December 2015

OREA fights new land transfer taxPage 8

Final submissions at the Competition TribunalPage 14

Inside Right At Home’s new office brandingPage 22

CREA president Pauline Aunger

on why you should get involved in

organized real estatePage 3

CREA president Pauline Aunger

on why you should get involved in

organized real estatePage 3

Issue #318 December 2015

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REM DECEMBER 2015 3

Get involved, urges CREA presidentIn this evolving real estate industry, Pauline Aunger says if you are active at your local board or association, you will be “part of the change instead of waiting to see what happens.” By Jim Adair

Pauline Aunger loves being president of the Canadian

Real Estate Association. She thinks more Realtors should get involved with organized real estate. Why?

“Everybody says it’s to give back to the association, and that it’s rewarding both personally and professionally. That’s the pat answer,” she says. “All the time I’ve been involved in the real estate community has made me a better Realtor. So the advantage that being involved gives you is that you’re on top of what’s going on and you understand why things have changed – and you are part of the change rather than learning about it later.”

She adds, “I can’t imagine my life in real estate without being involved. It’s been a great pleasure to be a part of the change instead of waiting to see what happens.”

Aunger, broker of record at Royal LePage Advantage Real Estate in Smiths Falls, Ont., is a past-president of her local real estate board and of the Ontario Real Estate Association. Recently REM interviewed Aunger at CREA’s national headquarters in Ottawa.

Organized real estate has been criticized as being an “old boys club” where the same people run boards and associations for years. At this spring’s Annual General Meeting, CREA will present a proposal that, if approved, would change the qualifications needed to serve on its Board of Directors.

“There used to be a requirement that you had to serve on a local board or provincial association as a director for so many years (before you could join CREA’s board),” says Gary Simonsen, CREA’s chief executive officer. The proposal would allow those who

have served on other governing boards – not necessarily related to real estate – to qualify. “It’s about bringing those skills and competencies to the table,” he says.

Aunger adds, “It’s about getting the right people, who may not have had the opportunity to serve locally but are interested in serving at the national level.”

She points out that four people on the current Board of Directors did not serve as provincial association presidents. “I think the old boy’s network has changed,” she says.

Still, Realtors are notoriously apathetic when it comes to taking part in organized real estate.

“We have 112,000 members and not all of them are involved,” says Aunger. “Maybe some of them want to be but don’t know it yet. So it’s about helping people get into the process – you only get a volunteer by asking them.”

She notes that many more real estate professionals are involved in volunteering for local charitable causes, by giving their personal time as well as contributing financially.

CREA also faces pressure from the membership to cut its bureaucracy and keep member dues down, and to this end the Board of Directors was reduced from 20 members to 16 last year. More recently, the Executive Committee was eliminated to further streamline the association’s governance.

Aunger says her main goal during her year as president is to continue reaching out to members via the association’s popular series of Open House meetings. She and a team of staff and other members of the Board of Directors are visiting

boards and associations across the country to fill them in on CREA’s latest activities, and so far that has taken her from Vancouver Island to Atlantic Canada.

She says she believes the different levels of organized real estate are “talking more often” than in the past and “that helps us to get along better. It’s a case of never ignoring your differences or problems but always being able to talk about them. Basically we’re all here to help our members, whether we’re talking about the provincial association, the local board or the national association. The Realtor is the most important part of this.”

While CREA officials won’t comment on the ongoing Competition Tribunal case involving the Toronto Real Estate Board’s MLS policies, Aunger says that regardless of how that case turns out, CREA intends to maintain realtor.ca as “the No. 1 website in Canada.”

She says, “Realtors want it to be the best it can be. There are some enhancements coming but I’m not going to tell you about them because that would take all the fun out of it.” But among the improvements will be the accommodation of more high-resolution photos and real-time property updates.

“As a Realtor, you want your listings in as many places as possible and that’s why the data distribution facility (DDF) exists,” Aunger says. “The Realtors choose where to put their listings and the public decides where they go to look for them. The public likes quick information and they like mobile. When we have the No. 1 website, all Realtors benefit from it.”

Another priority is getting

to know the new federal government. More than 200 new MPs will be serving in the House of Commons. CREA has sent them all a book with issues of concern to Realtors, including sections about the Home Buyer’s Plan, FINTRAC regulations, the Privacy Act, anti-spam legislation and more. The association’s PAC days conference has been moved to fall from spring, so the government will have been in place for about a year by the time the next conference comes around.

CREA is also monitoring the threat that mandatory home energy audits could be coming to Ontario. Aunger says she was

shocked when she saw that the idea was back on the table. “If you Google me, you will see me standing in front of the legislature talking about this very thing” when she was president of OREA in 2009.

On a personal level, Aunger admits that her activities as president do cut into her real estate business. “I’m lucky because my daughter is a Realtor and she helps cover for me. But I don’t want to give the illusion that I’m not selling while I’m serving as president because I am. It’s about managing my time. When the year ends I’ll still be a Realtor. I’ll be a Realtor for the rest of my life.” REM

Pauline Aunger in Ottawa, October 2015. (Photo by Ryan Parent)

Coldwell Banker China president Amber Qui with Coldwell BankerPremier Realty owner Marline Kolterhoff.

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

By Jim Adair, REM Editor

The company says Johnsonbrings extensive management andbusiness development experienceto the agency, having spent severalyears running major internationalcompanies in various sectors. Forhis part, Gregory has nearly 30years of experience in real estate(both as a broker and an investor),including 15 years as co-owner ofRoyal LePage Village (Dollard-des-Ormeaux).

■ ■ ■

Re/Max Real Estate Beaumontin Edmonton recently wasacquired by Re/Max River City’sbroker/owner Shami Sandhu.

oyal LePage Ville-Marie in Montreal has joinedRoyal LePage Village. The

merged brokerage will now operateunder the name of Royal LePageVillage, covering the western andcentral territories of Montreal. Thebrokerage now has 138 real estatebrokers in five offices, making itthe largest Royal LePage brokeragein Quebec.

Paul D. Johnson has acquiredshares in the company, whileGregory Clarke, former broker/owner of Royal LePage Village (Dollard-des-Ormeaux),will remain a shareholder in thebrokerage.

R

modern space includes a chalk-board wall and offers mentor-styleleadership. The office expectsRealtors to grow together as a teamwith no room for egos.”

■ ■ ■

Engel & Völkers is joiningforces with Carros Group, whichhas operated as Sotheby’s highest-grossing Vancouver office for morethan five years, the company says.

“Working with Sotheby’s hasbeen a great experience, but whenEngel & Völkers approached me afew months ago, I saw this as anopportunity to grow and elevateclient services in Vancouver,” saysGreg Carros, president of CarrosGroup. Working with Engel &Völkers gives Carros an opportuni-ty to own a franchise.

He estimates that his office hascompleted $600 million in busi-ness during the last two years.

“We currently have 35 agentsin our Downtown Vancouveroffice and that number is expectedto rise,” said Carros. He says he isalready planning to open offices onthe West Side, East Vancouver,West Vancouver and NorthVancouver.

■ ■ ■

The real estate brokerage for-merly known as NetHomes Realtyof Grande Prairie, Alta. has joinedthe Coldwell Banker network.The full-service real estate firm willnow operate under the nameColdwell Banker ExcellenceRealty.

Former Re/Max Real EstateBeaumont owner Maurice Biron isretiring from the real estate busi-ness but will continue to operatehis accounting business part-time.

Re/Max River City opened 25years ago on Saskatchewan Driveon the south side of Edmonton’sRiver Valley. From there, the groupexpanded into the south side of thecity, Sandhu says. With the merg-er, it now has more than 130 salesreps.

■ ■ ■

Andre and Tanya d’Abadierecently opened Century 21Elevate Real Estate to serve a newand rapidly growing community inSouth-West Calgary.

“My network has grownbecause I know you build businessfrom within. You gain futureclients when your current onestruly feel that they come first, that’sour culture,” says Andre d’Abadie,who has been in the real estatebusiness for 15 years.

The company says thed’Abadies offer “high-impact edu-cation and mentorship” and havecreated “a unique teaching envi-ronment for their team. The open,

Broker/owner Curtis Burbeestarted his real estate career inPrince George, B.C., where he wasa successful sales rep for five years.He relocated to Grande Prairiewith his wife Chelsey and foundedtheir own brokerage operation in2011.

