Jul 4, 2016 | Member Services |
Member Benefits are an important member service that you first learn about when you become a member of RAHB, and they can continue to work for you long into your career. Here’s a refresher of what benefits are available to you:
AD&D: All RAHB members are automatically enrolled in Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) insurance through ACE INA Insurance. The coverage is for up to $25,000 and continues for RAHB members until 70 years of age. Questions about the insurance should be directed to RAHB Corporate Service Department at 905.529.8101.
Health and Dental Insurance for CREA members: You can chose from a variety of health and dental insurance plans to cover common medical expenses such as prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, hospital benefits, registered specialists and therapists, and more. This benefit is administered by CREA and offered through ManuLife. For more information visit www.manulife.com/CREAhealth or call toll free 1.855.861.3290.
OREA Affinity Programs: OREA uses the combined buying strength of Ontario REALTORS® to arrange savings on a variety of products and services. Take advantage of the special discounts and offers provided by these affinity partners: AEROridge Insurance Brokers Ltd., CBA Health Insurance, MBNA, Rent Check Credit Bureau, Rogers Wireless Communication, and TD Insurance Home and Auto. For complete details, log in to OREA: https://www.orea.com/Members/Affinity-Programs.
Jun 9, 2016 | Member Services |
Computer
Held at RAHB – 505 York Blvd. – Lower Level
C – Chambers Room M – McCullough Room
- New Member Computer Training Level 1
Thursday, June 2: C, 9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, June 9: C, 1 p.m. – 3: 30 p.m..
Thursday, June 16: C, 9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, June 22: C, 9 a.m. – 11: 30 a.m.
- Matrix Hands-on Training
Tuesday, June 7: M – 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Professional Development *New
- Protect Yourself! Self-Defense for the
Real Estate Professional*
Friday, June 10: M, 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
- Social Media for Agents*
Monday, June 13: M, 9 a.m. – Noon
- ERIS – Separate Yourself from the
Competition with an Environmental Report*
Wednesday, June 15: M, 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
- Secrets of ALL Types of Investments
(You don’t have to be rich to retire early)*
Monday, June 20: M, 10 a.m. – Noon
- Master LinkedIn Bootcamp
Wednesday, July 27: M, 9 a.m. – Noon
- Master Facebook Bootcamp
Wednesday, July 27: M, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
- Staging Sells
Wednesday, August 24: M – 10 a.m. – Noon
Certification and Designation Courses
- Principles of Property Management
Tuesday to Thursday, July 5 to 7: M,
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- e-PRO® Day 1*
Thursday, August 18: M, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
(Note: Day 2 is completed online)
Board of Directors, Committee and
Task Force Meetings
Held at RAHB – 505 York Blvd. – First Floor
T – Thompson Room P – Purnell Room
- MLS® Committee
Thursday, June 9: T – 9:30 a.m.
- Government Relations
Tuesday, June 28: T – 9:30 a.m.
- Charity Auction
Wednesday, June 29: T – 1 p.m.
Upcoming Events
- Annual Charity Golf Tournament
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Copetown Woods Golf Club
1430 Concession 2 West., Copetown
Registration: 11 a.m.
Office Closure
The RAHB office will be closed
Friday, July 1 – Canada Day
Jun 9, 2016 | Member Services |
Canada’s Wonderland www.canadaswonderland.com
Any ONE Operating Day,
May 3 – October 31
Child (3+ under 48” tall) $38.00
Senior (60+) $38.00
Adult (3 – 59 and over 48” tall) $43.00
Pay ONCE, Visit TWICE ticket: Valid for two visits by the same person
All Ages $56.00
Ticket prices include HST but do not include food, merchandise, lockers, tubes, rental pavilions, games and special events.
NOTE: With the exception of special diet/need items and plastic bottled water, outside food and beverages are not allowed in the park. Tickets are not valid for Halloween Haunt. Parking is extra.
In person purchases only/final sale/no refunds or exchanges. Available in the Realty Shoppe – while supplies last
Wall Mount Pushbutton Lock Box – perfect as a “Thank You” gift for a client
- Wall mount key safe provides secure storage of keys or access cards
- Convenient push button locking mechanism in familiar alpha/numeric telephone keypad format
- Set your own combination using up to 12 letters, numbers or both
- Large buttons for ease of use, even in low light conditions
- 3-1/8in (79mm) wide durable metal construction
- Large internal cavity and removable key hook prevents jamming
- Protective weather cover prevents freezing and jamming
$26.40 + HST
____________________________________________________
* All applicable taxes are extra. Prices subject to change
Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
T.: 905.529.5979 F.: 905.529.7109 E.: realtyshoppe@rahb.ca
May 4, 2016 | Member Services |
RAHB communicates with members in many ways, to ensure that you are up-to-date with the information you need. You are reading one of them right now! The monthly REALinfo is a great compilation of news and updates from RAHB, the provincial and national associations, and associated organizations like RECO.
