August Issue v2

Issue #254 August 2010

Turmoil in QuebecPage 3

Nova Scotia legend Pat King retiresPage 12

Wilf Ray,loud & cleAR

with daughters Robin and leeann, the Ray Team continues a remarkable

real estate, marketing and radio career

Page 8

REM AUGUST 2010 3

Quebec salespeople revolt over new feesBy Danny Kucharsky

Montreal sales rep is lead-ing a campaign againsthuge fee increases that

have been levied on the province’sagents by the new body that over-sees real estate brokerage inQuebec.

Mario Rizzi of Rizzi Homes sayslicensing fees agents have to payfor the Organisme d’autoréglemen-tation du courtage immobilier duQuébec (OACIQ) have morethan doubled from $410 to $906,including an indemnity fund. TheOACIQ was introduced in May asa result of a new real estate broker-age act in the province. It replacesthe former Association descourtiers et agents immobiliers duQuébec.

Rizzi says sales reps were notproperly consulted and were givenlittle warning about the increase.“They had mentioned that feeswould probably go up, but therewas no mention of how much,” he

says. “We were expecting maybe$100, but not more than double.”

Upset about the hike, Rizziorganized a website, Facebookgroup and petition to protest thefee hike. The Facebook group nowhas 600 members, while about2,000 agents have signed the peti-tion opposing the increase. About80 agents held an hour-longdemonstration on May 26 atOACIQ offices on the SouthShore of Montreal, voicing theirdisapproval of the sudden fee hike.

Because of the opposition, theOCAIQ extended the deadline forcollecting the licensing fees fromJune to September because fewagents were willing to pay. Salesreps’ licenses will be revoked ifthey don’t pay the fees, theOACIQ says.

OACIQ officials did not returncalls from REM for comment.

The OACIQ is responsible forenforcing regulations covering bro-

kers’ and agency licenses, broker-age requirements, records andbookkeeping, disciplinary proceed-ings, indemnity fund and profes-sional liability premium, profes-sional conduct, advertising, con-tracts and forms.

The new act also does awaywith the term “real estate agent”,with all agents in the province tobe called brokers. Mortgage bro-kers are also covered by the legisla-tion.

It also makes it easier for buyersto pursue brokers in the courts ifthey believe they have been mis-led, and eases the way for disputesto be mediated.

Rizzi, who specializes in the saleof investment properties and offerswhat he says is among the lowestreal estate commissions inMontreal at four per cent, is notimpressed. “There’s no real differ-ence between calling us agents andbrokers,” he says. “They sold agents

on the idea that it was going to bea vast improvement, but in realitythere is no improvement. They’revery superficial sort of differencesthat they seem to call improve-ments. There are only negativeeffects.”

Rizzi says while the formerACAIQ favoured consumers butalso represented agents, theOACIQ solely represents con-sumers. “They’re charging us veryhigh fees, although they don’t pro-tect us and they don’t represent us.”

He suspects one of the objec-tives for the large fee increase is toreduce the number of agents in theprovince, particularly part-timers.“There would be no other reasonto increase the fees that much.”

Rizzi admits the number ofagents in the province is probablytoo high, but says a better ideawould be to reduce the number ofnew agents rather than to hit thosewho are already working with steep

fee increases.The number of salespeople is

already dropping and will continueto decline if there’s a slowdown inthe market, Rizzi says. He predictsthe number of sales reps will fall to15,000 in a few years from the cur-rent 18,000.

Rizzi believes the OACIQ willstick to its guns with the currentSeptember payment deadline andthat most brokers will cough upthe fees or be forced to leave theprofession. “The extension worksfor some agents because they werecaught off guard,” he says.

The next step in his campaignis to get people onto the OACIQboard who are opposed to the cur-rent increase. An election is com-ing and a few spots will be up forgrabs, he says. “We think we canget it (the fee increase) reversed fornext year. But we have to get mem-bers sympathetic to our ideas onthe board.” REM

A

fter almost 11 years at thehelm of the GreaterMontreal Real Estate

Board (GMREB), MichelBeauséjour announced he isretiring as GMREB CEO – hewill also be stepping down asCEO of the Québec Federationof Real Estate Boards (QFREB).In the June 30 news releaseannouncing his resignation,effective when his replacement isnamed, Beauséjour says a changein leadership is necessary to helpsupport the ever-changing land-scape of the real estate industry.“I have developed and imple-mented all of the necessary toolsto ensure the success of theindustry and of real estate bro-kers as they face these essentialchanges,” Beauséjour says.

While Beauséjour is only oneof a number of long-serving realestate CEOs across the countrywho have either already retiredor are engaged in transition plan-ning at their boards and associa-

tions, the announcement of hisimpending departure followsclosely on the heels of an onlinepetition signed by over 2,100GMREB members, calling for hisresignation.

The petition, launched inMay, took issue with commentsBeauséjour made during an inter-view with Quebec newspaper LaPresse, published on May 1, thedate the new Quebec Real EstateAct was implemented. La Pressequoted Beauséjour as stating thenew act meant a Realtor in theprovince “cannot be a peddler.And that is what the new law iscoming to say: you cannot do thispart-time anymore. You couldtry, but you will not last a longtime. This is a profession andpeople have to make the requiredefforts.”

While Beauséjour has beenoutspoken in the past about theneed for professionalism in thereal estate industry, his use of theword “peddler” linked to part-

time real estate agents drewimmediate criticism and theonline petition was launched,demanding he step down as CEOof the Montreal board.

In response, GMREB presi-dent Patrick Juaneda issued a let-ter to board members, tellingthem that, “while also disap-pointed with the tone of the arti-cle”, he and his board of directorswere “100 per cent in support ofthe CEO” and they were “to saythe least, dismayed and franklyappalled at the tactics being usedby some people to undermine anindividual who has always hadthe industry’s best interests atheart.” Juaneda added, “We pub-licly stand behind him and willnot allow him to resign, nor doeshe have any intention of doingso.”

The ensuing June 30announcement of Beauséjour’sdeparture caught many by sur-prise. However, GMREB vicepresident Diane Ménard told

REM that the decision was fullyBeauséjour’s own and says thatmost of the board’s members con-tinued to support their CEO.

“I can tell you that themajority of people are behindMichel. We’re hearing com-

ments from people who arepraising Michel and the goodwork that Michel did and whathe brought to the MontrealREB, but they respect his deci-sion,” says Ménard, who down-

Montreal board CEO Michel Beauséjour retiresOnline petition may have influenced departure announcement By Kathy Bevan

A

Michel Beauséjour (right, with CREA CEO Pierre Beauchamp) was pre-sented with the AEC Award of Excellence in 2007.

Continued on page 6

4 REM AUGUST 2010

Multiple ListingsDo you have news to share with Canada’s real estate community?Let REM know about it! Email: [email protected]

By Jim Adair

xit Realty Corp.International has namedSusan Harrison the senior

VP, corporate communications.Harrison is a 20-plus year veteranof the real estate industry, havingworked at the brokerage level fortwo major franchise organizationsprior to joining Exit in 2000. Asmanager of franchise support, shebuilt and developed the depart-ment that trains and supports Exit’sfranchisees and administratorsacross North America. As seniorVP web development in 2005, sheoversaw Exit’s corporate website,the company intranet, and otheronline initiatives.

E “Susan is an invaluable part ofour corporate executive team,” saysJoyce Paron, president - Canada.“She has been in on the groundlevel of the development of majorcore projects at Exit, instrumentalin growing their success. She willbe a driving force in corporatecommunications for the Canadianoperations working both at thefranchisor and franchisee level sup-porting and expanding the reach ofthe Exit brand.”

■ ■ ■

Coldwell Banker has appointedDebbie Cooke as director of pro-fessional development for Canada.Cooke spent the last 13 years asdirector training/education andcareer development for the compa-ny-owned Coldwell Banker resi-dential brokerage in Atlanta. Sheis also director of the ColdwellBanker Atlanta Licensing School.

Cooke started her real estatecareer in Gravenhurst, Ont. in1979. Currently a licensed brokerin Georgia, she will be reciprocat-ing her broker’s license back toCanada. In a newly expanded role,she will deliver learning resources

to the network, including thelaunch of the new professionaldevelopment series, and will workclosely with the Canadian seniormanagement team in a consulta-tive capacity to Coldwell Bankeraffiliates, the company says.

■ ■ ■

Sutton Group’s only franchisein Vernon, B.C. is under new ownership. Broker TamaraCinnamon obtained her franchiseon June 1 and has assembled ateam of 11 experienced salespeo-ple. “My vision for the office isvery specific – I am looking forquality over quantity and I’mhappy to say that’s what I’vefound,” she says.

Cinnamon has been sellingreal estate in the Vernon area for 61/2 years. She was previously a raftguide on the Fraser River nearJasper. “Vernon is a very beautifulplace, surrounded by lakes, vine-yards, orchards, recreation andresorts. We have four distinct sea-sons and a very easy-goinglifestyle,” she says. “Real estate inVernon can be as diverse as thearea itself. We have it all – from

Debbie Cooke

Susan Harrison

Tamara Cinnamon David Beaton

Brian Hunter Sally McGarr Todd Fyfe

homes at world-class recreationalresorts, to vineyards, to lakeshore,to family and investment property.If you want it, we’ve probably gotit.”

As the community grows,Cinnamon says she will more thandouble the number of sales associ-ates. However, in keeping with therelaxed pace of life in the smallcity, she says she is in no rush toexpand faster than necessary.

■ ■ ■

Re/Max Rouge River Realtyrecently announced that DavidBeaton has joined its Whitby, Ont.office. “David has been a top pro-ducing salesperson for over 20 years in Durham Region and has been awarded every major sales award, including the Re/Max Hall of Fame and Lifetime

Achievement Awards,” says PaulEtherington, broker/manager ofRe/Max Rouge River Realty.

■ ■ ■

Brian Hunter, broker/owner ofthe brokerage formerly operatingas Prudential Huronia, has joinedthe Royal LePage franchise net-work. His company will operateunder the new name Royal LePageAt Your Service Realty. Hunterhas been selling real estate for 22years. Prior to entering the indus-try, he worked for McDonald’sRestaurants as a store manager andarea supervisor. He says his timethere “provided me with invalu-able skills in training, recruiting,retention and managing the bot-tom line.”

■ ■ ■

Sally McGarr Realty of St.Catharines, Ont. has become amember of the Aventure RealtyNetwork. “Broker/owner SallyMcGarr and her outstanding orga-

nization have established a reputa-tion as the leading independentbrokerage in their market placeand are proud of consistentlymaintaining their standard ofuncompromising service and highproductivity,” says the network in anews release. The brokerage servesthe Niagara Region’s markets of St.Catharines, Niagara on the Lake,Fort Erie and Port Colborne.

Fernie Real Estate of Fernie,B.C., owned by Todd Fyfe, hasalso joined the network.

■ ■ ■

Coldwell Banker Real EstateLLC has signed a master franchiseagreement with Demeure S.A. toexpand the Coldwell Banker brandin France and into Monaco. Withthe addition of Monaco, the net-work now extends to 50 countries

and territories worldwide.Led by Laurent Demeure,

president and chief executive offi-cer, Coldwell Banker France andMonaco is based in Paris.Previously known as DemeureImmobilier with a luxury homesdepartment Demeure Prestige,Demeure S.A. was founded in1920. The group played a majorrole in the development of realestate in France, notably with thecreation of one of France’s premiernetworks of estate agents, the com-pany says.

“We think the ColdwellBanker brand has great potentialfor growth in France and Monaco,”said Demeure. “The France andMonaco property market is hold-ing steady, despite the recent eco-nomic crisis. In France, relativelylow home prices, culture and ‘lovefor all things French’ continue todrive interest from foreigninvestors while Monaco obviouslyattracts interest from the affluentaround the globe.” REM

“The France and Monacoproperty market is holdingsteady, despite the recent

economic crisis.”

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ompetition TribunalChair, Federal CourtJudge Sandra Simpson

has turned down LawrenceDale’s request for intervenor sta-tus in the tribunal’s hearing inthe Commissioner of Competitionv. CREA case. Instead, the co-founder of the formerRealtysellers discount brokerageis expected to be a witness at theproceedings. The judge grantedintervenor status to the otherapplicant, Stephen Skelly, vice-president of operations for theNational FSBO Network, to sub-mit an affidavit for cross-exami-nation by both parties to thehearing.

In her reasons and order todeny Dale intervenor status,Judge Simpson wrote, “Thematerial filed by Mr. Dale doesnot satisfy the tribunal that hehas unique or distinct perspec-tive that will assist the tribunalto decide this case. He merelysays that he has a different inter-est in and perspective on thecase because he is a businessmanin the private sector and thecommissioner is a public servantwith a focus on the public inter-est. This bald statement is not

6 REM AUGUST 2010

PublisherHEINO MOLLS

email: [email protected]

General ManagerJOHN COOPER


Director, Sales & MarketingDENNIS ROCK


Brand DesignSANDRA GOODER

EditorJIM ADAIR


Senior EditorKATHY BEVAN


Art DirectorLIZ MACKIN

Graphic DesignSHAWN KELLY

REM complies fully with the Canadian Real Estate Association's Rules for Trademarks (CREA Rule 16.5.3.1)

REALTOR® and REALTORS® are trademarks controlled in Canada by The Canadian Real Estate Association(CREA) and identify licensed real estate practitioners who are members of CREA. MLS® and Multiple ListingService® are trademarks owned by CREA and identify the services rendered by members of CREA.

