Annual Charity Auction
for the
Thursday, November, 19, 2015 – 6 p.m.
Michelangelo Events & Conference Centre
1555 Upper Ottawa St., Hamilton
Tickets: $55 each (taxes included)
Table of 10: $500 (taxes included)
(Includes: sit down four-course meal, tea and coffee)
rahb.ca – REALTORS®4Kids
#realtors4kids
If you attended Matrix training at the end of August, you likely saw RAHB’s new CEO at the podium. George O’Neill started as RAHB’s new CEO on August 24, and managed to make it out to all six training sessions to meet members and give a quick introduction about himself. Here’s the longer version:
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George takes the helm at RAHB after serving as Managing Partner and Broker of Record of O’Neill Advisors Inc. in Toronto, a Business and Real Estate Brokerage. Having an early avid interest in the role of social media in marketing real estate, George wrote the first RECO approved Social Media Marketing Course for Real Estate and delivered the course to hundreds of REALTORS® across the province of Ontario. He also chaired annual conferences on real estate marketing and founded the Real Estate Marketing Toronto (reMarkTO) group for information sharing. The group currently has over 900 members.
Prior to founding his real estate business in 2007, George worked for over twenty years as a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Consulting and for leading Canadian and U.S. companies including Hydro One, Spar Aerospace, McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) and the Manufacturing Technology Centre in business development, mergers and acquisitions, marketing, sales, operations and technology roles.
George holds Master and Bachelor Degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick (UNB)
as well as an MBA Degree from Queen’s University. He is also a Certified Business Intermediary, a designation awarded by the International Business Brokers Association. Active in the local community, George supports various charities and is a director on the Boards of three private corporations and not-for-profit organizations.
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We sat down to have a conversation with George.
Congratulations on becoming RAHB’s new CEO. You left your own brokerage to come to RAHB. What prompted you to move from one side of the real estate profession to the other?
Thank you, it is a pleasure and honour to serve our members. Organized real estate is experiencing a time of immense change, and therefore opportunity. We are seeing an increased number of skilled and educated practitioners enter the business, perhaps more than during any previous period. Client expectations are rising, both sales and marketing skills are paramount, and the world is on-line. Practitioners excel when they are provided the training, tools and support they need. Our Association is vital, ensuring our members have a modern, robust MLS® system and related operational processes. I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to join as RAHB’s CEO just as I was selling my business and thinking about what I would do next in my career.
This is the first time you’ve headed up a not-for-profit organization. What attracted you to the not-for-profit sector?
Over the years I have worked with member based associations and have found the organizational missions and dynamics both interesting and challenging. I am a big believer in membership service and of the importance the work our REALTOR® members provide to their clients and to the community. I strongly believe in RAHB’s mission: Empowering REALTORS® to succeed.
What are your early impressions of RAHB? Do you already see things you want to work on?
RAHB has a fantastic group of dedicated staff. Everyone has a choice where they work, and we are fortunate our employees choose to serve you, our members. As we move forward and your requirements for the services we provide may shift, we will respond and adjust so your Association continues to enable you to continue to serve your clients.
Do you have any major changes you wish to see at RAHB?
At the time of responding to these questions, I have been on the job at RAHB just a few days, so it is far too early to talk about potential major changes. In the immediate term, we must not lose focus to ensure the upgrade of the Matrix MLS® system goes smoothly for our members. That is perhaps the most important activity we are currently undertaking, in addition to of course continuing serving our member’s needs on a daily basis.
Do you have any additional thoughts you’d like to pass on to the members?
RAHB is fortunate to be amongst the leaders in organized real estate associations in Canada. Our dedicated Board, committed staff, and each and every member contribute to making sure this is a strong Association, second to none. The staff and management team at RAHB are proud to be a part of your success and I am pleased to be your Association’s CEO.
Here’s what’s happening with the new Regional MLS® System!
Some tips for using Matrix while in preview mode:
RAHB has added the following Matrix training sessions for members:
Monday, September 14 – 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
These will have similar content to the large CoreLogic sessions held August 25 and 26, but will be presented by RAHB staff at the RAHB office. This is lecture style instruction.
RAHB is offering the following Matrix training sessions for office administrators and admin assistants:
Wednesday, September 16, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Monday, October 5, 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.
All sessions will be held at the RAHB office. For more info or to register, contact Camryn at camrynh@rahb.ca or 905.529.8101 x251.