■ ■ ■

Hamish Redpath and RudyChong have acquired RoyalLePage Peters and Lank Realty inCharlottetown as owner and co-owner, respectively. Ken Peters,the brokerage’s most recent owner,remains broker of record until Jan.31, 2016.

Redpath has more than adecade of creative marketing expe-rience and more than five years ofexperience as a real estate profes-sional. Chong’s love of real estateand property investing now has anew focus in his role as office man-ager/owner, the company says. Hehas a technical background as anengineer, 17 years of experience inaccount and supply chain manage-ment, as well as extensive experi-ence managing various teams anddepartments in the aerospace andhigh-tech sectors.

■ ■ ■

Coldwell Banker China presi-dent Amber Qui and SelinaZhang, representing over 200offices across China, recently visit-ed three Vancouver affiliates.

Coldwell Banker Prestige

4 REM DECEMBER 2015

Paul D. Johnson

Gregory Clarke

Shami Sandhu

Curtis Burbee

Hamish Redpath

Chelsey Burbee

Penny Coley

Rudy Chong

David Gillard

Tom Garvey

Continued on page 6

Independently Owned and Operated. ®/™ trademarks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC used under license or authorized sub-license. © 2015 Century 21 Canada Limited Partnership.The trademarks REALTOR®, REALTORS® and the REALTOR® logo are controlled by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify real estate professionals who are members of CREA. Used under license.

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Realty, Coldwell Banker WestburnRealty and Coldwell BankerPremier Realty each hosted theAsian market guests for an inten-sive learning and networking expe-rience. Presenters included localdevelopers and immigrationlawyers. Global service managerRon Harris from Coldwell Bankerglobal headquarters in New Jerseyalso joined the whirlwind tour.

■ ■ ■

Penny Coley recently acquiredthe Royal LePage brokerage inCorner Brook, Nfld. It has been inoperation since 1958 and will con-tinue to operate as Royal LePageNL Realty.

Coley is a licensed Realtor whohas been with the Royal LePageNL Realty team for almost 15years. The company says she“brings a wealth of experience toher new role as owner, including adiverse background in businessadministration/marketing andoffice administration. She alsoplans to complete her broker’slicence in the near future.”

David Gillard, an honorarymember of the Newfoundland andLabrador Association of Realtorsand recipient of its 45-year-pin,will remain as broker of record.

■ ■ ■

Joseph Syposz and RickSpagnuolo, with 20 years of realestate experience behind them,recently opened Century 21Hallmark Realty in Toronto. Theoffice provides real estate advice inall aspects of residential, commer-cial and investment properties.

“Our small community isexpanding very quickly with over12,000 condo units being added inthe near future. It’s the perfect loca-tion,” says Spagnuolo. “We’ve bothchosen to raise our families here sowe know on a personal level whythis area is so attractive to buyers.”

The new office, steps from

Multiple ListingsContinued from page 4

Humber Bay Shores Park on thecity’s west waterfront, features a20-foot living wall.

■ ■ ■

Macdonald Realty has hiredTom Garvey as the new full-timemanaging broker for theCoquitlam and Maple Ridge, B.C.offices. He will be the “go-toresource for transaction-relatedquestions and is responsible forretention, recruitment and train-ing in those offices,” the companysays.

Jonathan Cooper, vice presi-dent, operations for MacdonaldReal Estate Group, says Garvey“brings several decades of industryexperience to this role, both insales and in management, and iswell respected in the GreaterVancouver real estate community.Tom will be a tremendous resourceto his offices and our company as awhole.”

■ ■ ■

Century 21 Atria Realty hasopened two new offices to serveclients in the Toronto area.

Stephen Chow, owner of thebrokerage, recently earned theCentury 21 Franchisee of theYear award for his business prac-tices, chosen by his peers acrossCanada. The new offices will beat 100-642 King St. W. and 203-5927 Yonge St.

■ ■ ■

With 11 years of experienceand award-winning service, bro-kerage owner Rhonda Lodwickhas opened a new Century 21 FoxxRealty office to serve clients inTreherne, Man.

“We founded our business inthe rural communities and havecontinued to grow it in these areasover the years,” says Lodwick. “Iknow firsthand every uniqueaspect of the market and the needsof the smaller communities.”

Century 21 Foxx Realty wasfounded in 2001 in Portage LaPrairie. The office earned the

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Director, Sales & MarketingDENNIS ROCK

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EditorJIM ADAIR

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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. For subscription information, email [email protected]. Entire contents copyright2015 REM. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is pro-hibited. The opinions expressed in REM are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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Cover photo: RYAN PARENT

Century 21 Gold Medallion awardin 2014 and Lodwick has beenawarded the Double Centurionaward for sales excellence.

The new office is at 240Railway Ave. in Treherne.

■ ■ ■

The Real Estate Council ofAlberta (RECA) has namedKrista Bolton as chair of counciland Christine Zwozdesky as chair-elect.

Bolton is a chartered mediatorwith her primary practice in familymediation. She has been a publicmember of council since 2012,appointed by the other councilmembers.

Zwozdesky was appointed bycouncil in 2013 from nominationsreceived from licensed propertymanagers. She has more than 30years of experience in the industryand is a past president of both theBuilding Owners and ManagersAssociation – Edmonton Chapterand Edmonton’s Commercial RealEstate Women Chapter.

■ ■ ■

Century 21 People’s ChoiceRealty of Toronto has opened itsdoors at a new Mississauga office.The brokerage also has an office inBrampton.

It has ranked in the top 10Century 21 companies acrossCanada every year since 2012.

Virendra Srivastava, broker/owner, says: “We invest in produc-ing agents of the highest qualitythrough training and marketingand they, in turn, invest in theirclients.”

The new office is at 120Matheson Blvd E., Units 103and 104.

■ ■ ■

Close to 6,000 contest entrantsposted their photos to roy-allepage.ca/imhome, sharing spe-cial memories of time spent withfamily, friends and pets in theirhomes as part of the Royal LePage#IMHOME contest.

During the contest period,Royal LePage says its nationalsocial media channels saw corre-sponding spikes. The company’sFacebook page was up almost 500likes, Twitter was up more than600 followers and a contest videoon YouTube garnered more than11,000 views. Almost a third ofentrants visited other pages on roy-allepage.ca, helping to increasetraffic and leads.

Prizes for consumers entering

the contest included 16 weeklyprizes, four monthly prizes and agrand prize of a $2,500 voucherfrom the winner’s choice of threeretailers. A gallery of winningentries is viewable atroyallepage.ca/imhome.

Gail Bibeau of Royal LePageTrue North Realty in FortMcMurray, Alta. was named thetop sharer of the contest. She wona $2,500 Air Canada Vacationsvoucher. REM

The Century 21 Atria Realty team.

Virendra Srivastava poses in the lobby of his brokerage’s newMississauga office.

The Century 21 Foxx Realty team.

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OREA has the support of theCanadian Taxpayers Federation(CTF).

“Owning a home used to bethe norm, but now with a myr-iad of taxes and fees, it’sbecoming little more than adream. If municipalities aregranted the power to double theland transfer tax, homebuyerscould be forced to pay $10,000 to$15,000 in land transfer tax for ahome priced at $450,000,” saysCTF Ontario director ChristineVan Gin.

“Mayors and provincial politi-cians like to talk about what can bedone to make housing in Torontoand Ontario more affordable, butthe reality is they need to look inthe mirror. It is policies like theland transfer tax, HST on newhomes, subway construction levies,

development charges and convo-luted and irrational building codesthat drive up the price of housing,”says Van Geyn. REM

8 REM DECEMBER 2015

he Ontario Ministry ofMunicipal Affairs andHousing plans to give

every municipality provincewidethe power to charge a MunicipalLand Transfer Tax (MLTT), saysthe Ontario Real EstateAssociation (OREA).

“Ontario home buyers arealready charged a provincial landtransfer tax, so by adding a munic-ipal tax, they’re essentially dou-bling the tax burden on Ontariofamilies,” says Patricia Verge, presi-dent of OREA. “If the OntarioLiberals follow through with thisplan, home buyers will be forced topay $10,000 in total land transfertaxes on the average priced homein Ontario, starting as early as nextyear.”

