After a brief delay due to development delays, a new date has been set for RAHB and the rest of the STARRS group to access Matrix, the platform for the new Regional MLS® System.
There will be a “parallel” period when Fusion and Matrix will run side-by-side – this will begin near the end of August (final date to be released soon). During the parallel period, you will be able to get information in Matrix and set up some of your personal preferences, but you will not be able to broker load or edit in Matrix; those functions will still be done in Fusion.
Final cutover to Matrix – when access to Fusion is cut off – will be Tuesday, September 29. At this point, all listing functions will be done in Matrix.
Cutover to the Regional MLS® System is taking place in two stages: the Cambridge, Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo associations will access Matrix July 27 for the beginning of their parallel period. They will have their final cutover on August 25, right around the time when RAHB, the other members of the STARRS group and the Oakville-Milton association enter their parallel period.
This two-stage access should work to our advantage, as most of the inevitable bugs should be worked out by the beginning of the second stage parallel period.
You will be receiving more information about Matrix, the Regional MLS® System and what you can do to prepare for cutover – watch for issues of The Switch coming to your email inbox.
The City of Hamilton launched their new website in June and, as a result, the property tax inquiry page has moved.
Go to Property Inquiry page then click “Property Inquiry Tool”. You will have to accept the terms of use before you can search by address or roll number.
The link to this information in Fusion > WebTools has been updated.
Last month the Association sent out a side-by-side comparison of our current MLS® Rules and Regulations and the draft Regional MLS® Rules. The communication wasn’t clear that the rules were still just a draft, and as a result there have been some concerns raised by members about these rules.
In the weeks since, your Board of Directors has been busy gathering feedback and information to ensure that all concerns are addressed before the final regional MLS® Rules are adopted. This has included:
Seeking input from the membership as a whole
Review by the MLS® Committee
Review by OREA’s legal counsel
Review by CREA’s competition counsel
Special Board meeting to discuss the Regional project
Sending correspondence to the Ontario Regional Technology & Information Services (ORTIS) advising that RAHB has concerns regarding certain provisions within the draft Rules before they are finalized, as well as for clarification on the process for providing input
Appointing a task force of RAHB members to review the Rules and draft recommendations to the Board of Directors
In addition to these measures, I met with the Presidents of the other seven associations on May 25 and the concerns raised by RAHB were common to all. I have no doubt that by the time the Regional MLS® Rules are adopted they will be better than the Rules we currently have in place.
On June 24, we are holding a General Membership Meeting to amend the RAHB Bylaw to separate the MLS® Rules. This serves to continue RAHB’s move towards good governance practices, and also serves to clear our final commitment to joining the Regional MLS® system. I need to be clear that this separation is a contractual requirement for our participation, and if we fail to amend the Bylaw, the other seven associations will continue without RAHB.
What this means is:
RAHB would remain on Fusion
We would lose our existing relationship with the STARRS group (Niagara, Brantford and Simcoe)
Your Board of Directors is committed to moving forward with the Regional project and we need your support to continue.
There have been rumours that members will see their fees increase when we move to the new MLS® system, however, thanks to the purchasing power of 7000+ REALTORS® your dollar will go farther! We’re happy to say that there is no fee increase projected despite a number of additional services being built in to the new system.
Integration of Teranet will provide seamless field population
ShowingTime, an integrated scheduling system, will connect appointments directly to the MLS® listings, and via its mobile app
Integrated statistics capabilities
Full accessibility on all devices and platforms
The Regional MLS® system and Matrix are being created to meet the needs of REALTORS® in southern Ontario. The regional system will offer you access to MLS® data from seven other real estate associations and more, as others come on board.
Matrix will give you fast access to the information you need, on any device, to better serve your clients.
Matrix will integrate programs and information you already use so it’s all at your fingertips.
The Regional MLS® System and Matrix are the future of real estate and your Board of Directors is committed to being part of that future.
I said earlier that theBoard needs your support in order to continue to be part of the Regional MLS® system. Here’s how you can help:
Come out to the General Membership Meeting on June 24 and ratify the Bylaw changes that will remove the current MLS® Rules and Regulations from the RAHB Bylaw. This is a contractual requirement for our continued participation in the Regional MLS® System; it is also good governance and something we would be asking you to do anyway.
Please do not assume that the Regional MLS® System is a done deal. It is not. If members do not approve the Bylaw changes at this meeting, RAHB will not be part of the regional system. It is important that if you are looking forward to the regional system, you be at that meeting and cast your vote to allow RAHB to continue moving forward.