RAHB MLS® staff have received numerous calls regarding listings that are not appearing on REALTOR.ca.
If your listing does not appear on REALTOR.ca it is because the listing is not mapped in Fusion. If it is not mapped in Fusion, it will not be searchable by the address or the map on REALTOR.ca, which means it can only be found by the MLS® number.
CREA revised its criteria for uploading several months ago, and now requires that your listing include the Internet Ad Copy and the latitude and longitude coordinates that are automatically generated in Fusion when the property is mapped.
Whether you broker load your own listings or your office does them for you, it is imperative the property is mapped properly as soon as it is submitted in Fusion. If Fusion is not able to automatically map your property, you must map it manually by placing the house icon and car icon on the map. Be sure to click Save when you are done. This will automatically generate the latitude and longitude coordinates for upload to REALTOR.ca.
PLEASE NOTE: If your property is not mapped in Fusion when first submitted, the map location can be edited after the fact; however, you must modify the Internet Ad Copy and re-save the listing to force the listing to re-upload to REALTOR.ca with the map coordinates.
When we cut over to Matrix, the same criteria will apply – once your listing has been submitted, you will choose whether to map your property automatically, or manually plot it on the map.
(September 3, 2015 – Hamilton, Ontario) The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,300 sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in August. Sales were 7.2 per cent higher than the same month last year and 12.4 per cent higher than the 10-year average.
There were 1,833 properties listed in August, an increase of 16.9 per cent compared to August of last year.
“Despite the increase in number of properties listed, end of month listing inventory was still 9.5 per cent lower than last year,” said RAHB CEO George O’Neill. “There is slightly over two and a half months of listing inventory – more than at the end of last month, but still low enough to leave our area in a seller’s market.”
Seasonally adjusted* sales of residential properties were 8.2 per cent higher than the same month of the previous year, with the average sale price up 16.7 per cent for the month. Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 13.9 per cent higher than the same month the year prior.
Seasonally adjusted data for residential properties for the month of August, 2015:
Actual overall residential sales of 1,251 units were 7.9 per cent higher than the same month last year, and set a new record for sales in the month of August. Residential freehold sales were 8.1 per cent higher than last August while sales in the condominium market increased by 7.2 per cent.
The average price of freehold properties showed an increase of 19.4 per cent compared to the same month the previous year; the average sale price in the condominium market increased by 1.2 per cent when compared to the same period.
The average sale price is based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold by RAHB members. Average sale price information can be useful in establishing long term trends, but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value.
“The increase in average sale price for residential properties overall and for freehold properties is a bit misleading,” noted O’Neill. “We report on all activity processed through our Multiple Listing Service®, and some of those properties are not located in our market area. As it happened this last month, there were a couple of very high end properties in Oakville which were listed by our members and which sold for around $10 million. Those kinds of numbers can really skew our statistics. Looking at the median sale price is more helpful – the median for all residential sales was $365,000 and $393,500 for freehold – a big difference from the average of $501,830 for freehold properties.”
“This is why it is important to consult with a REALTOR® when you are looking for information about the value of properties in any given area,” he added.
The average days on market decreased from 41 to 36 days in the freehold market and from 39 to 38 days in the condominium market when compared to the same month the previous year.
Year to date, sales are 11.6 per cent higher compared to the same period last year; listings are 7.2 per cent higher than last year and the average sale price is nine per cent higher for the period.
Every community in RAHB’s market area has its own localized residential market. Please refer to the accompanying chart for residential market activity in select areas in RAHB’s jurisdiction.
*Seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal variations, enabling analysis of monthly changes and fundamental trends in the data.
Established in 1921, the REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) represents more than 2,700 real estate brokers and sales representatives from Hamilton, Burlington and outlying areas. Members of the association may use the REALTOR® trademark, which identifies them as real estate professionals who subscribe to a strict code of ethics. The association operates the local Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) and provides ongoing professional education courses for its members. In addition, RAHB is an active participant in the Home Ownership Affordability Partnership (HOAP) and holds an annual auction in support of local charities. Advertisements of local MLS® property listings and information about the services provided by a REALTOR® can be found at www.REALTOR.ca. More information about RAHB is available at www.rahb.ca.
The RealTrack service is available for all members’ use in the RAHB Resource Centre.
What is RealTrack?