Verge says, “The OntarioLiberals wrote to us in May 2014,

perry Van Ness InternationalCorporation (SVNIC), acommercial real estate ser-

vices franchisor, and Rock Advisorsof Toronto are opening SVNIC’sfirst Canadian location. The newoffice, which will operate under thename of Sperry Van Ness/RockAdvisors, Inc., will bring SVNIC’sunique approach of compensatedco-operation to Canada’s real estatemarket. It operates more like the res-idential real estate model, encourag-ing brokers to come together as fran-chisees, sharing client bases andinformation for the benefit of theclient and the industry as a whole.

“The traditional brokeragemodel is dysfunctional,” saysSVNIC president and CEO KevinMaggiacomo. “The way the systemis designed encourages brokers tohold their client base close and notshare with the wider market, eventhough it’s well known that a largermarket means more offers, whichmeans higher prices and highercommissions.”

SVNIC has approximately 190

locations serving over 500 markets.Rock Advisors has more than 25years of consulting experience buy-ing and selling multi-family rentalapartments and student housingacross Canada.

“We live in an increasingly con-nected world,” says Rock AdvisorsCEO Derek Lobo. “The competi-tive Canadian marketplace is anexcellent opportunity for U.S.investors who are looking for a newterritory that is also familiar.”

Lobo’s vision for expansion is togrow to over 30 locations in thenext seven years.

“The timing couldn’t be better,”says Maggiacomo. “In the U.S., 65per cent of all assets sold are pur-chased by out of market investors.In Canada, foreign direct invest-ment is rapidly increasing due to itspolitical and economic stability.With U.S. and Canadian buyerscrossing boundaries into new mar-kets, and many new non-institu-tional buyers diversifying their port-folios and becoming first-time realestate investors, we wanted to

quickly expand the SVN marketshare in North America.”

The company says that withRock Advisor’s help, SVNIC’s entryinto the Canadian market willengage the entire brokerage com-munity to market SVN listings,splitting commissions equally in theprocess. This will ensure organizedcompetition for assets that sellers’interests are placed first, the compa-ny says.

“Technology and online com-munication has made the businessworld smaller,” Maggiacomo says.“What happens in the U.S. andCanada can happen quickly in othercountries.”

■ ■ ■

Bruce Armstrong joinsAvison Young

Bruce Armstrong has joinedAvison Young in its global head-quarters in downtown Toronto. Hejoins the company as a senior vicepresident and will focus on tenantrepresentation and negotiatingoffice leasing transactions.

For the past six years, Armstrongserved as vice president of officeleasing for Cushman & Wakefieldin Toronto. Armstrong brings 33years of commercial real estate expe-rience to Avison Young. During hisyears in the industry, which includ-ed working at Jones Lang LaSalleand CBRE, Armstrong has complet-ed numerous large lease transactions

on behalf of his clients throughoutOntario and across Canada, thecompany says.

■ ■ ■

Teresa Spataro joinsRKF’s Toronto office assenior vice president

Industry veteran Teresa Spatarohas joined RKF, an independent realestate firm specializing in retail leas-ing, investment sales and consultingservices, as a senior vice president inthe firm’s Toronto office.

Spataro, who will focus primari-ly on landlord representation assign-ments in the Greater Toronto areaand Canada, brings more than 35years of experience in the shoppingcentre industry, including regional,community and power centres, aswell as leasing outlet shopping cen-tres.

Prior to joining RKF, Spataroworked with several leading devel-opers on projects throughout thecountry. Most recently, she was vicepresident, development leasing withIvanhoe Cambridge, where she wasthe key player in developing thelargest open-air outlet centre inCanada. In the process of deliveringsuccessful openings of OutletCollection at Niagara, CrossIronMills and Vaughan Mills, she suc-cessfully negotiated the tenancies offirst to market and establishedanchor tenants alike, the companysays. REM

T during the election, stating that‘they had no plans to extend thesepowers to municipalities’. Onbehalf of home buyers, we wantthem to remain good on this elec-tion promise and that meansOntarians need to send a strongmessage that the governmentmust rethink its plan to double theland transfer tax burden on homebuyers.”

Leeds-Grenville MPP SteveClark has introduced a motionthat will come to a vote on Dec. 3.It says, “In the opinion of thisHouse, the Government ofOntario should not impose or helpmunicipalities facilitate the impo-sition of any new municipal landtransfer taxes (MLTT).”

The motion is to be debatedand voted upon during PrivateMember’s Business, where MPPs

are permitted to speak and votefree of party influences. Thismeans that the vote will be a truereflection of an individual MPPs’leaning, not that of their party, saysOREA.

“MPPs have a chance to repre-sent the will and interests of theirconstituents and oppose this unfairtax,” says Verge. “We’re calling onOntarians to let their MPPs knowhome buyers are stretched andalready pay enough tax by going towww.DontTaxMyDream.ca.”

The City of Toronto has hadan MLTT in place since 2008.OREA says that has resulted in“significant negative impacts onjobs and the economy. Over fiveyears, it is estimated that 38,227housing transactions did notoccur in Toronto because of theMLTT.

OREA fights doubling of land transfer tax

OREA has launched a website tospread the word about the pro-posed new tax.

Industrial,Commercial& Investment

Industrial,Commercial& Investment

S Derek Lobo

Bruce Armstrong

Teresa Spataro

©2015 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. This advertisement is not an offering of a franchise, and where required by law, an offering can only be made 14 days after delivery of the applicable franchise disclosure document.

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10 REM DECEMBER 2015

uto-correct is not alwaysour friend, colleagues, asdemonstrated in this new

listing: “This spacious property wasformally a bakery.” Although thereis something rather charming abouta “formal” bakery, don’t you think?I have visions of tuxedos and cup-cakes.

Or this one from Linda Porrit ofCentury 21 Infinite Realty inOshawa: “Live in the quaint villageof Port Hope with its shops andcages!” I have to say that soundslike something out of an episode ofThe Walking Dead. Yikes.

There are times when the sales-person is searching for just the rightword and comes up with somethingclose but not quite what they

intended. As in this listing submit-ted by Barbara Jacobsen of Re/MaxAll-Stars Brokerage in Keswick,Ont., which pitches a house with a“coiffeured” ceiling. I suppose it has“well-manicured” grounds too. Ba-da-boom.

Similarly, this new Ottawa list-ing touts a large dining room “withroom for buffet hutch, amour, orshowcase your wine collection.”Now an armoire would be nice, buta room big enough for love? I justhope it holds a big dining roomtable.

This recent listing made melaugh out loud: “Patio fun includ-ed!” What a great selling point!Wouldn’t you love to know thatyour outdoor parties would alwaysbe a success?

In this unintentional gem, the“Lovely breakfast room just off thekitchen enjoys the views.” Good toknow the kitchen is having a goodtime even when the owners aren’thome.

Real estate agents are creativefolks, often trying to pack as much

information as possible into a limit-ed space. Stephen Frazee, a brokerwith Re/Max Ultimate Realty inToronto, recently came across anew listing that had this compactword to describe a rental:“Furnitured.” That gives me lots ofideas for listings of my own: “Thiskitchen is not only ceramic-tiled,it’s totally sinked!”

Speaking of kitchens, thosedarn typos get us all the time: “Forthe chef in the family the upgradedkitchen has ample cabinetryaccepted with stainless steel hard-ware.” Nice. I’d hate to see akitchen that disagreed with theowner’s finishes.

I love a unit that’s big enough towander through, don’t you? Thisrecent Ottawa listing gives a wholenew meaning to a walk-in closet.“A sizable cupboard within the unitin addition to this room & lockeron the lower level provides amblestorage space.”

I’m sure NASA would enjoythis listing: “Delightful settingbacking onto open space park set-

ting.” Or this one with its “con-temporary floating open concept.”For some reason, I have visions ofMatt Damon or George Clooney inspace suits. Which isn’t a bad men-tal image. Now if I could just getone of them to float into that din-ing room....

Speaking of people floatingaround, I ran across this rather spir-ited listing with photographs thatwere captioned “The Master Suitefrom one angel” and “Auxiliarybedroom from another angel.”Lucky agent to have that kind ofhigh level help; some of us have touse photographers.

But in this listing, it was the waythat ownership was described thatmade me laugh: “Approx. owner ispaying for the new windows specialassessment.”

Now I’ve never heard of an“approximate” owner before, buthey, at least they’re paying. Unlikethe washer and dryer that weresquatting in this Carleton Place list-ing: “Main bath is occupied bylaundry facilities.” Now those could

be hard to move.Constance McCrae of Royal

LePage Team Realty in Ottawafound two listings that struck herfunny bone. She came across thisintriguing enticement in anotherlisting: “Move in, sit down and raiseyour family.”