Please feel free to contact CEO Ross Godsoe or myself if you have questions or concerns about the Regional MLS® System and Matrix.
I look forward to seeing you at the meeting on June 24!
Meeting Details:
Burlington Holiday Inn, 3063 South Service Road
9:30 a.m. – Registration 10 a.m. – Meeting
ShowingTime presentation following the meeting
If you cannot make it to the meeting, you can give your proxy vote to someone who will be attending. The form will be sent on June 12 with the official Notice of Meeting.
On May 6, RAHB sent a message to all members via email about changes to how members access MPAC’s propertyline reports.
We have received the following update from GeoWarehouse.
Previously, MPAC had provided all GeoWarehouse users 50 free reports per month of their Basic REB report. This was provided as a courtesy, but was not a contractual obligation by either MPAC or Teranet.
What has changed?
MPAC launched a new version of propertyline, and decided to discontinue access through GeoWarehouse, which Teranet complied with. Because of this, GeoWarehouse users who wish to continue to use propertyline must create a new account through propertyline.
Will members still be able to get 50 free reports per month?
No, MPAC is no longer offering 50 free Basic REB reports per month to REB GeoWarehouse users. These reports must now be purchased.
Do you need to log into propertyline to get MPAC assessment information?
No. Much of the assessment information contained in the Basic REB report is still available at no additional charge as part of your GeoWarehouse subscription. Users can find the information on CVA, frontage, depth, property type and description within the assessment information section of the Property Details report. If data is not available for a property within the Property Details report, try right-clicking on the property in the map and selecting “Assessment Information”. A purple icon will appear which provides the assessment data by placing your mouse over the icon. To purchase additional assessment data through the GeoWarehouse Store, including the Basic REB Report and other MPAC propertyline reports, right-click and select “Purchase Assessment Information”, or select “Assessment Reports” in the assessment information section of the Property Details report.
What did the Basic REB Report give you that is different from your GeoWarehouse subscription?
The Basic REB report carried the assessment version of the address and the legal description. The assessment legal description is an abbreviated location identifier (e.g., Lot 4, Plan MM1234), but does not contain many qualifiers (“subject to…”) such as easements that are considered important disclosures on documents like the agreement of purchase and sale. The full legal description can be found within the GeoWarehouse Property Details Report.
More information?
If you have questions about setting up a propertyline account, contact propertyline at 1.866.296.6722.
On May 6, RAHB sent a message to all members via email about changes to how members access MPAC’s propertyline reports.
We have received the following update from GeoWarehouse.
Previously, MPAC had provided all GeoWarehouse users 50 free reports per month of their Basic REB report. This was provided as a courtesy, but was not a contractual obligation by either MPAC or Teranet.
What has changed? MPAC launched a new version of propertyline, and decided to discontinue access through GeoWarehouse, which Teranet complied with. Because of this, GeoWarehouse users who wish to continue to use propertyline must create a new account through propertyline.
Will members still be able to get 50 free reports per month? No, MPAC is no longer offering 50 free Basic REB reports per month to REB GeoWarehouse users. These reports must now be purchased.
Do you need to log into propertyline to get MPAC assessment information? No. Much of the assessment information contained in the Basic REB report is still available at no additional charge as part of your GeoWarehouse subscription. Users can find the information on CVA, frontage, depth, property type and description within the assessment information section of the Property Details report. If data is not available for a property within the Property Details report, try right-clicking on the property in the map and selecting “Assessment Information”. A purple icon will appear which provides the assessment data by placing your mouse over the icon. To purchase additional assessment data through the GeoWarehouse Store, including the Basic REB Report and other MPAC propertyline reports, right-click and select “Purchase Assessment Information”, or select “Assessment Reports” in the assessment information section of the Property Details report.
What did the Basic REB Report give you that is different from your GeoWarehouse subscription? The Basic REB report carried the assessment version of the address and the legal description. The assessment legal description is an abbreviated location identifier (e.g., Lot 4, Plan MM1234), but does not contain many qualifiers (“subject to…”) such as easements that are considered important disclosures on documents like the agreement of purchase and sale. The full legal description can be found within the GeoWarehouse Property Details Report.
More information? If you have questions about setting up a propertyline account, contact propertyline at 1.866.296.6722.