REM is published 12 times a year. It is an independently owned and operated company and is not affiliated with anyreal estate association, board or company. REM is distributed across Canada by leading real estate boards and by directdelivery in selected areas. Subscriptions are $40.95 per year (including $1.95 GST), payable by personal cheque. Entirecontents copyright 2010 REM. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission fromthe publisher is prohibited. The opinions expressed in REM are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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Tribunal denies intervenor status to DaleNational FSBO Network granted intervenor status, Dale expected to be a witness

sufficient…Mr. Dale alsoacknowledges that he is general-ly supportive of the commission-er’s case and provides no exam-ples of topics on which theirpositions differ…

“In any event, the tribunalwill have the benefit of Mr.Dale’s evidence. During oralargument, counsel for Mr. Daleand counsel for the commis-sioner indicated that the com-missioner will be calling Mr.Dale as a witness,” wrote JudgeSimpson.

In a statement to REM, Dalesaid, “While it was not what Iideally wanted, I did achievethe most important aspects ofwhat we were seeking, to ensurethat I will be able to tell the tri-bunal exactly what CREA didto us and that I am able to pro-vide input on the remedy orsentence to be imposed againstCREA.”

Skelly told REM he is pleasedthat his National FSBONetwork (NFN) will be able tosubmit an affidavit about thecontrasts between the FSBOmarket and CREA’s MLS system.“We’re very happy because wethought this ought to be on the

record – that the tribunal shouldknow that there are alternativesnow,” says Skelly. “The commis-sioner had not included any-thing to that effect, with state-ments suggesting there was noalternative to the MLS. We feltthere was an alternative and itshould be out there.”

In the judge’s reasons andorder allowing the NFN to haveintervenor status, she wrote, “Itis the tribunal’s view that evi-dence about the NFN’s opera-tions could have a bearing onthe question of whether therehas been an impact on competi-tion…The tribunal has also con-cluded that, as a competitor ofCREA, the NFN will be directlyaffected by any order made aboutthe operation of CREA’s MLSservice…..Finally, the tribunal issatisfied that the NFN does havea unique perspective which thecommissioner has notaddressed.”

Although a competitor ofFSBO organizations, CREA hadsupported the NFN applicationand opposed the Dale motion.

Judge Simpson indicated thetribunal will likely hold thehearing in early 2011. REM

plays any impact the online petition might have had on thetiming of that decision. “At the Montreal Real Estate Board wehave over 10,500 members – or close to that – and as I said toyou before, the majority of agents are all behind Michel,”Ménard says. “There’s a petition of 2,000 – which is not thatmuch, when you have 9,000 people behind the CEO. So themajority of agents were very satisfied with Michel and with thework that’s being done.”

Ménard and others praised Beauséjour’s board leadershipover the past decade, which saw, among other things, the con-solidation of nine different MLS systems into a single,province-wide MLS, the standardization of professional prac-tices throughout Quebec and the creation of the Collège desimmobiliers, which now trains almost 35 per cent of all newRealtors in the province. Beauséjour also oversaw the April2010 launch of a new provincial property search website, cen-tris.ca, which complements Realtor.ca by holding the largestdatabase of properties for sale in Quebec. The centris.ca sitecarries more than 65,000 listings – updated with new MLS list-ings every hour – and includes real estate advice as well asextensive community and lifestyle information for consumers.

In addition to these achievements, Beauséjour says he isproud of a number of successful communications initiatives.The QFREB set up its own market analysis department, withthree full-time economists, to explain market ups and downs,which Beauséjour credits with helping to stabilize the realestate market during the recession. A five-year advertising cam-paign, targeting Quebec’s historically high FSBO (For Sale ByOwner) market percentage, promoted the benefits of using aRealtor’s services.

“We have been able to reduce the FSBO market by 50 percent – it’s now 15 per cent instead of 30 per cent – whichmeans, if you do a quick calculation of the math on that, it’sabout $150 million of new commissions every year in the indus-try right now that we didn’t have before,” Beauséjour told REMin an interview.

As for his departure as CEO of GMREB, Beauséjour con-firmed that he will remain until a successor is named. GMREBhas hired a headhunting service to look for candidates and inthe meantime, Beauséjour has begun working with board offi-cials at both GMREB and QFREB on the eventual transition totheir new CEOs.

“After 10 years, you need probably to rethink and say, whatdo we want now? Will there be one or two CEOs? How do wewant to link between the federation, the Montreal board,Centris and the college?” says Beauséjour, adding, “I think it’s agreat opportunity for elected people to rethink and re-adaptthis industry to the new reality right now.” REM

Montreal board CEOContinued from page 4

CORRECTIONIn the July issue of REM, the article In conversation with Don Lawby incorrectly stated the name of

the mortgage brokerage founded by Century 21. It is Centum Financial Group Inc. We apologize forthe misprint.

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6:00 a Joey’s field trip: remember snacks

7:00 a Yoga

8:00 a Pick up signs

8:30 a Meet with broker

9:00 a Offer conference call with Julie

10:00 a Conduct buyer-counseling session

11:00 a

11:30 a Attend REBAC Connection Webinar

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from TBR HotSheet

As a promoter, salesman and announcer, Wilf Ray knows

how to make his smooth voice heard. And for over 60 years, people have listened to what he’s had to say.

In the 1940s, thousands of Vancouverites woke up to Ray, the morning disk jockey on CKMO Radio, as he spun tunes by Bing Crosby and Mel Torme across the airwaves. In the 1950s, potential home-sellers listened to Ray the real estate sales rep as he charmed them with personal details about their astrological signs and the lines on their palms. He quite often sold young couples their first new home. In the 1960s and 1970s, Ray was Jimmy Pattison’s right-hand man, and his words enabled Pattison become one of Canada’s wealthiest entrepreneurs. Today, his steady and strong voice is heard around the world on the Internet as listeners tune in to Ray’s popular gospel music radio show (www.wilfray.com).

“My father is my idol and my hero,” says his daughter Leeann. “He’s always trying to coach us, guide us and teach when he can. He’s a world of information. An ideas man. Throughout his life he’s created so many opportunities; the man’s an open walking book every day.”

Ray was indeed a trailblazer in an era before marketing departments, PR teams or networking. One of his earliest promotional ideas was Disky, a radio station gimmick. Disky was the name Ray gave to a horse and a rider he fashioned out of two 16-inch record albums. Ray affixed Disky to the roof of his 1946 Chevrolet and parked it in downtown Vancouver; the first person to spot Disky and call CKMO station won a box of Purdy’s chocolates.

It was at the radio station that he met Marion, the music librarian. They were smitten, and in typical Wilf Ray style, their wedding was a grand affair. Amid uproar from the clergy, the young couple’s wedding was planned as a promotional event staged at Vancouver’s colossal amusement park, the PNE. It involved a free wedding dress, six bridesmaid gowns, $1 million worth of loaned jewellery and a honeymoon in Mexico. The wedding made the papers again in 2004 when Wilf and Marion celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Ray’s real estate career began in 1950, as an agent with Coastal Estates in Vancouver. It wasn’t long before he opened his own real estate office. He says that for most Realtors at the time, marketing meant a For Sale sign on the lawn and perhaps a classified ad in the newspaper.

Not for Ray.

He installed an award-winning miniature model home on the roof of his 1949 Austin. He’d drive, often accompanied by Marion – who looked like a Hollywood starlet – down Vancouver’s busiest streets every evening and park the car on Granville Street where crowds

of theatre-goers would pass. The eye-catching model home was illuminated from the inside and the words “Wilf Ray Real Estate” flashed along the bottom. He also wrote an inspirational column in the local paper and promoted charity events on his radio program.

It was a time when there were no exams, seminars or formal training for real estate sales reps. “Anybody could be a Realtor. You’d learn on the job. Lawyer. Plumber. As long as you had sales skills, drive and a good personality,” he says.

Those traits translated into other careers as well. As advertising manager at Bowell McLean Auto on Broadway’s Auto Row, Ray erected a 100-foot high Bow-Mac sign – the world’s largest neon sign at the time. Also at the auto dealership, Ray created the world’s largest Checkers Game, using “beautiful women” as checkers and featuring players who chose their moves from a crane perched overhead.

Ray has also used his sales and marketing skills and personal charisma to become an alderman in Maple Ridge, B.C., a professional photographer and highly successful director of corporate communications for Jimmy Pattison’s Neonex International.

After a stress-induced heart attack in 1980, Ray re-examined his life and decided his true talents and passions were for real estate. He re-entered the industry in 1984, and has been active in it ever since. Today, Ray works alongside his daughters Leeann and Robin at Landmark Realty in Mission, near Vancouver; they call themselves The Ray Team.

“It’s a different ball game now,” says Ray of an industry that

has changed dramatically since he first entered it. Computers. Virtual tours. Different relationships and commissions structures between Realtors. The ability of the buyer to find out so much more information on their own. Ray says that many of these changes has made things easier for real estate professionals, but some have taken the human interaction factor out of the equation.

Despite five heart operations, Ray is a handsome, outgoing and spry 83 years old. He’s a great-grandfather, an animal-lover and a health nut. From their beautiful pink-stucco home on a rural street in Mission, Ray devotes most of his time to lovingly caring for his wife Marion, whom he credits for being his constant source of support and inspiration and who was at his side through every endeavour. He’s still responsible for all the marketing and promotions for The Ray Team, and he keeps the Wilf Ray Radio Show rebroadcasts on the web up-to-date and inspirational. He even squeezes in the odd gig

as a background actor for movie and television shows.

Ray says that one of the side effects of his heart surgeries – the installation of a pig valve to ensure proper heart function – is that he can occasionally hear his own heart beating.

For a man whose voice and spirit has connected with so many, it somehow seems fitting. REM

Wilf Ray comes in loud and clear8 REM AUGUST 2010

Ray was the morning DJ at CKMO in Vancouver in the 1940s.

Ray checks some of his recent news clippings. (Photos: Craig Hodge)

The Ray Team: Daughters Leeann (left) and Robin with Wilf Ray.

At 83 the leader of The Ray Team in Mission, B.C., Wilf Ray recalls his years as a radio DJ, Jimmy Pattison’s right-hand man and his early days in real estate. By Katherine Fawcett

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10 REM AUGUST 2010

ectare CommercialRealty in Mississauga,Ont. has joined

Binswanger, an international realestate organization headquarteredin Philadelphia with more than150 offices worldwide.

Founded in 1978, HectareCommercial Realty was purchasedin 2003 by Dan Bates, the currentbroker of record and president. “Iknew immediately that if the com-pany was going to prosper itrequired a global affiliation,” saysBates. “This now puts Hectare,now called Binswanger Hectare, ina position to compete with anycommercial broker worldwide.”

Bates says, “With Torontobeing the third largest industrialreal estate market in NorthAmerica, our American counter-parts are pleasantly surprised at theamount of activity that has beengenerated in a few short weeks.Today’s changing business envi-ronment has created a movementamong major corporations towardsthe outsourcing of real estate func-tions, and the formation of strate-gic alliances between corporationsand service providers.”

Binswanger Hectare currentlyhas 14 agents and three supportstaff. “We have the Ontario rightsfor Binswanger and our intentionis to open or purchase other realestate companies in the major mar-kets – Ottawa, London, Windsor,Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Kingstonand the east GTA,” says Bates.

■ ■ ■

Toronto’s Commerce Court,owned by the British ColumbiaInvestment ManagementCorporation, has received the 2010Earth Award in the Office ParkCategory and the BOMA BEStLevel 3 Certification from theBuilding Owners and ManagersAssociation of Greater Toronto(BOMA) Toronto.

Situated at King and Bay,Commerce Court is located in theheart of Toronto’s financial district.The four-building, four-acre, two-million square foot office complexincludes the historic Beaux-Artsbuilding Commerce Court North,

Industrial,Commercial& Investment

Industrial,Commercial& Investment

surrounded by three moderniststructures, including the stainlesssteel Commerce Court West tower,all designed by architect, I.M. Pei.

Commerce Court has intro-duced energy conservation mea-sures such as upgrading to a newstate-of-the-art tenant meteringsystem, which has resulted in a fiveper cent reduction in energy con-sumption or 1,350,000 KwH savedeach year. In addition, the tenantshave been instrumental in achiev-ing an 84 per cent waste diversionrate or the equivalent of 41,000tonnes of waste diverted from land-fill sites. These measures togetherwith upgrades to the lighting, heat-ing and electrical power systemsand the Deep Lake Water CoolingSystem have contributed toCommerce Court’s success in ener-gy conservation.

Commerce Court is managedby GWL Realty Advisors. REM

H

Commerce Court has achievedBOMA BESt Level 3 certification.

Dan Bates

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12 REM AUGUST 2010

Atlantic Canada real estate legend Pat King officially

retired from the industry this year, marking the end to a career that began shortly after the Second World War.

