As was communicated earlier this week by RAHB, as of Friday, September 18, 2020, MPAC is enforcing their Terms and Conditions of Use. This affects square footage data within the MPAC propertyline™ reports available through GeoWarehouse. This is not a new rule or change by MPAC – this has always been within their Terms and Conditions of Use; however, they are now enforcing it.
On Thursday, September 17, RAHB met with members of ITSO (formerly ORTIS/OC) and OREA to discuss the issue. All three groups are in agreement that ranges were not ideal representations of the data because they do not represent accurate and validated data. It was also agreed that MPAC’s information regarding square footage should not be relied upon as accurate data for that field – it should only be used as a tool to provide a reference point to assist in validation of the correct information.
Mandatory square footage remains in effect; however, RAHB no longer displays or allows the choice of “Public Records” (i.e. MPAC) as a square footage source. This decision was made based on research conducted by RAHB, ITSO and OREA.
Independently obtaining and verifying the accuracy of measurement for your listing:
Helps to protect RAHB members from potential liability
Protects the Association from potential liability
In addition, it follows CREA’s REALTOR® Code, Article 4 – A REALTOR® has an obligation to discover facts pertaining to a property which a prudent REALTOR® would discover in order to avoid error or misrepresentation.https://www.crea.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/The-REALTOR-Code.pdf
To help RAHB members comply with enforcement, below is a list of third-party vendors who measure/provide square footage. Please note that RAHB does not endorse or recommend the below vendors – this is a resource list for members to research.
RAHB members can also conduct the measurements themselves and use builder floor plans.
All measurements need to be accurate and defensible.
RAHB will continue to work in collaboration with ITSO and OREA to research the matter for additional options and solutions. RAHB will inform and update members as the situation changes.
If you have any questions, please contact the MLS® Help Desk at [email protected].
Teranet provided an FAQ, which could be helpful during this time. To access the FAQ, please click the below button.
As was communicated by RAHB earlier this week, MPAC has implemented changes which will be effective Friday, September 18, to the MPAC propertyline™ reports available through the GeoWarehouse. These changes affect square footage data within these forms.
RAHB is currently researching this matter and will be meeting with the ORTIS square footage task force to discuss the issue further on Thursday of this week. We will continue to inform and update members as the situation changes.
If you have any questions, please contact the MLS® Help Desk at [email protected].
To review the details that were posted for members on Monday, September 14, please see below.
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MPAC has implemented the following changes, which will be effective Friday, September 18 to the following MPACpropertyline™ reports available through the GeoWarehouse store:
A NEW Residential Floor Area Range Report ($4) will replace the existing Residential Floor Area Report ($5)
A NEW Residential Detailed Level 2 Report (displaying floor area ranges) will replace the existing Residential Detailed Level 2 report
The changes affect the new Detailed Level 2 reports and new Residential Floor Area reports, which will be available for purchase through GeoWarehouse. Please note, this does not affect any of the data available inside GeoWarehouse that members currently see without transactional purchase.
Both of the reports will now only provide a square footage range, rather than provide the total square footage. If you are purchasing these reports to obtain the total square footage, you will not receive that specific data anymore – only a range.
On the RAHB listing forms, members must enter the total square footage, so these reports will not be able to be used for that data moving forward. You are reminded that you may use the following options to obtain the total square footage data as follows:
Builder Floor Plans
3rd Party Measuring Service
Measuring yourself (LBO) provided
For the official communication (PDF) from Teranet that outlines the details of the changes, please click the button below.
RAHB is pleased to announce that, beginning this fall, the main floor offices of the building will be renovated for the first time since the last major renovation in 1997. RAHB’s main floor tenant recently expressed an interest to enter into a long-term lease that will increase the size of their office space and install a private bathroom for their unit at no cost to RAHB. This tenant’s requirement for additional commercial office space presented RAHB with a unique opportunity to fulfill the expansion needs of an excellent tenant and increase non-dues revenue for RAHB over an extended number of years, while also renovating and optimizing RAHB’s office space to create a more productive and contemporary work environment. The Board of Directors approved the new tenant lease and the RAHB renovations at their meeting on September 2, 2020.
Staff have continued to work remotely since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as currently recommended by Hamilton Public Health, and are well-positioned to provide uninterrupted service to members over the next several months while renovations take place.
As part of the renovations, the historical files within the RAHB Resource Centre will be disposed of in the next few weeks (as is in keeping with best practice at associations/boards throughout Canada), the filing cabinet will be removed/repurposed, and the older furniture and accessories will be sold. Moving forward, the historical data can be found online (i.e. within RAHB database; GeoWarehouse, etc.).
Information and updates regarding the renovations and furniture (which will be made available for members to purchase) will be forthcoming as details are finalized.
Although the main floor of the RAHB office will remain closed, the Realty Shoppe continues to serve members via phone-in and online orders, with curb-side pick-up Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Plans are underway to open the physical RAHB Realty Shoppe to members in the future – dependent upon public health COVID-19 guidelines.