Then she stumbled across thisone for a property in Carp, Ont.,which referred to the address asbeing on “Old Crap Road” in theneighbourhood of “Crap.” It alsoindicated, however, that there was“no sewer connected,” which mightexplain the problem. Ouch.

Peggy Blair is a sales representativewith Royal LePage Team Realty inOttawa. A former lawyer, she is theaward-winning author of the InspectorRamirez series published by PenguinCanada and Simon and SchusterCanada as well as internationally. Hermost recent book, Hungry Ghosts, isnow in bookstores. If you come acrossany real estate bloopers that tickle yourfunny bone, be sure to send them to herat [email protected]. REM

Risks of disclosure statements

By Matt Maurer

means of a routine inspection(known as a “patent defect”) andalso “latent defects” (those not dis-coverable by routine inspection,which are unknown to the vendor).

Notwithstanding the purchas-er’s obligation to do their own duediligence, the rule of buyer bewaregoes out the window once the ven-dor has made a misrepresentation.

A SPIS is a standard form doc-ument that was drafted by theOntario Real Estate Association. Itwill contain information relatingto defects, renovations and otherpertinent property informationbased on the seller’s knowledgeand experience.

A vendor is not obligated tocomplete a SPIS and if the vendorelects to do so they open them-selves up to significant legal risks.

The law in Ontario is that oncea vendor completes a SPIS it cre-ates the relationship necessary inlaw to hold a vendor legallyresponsible if the information con-tained in the SPIS is wrong or mis-leading. Although the buyer has aduty to investigate, the buyer is not

required to challenge the honestyof the vendor and is entitled to relyon the representations made by thevendor as though they were true.

A recent decision (Ménard. vParsons, 2015 ONSC 4123[CanLII]) illustrates how the courtsare willing to expand the vendor’sobligation to make full and fair dis-closure once they have elected tocomplete a SPIS.

In Ménard, the property inquestion was a beautiful home thathad been constructed by the ven-dor on two large manicured lots.The only catch is that the homewas built on top of a discontinuedlandfill site, a fact well known tothe vendor.

The vendor completed a SPIS.The two pertinent questions andanswers for the purpose of the liti-gation were as follows:

1. “Are you aware of possibleenvironmental problems or soilcontamination of any kind on theproperty or in the immediate area?E.g.: radon gas, toxic waste, under-ground gasoline or fuel tanks etc.”

Answer: “Unknown”

2. Are there any existing orproposed waste dumps, disposalsites or landfills in the immediatearea?

Answer: “Yes”Of particular interest for this

article is how the court treated theanswer to question number two.

Around the time of the trans-action there was a “notorious bat-tle” in town and the surroundingarea concerning the prospect of achemical disposal site being con-structed. This battle was constant-ly in the local news. The pur-chasers testified at trial that theybelieved the answer to questiontwo to be in reference to the pro-posed chemical disposal site. Thecourt held at trial that answering“yes” without any further explana-tion in the circumstances of thistransaction was misleading to thepoint that it constituted a legalmisrepresentation.

The purchasers discovered theexistence of the discontinued land-fill prior to the closing of the trans-action and refused to close. Thevendor ultimately sold the proper-

ty to another purchaser for$100,000 less and sued the initialpurchasers for the loss. The courtdismissed the plaintiff’s claim andawarded the initial purchasers theirout of pocket expenses in respect ofthe aborted transaction for a num-ber of reasons, including the mis-representation that was held tohave been made in respect of ques-tion number two.

The Ménard decision and thecourt’s treatment of the answer toquestion number two is demon-strative of the risks that vendorsexpose themselves to by complet-ing a SPIS.

Matt Maurer is an accomplishedtrial and appellate lawyer with nearlya decade of experience advocating onbehalf of his clients. He is a regularcontributor to print and online mediapublications on issues pertaining toreal estate disputes and issues affectingthe practice of law and access to justice. He is with Minden GrossLLP in Toronto. www.minden-gross.com/our-people/details/matt-maurer REM

By Peggy Blair

Spell check isn’t always your friend

A

he Ontario Superior Courthas once again under-scored how completing a

seller property information state-ment (SPIS) can be a risky movefor vendors.

When it comes to the purchaseand sale of real estate the startingpoint for any analysis is “buyerbeware”. For those looking toimpress at cocktail parties, the spe-cific expression is “caveat emptor,quit ignorare non debuit quod jusalienum emit,” which translatesinto “let the purchaser, who is notto be ignorant of the amount andnature of the interest, exerciseproper caution.”

This general rule of buyerbeware applies to defects that a pur-chaser could have discovered by

T


By Lorne Collis

he role of a mortgage bro-ker is to provide theirclient with the best possi-

ble mortgage for which they quali-fy. That doesn’t always translateinto the lowest rate.

But GDS, TDS, LTV and all ofthe other industry acronyms aside,what is the best mortgage for yourclient? And what do you need todo to arrange it for them?

The first question a client (orreal estate agent) will ask is, “Whatis your rate?” Anyone who pro-vides a number without askingsome questions first is doing a dis-service to their potential clients.But the rate is the rate is the rate.Or is it?

Financial institutions advertisea posted rate. Who pays the postedrate? Anyone who doesn’t ask ifthe institution can do better (moreon this later). There are a numberof websites that advertise mortgage

Mortgage broker: Serviceprovider or product peddler?rates well below “posted rates”.Many of these discounted rates areavailable to most mortgage brokers(and the public). Some rates areeven lower. How do you get thoserates? In many instances, the bro-ker is buying down the rate withhis commission. A good deal forthe client? Maybe.

If you are shopping on ratealone, you may discover surpriseslater on. It’s like buying a car. Thecar is advertised at $10,000. Areyou planning to drive it? You willneed an engine and some wheels.Suddenly, that car costs $20,000.

Let’s say mortgages are adver-tised at 1.9 per cent. Do you planon moving in the next five years? Ifso, this may not be the right prod-uct for you. The penalties to breaka contract mid-term could beexcessive.

In Ontario, the FinancialServices Commission requires thatmortgage brokers take steps toensure the mortgage arranged is“suitable” for their client. (Similarlegislation is in place acrossCanada.) What is the differencebetween “qualified” and “suitable”?

The lender says, “You can have it.”The borrower says, “I’ll take it.” Sowho are we to tell them it is notsuitable?

Knowing the differencesbetween lender products, as well ashaving a sound understanding ofthe clients’ circumstances, couldprevent a lot a grief and expense inthe future. It’s not just the penaltiesfor breaking a contract that weneed to be concerned with.

There are certain qualifyingratios that the industry uses whenapproving mortgages. Just becausesomeone qualifies for a mortgage,doesn’t mean they are comfortablecarrying that much of a debt load.What if their circumstances wereto change? (Loss of job, loss ofincome due to maternity leave,higher interest rates.) A prudentmortgage broker will initiate thesediscussions before asking theirclients to commit to taking onadditional debt.

Posted rates play a huge part incalculating pre-payment penalties.Most people are under the impres-sion a mortgage is open on a three-month interest penalty. A mort-

gage is a contract. You agree to payinterest at a set rate, for a set term.If the mortgage does not specifical-ly address early payout, you couldbe required to pay interest untilmaturity. Most mortgages require apayment of the GREATER of threemonth’s interest or the interest ratedifferential (IRD) for the remain-der of the term. How does one cal-culate the IRD? There are no rules.The lender can use any calculationthey choose. This is where postedrate MAY affect your client. If theyhave a discounted mortgage, thelender may look to re-coup the dis-count as part of their calculation. Itis not as simple as difference in ratesover the remaining term. A pru-dent mortgage broker will explainthese nuances as part of the inter-view process.

The mortgage industry ischanging. Technology is changingthe way business is done. Lendersare tripping over themselves togive discounts in the hopes ofattracting new clients (only toreward loyalty by offering the post-ed rate on renewal to those sameclients who religiously made pay-

ments for the past 60 months).Brokers are discounting the rateseven more, using rate-comparisonwebsites. Information for con-sumers is everywhere (and it mustbe true, because it is on theInternet). Lenders are promisingcommitments within four hours ofapplying (though not necessarilyconsecutive hours). And in all thisrush to save money quickly, theworld around us is becoming morecomplex.