King and his wife Hilda opened Pat King Insurance in downtown Dartmouth, N.S. in 1947. Soon afterward, King decided there were opportunities to expand his small business into real estate and with the simple addition of the words “And Real Estate” to the bottom of his home-made “Insurance” sign, King found his true calling.

“I had been doing a lot of insurance business with navy people and one day they asked me if I could look after their houses as well,” says King, who is now 90. “I didn’t charge them a nickel for my services back then – it was all just done as goodwill. And that’s how I got started in the real estate business.”

At its peak, Pat King Real Estate had over 30 offices with approximately 350 employees beneath his trademark red mansard rooftop buildings, spread throughout Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. King was one of the first in Nova Scotia’s real estate industry to computerize his operations. He was also a pioneer in pursuing and promoting education for Realtors in Atlantic Canada, gaining his FRI certification from the Real Estate Institute of Canada and his AACI from the Appraisal Institute of Canada. He became an MAI (Member of the Appraisal Institute) as well. King also supported further education for his staff, offering to pay 50 per cent of the costs of any courses his employees successfully completed.

Eventually, King’s operations included land development, house building – including multifamily dwellings – real estate appraisal, mortgage brokerage, financing, flooring and electrical and property management.

“This was unusual at the time, as most people focussed just on real estate,” says Sandy Rutledge, who started his real estate career with Pat King in 1978 and who now co-owns Domus Realty in Halifax/Dartmouth. “What I learned from Pat and have brought into my own business is his strong work ethic and business ethics – those values influenced a great many of us in the industry here.”

Throughout King’s long career, there were few positions he didn’t hold within organized real estate. King was president of the Halifax Dartmouth Real Estate Board three times and a founding member of the Canadian Association of Real Estate Boards (forerunner to CREA); he was president of the local chapter of the Real Estate Institute of Canada (which he also helped to found) and the local chapter of the Appraisal Institute of Canada; he was also a commissioner on the Nova Scotia Housing Commission. Outside of real estate, three of King’s more prominent positions were serving as an alderman and deputy mayor for the City of Dartmouth, as well as president of the Dartmouth Chamber of Commerce.

At a special retirement party in his honour this spring, 115 people turned out to show their appreciation for a man most of them had worked with at one time or another during their own real estate careers. A few attendees only knew of him by reputation.

“A number of people told me the only reason they came was they wanted to see if there was an actual person named Pat King – they knew of him more as a legend than a real person,” says Gail Morris, co-owner of Domus Realty and one of the party’s organizers.

King’s daughter, Joan MacLean, who now carries on his business under the Pat King

(1995) Limited banner, said her dad was very touched by the event. “Dad always stressed that his people worked with him, not for him – the turnout at the party showed him how much people appreciated him.”

In 2003, King was inducted as the first honourary member of the Nova Scotia Association

of Realtors; six years earlier, King had been honoured with the Distinguished Realtor of the Year Award, in recognition of his contributions to the real estate industry over his many years of service.

“No doubt about it, for 30 years Pat King was the ‘go to’ person for so many people in real

estate here – he never minded putting his shoulder to the wheel and was very proud of the fact that he never asked anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself,” says Morris. “It was wonderful to have so many people turn out to show how much he’s meant to us over the years.” REM

Nova Scotia legend Pat King retires By Kathy Bevan

Pat King cuts the cake (with his trademark red mansard roof made of icing) at his retirement party. (Photo: Ken Thompson)

14 REM AUGUST 2010

alking down a flight ofstairs. Buttoning a shirt.Driving a car. These are

activities many of us take for grant-ed, but for Bennett Solway, theseseemingly routine activities arechallenges. Eight years ago,Solway was diagnosed withParkinson’s disease, a degenerativebrain disorder affecting about100,000 Canadians. The diseaseleads to muscle rigidity, tremorsand slowness of movement.

Solway, a real estate agent withRoyal LePage Johnston & DanielDivision in Toronto, receives somedaily personal assistance at home,but he manages to continue towork in the real estate business,where he has honed his skills sinceleaving the public relations field inthe 1980s.

Johnston & Daniel teamsSolway up with other agents towork on listings and offers. “WhenI can’t get up the stairs of a certainproperty, another agent will go inand have a look and then we workon the listing together,” saysSolway. “I don’t get into the officeevery day, but when I do, I reallyenjoy the interaction and kibitzingwith all the people I know so well.The nice thing is the company hastold me I have an office here aslong as I want it.”

“One of the things that differ-entiate Johnston & Daniel is oursupporting, nurturing culture, inspite of operating in the highlycompetitive Toronto environ-ment,” says Don Kottick, broker,vice-president and division man-ager.

“When you have an individualsuch as Bennett, he exemplifiesthat culture for us and helps toenrich us all by his spirit and deter-mination.”

When asked about his adviceto others who may be facing simi-lar challenges, Solway advises to

Sales rep works throughParkinson’sbattleW not let anything stop you. “Don’t

be afraid. You may try and not suc-ceed, but you will learn somethingalong the way,” he says. “You’ll alsobe amazed at how helpful peopleare. Never in a million years wouldI have imaged such generosity inthe world.”

In addition to plying his realestate trade, Solway is a long-timevolunteer. He volunteers for theParkinson’s Society Tulip cam-paign each April and will be help-ing out with the upcomingParkinson’s SuperWalk, takingplace nationally on Sept 11-12 and18-19. He is also a past BigBrother and a Big Brother of theYear recipient, and has volun-teered at the Baycrest Centre forGeriatric Care.

Solway balances his real estatework and volunteering with a loveof the theatre. He looks forward toa variety of productions at theStratford Theatre this season,including the opportunity to seeChristopher Plummer in TheTempest. REM

Bennett Solway

This story was supplied to REMby Royal LePage .

File Name: Key Partners_ad_0709Size: 11-3/8” x 12-1/2”Colours: CMYK, 485Publication: Real Estate MagazineMaterial Deadline: ?Insertion Date: ?

® Registered trademarks of The Bank of Nova Scotia.* Scotiabank will make best efforts to offer business services and tools based on availability and they are subject

to change. Scotiabank does not guarantee a pre-determined number of referrals to pre-qualified applicants, power-of-sale leads or advertising space will be provided to any partner. For more information, contact a Scotiabank Mortgage Specialist.

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• RewARdS – Your business is important to us and we reward you with valuable benefits, such as covering costs for website development, real estate courses, industry/association fees, or assist you with sending a thank you housewarming gift to a client.

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ust in time delivery”was a phrase I first cameacross in one of manage-ment guru Tom Peters’

books on excellence. It referredto the streamlining of the supplyside so that manufacturers didnot have warehouses filled with,for example, car parts, resultingin large storage demands andaccounts payable. So the bumperwas delivered to be attached tothe frame on the day the framewas ready. Hence “Just in timedelivery”.

Fascinating, Marty. I know.

16 REM AUGUST 2010

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METES & BOUNDS

By Marty Douglas

A social media contest just in timeHere’s another application.

We decided to run a contest forthe public in conjunction with arenovation and grand re-openingof our office. We were out of ourcomfort zones for about fourmonths and to keep ourselvesamused we decided to engage thecommunity, challenging them toname their favourite thing aboutour community. We called ourcontest “Why the Comox ValleyRocks” and procured a domainname on Facebook. We wantedto experiment with social mediaso we connected with Twitter,Linked In and Yelp. We issued acouple of press releases, blogged abit, put a few things out on radioand planted some signs in thewindows of our office. We offereda prize package of gift certificates,gift baskets and event tickets.

Then the fun began.We got hundreds of people

liking us, some friends, a bunchof photos and a lot of entries.The entries ranged from one-lin-

ers to multi-verse poems, fromrap video to still photos. Peoplewaxed eloquently about culture,sports, mountains, streams,beaches, friendship and people.They told life stories of how theycame for a moment and stayed toraise a family. They praised artistsand restaurants and the viewsfrom lookouts. We had to devel-op 19 categories on an Excelspread sheet.

At the end of the contest weshort-listed and created a votingpage on Facebook, left it open fora week or so and stirred things upwith a few more press releasesand blogs to create a frenzy ofvoting. And after people votedwe asked them to pick theirfavourite feature of our valley,from five categories. Was it geog-raphy, recreation, culture, cli-mate or people?

Of the 76 entries, the rapvideo won. Of the five categories,people and geography tied forfirst place.

The poem written for a wed-ding invitation more than 30years ago placed second. Andwhen you think about it, thepoetry of 1979 is the rap of todayand YouTube is the deliverymethod replacing the printed for-mat.

As an aside, the Globe andMail edition of July 3 announcedthe results of its Facebook pollasking Canadians “what trulydefines our country.” Now I don’twant to suggest that our localcontest initiated in Marchhelped shape the idea for anational poll on the same socialmedium but – amazing coinci-dence – you be the judge. Cometo think about it, a recent pre-Canada Day MacLean’s issueincluded a piece entitledUnravelling Canada’s crazy quiltin which Canadians were polledon a variety of issues. I’d suggestI’m on to something here but myparanoia is somewhat muted bytheir claim to have conducted

similar surveys in the past. Ha!But do they give out prizes?Besides, what survey for a nation-al animal can be taken seriouslywhen choices include the blackfly, caribou and prairie dog?

We announced our winners atour open house re-opening, gaveout the prizes, barbecued hotdogs and ate cake. And then gotback to work. We were pleasedwith ourselves, we knew the prizewinners were happy and we gotsome good media coverage of theevent. We thought the resultswere pretty much wrapped up.

Then the note in the mailcame from our winner: “Thankyou for all of your kindness inwords, support, actions, contestsuggestion in the first place andall of the contributors in thisprize package! This pick-me-upcame at a time in my life that wasa low point! Doing this poem andrapping it with my kids really wasthe best medicine for me. Trulythank you!”

Who knew that our contestwould be delivered “just in time”for our winner?

As we approach our Augustholiday, B.C. Day where I comefrom (Did you know that the westand the territories have ninestatutory holidays while theMaritimes have only five? That’sdoesn’t explain the imbalance inthe number of seats in the Senatebut it is a small comfort), let’s callon that international motivation-al wordsmith, Teddy Roosevelt towhip us into a fever of service toour country, our community. “Dowhat you can, with what youhave, where you are.”

You can follow Marty Douglason Twitter 40yrsrealestate or onLinkedIn and on Facebook. He is amanaging broker for Coast RealtyGroup (Comox Valley) Ltd., withoffices on Vancouver Island and theSunshine Coast of B.C. Marty is apast chair of the Real Estate Errorsand Omissions Corporation ofB.C., the Real Estate Council ofB.C. and the B.C. Real EstateAssociation. He’s a current directorof the Vancouver Island Real EstateBoard. [email protected]; 1-800-715-3999. REM

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f you’ve been paying atten-tion, your database is nodoubt bursting at the seams

with contacts. You’re keeping intouch with them on a regular basisand you’re adding more namesdaily. You’ve also been settingyourself up as a local real estateexpert by sending out press releas-es to local newspapers and radiostations about the latest real estatetrends. Now it’s time to take thenext step that will take yourcareer to the next level.

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18 REM AUGUST 2010

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Insurance Renewal 2010For the past 10 years, Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) registrants and consumers have benefited from unique insurance coverages for claims resulting from errors and omissions, loss of commissions and loss of deposits. RECO has been able to arrange stable and affordable insurance coverage for registrants that are broader than any other Canadian jurisdiction.

RECO is pleased to announce that, through the program’s insurance broker Alternative Risk Services Inc. (AR Services), insurance coverage has been renewed with Lloyd’s for the policy period from September 1, 2010 to September 1, 2011. The Insurance Program is managed by Dion, Durrell + Associates Inc.

The total cost of insurance, including taxes and expenses, for the 2010 - 2011 term is $335.00. Coverage includes Errors and Omissions, Consumer Deposit and Commission Protection insurance. Insurance renewal invoices will be mailed in early July to all registrants.

Contact RECO’s Insurance Department Directly At:

Policy ChangesThe most significant change to your coverage starting September 1, 2010 is the increase of the occurrence limit for Commission Protection and Consumer Deposit coverages from $500,000 to $1,000,000. These coverages offer protection in the event of fraud, insolvency or misappropriation of funds by a registrant. The insurance provides coverage up to a maximum of $100,000 per claim. In the event the sum of all claims against a particular registrant related to an occurrence (e.g. a brokerage becomes bankrupt) exceeds $1,000,000, the amount recoverable by each claimant may be pro-rated and limited to a portion of the maximum amount of $1,000,000 of coverage.

Reporting ClaimsAll claims must be reported no later than midnight on August 31, 2010. If you have knowledge of a possible claim or circumstance and do not report it by the end of the policy year, your claim may not qualify for coverage. An errors and omissions claim form can be downloaded from the RECO website at www.reco.on.ca or the program manager’s website at www.reco-claims.ca.

Retiring or Leaving the BusinessIf you are planning on retiring or leaving the business you may wish to have your completed “Notice of Change: Termination” form and a copy of your resignation letter submitted to the Registration Department by August 13, 2010 to avoid the initiation of the suspension process.

Non-Payment Results in Suspension of Registration Effective September 1, 2010The Registrar will initiate the suspension process for each registrant who has failed to make the required payment by the due date of August 13, 2010.

