Quarterly Reports

Jul 8, 2014 | RAHB News | 0 comments

Arbitration, Discipline and Professional Standards Committees
There were no Arbitration or Discipline hearings during the second quarter.  The Professional Standards Committee reviewed six new complaints, two of which are being investigated by RAHB and four which were deemed to fall under RECO’s jurisdiction.  Contact:  Wilf Wallace, Don Inglehart and Ann Cosens

 

Government Relations
The Government Relations committee had a busy second quarter.  Between a call-to-action to members to oppose the spread of the Municipal Land Transfer Tax, CREA PAC Days and planning for the municipal election in the fall, the GRC has been active at all levels of government.

In May, the committee heard about the campaign for a Complete Streets policy in Hamilton.  Planning is underway to hold an information session for members interested in learning more about Complete Streets and the implications for real estate.  Contact:  Ann Cosens

 

Membership Area Representation Committee (MARC)
MARC hosted three town hall meetings in April – in Ancaster, Burlington, and Grimsby – and plans to visit Dunnville and Burlington this fall.  MARC enjoyed strong support at  REALTOR® CONNECTIONS in March, thanks to the RAHB members who visited the MARC booth in the Member Services area.  MARC continued its review of various sponsorship opportunities within the RAHB market area, and recently supported the Caledonia Canada Day Celebrations, the Dunnville Rotary Golf Tournament and the Burlington Chamber of Commerce Small Business Week Breakfast and Economic Forecast.  Contact:  Rochelle Edwards

 

Professional Standards
The Professional Development Committee offered 11 CE courses during the last quarter. New course topics included iPad Hands-on, Smart Videos, Tarion and Canada’s Anti Spam Legislation. In addition, RAHB offered the Consumer-Certified Real Estate Consultant® (C-CREC®) Designation course.  There are no CE courses scheduled during the summermonthsand courses will resume in the fall. The Accredited Senior Agent (ASA) Designation course will be offered September 10 and 11 at RAHB.

Professional Development Days will be held at RAHB October 7-9 – view the brochure under the Education tab either in FUSION, on Message of the Day (MOD) or through REALTOR Link®.  Contact:  Hank Balfoort

 

Regional Commercial Council (RCC)
Over 100 attendees, speakers and sponsors enjoyed a full morning of education and networking at the RCC Commercial Summit on April 24, 2014 at the Royal Botanical Gardens.  The theme of the Summit was “Regional Growth Opportunities”.

The RCC recommended a number of commercial education courses and two will be offered at RAHB’s Professional Development Days in October.

RCC members and the commercial REALTOR® brand will soon receive additional exposure when the One-Stop for Businesses department at the City of Hamilton makes RCC promotional materials available to their clients.

The RCC Election will return as a morning event later this year – watch for details regarding the Election Breakfast.  Please consider volunteering your time on the RCC – full RCC members who have been members in good standing for at least one year may be nominated for the election.  Contact:  Paul Martidale

 

 

 

RAHB dues deadline June 30, 2014

Jun 6, 2014 | RAHB News | 0 comments

The quarterly RAHB dues have been billed and e-mailed to you as part of your May monthly invoice.  Please note that dues are due and payable no later than June 30, 2014.  If payment is not received, suspension will be immediate as per RAHB Bylaw Article 4, Section 3, Sub-Section 3.01. (more…)

Ethics Corner – A story for a busy market

Jun 6, 2014 | Member Services | 0 comments

Sarah Salesperson had buyers with whom she’d been working for months.  They were all getting a little desperate – the buyers because they were buying their first home and nothing they saw in their price range appealed to them, and Sarah because she’d shown them every house in their price range and they were just too picky. Still, she liked them and tried very hard to find their first home.  She remembered what it was like when she was buying her first home and how hard it was to let go of some of the dreams. (more…)

OREA News – “Emerge” into your future!