Thank you for your patience during this time. We are excited to transform the RAHB space for members and staff as we move closer to celebrating RAHB’s 100-year anniversary in 2021.
On September 8, the Honourable Karina Gould announced funding for six projects that will modernize and improve public transit in Burlington.
The Government of Canada is investing more than $5.1 million for projects through the Public Transit Infrastructure Stream (PTIS) of the Investing in Canada plan.
To learn more about the Investing in Canada plan, please click the button below:
Burlington public transit users will benefit from:
The purchase of 12 new 40-foot conventional buses to expand the fleet over the next three years;
The purchase of five new conventional buses that will replace current buses that have reach the end of their lifecycle,
The purchase of three specialized accessible vehicles to support the community’s need for more accessible public transit over the next three years;
The installation of devices on traffic signals and conventional buses that will help increase public transit efficiency and on-time performance by allowing buses to move through traffic more efficiently;
The procurement and implementation of an intelligent transit system technology system to introduce new, on-demand services to areas that are currently under-serviced, and;
The purchase of a new fuel that will improve the quality of the public transit system.
For more information, please click the button below:
RAHB is pleased to announce that a new updated version of Matrix; specifically, Matrix X, is now available to members as of October 14, 2020. Matrix X is the latest version of Matrix from CoreLogic. Matrix X has a new look and feel, combined with modern colour palettes, iconography, navigation and design. Please click here to take a video tour of the new navigation.
Discover What’s New:
Easier Navigation—Matrix X includes a new clean header and navigation bar with features right where you’d expect them. A new notifications icon alerts you to important updates, and a new menu under the user’s name provides quick access to personal settings, account information and help.
Concierge Improvements—Alerts for new Concierge matches have been moved to the new notification centre for quick and easy access. Map and Results tabs have been added to Concierge approvals. Switch between map view and results view just like you would with regular search results.
Great Looking E-mails—Conveying a professional image is key, so we updated Matrix e-mails with a clean, modern design.
New Contacts Module—Matrix X includes a new Contacts module that uses best-practice webpage design, while maintaining a familiar workflow, so there’s no need for retraining. Tabs and widgets provide better readability and accessibility. See how to quickly create a new contact in the new module by clocking this link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzw6jLHTwSg
New Map Functionality—The map screen now uses the full width of your browser. Map and Results tabs have been added to Concierge Approvals. We improved the Map Toolbar with easier icons and tooltips.
New Quick CMA—Matrix X includes a new Quick CMA with easier to read icons, font, glanceability and more. Coming soon: The full CMA report pages are being redesigned with a clean, modern and consistent look.
Please contact RAHB MLS® Support if you have any questions at 905.667.4650 or [email protected].
The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,272 sales of residential properties located within the RAHB market area were processed through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in August 2020. Sales are down 21.14 per cent over last month and up 12.7 per cent over August of last year. New listings are down 16.1 per cent over July 2020 and up 7.3 per cent over last August. The average price for residential properties was $694,690, which is up 0.24 per cent from last month and up 16.3 per cent from August 2019. The number of active listings for the month was down 18.6 per cent over last year.
The Realty Shoppe is offering a new option for your lockbox needs! Available now is the MasterLock® Vault Enterprise Electronic Lock Box.
With this device, you can open and manage your lockboxes by a variety of means – including your Smartphone app. Use this electronic lockbox for property access as a stand-alone unit with access or integrate with either BrokerBay or ShowingTime® scheduling platforms.
Please note that only the Vault Enterprise model 5440ENT (not the Vault e-lock model) has the required software to integrate with the scheduling platforms.
We would like to thank all members for their patience during the OC/ORTIS cut-over to the new MLS®. Please see below for an update on any issues remaining.
The issues with missing photos on listings has been resolved. If you experience any issues with missing photos, please send the MLS® number to [email protected]
The issue with the Broker Bay links has been resolved
The “Type” mapping issue is still being worked on, and we will update members once it has been resolved
There is an mapping issue with some – not all – ITSO listings appearing in RAHB with no municipality showings. We have just notified CoreLogic about the issue and they are working on the problem
If you experience additional issues with Matrix, please report these directly to the MLS® Help Desk via [email protected] or 905.667.4650.
Just a reminder of RAHB Rule & Regulation, Section 2 – MLS® Listings, Sub-section 2.18 which states:
The listing member shall immediately, and with reasonable notice notify any party who requests a viewing or has received a confirmation for a viewing if the listing status changes including but not limited to “active-cs” (conditional sale), “active-ns” (conditional sale no showings), “sold”, “suspended” or “cancelled”, or if a registered offer is received.
Some members have experienced an issue with GeoWarehouse® recently where the Matrix Single Sign-On (SSO) link redirects them to a sign-on screen instead of taking them directly into the site. This was caused by recent updates performed on the site by Teranet. If you encounter this, you will need to clear your browser cache. This will correct the problem.
We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused. Please contact RAHB MLS® Support if you require any assistance. They can be reached at 905.667.4650 or [email protected].