Suspensions will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on September 1, 2010 as required by the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002. Suspended registrants are not entitled to trade in real estate.

Online (MyWeb): https://myweb.reco.on.ca | Phone: 416-207-4841 | Toll Free: 1-866-757-7772 | Fax: 416-207-9020 or 416-207-4820 | E-mail: [email protected]

Insurance payments are due by August 13, 2010. Online credit card payments can be made through MyWeb, RECO’s exclusive web portal for registrants. Log on to https://myweb.reco.on.ca to access the site.

InsuOnline cLog on t

S TOP S ELLINGHOUSES & STARTMAKING MONEY

By Debbie Hanlon

Market yourself without moneyand it can help your career too. It’stime to roll out an advertisingcampaign that’ll get you noticedand let the world know you’reready for their business.

What’s that, you don’t havethe money? You can’t affordadvertising? When I did it I could-n’t afford a car, I was still hitchhiking to work and I hitch hikedmy way all the way to No. 1. I didit and so can you, but you can’t letlittle things like having no moneyget in your way. You’d be amazedat what you can accomplish with-out a dime to spend on it. Don’tthink about money, think aroundmoney.

What I did (and you can toobecause we all work with the samepeople – lawyers, mortgage bro-kers, home inspectors, appraisersand so on) was I decided to holdthe province’s first-ever first-timehome buyers seminar. That wouldget people who were interested inbuying a house talking to aRealtor who knew all the rightpeople they’d need.

I had it figured all out. Myplan was fail proof. It costsaround $5,000 to hold a seminar– to do it right, and that’s theonly way you should do anything….right. All I had to do wascome up with that money and Iwas off to the races.

I didn’t have $5,000. At thattime it might as well have been$50,000. There was no way Icould come up with it on my own.The only thing worse than nothaving money is not knowinganyone who does. Luckily I knewpeople who did and so do you.Our suppliers. These other busi-nesses were more established andalready had marketing budgets inplace or were willing to spendmoney to make money. I figuredmaybe they’d want to spend someof it on a marketing event.

I approached them and toldthem about the seminar. Becausethe Realtor is the first point ofcontact when buying a home,they were cool with me calling itthe Debbie Hanlon First-Time

Home Buyers’ Seminar. I spoke atmine but if you’re not comfortablespeaking I’m sure you know some-one who is, and who’d love to bea part of it.

I told them my plan and saidthey would have to invest Xnumber of dollars to be a part ofthe seminar. They recognized itas a great opportunity and wereall happy to invest. We ran acomprehensive marketing planthat included all forms of adver-tising, booked the room and cov-ered all the other expenses….andof course we invited the mediawith our press releases. What Icould not afford to do alone Icould now do, thanks to theirfinancial support. The seminars,which we held on a regular basis,were a huge success. We all gotclients, a lot of clients. We allmade money. We all grew ourbusinesses. We all forged long-term relationships that continueto this day. What’s not to like?

So if you don’t have themoney to pay for marketing, look

around you. Who do you dealwith? Who are your suppliers?Would they be interested in goingin on a co-operative marketingevent with you? Chances are theywould love to. It doesn’t have tobe a first-time home buyers’ semi-nar; it could be whatever you’recomfortable with. The knowledgeand experience you gain frompreparing for the event is invalu-able. It’ll get your face out there.It’ll get you noticed and recog-nized as a leader in the real estateindustry. It’ll get you in front ofpotential clients. It’ll get you busi-ness. It’ll get you money and itwon’t cost you a penny, but it’spriceless.

Debbie Hanlon is the presidentand founder of Hanlon Realty. She isa three-time top 50 CEO winner andwas named one of the top 100 femaleentrepreneurs in Canada. She is cur-rently an elected city official in St.John’s, Nfld. and is available for moti-vational and training seminars. [email protected]. REM

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lbert Einstein died in1955, having seen hisconcepts create a new

world of understanding duringhis life. His passing was at a timewhen the cold war between theSoviets and the Americans wasescalating. Much of the worry ofthat year and the decades thatfollowed was about the growingnumber of nuclear weapons thatboth super powers were amass-ing. The creation of the weaponthat could effectively wipe outmuch of life on our planet wasdue in part to the theories thatEinstein had developed.

Albert Einstein was not onlya radical thinker, he also was anamazingly creative communica-tor. Although his ideas arebeyond the understanding ofmost of us, he was able todemonstrate his ideas using com-mon speak. His description ofthe speed of light was done byreferencing a moving train,while his explanation of gravityand time was done by the mentalpicture of an elevator.

The context of communica-tion is so very critical. Whenlooking at something as simpleas market trend data inVancouver, the numbers can beskewed to reflect the researcher’sbias, or to amplify opposingopinions. Our age is quicklymoving forward in the meansthat we communicate ideas andopinions. Today Twitter is evolv-ing weekly to address the quickfix communication needs ofsocial media. To some the worldview has transformed into a

20 REM AUGUST 2010

A

Einstein’s last words

series of games...spurred on by ageneration that has grown upwith video games and virtualreality. Looking for a home inKerrisdale becomes an extensionof gaming and social media inmethod and mindset.

The language of the land-scape is changing, and asEinstein once said, “We can’tsolve problems by using the samethinking we used when we creat-ed them.” The notion of com-municating value and service isbecoming increasingly difficultin a culture and marketplacewhere information can beaccessed quickly and effectively.The answer to meeting the com-munication demands in the realestate marketplace is not to con-tinue to use the same thinking ofeven two years ago. Realtorsmust find new ways to communi-cate service and value to the newconsumer.

The context of the informa-tion is important, and althoughinformation is freely and readilyavailable, it must be interpretedproperly and effectively in orderto best serve the constituents. AsAlbert observed, “Sometimesone pays the most for the thingsone gets for nothing.”

The hidden costs are oftengreater than the sticker price.This is why having effectivecommunication is so critical.Understanding the informationis more important than havingaccess to the information.

Nothing reflects the need tocommunicate properly in theright context than AlbertEinstein’s last words. Before hepassed away, he felt the need toshare some final thoughts. Theonly person in the room was theattending nurse. She heard thefinal words of the greatest thinkerin history. Unfortunately, hespoke them in German, a lan-guage the nurse did not under-stand.

Ari Lahdekorpi is managingbroker at Re/Max Select Propertiesin Vancouver. REM

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24 REM AUGUST 2010

he Real Estate Institute ofCanada (REIC) inaugu-rated its new national

president and Board of Directorsfor 2010-2011 during the 55thAnnual General Meeting of theInstitute.

Chrystal Skead of Edmonton isthe new president. She is the gen-eral manager of residential proper-ties for Westcorp Properties. In1989 she earned her AccreditedResidential Manager (ARM) des-ignation through the Institute ofReal Estate Management. Sheofficially joined REIC in 1999 andearned her Certified PropertyManager (CPM) designation thefollowing year. Skead has beenheavily involved on the volunteerfront of the institute over the past11 years, serving as a member ofthe Real Estate ManagementCouncil (formerly Real EstateProperty/Asset ManagementCouncil) from 2005-2008. Shehas also served as chair or been amember of close to a dozen REICcommittees and task forces overthe years.

“I intend to use my year asnational president to challenge myfellow Board of Directors andREIC members to put in that littleextra effort in helping promoteand educate people within ourindustry about REIC,” she says.“By putting in that little extraeffort we will gain new members,more recognition within theindustry and help take the insti-tute to new heights and make iteven stronger.”

Joining Skead on the REICNational Board of Directors:immediate past-president WilliamMcCarthy of Burnaby, B.C.; vice-president Suzanne Longley ofCalgary; secretary/treasurerRenaud Campbell of Brampton,Ont.; Real Estate Sales & LeasingCouncil chair Léo Ziadé ofLongueuil, Que.; Real Estate Sales& Leasing Council first vice-chairWinson Chan of Markham, Ont.;Real Estate Management Councilchair Sherril Carlson ofSaskatoon; Real Estate

Management Council first vice-chair Grant Stevenson ofWinnipeg; Real Estate FinanceCouncil chair Denis Archambaultof Ottawa; and Real EstateFinance Council first vice-chairDon Myhre of Edmonton.

■ ■ ■

The Toronto Real EstateBoard recently hosted a receptionto thank more than 200 Realtorvolunteers who contribute to itsoperations, and to recognize elect-ed officials who take time to heardifferent perspectives on variouslegislative issues. This year’s eventfeatured keynote speaker StephenLewis.

After serving in provincial pol-itics for 15 years, Lewis spent 22years at the United Nations,championing causes like UNICEFand AIDS in Africa. Now a pro-fessor at McMaster University, heoperates his own foundation,which continues to fight AIDS inAfrica.

This year’s TREB Civic Awardrecipient, Peter K. Wong, has vol-unteered for a number of organiza-tions throughout his 36-year careeras a Realtor. His efforts benefitedorganizations like the Rotary andLions Clubs, the United Way,Habitat for Humanity and theMon Sheong Foundation.

TREB undertakes a number ofefforts to support studentsthroughout the GTA. The annualPast President’s Award grants$5,000 scholarships to twoGreater Toronto Area graduatinghigh school students who are plan-ning to continue their education.While academics and communityinvolvement are considerations inthe judging decision, the basis forthe scholarships is a 500-wordessay judged by university profes-sors. This year’s recipients wroteessays on the Harmonized SalesTax’s impact on affordability forresidential real estate consumers,and initiatives to advance qualityof life principles by the year 2020.This year’s recipients are AshleySewrattan, a graduating student

from West Hill CollegiateInstitute who will continue herstudies in Social Sciences at theUniversity of Toronto; andBrianna Smrke, a graduating stu-dent from Michael Power/St.Joseph High School, who has beenaccepted into the Arts & ScienceProgram at McMaster University.

An additional scholarship,offered to first and second year stu-dents enrolled in the MBA pro-gram at Ryerson University, wasalso established this year.Applicants wrote a 1,000-wordessay describing their interest inthe field of commercial real estate,their academic experience andsuggestions for a project to beundertaken during a work term atTREB. Thomas McLaughlin wasselected as the inaugural recipientof a Commercial DivisionScholarship Award.

■ ■ ■

The Vancouver Island RealEstate Board (VIREB) released its2009 Buyer Profile, tracking wherepeople are coming from, whatthey’re buying and why.

The board sent 6,619 letters toresidential buyers obtained fromthe MLS database for 2009,receiving 1,685 responses.Cameron Muir, chief economistwith the British Columbia RealEstate Association, says theVIREB Buyer Profile reveals inter-esting demographic trends.

“First-time buyers were busy in2009 as they comprised 19 per centof all transactions, the highestrecorded since 2004. Low mortgagerates and attractive pricing werekey drivers for this group. Localbuyers also made up a larger pro-portion of board area sales in 2009(39 per cent vs. 34 per cent), large-ly the result of low interest ratesand pent-up demand,” he says.

Consumer demand fromAlberta buyers was higher thanexpected given Canadian eco-nomic performance in 2009, slip-ping from 13 per cent to 11 percent.

“Vancouver Island continuesto be a preferred destination forretirees,” says Cliff Moberg, presi-dent of VIREB. “In 2009, 40 percent of residential properties werepurchased as a retirement home,which is up four per cent from lastyear. We also saw an increase inbuyers from other areas ofVancouver Island and I expectthat number will likely continueto increase in the future.”

Muir says that over the nextdecade, approximately 5,000 newhouseholds will be formed annual-ly in the Vancouver Island/CoastDevelopment Region, withapproximately 1,300 of these newhouseholds formed in Nanaimoalone.

■ ■ ■

Recently 16 representativesfrom the real estate industry metwith Ontario PC leader TimHudak, including Realtor mem-bers of the Kitchener-WaterlooReal Estate Board (KWREB),Cambridge Real Estate Board, staffand a representative of the

Waterloo Home Builders’Association. There was discussionabout how the HST will impactthe real estate industry and toexplore ways in which to helpmoderate its impact.

To offset the HST, Realtorswant the Government of Ontarioto reduce the provincial landtransfer tax (LTT) rate. Hudak hasadvocated for a one year LTT hol-iday (so buyers would not pay theLTT for one year), but when pre-sented with the Realtor proposalfor the first time, he said he wouldtake it into consideration andthanked the group for bringing itforward. REM

T

Civic Night keynotespeaker Stephen Lewisaddresses TREB digni-taries, the Board of Directors and various politicians.

The PastPresident

Scholarship isawarded by

TREB 2009-2010 president

Maureen O’Neillto scholarship

winner BriannaSmrke.

Ontario P.C. leaderTim Hudak is inter-viewed outside theKitchener-WaterlooReal Estate Boardoffices.

The REIC nation-al board of direc-

tors: Back rowfrom left: Denis

Archambault, DonMyhre, William

McCarthy, GrantStevenson. Middle

row: Léo Ziadé,Suzanne Longley,

Winson Chan.Front row:

Sherril Carlson, Chrystal Skead.

26 REM AUGUST 2010

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uly 17: Ah, the great outdoors– the smell of fresh pine trees,the tingle of newly discoveredallergies – tonight my wife

and I begin an entire week of care-free camping under the stars, likeour forefathers may have donewhen they rode covered wagonsacross the prairies in search of ourpotential fore-mothers. Nothingbut a tent between us and thecruel, unforgiving elements – well,maybe a sleeping bag, i-Pod and afeather pillow or two.