We know that members like to receive their communications via various media. Here are other ways we communicate with you. Count how many you use!
• www.rahb.ca
• RAHB’s page on REALTOR Link®
• Fusion “Message of the Day” and Matrix “News”
• RAHB Info/The Shift
• Direct email
• RAHB blog (https://blog.rahb.ca)
• RAHB Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/RAHBmembers/ )
• Promotional videos
• RAHB General Membership Meetings
• RAHB Broker of Record/Manager Meetings
• RAHB “Town Halls” (new look coming soon!)
• RCN e-broadcast
Apr 18, 2016 | Member Services, RAHB News |
The CREA Canadian Commercial Forum and TREB’s REALTOR® Quest are happening all under one roof this year, and RAHB’s Regional Commercial Network has arranged a package deal for any member to attend on Thursday, May 5. The package includes:
- coach transportation (from RAHB and back)
- admission to REALTOR® Quest
- all sessions
- continental breakfast
- lunch
- Forum’s wine and cheese reception
Full details are on the registration form. Seats are being sold “first come, first served”. Register now! Note: if we don’t have enough members registered for this package deal by April 22, the trip may be cancelled.
Apr 6, 2016 | RAHB News |
Here are some of the highlights from REALTOR® CONNECTIONS 2016 held Wednesday, March 23 at the Hamilton Convention Centre:
RAHB AGM
- Recognition of RAHB’s 95th anniversary
- The 2015 audited financial statements were presented and received
- RAHB CEO George O’Neill presented an update on Matrix and the regional MLS® System
Professional Development
- Rebecca Mountain led a session on Online Lead Generating: The Simple Solution
- Rick Shelley spoke on Multi-Residential: The Ins & Outs
- Don Patterson presented CREA Update and Info for Commercial Practitioners
- Pam Morton and Todd Targgart helped members Get (Re)Acquainted with Matrix
- Industry leaders and service provides shared their expertise on a variety of topics in Knowledge Pods in the Exhibit Hall
- Lunch Panel: “Planning the Future” Jason Thorne from the City of Hamilton and Mary Lou Tanner from the City of Burlington moderated by Keanin Loomis provided updates and insights on municipal planning initiatives
CONNECTIONS Café
- RAHB President Kim Alvarez and CEO George O’Neill were on hand to meet and speak with members
- RAHB Directors chatted with members about their ideas and RAHB services
Trade Show
- Members met with suppliers of goods and services and left with great information and a few goodies
Realty Shoppe
- The Realty Shoppe buzzed with activity most of the day and offered show specials and prize draws
MLS® Help
- RAHB MLS® staff were on hand to answer your questions about Matrix and Fusion
Winners!
- $95 Tim Horton’s gift card, for being the 95th RAHB member to register for REALTOR® CONNECTIONS (to celebrate RAHB’s 95th anniversary!) – Suzanne Burnside (RE/MAX Real Estate Centre)
- $100 Keg gift card from the social media contest leading up to REALTOR® CONNECTIONS – Michelle Shivbarran (Royal LePage State Realty)
- Free 2017 RAHB Dues draw at RAHB AGM – Darlene Wissenz (Sutton Group Innovative Realty Inc.)
- Paid registration to CREA’s Canadian Commercial Forum in Toronto Regional Commercial Network, courtesy of the Regional Commercial Network – Nicolas von Bredow (Royal Lepage Marco Realty )
- $50 Bon Appetit gift card, in the Member Engagement Committee’s “Get Connected” contest – Ken Murphy (Royal LePage State Realty)
- X6 Laser Distance Meter for responding to RAHB’s REALTOR® CONNECTIONS survey – Rose Cipriani (RE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.)
REALTORS®4 Kids draws:
- Sterling silver necklace – Stan Ivkovic (Royal LePage State Realty)
- Rodney Carrington tickets – Roman Radojewski (Royal LePage State Realty)
- Monster Jam tickets – Mary Atto (J.M. Edwards Associates Inc.)
