It’s election season at RAHB and there are seven (7) candidates vying for your vote for a spot on the 2019 Board of Directors!
In accordance with RAHB Bylaw Article 5, Section 7.03, the final slate of candidates for the 2019 Board of Directors is being sent to all members. Please click on the below button for the report from the Nomination Committee, including the list of candidates (which are listed alphabetically, and not by rank):
Mark your calendar for the Annual Election Meeting to be held at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, December 5 at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Registration and continental breakfast begins at 8:45 a.m.
CREA’s President, Barb Sukkau will provide members with an update from CREA and we will also feature a presentation: The Business of Ethics – What’s in it for Me by Bill Harrington, CREA’s General Counsel and Privacy Officer.
Advance electronic voting is available November 27, 28 and 29, 2018 commencing a 12:01 a.m. and ending 11:59 p.m. To vote, please visit http://evoting.rahb.ca/ElectionList.aspx. Video presentations from the candidates and candidates’ profiles (listed alphabetically, and not by rank) are also available on this site.
Hope to see you at any or all of the above events!
Join the OREA Forms Team on Wednesday, December 12 for an interactive overview of Broker of Record/Brokerage responsibilities and OREA Forms and Clauses that often affect trading activities.
Knowledge and awareness are paramount for reducing Brokerage and member liabilities.
This webinar, Broker of Record Responsibilities and OREA Forms, will provide Brokers of Record and Managers a detailed review of ongoing regulatory obligations. We will identify the many vital Forms resources to utilize in offices to keep members up to date.
Webinar learning objectives:
What’s new and revised for 2019 OREA Forms and Clauses
OREA Form #400 Agreement to Lease revisions
OREA Forms post-cannabis legalization, including four NEW clauses
Challenging Question/Answer discussion points re FINTRAC, e-signatures, advertising consent and suggestions for varied areas for Brokerage policies
Recent member market issues connecting to helpful OREA Forms for accountable discovery, disclosure, acknowledgements and consents
Refresher on finding the many excellent OREA resources for Brokerages
The webinar will be facilitated by Cassandra Agnew Walker, who will be joined by Lou Radomsky, OREA Forms Legal Counsel and Hugh Foy, a huge fan of REALTORS®. It takes place at 1 p.m. EST on December 12, 2018. Registration can be completed online now. If you are unavailable on the date of the webinar, you can still receive a link to the recording by registering.
All OREA Standard Forms webinars and related resources are for OREA members only. To access the webinar recordings and forms resources you must be registered with a brokerage that is a member of Organized Real Estate, which includes OREA membership.
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.
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 pleasecall 905-560-6707, or e-mail their CEO Sean Ferris directly at [email protected].
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:
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 [email protected] or 905.529.8101 x295 for more information.
New RAHB Statistics Packages will be coming in October for the September 2018 data – and it will include CREA’s Home Price Index (HPI)
Over the past several months, RAHB has been investigating ways to update the statistics packages we provide to members and the public each month. Through much research and consultation, RAHB will be releasing a new statistics package in October for the September data. This new package is more comprehensive, and includes CREA’s Home Price Index (HPI) and additional resources.
Please see below for a listing of the new items found within the RAHB member statistics packages. Links are provided to the updated documents (with August data), and where links are not provided they will be a part of the new packages starting in October. These items with August data are for you to become better acquainted with the new packages, and are not meant for distribution.
*Please note that the HPI reports are quite lengthy, should you want to print them.
What is the Same and What is New with RAHB’s Monthly Market Statistics Reports?
What’s the Same?
What is New?
Release statistics reports to members and the media on the 3rd business day of the month.
Data is pulled on the 1st business day of the month.
Very similar data/statistics reported within the RAHB tables and charts (i.e. Average/Median Sale Price, # of Listings, Days on Market, etc.).
The data in previous reports was by sales/listings by RAHB members. The data will now include RAHB member and non-RAHB member data, and be tailored specific to the four main areas within our market – Burlington, Hamilton, Haldimand and Niagara North.
We will continue to provide a geographic map of the RAHB market area with average sale prices and number of sales.
Some geographic properties have been added to the map (i.e. lakes, major highways, escarpment), and we will also now include separate maps for the four main areas within our market – Burlington, Hamilton, Haldimand and Niagara North.
We will continue to provide charts with commercial information.
We have broken down the commercial data by the four major areas within our market, and added “sales volume” to the list.
We will now be providing Home Price Index (HPI) reports, tailored for the four major areas within our market.
Members will still have access to Matrix/SIM to pull and tailor data for your needs.
Members will now have access to CREA’s HPI tool, Tableau (more information below), which will allow members to pull trends and data for specific sub-neighbourhoods throughout our market.