July 18: Say, the temperaturesure does drop at night out in thewoods – who knew? Not to men-tion how unforgiving the groundseems to be on a middle-aged back.Thankfully, we aren’t too far from aWal-Mart I spotted on the driveover here – a quick jaunt afterbreakfast should allow me to pickup an air mattress and a spaceheater. Perhaps a package or two of“rustic” Twinkies?

July 19: What in the name ofDaniel Boone’s raccoon hat wasthat creature growling outside ourtent last night? And what sort ofanimal develops a scent forTwinkies out in the wild? Whilewe were both staring wide-eyedand nervously out into the dark, asthe growling drew closer and clos-er, all I could think of was to tossour Twinkies out the screen door ofthe tent. This morning – noTwinkies and no bloodthirsty beastlooking for live leftovers. Tonight,we sleep with our tennis racquetsbeside the air mattress.

July 20: Well, that was quite

Roughing it(home awayfrom home)

By Dan St. Yves

J

the rainfall overnight. If the suncomes around any time soon, wecan dry out our sleeping bag bydraping it over the picnic table.Just to be on the safe side, maybeI’ll drive back over to theCanadian Tire that was beside thenearby Wal-Mart and pick up a fewtarps, a blow-dryer and a mop. Iwonder if there’s such a thing as abattery-operated microwave oven.

July 21: Clearly, I need arefresher of my high school physicslessons. Apparently, when youstring a tarp downhill from a treebranch and over your tent, if therain falls hard and fast enough, thetrough created under the weight ofthe rushing water provides quite afunnel effect into the side windowof your tent.

We only have a couple morenights to get through, but I’d bet-ter head back over to Wal-Martand try to find a new sleeping bag.This one is pretty much a Sham-Wow.

July 22: On the plus side, theweather turned in our favour lastnight. On the negative side, it wasso nice out that our neighboursdecided to sit outside and singalong to what they might haveconsidered to be “pop” songs lastnight, and early into this morning.First off, knowing proper lyricswould be a good start if you’regoing to wail away at the top ofyour lungs. Second, I’d rather lis-ten to a Barry Manilow marathonthan have to endure a chorus ofcaterwauling campers committingchoral carnage…crikey.

July 23: Well, our camping tripwent rather well, overall. If theoutdoor restrooms had been func-tional this past week, it would havebeen downright stellar.

Is it still considered “roughingit” if you stay at a Holiday Inn?

Humour columnist and authorDan St. Yves was licensed with RoyalLePage Kelowna for 11 years. Checkout his website at www.nonsenseand-stuff.com, or contact him [email protected]. REM

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Setting

THE STANDARD!

28 REM AUGUST 2010

like a lot of light summerreading material. Normally Iwould be reading historical

novels and mysteries and some-times whimsical books by StewartMclean of the Vinyl Café. But onthe Via Rail ride to Ottawa at theend of May, my wife gave me thisrather heavy-600 page + autobiog-raphy of one of my favourite heroesof modern-day history. He exem-plifies courage, determination, apassion for learning and a commit-ment to his country. He is NelsonMandela and the autobiography iscalled Long Walk to Freedom.

It savages the mind that onecould tolerate the inhumanity thatbefell him and his fellow leaders.Jailed for nearly 30 years onRobben Island, a speck of an islandoff the coast of South Africa, heendured such hardship that ittotally boggles the mind as to howhe and others survived.

During those hard years at thebleak prison, he and his fellowinmates learned physics, Latin andother academia from prisoners who

AS I SEE IT FROM MY DESK

By Stan Albert

Long walk tofreedomwere well educated. Mandela wasable to effectively defend his fel-lows in many court trials while stillin Robben Island Jail. (He hadgraduated with a law degree manyyears prior.) He filled his time injail by reading all the great novelsin Dutch, German and English.The biographies of the world’sleaders both past and presentbecame the model of what he wasto become.

He never stopped believing inhis vision of a totally democraticcountry where everyone could liveand work in harmony.

Reading this book, which tookme the better part of June to fin-ish, was a bit of an accomplish-ment because the vision of myright eye was being treated andreturned with the aid of Lucentisinjections at SunnybrookHospital here in Toronto. It wasdiagnosed in April that my macu-lar degeneration had returned. Iwas forbidden by the specialist todrive until he saw my vision hadreturned. Last week, I got the go-ahead to drive again.

During the three months of mywife chauffeuring me to and fromthe office, she had a “vision” – afirm belief that my eyesight wouldreturn and it did well enough inMay to be able to read again.

What does this mean to readersof this column? Well, for starters,we can opt to have the same com-

mitment, the same vision, thesame desire to learn as Mandelaexemplified in his Long Walk toFreedom.

Please note that I don’t for amoment place my life anywherenear Mandela’s! Not at all. Buthere’s what I’ve learned over thefour decades in this industry thatwe have all come to love andderive a handsome income from: Ifyou have a vision, plan to succeed.Not to fail.

Inspiration from reading aboutsuccessful people in business, poli-tics or religion is of great benefit toyou and those who depend on youfor your wealth of knowledge.

I’m reminded of a quote fromShakespeare: “Be great in fact, asyou have been in thought.”

I only hope that at this junc-ture in my life I have the opportu-nity to read many more inspira-tional and fulfilling books.

Finally, I would like to dedicatethis 65th article to my late brotherNorman Albert, who read most ofmy articles and was my role modelin life and the art of living gra-ciously and to the fullest.

Stan Albert, broker/manager,ABR, ASA at Re/Max Premier inVaughan, Ont. can be reached forconsultation at [email protected] is now celebrating 40 years as anactive real estate professional. REM

I

n increasing number ofhomebuyers are lookingfor a property to accom-

modate more than one genera-tion of their family, says a recentsurvey by Coldwell Banker RealEstate of its network of real estateprofessionals across Canada andthe U.S.

Thirty-seven per cent of surveyrespondents saw an increaseddemand for multi-generationalhomes, while in Canada the num-ber was even higher at 45 per cent.

In Canada, 52 per cent of allColdwell Banker survey respon-dents cited health care issues as theNo. 1 reason why home buyers or

sellers would move into a housewith other generations of theirfamily. Financial drivers followedclosely behind (45 per cent), whileless than one per cent cited astrong family bond as the main fac-tor. John Geha, president ofColdwell Banker Canada, says:“With two or three generationsliving under one roof, familiesoften experience more flexibleschedules, more quality time withone another and can better jugglecaretaking responsibilities ashealthcare issues arise.”

Communicating with family iskey to a successful transition. “Talkto everyone involved and deter-

mine how comfortable people arewith sharing bathrooms, officespace or common areas, and letthat guide your search,” Geha says.“All of these topics are incrediblyimportant in finding the right kindof home to fit the family – like onethat has four bathrooms or onethat has three.”

The company says extendedfamilies purchasing a hometogether should consider signing awritten contract outlining every-thing from finances to chores andchildcare. Each family shouldassess their situation individuallyand find a plan that works best forthem. REM

Survey identifies trend to multi-generational homes

A

1-800-387-6058www.realtyreport.org

Customized Client Newsletters

Ensure that you are staying top of mind with your most valuable source of business - your clients.

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What Is a Short Sale, and Is It Right for Me?

Now that the holidays are over, your thoughts may be shifting back to your housing situation, including a 2010 move. The real estate market is still front-page news in many cities, with numerous mentions of “short sales.” What are short sales, and how might they apply to you?

In a nutshell, short sales are homes that sell for less than the amount owed on them. Sellers may choose this route over foreclosure to avoid damaging their credit rating, as would happen if the bank actually took over their home. Buyers are always looking for a good deal, so if they have the patience to wait out the longer closing period often involved in short sales, they may reap the rewards in many markets.

Whether you’re a seller or a buyer, maneuvering your way through the short sale process is not something to do alone. Working with an experienced real estate sales representative is highly advisable in order to protect your interests, take care of the

extensive paperwork involved and expedite your transaction.

Usually, short sales are anything but a short process. You’ll benefit from a real estate sales representative who is knowledgeable about this specific type of transaction, and who will research each short sale situation for you carefully, and pay attention to the many details involved.

There are many types of real estate transactions that are specific to today’s market. The more educated you are on your options, the more satisfactory your real estate experience will be. Please call with your questions on short sales, or other types of real estate transactions you may be interested in.

realtyreport®

Volume 6, Issue 1

Compliments of Danny Brown Market Connections Inc.®

Danny Brown Real Estate Agent

Market Connections Inc.®4950 Yonge Street, Suite 101Toronto, ON M2N 6K1

Bus: (800) 387-6058Fax: (800) [email protected]

Greetings! You’re receiving this newsletter with hopes that you find it informative and entertaining.

If you’re thinking of making a move, or are just curious as to real estate trends in your area, please feel free to call at any time. It’s always good to hear from you!

All the best,

Danny Brown


this route over foreclosure to avoid damaging their credit rating, as would happen if the bank actually took over their home. Buyers are always looking

If you’re thinking of making a move, or are just curious as to real estate trends in your area, please feel free to call at any time. It’s always good to hear from you!

their home. Buyers are always looking to hear from you!

realtyreport®

Volume 6, Issue 1

Compliments of Danny Brown Market Connections Inc.®


Market Connections Inc.®

4950 Yonge Street, Suite 101

Toronto, ON M2N 6K1

Bus: (800) 387-6058

Fax: (800) 800-7093

[email protected]

Greetings! You’re receiving this

newsletter with hopes that you find

it informative and entertaining.

If you’re thinking of making a move,

or are just curious as to real estate

trends in your area, please feel free

to call at any time. It’s always good

to hear from you!

All the best,

Danny Brown

Danny Brown

Market Connections Inc.

4950 Yonge Street, Suite 101

Toronto, ON M2N 6K1

Your Client’s Name

Client’s Address

P.O. Box 0000

Any City, Province B0B 0B0

What Is a Short Sale, and Is It Right for Me?What Is a Short Sale, and Is It Right for Me?

Now that the holidays are over, your thoughts may be shifting back to your housing situation, including a 2010 move. The real estate market is still front-page news in many cities, with numerous mentions of “short sales.” What are short sales, and how might they apply to you?

In a nutshell, short sales are homes that sell for less than the amount owed on them. Sellers may choose

extensive paperwork involved and expedite your transaction.

Usually, short sales are anything but this route over foreclosure to avoid damaging their credit rating, as would happen if the bank actually took over

Usually, short sales are anything but a short process. You’ll benefit from a real estate sales representative who

realtyreport®

happen if the bank actually took over

a short process. You’ll benefit from a real estate sales representative who

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The Canadian Real EstateAction PlanBy Peter KinchWiley$36.95

Mortgage broker Peter Kinchstarts off this book by asking themost basic question of real estateinvestors: why do you want to dothis? By establishing your realestate investment goals, you canmore easily plan your investmentsto reach the desired results.

The book covers how to deter-mine the type and nature ofinvestments you need, key finan-cial strategies, how financing forinvestors is different than for reg-ular home buyers and identifyingand overcoming obstacles.

A portion of the author’s roy-alties will be donated to Habitat

Real Estate BooksReal Estate Booksfor Humanity Canada.

Available at bookstores now.

Burst This!By Frank McKinneyHeath Communications$20.79 (Chapters/Indigo)

The cover photo of authorFrank McKinney is like an ad fora Las Vegas magician, with a guywho looks like Fabio holding ontoa house in a bubble. ButMcKinney began his real estateinvestment career with a $50,000house in 1986 and is now knownas a real estate “artist” who hasbuilt and sold 36 oceanfront prop-erties with an average selling priceof more than $15 million. Hewrote this book in response to the“naysayers, pundits and bubble-heads” who said the U.S. real

estate market would never recov-er after the credit crunch.

“Real estate markets willalways have cycles of up anddown, both regionally and nation-ally. At any time in history, thosewho get caught up in the greedassociated with boom times or thefear associated with bust times arethe ones who ride the roller coast-er, experiencing flash-in-the-pansuccess or losing their shirts. Butthose who take a contrarianapproach are the ones who steadi-ly build the legacy kind of networth that can sustain genera-tions.” That will be you, hepromises, after you read this book.

Keys to Investing in RealEstateBy Jack P. Friedman andJack C. HarrisBarron’s Business Keys$9.50

This is the fifth edition of theBarron’s textbook on real estateinvesting for individuals, reflect-ing the new financial realities inthe U.S. market. The book pro-vides detailed advice about buy-ing, selling and operating residen-tial and commercial real estate.

The information is well organizedand it’s easy to find what you’relooking for, but the mortgage andtax rules apply only in the U.S.

The Complete Root CellarBookBy Steve Maxwell andJennifer MacKenzieRobert Rose$27.95

REM’s friend and long-timecolumnist Steve Maxwelldescribes everything you need toknow about planning and build-ing a root cellar, and then turnsthe book over to home economistJennifer MacKenzie. She givestips about what foods you canstore and how to make them stayfresh and delicious in your rootcellar. Also included are 100recipes that incorporate root cel-lar food.