Your client is about to makeone of the biggest financial deci-sions of their life. What’s the rush?Slow down. Get all the informa-tion you need from a trained pro-fessional. They have a fiduciaryresponsibility to help your clientmake the right decision. Don’t beblinded by the rate. A mortgage ismore than a number.

Lorne Collis is a retired consultantto the mortgage broker industry. Overhis 45-year career, Lorne worked as amortgage broker, mortgage lender,association executive, event manager,author and educator. [email protected] REM

T

s a real estate professional,you know clients areresearching agents online

and they’re probably not findingyou. You’ve known for a while thatyour website is in need of decentcontent, but blogging is driving younuts.

It seems like there’s not enoughtime to sit and write. Even if youhad time, you don’t have the foggi-est clue what to say.

I have good news. It doesn’thave to be this way.

Let’s take all the doubt and frus-

tration and complication out of thisthing and get straight to the bottomline. People don’t just read thingsthey’re interested in – they scourthe Internet for them every singleday. Are you there, helping themwith their problems? If you are,they’ll find you.

But before you put fingers tokeyboard, you need to know some-thing.

The biggest secret I havelearned – and the one most businesspeople miss – is that the post youare about to write is not about you.It’s about your reader. What doTHEY Google? What are THEYafraid of that they would love tohave some control over? What doTHEY think is funny? What doTHEY want to know how to do?

Talk to them about it. Solve theirproblem, give them that win, andyou’ll win too.

With that secret securely underyour belt, writing an awesome realestate related blog post becomesmuch easier. To start, consider yourideal reader – who are they? Whatdo they need? How can you be theanswer to their most pressing prob-lem or question?

Then think of who you are, andhow you want to communicate. Ifyou’re the crass, tell-it-like-it-is typewho kind of enjoys stepping onpeople’s toes, you might want to gofor the brash shocking headlinesand controversial topics. If you’rethe soft-hearted counsellor at heart,you might want to address emotionsand stresses involved with

buyer/seller experiences, or addressreaders’ fears.

With your brand new readers-first mindset, and the awareness ofwho you are, give this exercise a go.Chances are you’ll end up with anawesome post people are dying toread.

What is the longest/funniest/weirdest deal you ever did?

Remember, you’re answeringthis question in a way that offers thereader value. Your reader may wanthighly researched facts, or preferamusement. They may crave inspi-rational stories that make them cryor laugh. You’ll find out what kindof audience you have as you watchthem respond to your articles.

This is probably the easiest kindof post to write, because it’s straight-

up storytelling. Just by being a weirdor funny story, amusement is builtin. (And who doesn’t enjoy amuse-ment?) Yet the subtle message thereader receives is that you are expe-rienced, can weather weird or awk-ward circumstances well, are inter-esting, and are honest and transpar-ent enough to share it, but respect-ful enough of your clients to pre-serve their privacy and dignity.

You’re just that awesome. Andthey got all that from a story!

Blogging is the new marketingleverage your business needs to bean ever present help in your poten-tial clients’ troubles. They’reonline, looking for solutions, seek-ing professionals to help them. Areyou there?

Kim Rempel, investor, writer, andentrepreneur, helps real estate profes-sionals and business owners createcontent that gets attention. She says,“Leverage what you know to help yourbusiness grow. That’s the power of content.” www.KimberlyDawnRempel.com REM

By Kim Rempel

Write a blog that people are dying to read

A

awyers for theCommissioner ofCompetition and the

Toronto Real Estate Board(TREB) presented an overview oftheir final submissions to theCompetition Tribunal in Ottawarecently.

Both sides had handed in theircomplete written final submissionpackages to the three-memberpanel days earlier.

Counsel John Rook reinforcedthe Competition Bureau’s posi-tion, stating it believes TREB hassubstantial or complete control ofreal estate brokerage services inthe GTA; that TREB has exer-cised that control in a mannerthat has had the effect of creatingor maintaining its market power tothe benefit of its members; andthat this has substantially lessenedcompetition in the real estate mar-ketplace.

He spent the morning chal-lenging TREB’s assertion that itdoes not have market power andcannot influence competition inthe market.

“In my submission, there is noforce to (TREB’s) arguments,” saidRook, adding later that “TREBhas the power to dictate the man-ner in which Realtors carry onbusiness in the market and it’s


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TREB, Competition Bureau present final submissions

beyond the balance of probability.I see no issue whether the boardhas market power and is exercisingthat market power.”

Rook also argued that TREB’sactions could be considered over-whelmingly disciplinary, predatoryor exclusionary, in part, becauseTREB is protecting its membersfrom allowing full information vir-tual office websites (VOWs).

He also dismissed TREB’s pri-vacy concerns, citing that theinformation under dispute is publi-cally available through Ontario’sland registry system; that the infor-mation is available from real estatebrokers; and that there are robustconsents in place from both prop-erty buyers and sellers.

TREB fell upon the privacyargument, suggested Rook, “toprovide a smoke screen to avoiddealing with issues” like the dis-puted data and full informationVOWs, even though it’s informa-tion consumers want to have andsome Realtors want to make avail-able. He pointed to ViewpointRealty in Nova Scotia, which overthe last five years has grown tobecome Nova Scotia’s largest realestate database. Viewpoint CEOand founder Bill McMullin attrib-utes his success, in part, to makingall information available to the

public.Viewpoint Realty’s website

reinforces this position, stating toconsumers, “We’re actuallylicensed as a brokerage in a num-ber of other provinces but unfortu-nately we’re yet not able to offerViewpoint in these provincesbecause real estate boards andother data suppliers want torestrict you from having conve-nient access to property and listingdata. It seems they want to forceyou to call a real estate agent.”

TREB counsel Don Affleckcountered by saying that privatelife as previous generations knew itis now just a matter of “private forhow long?” He said the CanadianCharter of Rights and Freedomsgrants reasonable expectation ofprivacy and that western legal sys-tems recognize this expectation.

“Do we control technology ordoes it control us?” asked Affleck.

Affleck challenged theCompetition Bureau’s positionthat TREB’s VOW policy wasanti-competitive, suggesting thatthe evidence is “clear and abun-dant” that the policy is neitherexclusionary nor disciplinary tomembers or entrants who want tooffer a VOW. He said there was noevidence presented to the panelthat presented the competitive

impact of full informationalVOWs, either in Canada or theU.S.

“If (full informational VOWs)were considered a disruptive tech-nology that would have a compet-itive impact on the market, surelythere would be data from eitherthe U.S. or Halifax, but no empir-ical data was presented at this tri-bunal,” Affleck said.

Affleck also spent time tack-ling the privacy concern by pre-senting a historical chronology ofprivacy policy development andrelevant case precedent, endingwith a 2012 quote from U.S.President Barack Obama: “Onething should be clear, even thoughwe live in a world in which weshare personal information morefreely than in the past, we mustreject the conclusion that privacyis an outmoded value. It has beenat the heart of our democracy fromits inception, and we need it nowmore than ever.”

TREB counsel DavidVaillancourt spent some timeaddressing the economics of mar-ket power and the lessening ofcompetition, repeating to the tri-bunal that the evidence showsTREB does not have any marketpower, nor does TREB exerciseinfluence against its members or

prevent any barriers to entry in thereal estate market.

“Any barriers are set by theregulators, not TREB, and a gover-nance structure is in place,” saidVaillancourt.

He also noted that the term“market power” has a specifictechnical meaning, explainingthat the “guidelines say you can-not have market power wherefirms are competing vigorouslywith each other, and that is whatthe evidence has shown.”

Addressing copyright,Vaillancourt stated it was TREB’sposition that it owns the copyrightto the MLS database, adding that“it is worth stressing it is an incred-ibly low bar to get copyright pro-tection.”

CREA counsel Sandra Forbesalso challenged the CompetitionBureau’s position that NorthAmerican brokerages always pro-vide historical MLS data wheneverthey are permitted to do so, as wellthe belief that when the data isoffered by a full information VOW,it is the most accessed information.She stated that there was no evi-dence presented to the tribunal toshow how valuable sold informa-tion was to a consumer in relation

Continued on page 16

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Get connected. Join Canada’s real estate company.royallepage.ca/joinus

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This is not intended as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, including a solicitation of any sales representatives or broker that is currently under contract. All offices are independently owned and operated, except those marked as “Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage”, “Royal LePage West Real Estate Services” and “Royal LePage Sussex”. Any copying, reproduction, distribution or other use of these materials is prohibited. ©2015 Brookfield Real Estate Services Manager Limited. All rights reserved.