- Michael Kors wallet – Nicolette Wandio (Coldwell Banker Community Real Estate)
- Gumball machine – Brian Gerrard (RE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.)
Realty Shoppe
Draws for three baskets of Realty Shoppe goodies, each valued at approximately $180
- Kirk Sharpley (Keller Williams Edge Realty)
- Natalie Pavkovic (Judy Marsales Real Estate Ltd.)
- Larry Paletta (Re/Max Escarpment Realty Inc.)
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What happened at the RAHB AGM?
RAHB’s AGM on March 23, 2016 at the Hamilton Convention Centre included a brief overview of RAHB’s strategic initiatives for 2016 by RAHB President Kim Alvarez, the presentation of the audited 2015 financial statement by Audit Chair Lou Piriano and an update on Matrix by RAHB CEO George O’Neill. Here are some of the details:
Kim Alvarez – Strategic Initiatives
- Strategic goals centre on ensuring RAHB addresses members’ needs
- Strategic imperative known as Member Development, Service, Engagement and Enablement (MDSEE)
- MDSEE is all about members – helping members expand their knowledge and skills, offering services REALTORS® need, engaging members and ensuring RAHB’s infrastructure (like MLS® service) is reliable
Lou Piriano – Audited Financial Statements
(Members received a link to the audited financial statement through the Annual Report emailed to each member on March 11, 2016)
- Deficit of $47,335 at the end of 2015
- Increases in both revenue and expenses: revenue increased by $208,100 and expenses by $399,541.
Contributing factors:
Increase in revenue
- 6% increase in membership – increased dues income; however, also increased monthly service costs and decreased income from monthly service fees from the $6 reduction approved by directors in 2014
- More professional development sessions, including designation courses (higher registration fees)
- Rental income increased as per lease agreement
- Decrease in investment income with decline in interest rates
Increase in expenses
- Building operations increased 7%
- Increase of 6.5% in MLS® services: increase in membership increased costs to provide MLS® services through Fusion and GeoWarehouse; increase in cost of digital/virtual tour packages; increased computer costs related to data sharing with STARRS members
- Administrative and Office Expenses increased by 11%: salaries increased 3% (CPI increase); non-recurring expense in benefit payout for retiring staff; professional fees for CEO search; decrease in advertising and public relations costs; no member survey
Other factors
- Increase in outstanding accounts over 2014 due to waiver of monthly service fee in December, 2014
- Long-term prepaid expense continuing to decline
Karan Barker Scholarship Fund
- Scholarships paid from interest earned
- Four students received $2,000 scholarships
Reserves
- According to policy, $50,000 was transferred to Building Reserve
Deloitte LLP appointed as auditors for 2016
George O’Neill – Regional Update
- Overview of extent of area covered by eight associations participating in regional MLS® system – 8,200 REALTORS®, with 35% of total made up of RAHB members
- Two separate initiatives – Matrix and ORTIS, the group overseeing and managing Matrix
- Matrix is live and the sole MLS® system for Cambridge, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo and Oakville/Milton associations; Matrix is available to RAHB, Brantford, Niagara and Simcoe for listings search across all the regional associations, but not fully for listing loading and maintenance
- RAHB has concerns to resolve with regard to ownership of listing data, ORTIS mandate and cost control, governance and decision making structure, MLS® Rules and service quality – all being discussed among eight associations
- RAHB will not cutover to using only Matrix until, at the earliest, after the spring market and all concerns with ORTIS are resolved. Until that cutover, Fusion will continue to run for loading and editing listings, in parallel with Matrix for listings search functionality across the regional area. We know this is not ideal from a member use perspective, but we believe it is better to resolve these concerns now when any potential negative impacts to members is minor.
Apr 6, 2016 | RAHB News |
Tax time is here! Here’s how to print off your RAHB invoice:
- Log into the Fusion Homepage
- In the Resource section, select “Smartlinks”
- From the drop down menu, select “Education/Account Services”. This will open a new window
- Select “Print Members Statement”
- Enter the date parameters of your choice. For example, if you want to create a copy of your 2015 invoices, you would enter a start date of 01/01/2015 and an end date of 12/31/2015
- Select “Run statement, Print”
** If you get a printer error, go to “select a format” (found above the RAHB logo), select “Acrobat Adobe PDF”, “export”, “print”. **
Mar 4, 2016 | Member Services |
Lisa Hensen (Royal LePage Niagara Real Estate Centre) is presenting an Easter Egg Hunt to benefit the Grimsby Food Bank. The Easter Egg Hunt will be held Sunday, March 27 at 12:30 p.m. at Central School in Grimsby. Activities include face painting, crafts table, pictures with the Easter Bunny and more. Hot chocolate, coffee, tea and treats provided.