Root cellars can be anythingfrom a cave-like structure builtinto the side of a hill, to a smallfood storage area on a condo bal-cony.

“A root cellar is to carrots,beets and salsify what a wine cel-lar is to Chardonnay, Merlot andCabernet Sauvignon,” say the

authors. “It provides necessarystorage space for both wholesomefood staples and culinary trea-sures…Successful root cellaringdelivers an opportunity to culti-vate skills and hone gourmetinsights in a way that is both ful-filling and globally responsible.”

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LEGAL ISSUES

By Donald H. Lapowich

32 REM AUGUST 2010

Together we have all the tools

1 Please refer to the policy for full details, including actual terms and conditions. The TitlePLUS policy is underwritten by Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company (LAWPRO®)/AssuranceLAWPRO®. Assurance LAWPRO is the registered name used in Québec by Lawyers' Professional Indemnity Company. Contact LAWPRO for brokers in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Albertaand Québec. TitlePLUS policies issued with respect to properties in Québec and OwnerEXPRESS® policies do not include legal services coverage.

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property was registered inthe name of M. L hadwanted to buy the proper-

ty but she did not qualify for a mort-gage. M assisted her through amortgage broker and L lived in theproperty, making the monthlymortgage payments and all othercosts to maintain the house. L wasconsidered a tenant.

After a number of years, Madvised L that her tenancy was atan end and that the property was tobe sold. The value of the propertyhad increased substantially.

L sued M, who maintained thatthe property was purchased as aninvestment with the intent to rentit to their son. The son did notagree with that plan and M there-fore rented it to L.

The court believed L over Mand imposed on M a resulting trustin favour of L. All this heartacheand costs could have been avoidedby a written record of L’s contribu-tions by way of intent to purchase,and M’s intent to assist by takingregistration and acting as a “bare”trustee in the case.

A

■ ■ ■

In another case, a 79-year-oldwoman sued her solicitor.

The plaintiff had transferredher interest in property to a foun-dation, preserving a life interest tolive in property for her and herhusband. She also received a$318,000 tax credit for the con-veyance, which she took to heraccountant.

Eight years later, the womansued, saying she only just learnedshe no longer owned the property.She alleged the lawyer merelyasked her to sign a paper that shethought was a testamentary gift.The solicitor gave evidence thathe completely reviewed the trans-fer with the plaintiff and theaccountant gave evidence that theplaintiff was pleased with thetransfer and its tax consequences.

Although the plaintiff was 79-years-old, the court found that shewas intelligent and fully function-al. Her mind was sharp and sheunderstood she was making a giftof her property and receiving a“substantial tax benefit” in return.

You can conclude from the rul-ing that the trial judge looked care-fully at the plaintiff’s credibility,which did not stack up against thelawyer and the accountant.

Donald Lapowich, Q.C. is apartner at the law firm of Koskie,Minsky in Toronto, where he prac-tices civil litigation, with a particularemphasis on real estate litigation andmediation, acting for builders, realestate agents and lawyers. REM

1 chicken breast (cooked)6 large mushrooms, chopped2 egg whites1/2 cup home made mayon-naise3/4 cup mixed shreddedcheeses (cheddar, parmesanand Romano)1 green onion, choppedsalt, pepper, thyme, vinegar

Cut cooked chicken intosmall chunks (use leftoverchicken, if you have any).

Beat egg whites until stiffbut not dry, add a few drops ofvinegar. Sauté mushrooms. Stirmayonnaise into egg whites.

Add chicken pieces, mush-

rooms, mixed cheeses, greenonion, salt, pepper and thyme.Stir.

Butter eight slices of ViennaCrusty Bread or something sim-ilar.

Put a large spoonful of themixture on each of four slices ofbread.

Top with remaining fourslices and put more chickenmixture on top.

Sprinkle top with a littleextra Romano cheese, and/orParmesan; place on cookiesheet under broiler until bubblyand slightly brown on top.

This is economical, nutri-tious and delicious! Servestraight from the oven or atroom temperature; or cut intobite size pieces and plate sofolks can help themselves.Great party dish, too. You willbe making this a regular onyour menu.

And, this is a great use forleftovers. Nothing gets wasted.When you are cooking, there isalways another recipe in themaking; just think it through.

Ask yourself: What can I dowith this, rather than toss it inthe trash? Even a leftover bar-becued piece of chicken willwork here, but the taste will bevery different. It is a great wayto get teens to pop some realfood into their mouths on theway out the door. But whateveryou do, don’t tell them it’s goodfor them.

Caution: The scent createdwhile the cheeses are meltingmay attract your neighbours.

Carolyne Lederer is broker ofrecord at Carolyne Realty Corp.Proudly putting her name to herwork for 29 years, she servesBurlington and Brampton, Ont.residential real estate clients. Shetaught gourmet cooking in the mid1970s prior to going into real estate, and wrote a newspaperweekly cooking column. She also has a cookbook in the works. Email Carolyne [email protected] you have any questions.www.Carolyne.com orwww.MillcroftHomes.com REM

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ecent headlines have rein-forced environmental con-cerns: how a malfunction

in an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexicocan endanger the surroundingecosystem, and how one volcanoin Iceland can grind air travel overa quarter of the globe to a halt.With this in mind, communicatingto prospective clients that your realestate practice takes into accountenvironmental concerns gives youa huge advantage.

In any situation, if a customercan feel like a purchase is in linewith their values as well as their

34 REM AUGUST 2010

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GREEN REAL ESTATE

By Elden Freeman

Marketing green real estate, part onewants and needs, they are morelikely not only to make that pur-chase but to be satisfied with it.

As marketing goes, word-of-mouth referrals from satisfiedclients are among the best forms ofpromotion. Real estate purchasesare by their very nature momen-tous, and the ability of a real estateprofessional to assure a client theyare in good hands is paramount.How can agents and brokers distin-guish themselves while marketingto expand their practices? Byaddressing the environmental con-cerns that are prominent in theminds of their clients.

There are many facets of greenreal estate to understand and useto enhance your real estate prac-tice. Certified Green Real Estateexperts understand how greenproperties provide unique oppor-tunities that make listing and marketing them different fromordinary properties. The environ-mentally conscientious real estateprofessional knows how to imple-ment green practices into life and

business practice beyond the prop-erties he lists. Clients are savvyenough to know that when aRealtor espouses green values, heought to evidence those in hisbehaviour.

What makes a property greenisn’t just having greater insula-tion and lower energy bills. It alsoincludes water usage, how thehome itself makes use of rainwater, the kinds of vegetation inand around the property, the con-struction materials and methodsused on the property, alternativesustainable energy resources andmore. For example, if a clientapproached you with a unit theywanted to sell in a very desirableneighbourhood but it is slightlyolder housing stock, built in theearlier half of the 20th century,there are several green real estateskills that come into play. By simply upgrading appliances,installing efficient toilets, showerheads and a new efficient furnace,the owners could be eligible for avariety of grants. They could then

use that information in the listingof their home to enhance itsdesirability and value.

Being able to determine theenergy efficiency of a property is animportant green real estate skill. Toimprove a property’s energy effi-ciency, green Realtors are able totake advantage of green grants andincentives offered by municipal,provincial and federal levels ofgovernment. As part of thatprocess, they must be able to con-cisely outline the benefits of anenergy audit and guide clients inthe best way to obtain one.

Being able to explain the over-all cost-benefits analysis of greenhomes and features in a way that isimmediate and useable to clients isan often overlooked but crucialand complementary ability. Alongsimilar lines, explaining howresource-efficient homes ultimate-ly affect long-term costs and envi-ronmental impact at all stages ofdevelopment and constructioneducates clients in the comprehen-sive benefits of buying and living

in green properties. And finally,where all these skills come togeth-er is in the ability to take intoaccount green home features, ortheir potential for development ina given property, when developinga price or offer for a client.

Plenty of agents and brokersare assiduous about tending totheir clients’ needs, but it is surpris-ing how many have yet to inte-grate the environmental aspect ofreal estate into their practice.What qualifies as being ahead ofthe curve now will be standardbusiness practice in a handful ofyears. This gives those who possessthese skills now a big leg up.

Elden Freeman B.A., M.E.S,broker is the founder and executivedirector of the non-profit NationalAssociation of Green Agents andBrokers (NAGAB). 416-536-7325; [email protected]

For more information aboutNAGAB and what it can do for yourbusiness, visit www.NAGAB.orgonline. REM

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Visit us at www.aventurerealty.ca to find out more

What our members say…

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“Buyers can now get an in-depth preview of dozens of homesin a single day, allowing them tofocus only on those houses thatthey know they like,” saysUtherverse Interiors founderBrian Shuster. “All of the energyand commuting around for poten-tial buyers and agents is greatlyreduced. This breakthrough hashugely simplified the entirehome-buying process from start tofinish. As an agent, you can run50 house tours a day if you want.As a buyer, you’ll know exactlyhow your home will look beforeyou even start to pack.”

For information: www.uther-interiors.com

Law student winsTitlePlus essay prize

Toronto law student NeilWilson’s essay, which concludesthat courts may be increasinglywilling to enforce oral agreementsfor the sale of land, has won a$3,000 essay contest.

Part Performance: AnInvaluable Tool in the Practice ofReal Estate Law was the winningentry in the 2010 TitlePlus Essay

contest sponsored by Lawyers’Professional Indemnity Company(LAWPRO). Wilson’s essayexamines the legal doctrine thatprovides that an oral agreementfor the sale of land, which wouldotherwise be unenforceable, maybe enforced if steps have beentaken towards its performance.

Wilson was awarded his prize,which includes a cash award of$3,000, at the Gala Evening ofthe Ontario Bar Association RealProperty Section in Toronto.

After reviewing the history ofthe doctrine and the recent“diverging” Canadian case law onwhen an oral contract to sell landmay be enforced because it hasbeen partially performed, Wilsonconcludes that “the current lackof certainty leaves the issue opento arguments on both sides, andaccordingly an appreciation of thedoctrine of part performance willbe invaluable to both vendors’and purchasers’ counsel.”

Wilson has just finished histhird year at Osgoode Hall LawSchool and will be clerking forJustice Russel W. Zinn at theFederal Court during his articlingterm.

LAWPRO created theTitlePlus Essay Prize to encourageand recognize outstanding legalscholarship in the practice of realestate law. Students from lawschools across Canada (excludingQuébec) were invited to enter thecontest.

Teldon thank-youcontest targetssales reps

As thank you to the real estatecommunity for over 40 years ofbusiness, real estate marketingcompany Teldon is offeringRealtors a chance to win a get-away for two at any one of over100 select Hyatt Hotels andResorts. Entering is free and toincrease your chances of winning,entrants can refer the contest toup to five business colleagues andreceive one additional entry foreach referral.

In addition to two grand prizes,contest entrants are eligible to winone of five Flip HD video cameras.The contest closes August 15. Formore information: www.teldon-marketing.com/escape. REM

TitlePlus essay prize winner Neil Wilson (centre) receives his prizefrom Ray Leclair, vice-president, TitlePlus (left) and Kathleen Waters,president and CEO, LAWPRO.

†Royal LePage is a trademark used under license.

Andy Puthon, Executive Vice President, NetworkDevelopment, is pleased to announce that effectiveJune 25, 2010, Brian Hunter broker/owner of thebrokerage formerly operating as Prudential Huroniahas joined the Royal LePage franchise network.Brian’s company will operate under the new nameRoyal LePage At Your Service Realty.

Brian has been in the real estate business for 22years. In 1990, he earned his broker’s license andopened a brokerage under the Countrywide brand.In 1999, the Countrywide Real Estate Systemmerged with the Canadian Prudential Real EstateAffiliates, effectively changing the name of his business to Prudential Huronia Real Estate. Theyhave operated at their current location in Bradfordsince that time.

Prior to entering into the real estate industry, Brianworked for 13 years with McDonald’s Restaurantsas a store manager and area supervisor. “My timethere provided me with invaluable skills in training,recruiting, retention and managing the bottom line,”said Brian.

He has been active in organized real estate and wason the Board of Directors of the York Regional Real

Estate Board prior to its merger with the TorontoReal Estate Board.

Royal LePage At Your Service Realty has a team of28 sales representatives. In addition to Bradford,the team also services the areas West Gwillimbury,Newmarket, Holland Landing, Bond Head, Gilford,Cookstown, Lefroy, Thornton, Stroud, Schomberg,Barrie, plus Townships of Essa, Innisfil, and NewTecumseth.

Brian and his team can be reached at:92 Holland Street WestBradford, Ontario L3Z 2B8Phone: 905-775-5557 • Fax: 905-775-9075Toll Free: [email protected]

Please join us in welcoming Brian, and wishing himand everyone at Royal LePage At Your ServiceRealty continued success.

For information on the Royal LePage franchiseprogram, please call Andy Puthon directly at(416) 510-5827.

Brian HunterRoyal LePage At Your Service Realty, BrokerageBradford, Ontario

†

Email: [email protected]

When someone mentions a home stager, the �rst thing most people think of is decorating, �lling a house with furniture and making a house look better for sale. Most real estate professionals think of thelistings that need help; the ones that donot “show well”.

