numbers you would like to pay, then clicking on the green Pay $ button. You will enter your credit card number, security code and expiration date – the rest of the information about you will be pre-populated. Click on the Next button to process your payment. Once your payment is processed, you will receive a confirmation e-mail.)
5. To view the details of your current or past account information, click on the Date Range History tab at the top of the page.
6. Insert the date range you wish – you can enter the dates or use the calendars to the right of the boxes. Once you click Update, you will see your all of your charges, payments and HST for the date range you specified. For your taxes next year, you will want to use January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018.
7. Print your invoice using the Print icon at the top right of the page.
Note: There is a History tab at the top of your page. You can use this button to view all charges/payment history inclusive of HST. Use the Date Range History tab as described in steps five, six and seven to view/print your payment history with the HST broken out.
Searching Active Listings
When you search for active listings in Matrix or set up an auto e-mail for a client, are you including both the Active and Active CS statuses in your criteria?
Active CS listings are listings with conditional sales, including conditions with an escape clause. Until these listings are reported as sold, they are still active and will, in fact, continue to appear on REALTOR.ca. Including Active CS-status listings in your searches and auto e-mail criteria will ensure your listing matches include ALL active listings, and your clients won’t have to wonder why a listing shows up on REALTOR.ca but not in their e-mails from you.
RAHB Fall Open Forum Wrap-Up
In October, RAHB’s Member Engagement Committee (MEC) hosted the final two 2018 RAHB Open Forums in Burlington and Hamilton. In total, 107 members came out for a morning of information and networking.
MEC Chair Laura Doucette moderated the events which each included a presentation by local speakers, RAHB updates (with supporting hand-out materials), Q & A with RAHB CEO George O’Neill, and committee members highlighting their upcoming events.
The presentations were delivered by the Mobility Hubs Planning Team from the City of Burlington and the Economic Development Division from the City of Hamilton. The Hamilton Open Forum was recorded in its entirety and can be viewed on the RAHB member Facebook page.
The events were supported by sponsors Underwriters Alliance, The Personal Group, City of Hamilton, Ross & McBride LLP and Gail Sylvester Mortgages.
Burlington Presentation Hamilton Presentation
Lunch with the President
RAHB President Jack Loft recently had a healthy lunch with Darlene and Wayne Foster of Royal LePage Signature. Wayne is also a pilot with Air Canada and he was preparing for a flight to Paris. Darlene and Wayne opened an office in downtown Stoney Creek and invited Jack to have lunch across the street at The Powerhouse Restaurant. Both Darlene and Wayne want to ramp up professionalism in the industry, they want to see an adherence to sign by-laws and advertising. Darlene is not too sure about electronic lock boxes but she may be willing to try!
For your chance to have lunch with the RAHB President, please e-mail your name to president@rahb.ca.
Matrix Mapping Tools – Layers
MATRIX MAPPING TOOLS – LAYERS
Did you know that the Map Search feature in Matrix can do more than display listings? You can use the map to display key data, including regions, municipalities/sub-areas, neighbourhoods and points of interest. Here’s how:
1.From the Search screen, click on Map Search. Then, click on the Layers button, located at the top right corner of the map
2. To display the outlines for regions, municipalities/sub-areas and neighbourhoods on the map, select Ontario Boundaries from the layers drop down list:
Whatever overlay you choose will appear on the map.
3. To display several different points of interest, Select Points of Interest from the Layers menu. This will allow you to display the following on your map:
- Arts and Entertainment
- Banking
- Education
- Fire and Police
- Food and Dining
- Gas Stations
- Health Care
- Libraries
- Post Offices
- Religious Organisations
- Shopping
- Sports
- Transportation
Points of interest will appear as blue icons on the map. Please be aware, however, that points of interest are not available if you have the map zoomed out. If you zoom in enough so points of interest are available, the text for the selections will be black, as shown below. If they are in red, you will need to zoom in further.
Please feel free to contact the RAHB MLS® Department with any questions, at 905.667.4650 or support@rahb.ca
Cannabis Legislation
Starting today, growing cannabis at home is legal. To make things easier for Ontario REALTORS®, OREA has assembled information that REALTORS® need to know about cannabis legalization.
And SAVE-THE-DATE: OREA will be hosting a REALTOR® Cannabis Legalization Webinar on Wednesday, October 24, 2018 at 11 a.m.
Tune in to hear OREA’s Government Relations and Forms experts discuss cannabis legalization and what REALTORS® need to know about this important policy change. You’ll also have an opportunity to ask questions.
Link to Article: Cannabis_Info_FINAL
Ontario Municipal Election Information 2018
The Ontario Municipal Election is this Monday, October 22, 2018 and we encourage all RAHB REALTORS® to vote for those who represent you, your family, your community and your clients.
Please see below for links to where you can find candidate information for each of the areas within our RAHB market, as well as general voter information for those areas:
 |
City of Hamilton |  |
City of Burlington |
 |
Haldimand County |  |
Niagara Region |
And when considering your available candidates, we ask that you keep the below questions in mind:
- Do the candidates support or oppose the Municipal Land Transfer Tax (MLTT)?
- Do Hamilton candidates support or oppose the LRT?
- Do Burlington candidates support or oppose increased development?
- What are the plans of Burlington candidates to reduce traffic congestion?
- Do Hamilton candidates support or oppose rental licensing?
- Do Hamilton candidates support or oppose easing the process to establish a secondary suite?
- Do Haldimand candidates support or oppose development?
- Do Niagara candidates support or oppose growth?