Entry fee: 1 food donation per child. Lisa will match all food donations. For more information, contact Lisa Hensen at 905.945.1234 or lisa@royallepage.ca.
Mar 4, 2016 | Member Services |
This one-day conference is filled with opportunities and events designed for REALTORS®, and you are invited to attend!
- Rebecca Mountain: Online Lead Generation: The Simple Solution
- Rick Shelley: Multi-Residential: The Ins and Outs
- Don Patterson: CREA Update and Information for the Commercial Practitioner
- Knowledge Pods in the Exhibit Hall – stop for a few minutes and learn
from the pros
- Lunch time Panel – Mary Lou Tanner, Director of Planning & Building for the City of Burlington and Jason Thorne, General Manager Planning and Economic Development Department for the City of Hamilton will take part in a lunch time panel discussion moderated by Hamilton Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Keanin Loomis
- CONNECTIONS Café – a place to meet and chat with colleagues about issues of the day
- Trade show with 55+ exhibitors
- RAHB Annual General Meeting (AGM)
- Light breakfast and buffet lunch
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More COMMERCIAL content this year!
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For more information
Register online or contact Sheila at the RAHB office
– 905.529.8101 x234 or email sheilas@rahb.ca
* Members who register before 8:30 a.m. Monday, March 7 but do not attend REALTOR® CONNECTIONS (and do not cancel their registration in advance of the event – see cancellation policy below) will have a $35+HST administration fee charged to their RAHB account.
Cancellation Policy:
Cancellations will be accepted until 8:30 a.m., Monday, March 14.
Cancellations received after that date will not be eligible for any applicable refund.
Mar 4, 2016 | RAHB News |
RAHB’s annual conference and trade show – known first as REALTORS® without BORDERS and now as REALTOR® CONNECTIONS – has been one of RAHB’s most important member services for the last 15 years, and was rated as RAHB’s Number One event in the Member Satisfaction Survey in 2014.
Prior to the first fully-fledged REALTORS® without BORDERS Conference and Trade Show, RAHB offered various forms of education days both alone and in conjunction with other real estate associations. Then came the first REALTORS® without BORDERS in 2001, which offered professional development (and MCE Credits) and a large trade show.
In 2010, the event underwent a name change to REALTOR® CONNECTIONS and in 2012 it was combined with the RAHB AGM to give members a one-day, everything-in-one-place event.
The focus of the event has always been bringing members the best in professional development, vendors in the trade show and other features to assist members in their roles as REALTORS®. A more recent addition is a focus on member engagement and developing two-way communication with members.
Here’s a quick look at how REALTOR® CONNECTIONS has developed from 10 years ago:
Quick Facts:
Most exhibitors: 70 (2014) Highest registration fee: $45 (2007-2010)
Highest attendance: 585 (2004) Lowest registration fee: FREE (2011-2016)
No matter what you call it – Education Day, REALTORS® without BORDERS or REALTOR® CONNECTIONS – this is the event that focuses on what members need and want to do their business better.
Online registration to this year’s event is open until 8:30 a.m. Monday, March 14. REALTOR® CONNECTIONS 2016 is FREE for members who register by 8:30 a.m. Monday, March 7.
For more information about REALTOR® CONNECTIONS 2016, please visit our website.
Feb 5, 2016 | RAHB News |
Effective February 1, 2016, REAL Services Photography Inc. increased the cost for the photographer to take a front photo. The fee is now $20.
Feb 5, 2016 | RAHB News |
(reprint from email to all members in December, 2015)
RAHB’s monthly service fee (“Flat Fee”) is assessed on a cost recovery basis and is subject to revision according to the increase or decrease in costs incurred by RAHB to provide MLS® and MLS®-related services to members.
As per policy, [at the end of last year] the Finance Committee completed a review of expenses related to the monthly service fee for 2016 and recommended a two dollar increase, primarily due to:
• increases in the cost of services provided by Teranet
• pressure from the weak Canadian dollar for services billed in US dollars
As a result of these factors, the Board of Directors approved that the monthly service fee be increased from $42 to $44 per month, effective January 1, 2016. [The fee increase appeared on the January invoice you received on February 1.]
Please note this increase is only for your monthly service fee and not for your RAHB membership dues (“RAHB Quarterly Dues”), which will remain the same in 2016.