So it will surprise many when I say that home stagers are in fact “Marketing Experts”. They may not be able to sell a car or go into retail, selling particularitems; they may not understand theselling techniques taught by marketingand sales gurus; however they specializein selling one thing well– property! They are trained to take the product and apply décor-marketing basics using theirtalents to highlight the bene�ts and features of each space within the property securing an emotional connection with the buyer, resulting in a pro�table sale.

This is why graduates of the certi�edstaging professionals program are so successful. They are given tools and shown marketing processes toimplement positioning them as expertsin their �eld. Many of the tools are notjust to showcase the house but to educate both real estate professionals and the home seller, o�ering value adds to everyone in the selling process, including the home buyer.

Kudo’s for the market savvy real estate professionals who has already identi�ed the potential of just what kind of impact a certi�ed staging professional can have, not only on the listings also on the marketing leverage the stager o�ersthem. Many stagers are wonderful referral sources. Note in 2009 an informal surveyreveals 45% of staging business came directly from the sellers themselves.

How powerful can adding a CSP be to your marketing mix?

Many real estate professionals only use home staging to make the propertylook fantastic. Once a relationship is builtwith a stager, sellers often ask for a referralto a real estate agent.

Here are a few more ways to utilize home staging to generate the leads:

Generate leads and exposure by positioningyourself as an expert. Home staging makes a great topic for articles when published innewsletters, online social networks, directmailers, and listing packages. Even those who are not selling, enjoy reading about home staging. People LOVE the makeoverprocess. It captures the attention of thereader.

Here are some tools used by stagers toeducate and share the knowledge ofhome staging. They are now availableto real estate agents throughthe CSP International Business Academy:

Staging Standard Magazine

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Educational DVD explaining theimportance of preparing a property for sale before putting it on the market.

The Home Staging for Dummies written by Christine Rae and Jan Maresh is a great book for gifts, door prizes and other giveaways.

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38 REM AUGUST 2010

atsy Hui of Re/MaxWestcoast and WinnieChung of Royal Pacific

Realty in Vancouver have eachdonated $100,000 to the B.C.Children’s Hospital Building cam-paign. The donations are part of agoal set by the Chinese Canadiancommunity to raise $5 million overthree years toward the develop-ment of a new oncology inpatientunit for the new hospital. Hui andChung are both long-time donorsto the hospital and other charities,and also provide hands-on assis-tance with the charities they support.

■ ■ ■

The Kawartha Lakes RealEstate Association held its SecondAnnual Realtor BaseballTournament recently. Associationmembers, along with family andfriends raised $1,391 for the Heartand Stroke Foundation. Last yearthe association raised funds to pur-chase automated external defibril-lators (AEDs) that were placed instrategic locations throughout thecommunity. This year membersare continuing to support the AEDprogram by raising funds for theKawartha Lakes EMS Heart HeroCPR Program. The goal is to pro-vide instruction to as many peopleas they can on CPR and AEDoperation. This is somethingKawartha Lake Realtors can relateto after Andrew Wood’s experi-ence last fall when his client col-lapsed with a heart attack during ashowing (REM, Feb. 2010).Knowledge can save lives.

Century 21 Pinnacle Realtywon the tournament and gets totake the Realtor Cup home untilnext year.

■ ■ ■

A great day of golf for a deserv-ing charity was the drive behindThe Barrie & District Associationof Realtors 7th Annual CharityGolf Tournament in support ofThe Elizabeth Fry Society ofSimcoe County. The event raised$2,937.

Good WorksGood WorksThe society, a community-

based, not-for-profit agency, offerssupport and guidance by trainedvolunteers for youth and womeninvolved with the criminal justicesystem. Clients include those whoare at risk or perceived to be inconflict with the law. The societyincorporates youth justice, employ-ment training programs and resi-dential services.

The concept for the society wasdeveloped in 1988 by a parole offi-

cer and her client, who identifiedthe need for support for womeninvolved in the criminal justicesystem. Their goal was to provideprograms and to open a half-wayhouse for women within five years.Joyce Kope House, a 27-bed shel-ter, is for women released from cor-rectional institutions, homelesswomen, women suffering fromaddictions and mental illness,overflow from shelters for theabused, and seniors without hous-ing. It is the only half-way housenorth of Toronto for federally andprovincially sentenced women.

■ ■ ■

Sandra Porretta of RoyalLePage Your Community Realty inBradford, Ont. and Nico Facciuoloof The Co-operators recentlystaged the largest charity pokertournament in Ontario – attract-ing more than 190 players. The

event raised about $8,000 forVivian Risi’s Capital Campaign forSecond Shelter, Second ChancesYellow Brick House and The RoyalLePage Shelter Foundation.

■ ■ ■

Century 21 Canada haslaunched its annual summer cam-paign with a goal to raise morethan $400,000 for Easter SealsCamps across Canada. Last year,Century 21 Canada brokeragesaccounted for nearly 20 per cent ofthe $2.1 million raised for EasterSeals by the brand internationally.

“We launched our Century 21Kids to Camp Program in 2009and Canadian franchises raised$400,000 for the program in its firstyear,” says company president DonLawby. “This translates intoapproximately 190 Easter Sealscamp spaces for children and youthwith disabilities. In 2010, the goal

is to raise funds to enable at least210 kids to attend camp.”

Century 21 locations areinvolved in Easter Seals eventsacross Canada this summer, inaddition to planning their ownfund-raisers. One such event is theDrop Zone, during which teamsrappel from the roofs of urban highrises to raise awareness of EasterSeals. The Drop Zone happens in12 cities in September.

■ ■ ■

The Toronto Real Estate Boardand Habitat for Humanity Torontohave again teamed up to providemodest housing for local familieswho currently have substandardliving conditions. TREB is spon-soring one of 29 town home unitsto be built in September at 4572Kingston Rd., near MorningsideAvenue. Providing homes for 145men, women and children, this site

P

The Barrie & District Association of Realtors held its 7th Annual CharityGolf Tournament recently, with proceeds donated to The Elizabeth FrySociety of Simcoe County. From left: Terri Soukup, assistant executivedirector, Elizabeth Fry Society; David Burgess, chair, Golf Committee;Bonnie Seymour, Golf Committee staff liaison for the association; DaveThompson, Golf Committee member; Wendy Elzner, past-president of theassociation; and Stephen Stables, Golf Committee member.

TREB’s 2009-2010 president Tom Lebour with Habitat for Humanitypartner family the Matins at the ground-breaking event.

At the fund-raising poker tournament, from left: Giuseppe Strazzeri ofThe Mortgage Centre, an organizing committee member; Justin Risi;Vivian Risi, broker of Royal LePage Your Community Realty; SandraPorretta, co-host for the event and Bradford office manager for RLPYour Community Realty; Nico Facciuolo of The Co-operators, co-host.

The winning team from Century 21 Pinnacle Realty at the KawarthaLakes Real Estate Association’s Second Annual Realtor BaseballTournament.

REM AUGUST 2010 39

represents the 225th affordablehome built by Habitat forHumanity Toronto.

At the build’s groundbreakingceremonies recently, TREB2009/2010 president Tom Lebourmet with the partner family whowere selected by Habitat forHumanity Toronto. MerajuddinMatin said how much he, his wifeand four children are looking for-ward to the completion of theirnew home.

“Right now our life is very diffi-cult,” he says. “We’re six peopleliving in a small, two-bedroomapartment."

The build represents the fourthtitle sponsorship of seven builds towhich TREB has contributed.Other TREB-sponsored homeswere constructed in the KingStreet and Jameson Avenue area in1999, in Scarborough’s McLevinWoods in 2004 and in LakeshoreVillage in 2006.

■ ■ ■

The bicycles were stationary,but participants reached the finishline several thousand kilometresaway in Africa. Lesley Carlberg ofSutton Group - Quantum Realtyin Mississauga, Ont. took part inthe fourth annual Race for Dignity.The event benefits DignitasInternational, a non-profit organi-zation. This year, the goal was toraise $300,000, which would pro-vide 1,250 HIV-positive Africanswith medicine for a year. Carlbergand her team (named WheelWomen of the West) collectedmore than $6,000 with $1,500coming from a luncheon organizedby Lesley.

The Wheel Women of theWest team consisted of a dozenwomen and teenage girls. Theyheld their Race for Dignity at theOntario Racket Club. Carlbergkicked off the event with a comedyroutine related to spinning. (Lastyear, she tickled funny bones toraise money so that children withcancer could attend camp.) Shereminded everyone that althoughthe causes are serious, having fun isa key part of fundraising.

■ ■ ■

The Royal LePage ShelterFoundation has announced a newweb initiative called Stories ofHope. A collection of inspiring,heart-felt stories from those whoselives have been touched by familyviolence, and the role women’sshelters have played in recovering

from those experiences, is availableat www.shelterfoundation.ca.The site also highlights communi-ty resources available for those whoare experiencing abuse. Most ofthe stories come from those withinthe real estate industry – agents,staff and partners, says the founda-tion in a news release. “These sto-ries of survivorship from those whohave lived with abuse remind ushow critical it is that we all contin-ue our efforts to make a difference,”says the foundation. “Throughthese ‘stories of hope,’ families willlearn they are not alone in theirjourney. Readers will be inspired bythe courage and resilience demon-strated by individuals facing abuseand develop a further appreciationof the essential role that women’sshelters play in our society.”

■ ■ ■

A barbecue and a golf tourna-ment gave Barrie residents twoopportunities to enjoy good foodand company while supporting aworthy cause. This is the eighthyear that Bill Kindou, broker ofrecord at Sutton Group - IncentiveRealty, hosted a golf tournament.It raised money for the new cancertreatment facility at the RoyalVictoria Hospital.

A new $400 million redevelop-ment will double the size of theexisting hospital and include theSimcoe Muskoka Regional CancerCentre. More than 60,000 patientsare expected to visit the centre inits first year of operation. Sincegovernment funding is limited, thehospital relies on contributionsfrom individuals and businesses.Kindou’s goal is to raise $10,000 forthe hospital expansion and equip-ment.

“This disease affects so manypeople that we felt this was animportant cause to support. I lostmy mother-in-law when she was59-years-old, which was just a yearbefore she planned to retire,” hesays. “She was diagnosed with can-cer three months before she died.Many people I work with havefriends and family who have beenaffected by cancer too. Severalyears ago, one of our sales associ-ates, Fred McColman, lost his bat-tle with cancer. Patients used tohave to travel all the way toToronto for treatment and now itis so beneficial to have this facilityin our backyard.”

■ ■ ■

Continued on page 40

The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation’snew Stories of Hope website.

Bill Kindou Enjoying the tea party for the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, from left:host Susan Eickmeier, Barbara Elliott, Naomi Engel and Rosanne Buemi.

Members of The Oakville,Milton and District Real EstateBoard pledge $10,000 forHabitat for Humanity Halton –Oakville Build. From left, front:Karen Henderson; JennyKotulak; Marta Sponder, EO,OMDREB; Anne Maslowski,director of development, Habitat;Alan Johnston, Oakville towncouncillor; Anne Swarbrick, ED,Habitat; Samantha Johnstone;Amanda Ross; Jessica Davis;Sarah Veness. Back: KayteeMcNally; Cyndia Amodeo;

Michele Gaboury; Alex Rundle; Alexx Coelho; Jeff Mahannah, president, OMDREB; Alun Evans; RossBridges; Glen Thomas; Heather Tilley; Valerie Ramsay-Brown.

Lesley Carlberg (right) takes part in the Race for Dignity.

A group of Century 21 Heritage Group sales reps, brokers and family members recently braved the rain andcompleted their annual Heart & Stroke Big Bike ride in Richmond Hill, Ont. The team was escorted by theYork Regional Police along Yonge Street.

40 REM AUGUST 2010

Good WorksContinued from page 39

Cedar Ridge Quality Homesand Action Team of Century 21Foothills Real Estate inLethbridge, Alta. teamed to raisefunds and awareness for theInterfaith Food Bank.

Last summer with the supportof several key businesses through-out the city, a show home was con-structed in the Riverstone subdivi-sion in the city’s west side. Manylocal suppliers and contractorscontributed to the Flip4FoodProject, along with several localmedia outlets and retail establish-ments. Net proceeds from the saleof the home were presented toInterfaith Food Bank.

The donation will kick offInterfaith Food Bank’s new capitalcampaign to encourage others tocontribute to the Building Fundand to help raise funds for a newhome for Interfaith.

■ ■ ■

Tea time brought in donationsas Susan Eickmeier, from RoyalLePage Johnston & DanielDivision in Toronto, hosted herannual Spring Celebration TeaParty, raising more than $2,000 forthe Shelter Foundation.Eickmeier began hosting the event11 years ago and during the pastfew years has combined her clientappreciation afternoon with thefund-raising effort for the shelter.

■ ■ ■

Rockcliffe Park in Ottawa isone of Canada’s most affluent andbeautiful heritage neighbourhoodsand home to the official residencesof diplomats from around theworld. With the goal of preservingthe area’s unique character, TheFriends of the Village of RockcliffePark Foundation recently held abenefit. Ten ambassadors and highcommissioners opened their resi-dences for the sold-out galaevening, Dining with theAmbassadors. Alana Abraham,co-owner of Sutton Group –Premier Realty helped to organizethe event and sponsored the cock-tail portion of the evening.