- Will your candidates support or oppose initiatives to improve housing affordability?
Tax Fairness for Real Estate Professionals
Warning: “Professional Tenant”
Members Be Aware: Suspicious Caller for Rentals and Referrals
A RAHB member office has been contacted by a man who expressed an interest in renting a house or apartment and also in introducing contacts in exchange for a referral fee. The interaction raised a number of red flags for the Broker of Record.
The details of the exchange included:
The gentleman, who said he is 64 years old, expressed an interest in renting a house or high end apartment.
He also said he would introduce the salesperson to a number of potential clients from other parts of the world, and that he has many contacts and opportunities for which he wants a referral fee.
When told that referrals can be paid only to licensed registrants, he said he is a lawyer and has approval from RECO.
He was at times aggressive in his requests.
He went by a name which, when searched online, produced links to articles about his history of not paying rent and about charges of fraud.
The incident has been reported to the Hamilton Police.
Please exercise caution if you experience a similar exchange, and consider reporting the incident to the police.
City of Hamilton – Rental Licensing Pilot
On September 27, 2018, the City of Hamilton Rental Licensing Sub-Committee voted in favour to establish a rental licensing pilot project in Wards 1 and 8. This recommendation will go before the next City of Hamilton Council, with anticipated implementation within the first quarter of 2019.
RAHB voted against rental licensing in the City of Hamilton for several reasons, including: a lack of clarification on the process, uneven zoning by-laws throughout the City of Hamilton since amalgamation, a lack of incorporating the Maple Leaf Strategies Report containing 25 recommendations to address the issues (above and beyond), a lack of plan moving forward, etc.
Please see below for information from the City of Hamilton’s for the rental licensing pilot project, as presented to the Rental Housing Sub-Committee:
LICENSING BY-LAW
This option is intended to assist and support in bringing low density rental properties into conformity and compliance with standards and lessen enforcement challenges presently in existence. An owner occupied low density dwelling unit with three or fewer bedrooms rented within the same dwelling will not require a licence to rent individual rooms (three or fewer) as this is allowed under current zoning regulations.
Considerations in developing a Low Density Rental Housing Licensing By-law and Program include:
Potential Requirements under a Licensing By-law:
(a) Owner to provide proof of ownership and contact information (principal residence), company information
(b) Property management plan
(c) Proof of insurance
(d) Local management contact info (for out of town owners)
(e) Self/City inspections for compliance with the City’s Property Standards and Yard Maintenance By-laws
(f) Electrical safety inspection
(h) Floor plan for the building
(i) Property/yard maintenance plan
(j) Parking plan
(k) Licence fee
(l) Consent to Inspection
Pilot Project Summary
| FTEs | Associated Costs – FTEs | By-Law Amendments Required | Inspections | Exemptions | Fee | |
| Rental Licensing | 3 | $347,463 | Yes | Yes, consent for inspection provided by building owner. | An owner occupied unit with 3 or fewer bedrooms rented within the same dwelling unit. | $200 annually |
ADVANTAGES OF LICENSING
- Apply specifically to low density rental housing (5 units or less)
- Apply equally to existing and new low density rental housing (5 units or less)
- Require regular inspections
- Require proof of insurance
- Be funded by rental housing provider
- Safer legal properties to rent
- Potential reduction of enforcement costs to tax base
- Possible elimination of unsafe, non-compliant properties from market
- Early awareness of requirements allows for collaborative compliance
- Competition from unsafe, non-compliant properties reduced
- Housing stock is maintained
- Inspection enforcement encourages preventative maintenance, which is more cost effective than deferred maintenance, and thereby helps owners maintain their properties
- Housing inhabited by the most vulnerable populations, which is frequently the worst housing, is inspected annually
- Poorly maintained, substandard housing can have a negative effect on neighboring property values
DISADVANTAGES OF LICENSING
- Financial costs associated with a licence, passed on to tenants, higher rents
- Financial costs associated with insurance, passed on to tenants, higher rents
- Financial costs associated with bringing a property into compliance passed on to tenants, higher rents
- Potential loss of rental income due to enforcement
- Potential loss of affordable housing stock
- May have an impact on affordable housing
- Licensing rental housing may not be effective in addressing behavioural issues
- Residential rental licensing should not be considered as an alternative to enforcement of existing by-laws
UNKNOWNS OF LICENSING
- Although consent of entry written into regulation, unknown if tenants/owners will allow inspection
- Compliance rates – follow-ups could be time consuming
- Actual rental homes in Pilot Project area – 1,500 to 2,000 units estimated
RAHB is in contact with City of Hamilton staff to obtain more specifics on the plan moving forward and will provide those to RAHB members as they are obtained.
If you have any questions, please contact Wendy Stewart in the RAHB office at wendys@rahb.ca or 905.529.8101 x295 for more information.
More information can also be found on the City of Hamilton website at https://www.hamilton.ca/council-committee/council-committee-meetings/rental-housing-sub-committee.
Lunch with the President
RAHB President Jack Loft recently enjoyed lunch with Stephanie Hubraj of Right at Home Realty in Burlington. Stephanie is a busy REALTOR®, anxious to be part of the RAHB volunteer corps next year, and hopes the Association soon moves to electronic lock boxes. Stephanie’s blended family, that includes college and university students, keeps her busy!
For your chance to have lunch with the RAHB President, please e-mail your name to president@rahb.ca.
CREA Announcement re: Sold Data on REALTOR.ca
RAHB Corporate Sponsor