Jun 6, 2014 | CREA/OREA/RECO News | 0 comments

OREA’s Emerge “Moving you Forward with the Tools for Tomorrow” is a dynamic conference series aimed at REALTORS® engaged in improving their business.  Bolstered by its success in 2013, OREA is offering EMERGE in six locations across the province in 2014:

Friday, June 20                                 Northern:            Thunder Bay
Monday, September 8                    Northeastern:    Muskoka
Thursday, September 25               Central:                Markham
Thursday, October 9               Southern:        St. Catharines
Wednesday, October 29                Western:               London
Thursday, November 13               Eastern:                Kanata

Registration is now open and the fees are as follows:

  • Early bird pricing (3 weeks before the event)

o   Members:  $59 +tax

o   Non-members:  $89 +tax.

  • Regular pricing

o   Members:  $79 +tax

o   Non-members:  $109 +tax.

 

For more information on EMERGE, go to https://www.orea.com/emerge or contact OREA at emerge@orea.com.

Bits & Bites

Jun 6, 2014 | MLS®, Stats & Technology | 0 comments

New App for REALTORS® and homebuyers in Southern Ontario

Look4Homes, a new app designed for iPhones and Androids, will soon be available to the members of the four STARRS associations – RAHB, Niagara, Brantford and Simcoe – and their clients.

This new product has great features for REALTORS® and their homebuyers:

  • Interactive map searching using GPS location-based technology in the iPhone and Android platforms
  • View property on maps, including satellite view
  • Search using all the criteria you are used to, including price range, number of beds and baths
  • Easily see all property details including multiple photos, price, property details and descriptions
  • Find your way to the front door using the turn-by-turn directions provided
  • Save properties for easy review later, or share them via text, email, Facebook or Twitter

Watch for the release of Look4Homes before the end of June.

 

SmartLinks and pop-up blockers

It is recommended that you add Fusion (URL: http://fusion.starrs.ca) to your browser’s list of allowed sites (‘exceptions’) for pop-ups – failing to do so may prevent Smartlinks (GeoWarehouse®, SIM, Connect, etc.) from opening.

Shown below are the steps to create an exception for Fusion in each of the major browsers.  There may be slight differences due to browser versions and settings, but the instructions should provide a basic overview of how to create a pop-up exception.

INTERNET EXPLORER
(Ver. 10 used as example; other versions are similar)

  1. Go to “Tools” → “Internet Options” → “Privacy”
  2. Click on the “Settings” button, located under the “Pop-up Blocker” header.
  3. Add Fusion to the list of exceptions by typing the URL into the field and clicking “Add”.

GOOGLE CHROME

  1. Click on “Customize and Control Google Chrome”
  2. Click on “Settings”
  3. Click on “Content Settings” (located under the “Privacy” header)
  4. Click on the “Manage Exceptions” button located under the “Pop-Ups” header.
  5. Add “fusion.starrs.ca” to the list, and make sure that “Behaviour” is set to “Allow”

MOZILLA FIREFOX

  1. Go to “Tools” → “Options” → “Content”
  2. Click on “Exceptions” (DO NOT uncheck “Block Pop-Up Windows” as this will allow pop-ups for all sites.
    This is an important security feature!)
  3. Enter the Fusion URL in the “Address of Website” field
  4. Click “Allow”

SAFARI
Safari does not allow for exceptions to the pop-up blocker.  To allow pop-ups in Safari, you must disable the
pop-up blocker:

  1. Go to “Safari” → “Preferences” → Security
  2. Uncheck “Block Pop-Up Windows.”

 

Government Relations Update – CREA PAC Days

Jun 6, 2014 | CREA/OREA/RECO News | 0 comments

RAHB volunteers and staff travelled to Ottawa in May to meet with local MPs to discuss issues that matter to REALTORS®. This year’s conference focussed on making housing more affordable by indexing the Home Buyers’ Plan and extending it to people going through major life changes.  RAHB representatives met with Chris Charlton, Wayne Marston and Mike Wallace, and received positive feedback about the proposals. (more…)