We will begin reporting weekly statistics on News & Alerts (Matrix) every Wednesday. These stats will cover the four major areas of our market and include: Residential New Listings, Residential Sold, Residential Average Price, Commercial New Listings and Commercial Sold.
Weekly Statistical Reporting
In addition to the above documents and resources, we will be providing weekly statistics updates via Matrix/News & Alerts, so please watch out for this information.
CREA’s HPI – What is it?
Developed using data from the Multiple Listing Service®, the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) allows you to see trends in home prices for a specific type of house in a given neighbourhood.
Combined with your knowledge, experience and skills as a REALTOR®, the HPI will help your clients better understand these trends — and how they can affect the market value of your client’s home.
More importantly, though, it helps your clients approach one of life’s most important decisions — buying or selling a home — with greater confidence.
Although we have updated the monthly RAHB statistics packages and included CREA’s HPI, the way we provide our members with valuable data is never final. We encourage questions and feedback from all RAHB members about the new statistics packages and CREA’s HPI so we can continually work to enhance the resources RAHB REALTORS® have. Please click below and submit your questions and feedback. Thank you in advance.
Thank you to the RAHB Statistics Task Force and to the RAHB members who took the time to complete the RAHB statistics survey in July. Your input helped guide these updates.
On September 19, 2018 a Broker of Record / Manager meeting was held at McMaster Innovation Park. With 33 people in attendance, there were several engaging and informative discussions that took place, and below is a summary of the topics discussed:
VOW / Competition Bureau Ruling with Respect to TREB On August 23, 2018 the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed TREB’s application to appeal the Competition Tribunal’s ruling that TREB abused its dominant position. Real estate boards and associations that currently have a Virtual Office Website (VOW) data feed, or are considering implementing one (as RAHB currently is) are expected to follow the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Competition Tribunal with respect to making “Disputed Data” available for members who wish to implement password protected virtual office websites.
RAHB informed the Brokers / Managers of the details of the case, provided a brief overview of the history, and discussions were had about RAHB actions moving forward. For information, please visit the RAHB Blog at https://blog.rahb.ca/?p=23240.
New RAHB Market Statistics Report Brokers / Managers were presented with an overview of the new RAHB market statistics packages that will be officially launched on October 3 for the September data release. The new reports will have data broken down into the four main areas of RAHB – Burlington, Haldimand, Hamilton and Niagara North – and include CREA’s Home Price Index (HPI) data. A sample of this report will be sent to all members via e-mail prior to the official launch. Feedback on the new package is welcomed.
Realtor.ca Discussions took place regarding Zillow beginning to enter the real estate market in Canada, expected to be in 2019. The Directors are encouraging CREA to provide the appropriate resources to ensure Realtor.ca remains the dominant platform for REALTORS® in Canada.
A question raised was: What is CREA doing on behalf of its members to maintain/upgrade Realtor.ca? It was suggested that a town hall meeting with CREA and RAHB members take place to discuss the wants/needs of our members could be beneficial. RAHB is looking to make this happen and will inform members of any developments on this.
RAHB Education Two areas of concern were identified for further investigation:
The process to determine and approve courses/speakers offered by RAHB.
The pricing model for RAHB education courses.
It was agreed that we want to maintain the highest quality of courses being offered to members. RAHB staff will investigate the above two priorities, and any changes or updates to RAHB education will be communicated to all members.
RAHB Service Awards RAHB Services Awards Committee Chair, Bruce Moran, highlighted the three service awards available and encouraged members to nominate any qualified candidates. Nominations are currently open and forms can be found on the RAHB website at www.rahb.ca/project/rahb-service-awards/. Bruce also emphasized that nominations are judged on strict criteria, and so extensive details included within each nomination enhance a nominee’s probability of winning.
Professionalism and REALTOR® Reputation An open discussion item was brought forth focusing on ensuring professionalism in real estate to enhance the reputation of REALTORS®. RAHB currently has a task force working on this specific issue, and as new items evolve they will be continually addressed.
Mandatory Membership within RAHB The question was raised as to why a brokerage is mandated to hold a RAHB membership for its REALTORS® if the majority of the REALTORS® in that office do not conduct business within RAHB’s market/catchment. RAHB will investigate this rule further and determine its continued relevance.
If you have any questions regarding any of the above topics/discussions, please contact Carolyn in the RAHB office 905.529.8101 x236, or via e-mail at [email protected].
Thank you to members for your participation in our statistics survey! We gained wonderful and useful insight into what works well and what needs improvement for our monthly statistics release.