IS WHAT WE DOConnecting you


When your company aligns with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®, you have access to world-class conferences and networking events – where you can connect and learn with the best real estate professionals in global destinations like Las Vegas, Shanghai, Dubrovnik, Berlin, and Miami.

These events are part of a full suite of business-enhancing programs we offer top independent firms from Canada and around the world – supporting local success with unparalleled global connections.

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to other listing information.She also challenged the signif-

icance of Viewpoint offering solddata on its VOW to explain thecompany’s success. She said notonly was no evidence presented tothe tribunal to suggest it played apart, but that Viewpoint’s growthand success might instead bebecause of the quality of its agents,effective management or its web-site’s innovative features.

“It’s a big leap to say that(Viewpoint) has five per cent of allcurrent listings throughout NovaScotia because of (sold data) ontheir website,” said Forbes. “Thereisn’t any evidence to supportthat.”

In addressing the popularityof Viewpoint Realty’s website incomparison to realtor.ca, Forbesrepeated that there was no evi-dence presented to suggest it wasbecause Viewpoint offered solddata, saying “it could be becauseViewpoint is viewed as an

expert in Nova Scotia.”Addressing privacy issues,

Forbes said the panel had evidencethat many consumers don’t wanttheir transactions advertised onthe web or otherwise, and that, atthe very least, it was debatablewhether the current consentclauses were adequate to displaythe disputed information on theInternet in accordance with priva-cy legislation.

“CREA has a valid interest inmaking sure it is not associatedwith a violation of privacy lawsand regulations,” said Forbes.“There is a difference between dis-puted fields being available foreveryone, who may have no inter-est in buying or selling (realestate), or for brokers who can usethe information and disseminate ittheir own discretion.”

At the end of the hearing,Chief Justice Paul Crampton gaveTREB and the CompetitionBureau until Dec. 2 to come to anagreement on hearing costs beforethe tribunal renders its decision.

REM

TREB, CompetitionContinued from page 14

Industry revenuewas $10.4 billionin 2013Real estate appraisers reported totaloperating revenue of $759.6 million

tatistics Canada recently released a report that says totaloperating revenue for the real estate agents and brokersindustry group was $10.4 billion in 2013. Total operating

expenses were $7.7 billion, yielding an operating profit margin of25.7 per cent.

It says Ontario has the largest real estate market in Canada,accounting for 51.6 per cent of total operating revenue earned byreal estate agents and brokers, followed by British Columbia at14.6 per cent, Quebec at 14.1 per cent and Alberta at 12.4 percent.

Subcontract expenses, which included the commissionexpenses paid to other brokers, accounted for 30.5 per cent ofoperating expenses. Salaries, wages, commissions and benefitsaccounted for 15.7 per cent.

Real estate appraisers reported total operating revenue of$759.6 million in 2013. Total operating expenses were $659.7million resulting in an operating profit margin of 13.2 per cent,says the agency. REM

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REALTOR.ca/mobile

D E S K T O P T A B L E T A N D R O I D i P H O N E A P P L E W A T C H

Trademarks are owned or controlled by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify real estate professionals who are members of CREA (REALTOR®) and/or the quality of services they provide (MLS®).

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Making you look great everywhere.

REALTOR.ca/mobile

D E S K T O P T A B L E T A N D R O I D i P H O N E A P P L E W A T C H

Trademarks are owned or controlled by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify real estate professionals who are members of CREA (REALTOR®) and/or the quality of services they provide (MLS®).

From desktop to Apple Watch, REALTOR.ca is your indispensable marketing partner.

istCentral, a subsidiary ofLone Wolf Real EstateTechnologies, has formed

a partnership with ProspectsSoftware that gives real estate pro-fessionals in the Barrie, Southern

Georgian Bay, The Lakelands andOwen Sound Grey Bruce realestate boards connectivity on theirmobile devices.

The joint venture providesmembers of the four real estateboards with the ability to searchacross a regional area. The dealalso means enhanced search capa-bilities across different boards withthe Prospects Mobile Application.

The partnership “expands ourunique search integration optionsand illustrates our capabilities,working with partners to provideenhanced services to real estateboards across Canada,” says JoelShears, executive vice president,

MLS/associations for Lone Wolf. Prospects Mobile, a popular

mobile app, is now available tomore than 40,000 members of realestate boards in Canada and80,000 agents in the U.S.

“Merging the data of four dif-ferent real estate boards was a realchallenge for our team, but wasdefinitely worth the effort as it is afantastic feature for members,” saysCharles Drouin, president andCEO of Prospects Software.

Positioned to expand Canada-wide, ListCentral says it is workingto support regionalization initia-tives with as little impact to boardsas possible. REM


The Coldwell Banker ® network is®

pleased to welcome the established Grande Prairie, Alberta brokerageformerly known as NetHomes Realtyto our Canadian system. Our newaffiliate will operate as Coldwell Banker Excellence Realtyunder the leadership of owners Curtis and Chelsey Burbee.The full-service company and its experienced salesrepresentatives join our global network of over 3,000 realestate offices and 86,000 affiliated agents worldwide.

“After carefully considering all the options available to us, wechose the Coldwell Banker system because it offers the highlevel of service and depth of resources to help us grow withinour market. We look forward to offering a level of customerservice that we believe has never been seen before in GrandePrairie.” - Curtis Burbee, Broker of Record

Curtis & Chelsey Burbee, Broker/OwnersColdwell Banker Excellence RealtyGrande Prairie, AB1.780.933-1356

For a confidential conversation about franchise opportunities with the Coldwell Banker® system in Canada, call: Mark Lindsey, Regional Vice President, Franchise Sales, or Andy Puthon, President, Coldwell Banker Canada 1.800.268.9599

© 2015 Coldwell Banker LLC. All Rights Reserved. Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker LLC. Each sales representative and broker is responsible for complying with any consumer disclosure laws or regulations. Any use of the term “sales associate” or “agent” shall be replaced with the term “sales representative” in Canada.www.coldwellbanker.ca

Join us in welcoming Owners Curtis and Chelsey Burbee and the experienced professionals of Coldwell Banker Excellence Realty.

A WELCOME ADDITION TO OUR CANADIAN NETWORK

By Deep Singh

Take the fearout of buyeragreementsget out of it, then you need to stopdoing that and promise never to doit again.

Think about it from yourclient’s perspective. If you were thebuyer, how would you feel aboutsigning something that doesn’thelp you in any obvious way butdoes guarantee the sales rep getspaid? You wouldn’t sign one, andnor would I.

Instead, focus on how thebuyer agreement helps them.

Usually self-help articles stophere, but I’m going to go further indetailing exactly what you need tosay. Tell them a buyer agreement:

• locks me into helping toanswer all of your questions, andfast!

• means no more scouring theInternet for answers or for reliablephone numbers of random agents.

• ties me into prioritizing youabove my other commitments.

• gives you the flexibility tohire and fire if required.

Tell your clients that if they arenot happy with the service they aregetting, they can cancel the agree-ment on the spot and find some-

one else. They are finally incharge.

Tell them there is nothingmore annoying than having towait hours for an answer to a press-ing question about a home inspec-tion, from your licensed brother-in-law you promised your sisteryou’d use for your real estate trans-action.

There are plenty more reasonsthat a buyer should demand abuyer agreement from you. I brain-storm them on my coaching ses-sions all of the time.

Follow my advice and take thefear out of the buyer agreement.Your buyers will actually demandto sign one!

Deep Singh is a real estate businesscoach and start-up consultant. Deepbuilt the marketing campaign that leadto Zolo.ca being one of the most traf-ficked listings sites in Canada. Deepcurrently coaches real estate agents ingenerating sustainable businesses forthemselves. www.deepsingh.org;email [email protected]; Linked-inwww.linkedin.com/in/deepsingh1

REM

common question in myreal estate sales rep coach-ing sessions goes as fol-

lows:“When should I introduce a

buyer agreement with my client? Idon’t want to scare them away, butI do want a commitment fromthem.”

It’s a fair question, and one thathas plagued many real estate pro-fessionals out on an initial showingwith a new customer. There theyare after a property viewing, staringat their prospect, hoping they’llappreciate this piece of paper thatshouts, “I’m a contract and I’mgoing to lock you in!”