RECO recently provided information about advertising listings as “coming soon” (For the RECOrd, April 9). The article suggests there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to advertise listings that will soon be listed and/or active on the MLS® System.
Please note that RAHB Rules do not allow advertising “Coming Soon”. Section 10, Advertising in the MLS® Rules and Regulations states:
Section 10 Advertising 10.05 No marketing of any property, including placing a sign on any property, is permitted until the commencement date of the Listing Agreement pertaining to such property.
Therefore, there is no appropriate way for RAHB members to advertise a property before the commencement date of the listing.
Property Panorama will be launching InstaView Update 2.0 on May 7, 2015 and you will see noticeable improvements.
This Over-the-Air (OTA) update will be released systematically, and you will not experience gaps in service or be required to make manual changes. All your previous user settings will be honoured and automatically implemented into InstaView 2.0.
Once the update has been launched, you will notice changes that include:
Visual Design: a new and improved Members Area Layout, including a new colourful theme, graphics and animations.
Navigation: Quickly navigate through your Member’s Areas with the all-new streamlined single-column navigation. With this simplified designed, you will be able to easily navigate between your Tours, Statistics, Leads, Settings, and all other facets of the InstaView portfolio.
Increased Performance: Minimized load times provide the most responsive site possible.
Updated Printer Friendly Flyers: InstaView 2.0 introduces all-new PDF flyers. These flyers have a fully updated design and are displayed in a vertical layout for easy printing.
Automatic Social Media Syndication: One-click submission of tours to popular social media sights will be even easier! You will be able to choose to have tours automatically syndicated to your personal accounts any time a change is made.
Watch for these great changes to InstaView on May 7.
Recently RAHB has been receiving requests to make sales changes to amend the selling salesperson’s name.
When the listing brokerage reports the sale, they likely report the selling salesperson to be the salesperson who presented the offer and completed the deal. However, many members work as part of a team, on behalf of a specific member, and prefer sales to be credited to the team leader.
When you are the selling salesperson on an offer but wish your team leader to be credited with the sale, you must ask the listing brokerage to amend the sale information. You must do this as soon as possible, as the listing brokerage must report the amendment within five business days of the original report of the sale, as per RAHB’s MLS® Policy:
Sales
Any corrections to a firm Agreement of Purchase and Sale report, with the exception of revisions to the closing date, must be submitted within five (5) business days of the original report of sale.
You broker load your listing, give it a quick glance and hit “Submit”. The listing is now active and is being sent out to hundreds – maybe thousands – of other members’ clients who have been set up with a saved prospector search. And then you notice the listing price is incorrect.
Of course you change the price right away, but that first incorrect price is now shown as the “Previous Price”.
RAHB MLS® staff have been receiving many calls asking for the previous price to be removed from the listing because the listing price was entered incorrectly. This is happening often enough that it is obvious that members are not carefully checking their listings before hitting that “Submit” button.
Here’s a tip – print out a report of your listing instead of just glancing at what’s on the screen. Seeing the information on paper may let you see typos you might not see on the screen. And when you check your listing, make sure you look specifically at the following five fields, as experience shows they are the most likely to contain errors:
• Listing Price
• Commencement Date
• Expiry Date
• Selling Commission
• Sellers Names
You are searching in the Southern Georgian Bay section of CONNECT for a listing on a property in Meaford but you can’t find it. So maybe the property was listed by a member of the REALTORS® Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound , or the Barrie and District association, or TREB.
Until now, you would have had to search through various associations’ databases on CONNECT to find that one listing in Meaford. But no more! A unified search is now available in CONNECT – just insert the MLS® number or the property address and you will find the listing, no matter which association’s MLS® System processed the listing.*
Unified search allows you to search Active and Sold listings across all of the CONNECT member boards and associations* from one simple search interface. The unified search interface will provide five basic search criteria fields – MLS®#, Price Range, Property Type, Status and Address. Following a search, the matching results from all CONNECT member boards and associations will be presented on an interactive map view which can also be toggled to a thumbnail grid view. You can click on any of the results views to view additional listing information, or email or print a Client or REALTOR® listing report.
*Note: Oakville/Milton (OMDREB) listings are currently unavailable in the Unified Search results. Oakville listings should be available in the unified search results shortly.
Main Search Interface
Map Result View Grid Result View New Email & Print functionality for Client & REALTOR® Reports
Members are reminded that they should, by now, be using the 2015 OREA listing agreement forms. The deadline for switching to the new form was February 10, 2015.
