RAHB Update for December 18, 2020

Hamilton in Grey (Lockdown Zone), Burlington (Halton) & Niagara in Red (Control Zone) and Haldimand in Orange (Restrict Zone)

As of Monday, December 21 at 12:01 a.m., Hamilton will be moving into the COVID-19 Grey (Lockdown Zone), as is outlined in the Province’s COVID-19 Response Framework. In addition, Niagara will be moving into the Red (Control Zone) and Haldimand will remain in the Orange (Restrict Zone). Burlington (Halton) will remain in the Red (Control Zone).

As per the Framework, the Government of Ontario has officially prohibited the hosting of in-person open houses in red (control) or grey (lockdown). Real estate brokerages, brokers and salespeople must cease hosting and attending open houses in Hamilton, Burlington and now Niagara.

The (in-person) Open Houses feature in Matrix has been be disabled for all RAHB areas since 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 (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

Virtual Open Houses / Live Streams

The Government of Ontario has officially prohibited the hosting of in-person open houses in Hamilton and Burlington, effective 12:01 a.m. on Monday, November 16, 2020. However, users may advertise virtual showings / live streams through Matrix and REALTOR.ca.

To advertise a virtual showing or live stream, please follow the instructions below:

Log in to Matrix
Click the blue “Input” tab
Under “Quick Modify”, select the listing
Click “Open Houses”
Enter the “Start Date”
Enter the “Start Time” and the “End Time”
The open house “Type” automatically will default to “Virtual”
Under “Virtual Open House URL” enter or paste your virtual showing / live stream URL

The date and time of your virtual showing / live stream will be displayed on the REALTOR® Full Report, under the photos as shown below:

Users can use the “Open House” search in Matrix to review a virtual showing / live stream list.

All virtual showing / live stream URLs entered into Matrix will also be displayed on REALTOR.ca for the public as shown below:

For more information from CREA on adding a live stream open house to your REALTOR.ca listing, please click the below button.

How to Add a Live Stream to Your REALTOR.ca Listing

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