No wonder they’re scared.They’re scared because we talk

about the buyer agreement as aform of commitment. A contractthat ties them to us. It’s a hard sell,and the reason is because we talkabout what we get out of it, andshare nothing of value to thebuyer.

If you’re talking about buyeragreements in terms of what you

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New

Joint venture connects boards

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Canada’s Millionaire Real Estate Agent MakerCraig Proctor is on a mission to create 1,000 new Millionaire Agents in the next 36 months.

By Dione Irwin & Paul Seib

One of the Top Pro-ducers in our office read-ily told us his success had come about because of Craig Proctor’s Millionaire Real Estate Agent System. We were intrigued and de-cided to explore the pro-gram.

The first SuperCon-ference we attended wasalmost 5 years ago and atthat time I had just becomea Realtor and Dione didn’teven have her license yet.We remember sitting at the

Conference saying, ‘We cando this!!’

We wanted to do wellright from the beginning so we embraced what Craig taught us. Frankly, every-thing changed once we did.2011 was our first full yearin real estate and we com-pleted 65 transactions. Thenext year, 2012, we almosttripled that. 2013 was a big year for us. We got marriedin January, built and moved into a new house, took twice as many vacations asthe year before and in Janu-ary 2014 we had our firstbaby.

Craig showed us how to market ourselves so con-sumers understood how we were different and bet-ter than other Realtors wecompeted against. He alsoshowed us his recruitment and referral programs and,most importantly, how

to implement an incred-ibly predictable Lead Gen-eration System stretched across 5 distinct mediums. We have so much to be thankful for.

We’ve gone from $250k GCI all the way up to $650k GCI after we expanded ourteam, and our GCI last yearwas $1.87 Million. This has created freedom for our family. We’re able to give to other people, put more money into marketing, take better care of our clients and become a really strong force in our city.

In our wildest dreams, we never thought we couldbe where we are in our real estate careers and in our lives. If you’re havingany doubt about the CraigProctor Program, you need to push that aside and you need to just do it becauseyou’re going to reap the benefits and you’re going tohelp people around you as well.

n n n

Hi, Craig Proctor here. What if I told you that you could EASILY increase your income from real es-tate the way Paul and Dione

have if you will take only THREE simple actions.

I was the top agent inCanada for over a decade, and the number one Re/Max agent in the world several times, and top 10 for more than 20 years. Noone can even come closeto matching my track re-cord. This invitation is only for you if you place a high value on successful expe-rience. On methods that are working now but have also proven themselves inevery kind of market over time and can be countedon. I know from that ex-perience that this marketis good enough, just about everywhere, to reward an agent with a solid 6-7 figureincome and, yes, thousands of my students are eas-ily earning $1 Million + inGCI and there’s no reasonyou can’t do the same.

Of course, a lot of people would rather havea good excuse than a goodplan, but I’ll tell you: thereis no legitimate excuse for not having all the good prospects and clients com-ing to you right now, for you to earn the big num-bers my successful students are earning and still work

sane hours, have a real person-al or family life, and be able to “enforce” your time off with your cell-phone off without the desperate fear of loss that comes with poor positioning and unpredictable income.

Listen, aren’t you SICK AND TIRED of the worry and anxiety of income un-certainty? Of defending your career to spouse or family or relatives at holidays – and toyourself? Of believing others are making more, easier, andwondering what’s wrong withyou? Of being stuck at a levelyou can’t rise above? Of feast‘n celebration, then months of famine? Maybe worse: being “successful” but still feelinganxious about it, trapped by it, working much harder for it than you should have to? I literally re-invented real es-tate once, and made myself amulti-millionaire agent by do-ing so. Now I’m doing it again,and the new video presentation I’ve posted for you at:BecomeAMillionaireAgent.com tells you my “back story” but more importantly, tells youhow I’m reinventing the realestate business…..basically putting my very proven sys-tem on steroids, and tells youhow you can be a part of it.

Watch for yourself now at:BecomeAMillionaireAgent.com

Paul Seib and Dione Irwin from Airdrie, AB (www.DioneIrwin.com) started from nothing 5 years agoww

and last year earned GCI of $1.87 Million after implementing Proctor’s Millionaire Real Estate Agent System

Craig Proctor became Canada’s youngest millionaire agent in his 20’s. Since then, he hascreated more Millionaire Agents than any other agent or trainer. Period.

“In our wildest dreams, we never thought we could be

where we are in our Real Estate careers and in our lives.”

When we first startedin Real Estate al-most 5 years ago, we

were of the distinct impressionthat the phone would just startringing because friends andfamily knew we were in the business and the word would travel. We quickly learned thiswas NOT the case.

Inside Right At Home’s new office branding Right At Home co-founder Howard Drukarsh says the company’s new retail-oriented offices buck the trend of encouraging agents to work from their homes. By Susan Doran


Canada’s largest independent real estate brokerage, Right

At Home Realty, is about to open its new flagship office next door to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). And that’s definitely not a coincidence.

When it’s pointed out to Howard Drukarsh, Right At Home’s co-founder/president/broker of record, that being TREB’s immediate neighbour in Toronto’s Don Mills neighbourhood is bound to be helpful in the recruitment of sales reps, his tongue-in-cheek reply is, “Oh really? I never thought of that.”

The truth of course is that, as with most of its endeavours, Right At Home has definitely thought things through.

“Our new flagship Toronto office is literally eight feet from TREB. It’s a competitive business and we were smart enough to get that location,” says Drukarsh. “Why not be next door to TREB, where everyone who’s a member has to go to take orientation?”

It’s a savvy move and there’s no mistaking the “in-your-face” factor. Drukarsh, a TREB director himself, is well aware that his company’s new office can’t possibly be missed by

TREB members.

Right At Home can be excused for flaunting its own success. The company’s business model (which rather than commission splitting involves agents paying only low transaction and monthly fees) initially led many to dismiss Right At Home as merely a discount brokerage. Now, with the company’s success and multiple offices, people tend to mistakenly think that Right At Home is an American franchise, Drukarsh says.

He and the rest of the management team are keen for the company to be recognized for what it is, and are taking steps to be sure that happens.

“We are wholly Canadian owned and operated,” Drukarsh says. “Since 2013 we’ve been TREB’s No. 1 brokerage for combined units sold....We’re the largest independent in Canada – I’d like to see anyone prove otherwise....We are extremely well financed and run as a corporation, with a board of five experienced successful business people… At 3,000 agents, there are no other independents our size, and other independents are not multi-office corporations like we are. So there is no

competition in our space. There is lots of opportunity left for us.”

The firm’s new 2,400-square-foot flagship office, scheduled to open by the end of this year, is part of a major re-branding drive currently underway at the company. A similar and equally stunning design treatment is planned for Right At Home’s five other offices, located throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

“We are adding more value to our proposition,” Drukarsh says, adding that each of the office redesigns will cost “many hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The company plans to expand into new offices and areas as well.

Leading-edge office design is a pivotal component of the branding effort and will include big bright glass spaces; huge video walls; iPads mounted around the reception area; and impressive work areas and client and training rooms.

“When we started out in 2004 we had a limited budget and our offices reflected that,” says Drukarsh. “Now we are a retail-like brand with offices on busy streets or in busy malls. There’s a sense of difference in this – in not looking or feeling

like a real estate office.”

Many of the re-designed, strategically located storefront-type spaces planned are relatively vast – 3,000 square feet for the Burlington office, and 4,000 square feet for the Mississauga office.

“That’s like a small Loblaws in size,” says Drukarsh.

“We want new. We want awareness,” he says “We think we are designing the future of the real estate office.”

In today’s world, technology is a big part of that future.

“In addition to the systems we place in our offices, we’ve invested in the most recent methods for agents to use the Internet and process transactions. And we have our own, very active call centre that allows us to control quality,” says Drukarsh.

“We’re investing heavily not just in technology but in our work space,” he continues, “going from office to retail space – and not just retail space, but very unique retail space and all the benefits that entails.”

One anticipated advantage is increased walk-in traffic. Rather than being invisible at the back of the office, agents’ work stations will be at the

front where they can be seen by passersby, with the hope that this stimulates interaction.

“We’ll have offices where people will actually want to come in and talk,” says Drukarsh. He’s referring to both consumers and sales reps, since with the dominance of the Internet, many agents don’t come into the office much anymore.