We are planning some changes based on the feedback from the survey, as well as from the Statistics Task Force, for the stats release in September (for August statistics). Be sure to stay tuned for more information on the upcoming changes and addition of helpful resources. The winner of the draw from the Statistics Survey will be announced next week
On June 21, 2018 a Brokers of Record / Managers meeting was held at McMaster Innovation Park. With 31 people in attendance, there were several engaging and informative discussions that took place, and below is a summary of the topics discussed:
Electronic Lock Boxes Nearly 600 responded to the recent RAHB survey on electronic lock boxes, and the results of the survey were split 49.7 per cent in favour, and 50.3 per cent opposed. Brokers of Record and Managers provided insightful discussion and questions surrounding professionalism, personal and property security, and usage metrics related to electronic lock boxes. No decision has been made regarding pursuing electronic lock boxes, and the CEO and Board of Directors will take the input provided into consideration as they continue their examination of electronic lockboxes.
Candidates for the Board of Directors There are expected to be six vacancies on the Board this year. The nomination committee is working towards securing hopefully over 10-12 candidates with a blend of appropriate experience and expertise. Please be sure to review the information found within your weekly NewsReal newsletter, on News & Alerts (Matrix), and within the member Facebook group and consider applying yourself and encouraging qualified colleagues to do so.
Proper Use of Form 801 Discussions occurred that although Form 801 should be presented with an offer, it is not required in order to register an offer.
Commission Cheques to Cooperating Brokers Discussion also occurred around RAHB Rule & Regulation Section 11 – Broker Commission, Subsection 11.07 that states any commission is due and payable to the co-operating brokerage within five (5) business days of receipt of the commission by the listing brokerage.
Advertising The Brokers and Managers also talked about advertising guidelines that fall under RECO’s mandate. Note that infractions related to the MLS® trademark fall under CREA’s jurisdiction, and if received they are dealt with promptly.
Directional Signs A communication was sent to members on June 26, and posted on the RAHB blog at https://blog.rahb.ca/?p=22622, regarding the City of Hamilton sign bylaws. Additional information and education will be provided regarding sign bylaws within the City of Burlington and outlying areas.
Data Sharing Update – Connect As of Friday, July 13, RAHB has disabled several inactive/icons from RAHB’s Connect page as we have confirmed that several boards no longer upload their listing information into the Connect system. The move was made to ensure our members receive correct information. For full details, please visit our blog at https://blog.rahb.ca/?p=22742.
Please note we are in on-going discussions with each of those no longer participating to try to ensure an alternative method is put in place as soon as possible to continue sharing across the province.
Ontario Standard Lease Discussions took place regarding the legal liability and the requirements of the Ontario Standard Lease form. REALTORS® have a legal obligation to ensure their clients are fully protected and using the new forms.
If you have any questions regarding any of the above topics/discussions, please contact RAHB at 905.529.8101.
It has been brought to our attention that the listing data for several boards within Connect (accessed through my.rahb.ca) are either not available or not correct. After looking into the issue, we confirmed that several boards no longer upload their listing information into the Connect system.
As such, in order to ensure our members receive correct information, we will be removing the inactive icons/links from Connect on Friday, July 13, 2018. We are disabling these currently outdated links to ensure our members are not accessing incorrect listing data.
The remaining participating boards that members will continue to have access to include:
Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB)
Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB)
Brantford Regional Real Estate Association (BRREA)*
Cambridge Association of REALTORS® (CAOR)*
Guelph and District Association of REALTORS® (GDAR)*
Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR)*
Niagara Association of REALTORS® (NAR)*
The Oakville, Milton and District Real Estate Board (OMDREB)*
Simcoe and District Real Estate Board (SDREB)*
Barrie and District Association of REALTORS® (BDAR)*
Huron Perth Association of REALTORS® (HPAR)*
Mississauga Real Estate Board (MREB)*
*The MLS® systems of these boards are managed by ORTIS.
Note that members of the participating boards/associations will continue to have access to all RAHB listings via Connect.
Boards and associations that have participated in the Connect data share each made their own decision to do so. Please note we are in on-going discussions with each of those no longer participating to try to ensure an alternative method is put in place as soon as possible to continue sharing across the province.
If you would like to access listing data for any of the areas not remaining current in Connect, we recommend:
Searching through REALTOR.ca, or
Contacting those boards directly
Below is a link to the contact information for the boards that will be removed as of Friday, July 13, 2018 from RAHB’s Connect page.
RAHB President Jack Loft enjoyed lunch with Ron Lewyckyj (RE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.). Ron mentored Jack when he entered real estate 14 years ago. Ron would like to see RECO more involved in raising the professionalism of our members, and likes that our Board is making efforts to keep members informed and involved in decision making.
For your chance to have lunch with the RAHB President, please e-mail your name to [email protected].