“I was asked to be on the com-mittee this year as I live inRockcliffe and very much supportthe efforts of the foundation,” saysAbraham. “With the encourage-ment of the committee, SuttonGroup - Premier Realty becamethe presenting sponsor of the cock-tail reception. The company sup-

Team Laura raised almost $20,000 in honour of sales rep RenateMartin’s daughter Laura.

Members of The Real EstateBoard of the FrederictonArea have been providingbanana splits and volunteer-ing at the June Blood DonorClinic for more than 20years.

Strutting their stuff in high heeled red shoes, agents (from left) TonyMonteiro, Ekke Wigboldus and Jim Danson from Royal LePage CrownRealty Services in Cambridge,Ont., helped raise $5,500 for their localshelter at a Walk A Mile in Her Shoes event.

The Realtors Association of Edmonton’s community foundation holds amotorbike fundraiser every year. Ride for Kids began in 2005 when agroup of Realtors who were motorbike enthusiasts combined their loveof riding with raising money for kids. Since its inception, more than$225,000 has been raised. Ride for Kids supports two youth servingorganizations – E4C’s School Lunch Program and the Youth EmergencyShelter Society.

The second Annual Charity Boat cruise, organized by Bill Mitkos of RoyalLePage Your Community Realty in Richmond Hill, was held to support theYellow Brick House and the Shelter Foundation. While dancing, socializ-ing and having a great time, those attending pledged more than $2,300 inaddition to the sponsorship and tickets sales. Shown from left: CarlLanschmidt (with horn), Andrew Harrild, Dorothy Vo, Brian Price, AnetPrice, Barbara Healey and Crag Ferrie.

Left: In Ile-Perrot, Que., Royal LePage Villagesales reps Michael Tietolman, Phil Di Caprio,Scott Waugh and Stewart Jones (broker/ owner)also learned what it was like to “Walk a Mile inHer Shoes” at their Garage Sale for Shelter.

Taking part inthe PKARcheque presen-tation, fromleft: LynnZimmer, execu-tive director,YWCAPeterboroughVictoria &Haliburton;DennisRoberts, PKAR

2009 Community Involvement chair; Jo Stewart, PKAR CommunityInvolvement liaison, and Carolyn J. Mills, PKAR EO.

REM AUGUST 2010 41

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plied canapés and sparkling winefor 150 people at a cost of approxi-mately $2,500. The guests min-gled in the community hall duringthe reception as they anxiouslywaited to find out which embassythey would attend for dinner.Then they were escorted in groupsto their respective embassy wherethey enjoyed an authentic dinnerhosted by the ambassador of thatcountry.”

The ambassadors and HighCommissioners from Egypt,Germany, Guatemala, Ireland,The Netherlands, Thailand,Tunisia, Turkey, Trinidad andTobago and Uganda servedfavourite dishes of their home-lands. Albraham enjoyed dinnerat the Embassy of Ireland, whichrecently underwent a major, yearlong renovation. “The finishedproduct was breathtaking,” shesays. “The new ambassador and hiswife were charming and welcomedtheir neighbours wholeheartedly totheir lovely home. The feedbackfrom all of the participants in theDining with the Ambassadorsevent was very positive.”

■ ■ ■

CIR Realty joined forces withThe Mustard Seed and the CalgaryPolice Service (CPS) Victim

Assistance Unit in a combinedeffort to raise $10,000 of muchneeded funding at their annual,open to the public, Masters ofDisasters charity golf tournament.Like many not-for-profit organiza-tions, The Mustard Seed’s primarysource of funding is private, withthe majority of donations comingfrom corporate and individual pri-vate donors. Only 25 per cent of itsoverall funding is governmentbased.

Although the majority of theCPS Victim Assistance Unit fund-ing comes from the AlbertaGovernment, every penny countswhen it comes to the extensivetraining and support needed forthe Unit’s 82 civilian volunteers.

■ ■ ■

Royal LePage Atlantic Realtyand Royal LePage Metro inMoncton joined together on May15 to hold a giant garage sale.Members donated gently usedhousehold items, toys, books andclothing with all proceeds donatedto Moncton’s Crossroads forWomen Shelter. Royal LePageoffices across Canada held garagesales on this date – the twoMoncton offices combined raised$7,400, placing fourth in Canada.

■ ■ ■

The Oakville Milton &District Real Estate Board(OMDREB) has a new program tosupport its community – ThePresident’s Charity of Choice. Itpermits the current board presi-dent to select a shelter-based orga-nization to be the recipient of theboard’s charitable efforts.

Board president Jeff Mahannahhas chosen Habitat for HumanityHalton as the first recipient. Theboard has pledged to raise $10,000for the build, and will hold a gala event to raise funds onNovember 12.

■ ■ ■

The Royal LePage Johnston &Daniel Division recently invitedinternationally known speakerRichard Robbins to energize theirgroup. The session served not onlyto motivate, but to raise a substan-tial sum for the YWCA AriseWomen & Children Shelter inToronto.

■ ■ ■

The Peterborough and theKawarthas Association of Realtorsrecently presented a cheque for$14,040 to the YWCA SafeHaven Campaign. The donation

will be put towards the newPeterborough women’s shelter.PKAR members raised the funds at its Annual Charity GolfTournament and some smallerfundraisers during the year.

■ ■ ■

Renate Martin, a sales repwith Coldwell Banker The BrickRealty in Niagara Falls, Ont.,writes: “I lost my daughter Laurato sarcoma cancer on October 27,2009 after a six-year battle. In herhonour and memory, her familyand mine decided to participate inthe Guelph ‘Relay for Life’ onJune 11. A lot of hard work andemotion were channelled intothis important challenge. Ourteam race is now over and thanksto the overwhelming support offamily and friends; I was able tocontribute almost $4,000.Collectively, our Team Lauraraised almost $20,000 in memoryof my daughter Laura.

“What a magnificent tribute.Emotionally there were timeswhen it was very draining, and alot of tears were shed. I also learneda lot about cancer that I did notknow before. I think for me thegenerosity of everyone was inspir-ing. People truly wanted to help to

find a cure for cancer. I wasshocked to discover just how manylives are affected by cancer. WhileI canvassed my own neighbours,one of them was just recuperatingfrom losing three-quarters of hislung to cancer while he handed mehis donation. Wow. One of myclients made a generous donation,while they shared that their niecewas again battling the big C. A co-worker battled breast cancer twiceand a prominent communitymember displayed his radiationmask on his office floor as areminder of what he had gonethrough.

“We started at 7 pm and wentuntil 7 am. At 4 am I was still onthe track, continuing mymarathon race. The birds werejust beginning to sing and thesky was getting lighter. I lookedup to the heavens, talking withLaura and sensed that she was soproud of all we had accom-plished. I know we can’t bringher back and I believe she is in abetter place. We all were on ahigh at the end of the race andhave made a commitment torepeat this in 2011. I thankeveryone for participating withTeam Laura and for fightingback.” REM

can always tell a public hous-ing complex in every city andtown in Canada when I pass

through. Some people call them“housing projects” or other namesthat are not always complimentary.

Almost all government hous-ing projects sadly share the appear-ance of being run down, lookingworn and not really maintained.They get the grass cut in summerand the snow plowed in winter, ifthey are lucky. There are alwaystroubles in these places. Domesticviolence, drug dealing, even inci-dents of people getting shot hap-pen more frequently in publichousing. You can look it up.

We can complain to the gov-ernment to do something about allthis but nothing will be done.Nothing can be done. Even thesocialist protesters among us havelong given up on these tragic pock-ets of housing.

The truth is that in the eco-nomic climate we live in today wejust can’t justify the cost of a gar-dening team or clean up crew towork on these places. We can’teven fix our roads or maintain pub-lic transit or provide decent day-care. There’s just no money, plainand simple.

The days that the governmentlooked after all things are over. Ifwe don’t look after things our-selves, they will pretty much go toruin. A lot of things already have.One of those things is the generalupkeep of public housing groundsin our towns and neighbourhoods.

Drive past any public housingand you will see broken fences,peeling paint, stretches of dirt withpatches of grass, old furniture fromhurried moves made months ago,garbage strewn hurly burly and thelist goes on and on.

I find it difficult to blame peo-ple who live in public housing fornot maintaining the garden or

42 REM AUGUST 2010

THE PUBLISHER’SPAGE

By Heino Molls

I

Trade Showsand ConferencesTrade Showsand Conferences

For complete listings, visit www.remonline.comTo add a listing to this calendar, email [email protected]

Compiled with the assistance of Bob Campbell atColour Tech Marketing, www.colourtech.com

Oakville, Milton and District RealEstate Board2009 Halton Symposium andTradeshowThursday, Sept.16Oakville Conference Centre, OakvilleCindy Amodeo – 905-844-6491, Ext. 106

Royal LePage National SalesConferenceSept. 22 – 25Fairmont The Queen ElizabethMontrealwww.royallepageevents.ca

Edmonton Apartment Association inpartnership with the RealtorsAssociation of EdmontonSuites and Homes Trade ShowTuesday, Sept. 28Mayfield Inn and Suites Trade Centre,Edmontonwww.eaa.ab.ca/eventdetail.aspx?ID=59

Realtors Association of Hamilton-BurlingtonRealtors Connections Conference & Trade ShowThursday, Sept. 30Hamilton Convention CentreHamiltonSheila Sferrazza – [email protected] or905-529-8101, ext.234

Peterborough and the KawarthasAssociation of RealtorsTechnology Day and Trade ShowFriday, Oct. 1Living Hope, Peterborough, [email protected]

Century 21 Canadian Conference2010October 1 – 3Metro Toronto Convention CentreTorontoJeff Sampson –[email protected]

2010 Atlantic ConnectionOctober 5 – 7Halifax Marriott Harbourfront HotelHalifax“A Realtor ‘How To’ conference”www.atlanticconnection.ca

WinnipegRealtors AssociationTechnology Conference and TradeShowWednesday, Oct.13Victoria Inn & Conference CentreWinnipegWendy Wasylnuk – [email protected] (204) 786-8854www.wrexpo.ca

Realtors Association of Grey BruceOwen Sound Trade ShowTuesday, Oct. 19Harry Lumley Bayshore CommunityCentre, Owen [email protected]

Ottawa Real Estate Board TradeShowThursday, Oct. 28Centurian Conference Centre, OttawaWilda Brown – [email protected]

National Association of Realtors2010 Conference and ExpoNovember 5 – 8New Orleanswww.realtor.org/convention.nsf/

Mississauga Real Estate Board2010 Election Meeting and TradeShowWednesday, Nov. 17Versailles Convention Centre,MississaugaGay Napper – 905-608-6732

Prudential Real Estate andRelocation Services Sales Rally,Trade Show and Education EventThursday, Nov. 18LeJardin Conference CentreWoodbridge, Ont.Nancy Sears - [email protected]

Flower powerand governmenthousingcleaning up around their buildingcomplex. When misfortune andbad luck kicks the crap out of youday in and day out, it’s hard to findthe energy to get up and do somegardening outside on a place whereyou have no control and no own-ership.

Not all people can be homeowners. There are many peoplewho have misfortune that preventsthem from being lucky enough tobuy their own home. People inthese circumstances usually don’thave control over where they live.They don’t pick a house. They are“placed” in housing. They alsohave a lot of other challenges todeal with, the least of which is hardwork. A lot of these folks are on afirst name-basis with hard luck.

The great tragedy in all this isthat I believe that gardening andclean up can have a direct impacton reducing crime in public hous-

ing because it provides a pleasantenvironment and in turn an atti-tude of hope. I can’t prove it exact-ly but I believe flowers actually dohave power. They smell good, theylook clean, they instill a feeling ofcalmness and they will, I trulybelieve, compel people to be goodto each other.

I have never seen nice flowerbeds on government housinggrounds.

Fundamentals like plumbingand electricity will always belooked after by government tradeprofessionals, albeit badly. But theesthetics, the garbage, the lawn,the garden and the flowers must belooked after by volunteers if they

are to even come close to affectingthe despair and the crime thatcomes hand in hand with poor liv-ing surroundings. It can only bedone by volunteers.

Many people don’t realize thatwe live in a world where volun-teers are not just nice to havearound but essential to our lives.They save our asses everyday in sit-uations we take for granted. In hos-pitals, life counseling, communityworkers, food banks, volunteerfirefighters – it is a long list and weare always short on volunteers.

I am not sure how we couldfind volunteer crews to do thework public housing projects need.Maybe a sign could be arranged toacknowledge those who would stepforward to do the work or donatethe money that it would take toplant, weed, maintain and clean upthe grounds of public housing.

The challenges in doing work

like this would not be easy to over-come. The bureaucracy connectedwith gaining permission to do vol-unteer work on public housingwould be the easy part. The worstpart, the hardest part of all may beto convince the residents in theseplaces that work like this can bemeaningful. Try telling someonewho has not had much good for-tune that you are going to makethings better for them by plantingflowers and cleaning up.

You would be the recipient ofsome serious cynicism.

Heino Molls is publisher of REM. Email [email protected]

REM

The days that the governmentlooked after all things are over.

If we don’t look after thingsourselves, they will pretty

much go to ruin.

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