RealTrack is a licenced database for searching commercial real estate transactions of $500,000 and over, for properties located in Ontario. Compiled from land title documents, telephone interviews, site visits and other sources, RealTrack collects, confirms and publishes the information of over 93,000 property transfers dating back to 1996. The database grows at a rate of 100-150 new transactions every week.
Property information includes:
Access to RealTrack in the RAHB Resource Centre is by chance or by appointment (one user session at a time). Contact Kathy (kathyr@rahb.ca) or Nancy (nancyd@rahb.ca) to reserve your time today!
Popular Seasonal Item now available
2016 Calendar Magnets
A great way to make your business card readily available to your clients: remove the cover from the adhesive magnet and attach your card. An economical marketing tool that your clients will appreciate receiving.
Special features include:
Only 45¢ ea.
Contact the Realty Shoppe to order yours today
NEW in the Shoppe!
The Happy Agent book
$24.00 + 5%tax
Congratulations to Mike McNeil, Re/Max Escarpment Golfi Realty, and Derek Carter, Homelife Professionals Realty lucky winners of the July 30 “Shoppe Customer Appreciation” draw for two adult tickets (each) to Canada’s Wonderland.
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* All applicable taxes are extra. Prices subject to change.
Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
T.: 905.529.5979 F.: 905.529.7109 E.: realtyshoppe@rahb.ca
Do you know a RAHB member who:
If someone springs to mind, then nominate them for Honourary Life Membership in RAHB!
All nominations will be reviewed by the Honourary Life Task Force and the award – if qualified nominations are received – will be made at the Awards Gala in January, 2016.
Find the nomination form and complete information on REALTOR Link® (under Member Services) or at http://rahb.ca/awards/2015/HonouraryLifeForm.pdf.
Deadline for nominations is Friday, November 6, 2015.
All new courses! October 6 – 8, 2015
Courses offered during Professional Development Days are FREE for RAHB members who register prior to September 18; courses are $25 + HST each after September 18. NOTE: members who register but do not attend will have a $15 + HST “no show” fee applied to their RAHB account for each course they register for but do not attend.
Professional Development Sessions:
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
50 Top Sales Tips – Michael Appleton, 10 a.m. – Noon
The Four Pillars of Income in Real Estate – Michael Appleton,
1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
GeoWarehouse: New Product Update – Theresa Corin, 10 a.m. – Noon
Social Media Sales Funnels – Rebecca Mountain, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
When Things Go Wrong – Mark Weisleder, 10 a.m. – Noon
Estate Planning – Ed Ounpuu, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
All sessions held at the RAHB office, McCullough Rooms (lower level). For more information or to register, contact Angela at the RAHB office (angelam@rahb.ca or 905.529.8101 x233).
(RAN) is the REALTOR® community’s one-stop shop for everything and anything political.
The federal election is an excellent opportunity for all REALTORS® to get involved in the political process. Not only does your individual participation strengthen Canada’s democracy, it has tangible benefits for your business and community.
How you can do it
The information you provide helps us know their background, interests and priorities so we can more easily interact, build rapport and position our issues. CREA will be updating RAN as the election progresses so check in frequently!
The quarterly RAHB dues have been billed and emailed to you as part of your August monthly invoice. Please note that dues are due and payable no later than September 30, 2015. If payment is not received, suspension will be immediate
as per RAHB Bylaw Article 4, Section 3, Sub-Section 3.01.
Acceptable methods of payment:
In Person: Visa, MasterCard, Interac, Cash or Cheque
By Phone: Visa or MasterCard
Online through Fusion: Visa, MasterCard or AMEX
Online: CIBC/PC Financial, Royal Bank, Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust – for assistance in set-up, please call Karin at 905.529.8101 x258.
Pre-Authorized payment subscribers will be processed on Monday, September 21, 2015.
* To meet the Senior Membership criteria, you must be 65 years of age and a 25-year RAHB member. If you meet the criteria please contact Camryn in the Membership Department with proof of age (e.g. driver’s license) – camrynh@rahb.ca or by fax to 905.529.4349.
Membership Terminations: Article 4 – Section 1, 1.02
It shall be the Brokerage’s responsibility to ensure that notice of all Membership resignations and/or other Membership terminations for Members registered with such Brokerage are received at the Association office within seven (7) business days of such termination. Notice of any resignation and/or other Membership termination received after such date, shall be subject to a penalty in the amount of $50.00 per incident, which sum shall be payable by the Brokerage
to the Association.