But Drukarsh says that when they do, at Right At Home they will hopefully find that the long “community tables” where they can work on their own or collaborate with other sales reps will promote a sense of belonging.

“We looked at how successful retail operations like Starbucks do it,” he says. That’s the kind of atmosphere Right At Home is aiming for in its offices.

Drukarsh is aware that in many ways, Right At Home is going against a growing trend to close/consolidate offices.

“We started out as a game changer with our business model and now we’re looking at technology as a game changer as well as our physical space,” he says. “We started out changing the way people do real estate and now continue to do so, and to do the things we do well.” REM

“We’re investing heavily not just in technology but in our work space,” says Howard Drukarsh. Long “community tables” allow agents to work on their own or collaborate with other sales reps.


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S TOP S ELLINGHOUSES & STARTMAKING MONEY

By Debbie Hanlon

n my last column we talkedabout habits – what they are,how we develop them and the

impact they have on our lives. Iexplained that a sales rep who Icoach was the impetus for me tolearn all I could about habits and Ishared those findings with you.The most important thing Ilearned was that a habit is made ofthree distinct parts: a cue, a routineand a reward.

How could I possibly put mynew-found knowledge to work tohelp the sales rep I was coachingchange the bad habits she haddeveloped over a fairly successful

Developing habits with rewards

I

career? Great question, glad youasked.

Let’s start with discussing theworst habit she had developed andthen we’ll look at ways she couldchange that habit. It’s important toremember from the get-go that thissales rep was doing pretty well, shewas active, had regular sales andattracted new clients. It’s evenmore important to remember thatno matter how well you’re doing,you can do better. Always keepthat in mind as a driving force inyour career so you don’t becomecomplacent and lose your edgeagainst the growing competition.That’s pretty much what my salesrep was experiencing.

After discussing this with her Irealized that the one habit wewould have to change to get hercareer to the next level was oneshe had developed following a sale.Like most salespeople in this ultra-competitive industry, she onlylooked as far as the sale she wasworking on. Once the deal closedand she had her cheque, she wouldsimply enjoy the fruits of her

labour and go in search of her nextdeal. She had done dozens of dealsand treated each one pretty muchas a process involving getting thelisting, working to sell it and thenclosing the deal.

So let’s look at that process asa habit. The cue is the need for anew listing, the routine is to sellit and the reward is the moneyshe made by doing so. So whichof these can we change so thatshe develops a healthier habitthat makes her even more suc-cessful?

The cue is pretty standard – weall need listings no matter howmany we have. Can’t really changethat. Same for the routine, wework very hard to sell inventory.Can’t really change that either. Sothat leaves us with the reward.How could we change the rewardfrom money to something else andwhat else could it possibly be?

Well, the reward is pretty muchalways money. We’re in this indus-try and we work very hard to makea living. Now, what if we could putanother reward in place that not

only saved us from the habit oftreating each deal as a separatething with a clearly defined begin-ning, middle and end, but alsomade us more money? A lot moremoney.

After I had explained to thesales rep that by making one sim-ple change she could open up thepossibility of a lot more success, alot more rewards, she agreed togive it a try. The new reward, Iexplained, would be growing herbusiness as opposed to simply get-ting a cheque and then lookingfor the next cheque. With thisnew habit the cheques wouldcome looking for her.

From now on, instead of think-ing of a closed deal as closed, thesale would become a step in alonger routine with a new reward.A whole new habit.

After a sale closed she wouldput the client’s contact info into aVIP folder in her database. Thoseclients would be sent birthdaycards, small Christmas gifts and alittle something on the anniversaryof the closing. The new reward

would be watching her databasegrow and the new business it wouldbring. When someone asked oneof her clients who their real estateagent was, she wouldn’t be just aname, she’d be that OMG agentwho still kept in touch and stillsent small gifts.

There’s no such thing as a pastclient, I told her, just clients whowill pass our names on to others.That kind of advertising is price-less. It’s also very economical. Youreally should get in the habit ofusing it.

Debbie Hanlon is a real estatebroker who has helped train hundredsof sales reps and brokered and man-aged a national real estate franchise.She also founded an independent realestate firm. Currently she coachessales reps all over the world. She isthe CEO of All Knight Inc, a globaleducational mobile company, as wellas a published children’s author andthe creator of the national I’m NoBully Show. https://www.face-book.com/missdebbieandfriends

REM

For a confidential conversation about franchise opportunities with the Coldwell Banker® system in Canada, call:

Mark Lindsey, VP, Franchise Sales, [email protected] (905) 315-3179 or

Andy Puthon, President, [email protected] (905) 315-3175

© 2015 Coldwell Banker LLC. All Rights Reserved. Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker LLC. Each sales representative and broker is responsible for complying with any consumer disclosure laws or regulations. Any use of the term “sales associate” or “agent” shall be replaced with the term “sales representative” in Canada.

www.coldwellbanker.ca

The Coldwell Banker network can help you build global relationships, offer award-winning educational opportunities and provide you with innovative technology and marketing.

• 109 year history • Offices in 43 countries/territories• National presence across Canada• Over 88,000 agents and brokers worldwide

“We made the decision to select the Coldwell Banker system because they offer considerable resources to help our agents succeed. From the moment I contacted them they were professional and committed to providing full support to us. My company’s conversion was seamless with 100% retention, which has now positioned us in attracting more great agents.”

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his summer, in the heatand humidity of ruralCambodia, sales rep Jim

Horner of Sutton Group - HeritageRealty in Oshawa, Ont. helpedbuild 13 homes for people in need,many of them poor farmers. Thesewere first homes for some.

Each sturdy structure was builton four stilts with sheets of corru-gated steel for the roof and wallsand lumber for the floors. As basicas these homes are by Canadianstandards, they provide vital shel-ter. Horner says he was especiallymoved to see an older Cambodianwoman arrive to move into hernew home.

“All that she had in the worldwas a pot, a kettle and a tarp. Shehad no change of clothes, no pil-low, no bed sheets, no nothing. Itwas devastating to see how so manyCambodians live compared to us.These are just poor, poor people.”

Tabitha Foundation Cambodiapurchases and delivers the building


TGood WorksGood Works

supplies and provides guidance forvolunteers who construct thehomes. In the past 14 years, 9,222houses have been built by 12,000volunteers from around the world.For details, visit www.tabitha.ca.

■ ■ ■

Recently Exit Realty Groupsales reps and their families inBelleville, Ont. spent the after-noon going door to door collectingfood and sorting it for the Annual Gleaner’s Food BankThanksgiving Collection. TheGleaner’s Food Bank was the recip-ient of eight tonnes of food thatday thanks to the efforts of manyvolunteers. This is the fourth yearthat the brokerage has contributedto this annual drive.

■ ■ ■

Avison Young offices acrossCanada took part in the company’ssecond annual Day of Givingrecently. The employees in Avison

Young’s 71 offices in Canada, theU.S. and Europe dedicated the dayto participating in volunteer pro-jects in their respective cities.

In Winnipeg, Avison Youngrepresentatives lent a hand toNorquay Elementary School. It isin the Inner City District, home totwo out of the three poorest postalcodes in the country. One in threestudents drops out of school beforeGrade 9.

Avison Young’s volunteerswere split into two teams. The“art” team went into various class-es and with a pre-cut puzzle piece,asked the children to draw whattheir idea of giving would be. Thepieces were put together as a muralon the walls throughout theschool. The “sports” team wentinto the gym with the children toplay soccer. AY also purchasedpopsicles and handed them out toall the students.

Avison Young’s Vancouver staffvolunteered at the Atira Women’sResource Society’s ImoutoHousing for Young Women facili-ty, a low-barrier supportive housingproject in the Downtown Eastside.AY staff spent the day repainting,landscaping and constructing anew patio deck and gazebo toaccommodate a new barbecue.They also prepared care packagesfor each of the residents.

■ ■ ■

More than 80 participantsjoined Royal LePage GardinerRealty in Fredericton, N.B. at thecompany’s second annual Walk aMile in Her Shoes event. Morethan $18,000 was raised for theirefforts as they took to the streets inbright red heels to raise awarenessabout sexualized violence againstwomen.

The funds support the RoyalLePage Shelter Foundation, 100per cent of which will be donatedto local women’s shelter Womenin Transition House. The organiz-ing committee, led by GlenisMahaney, is setting its sights on a$25,000 goal for next year’s event.

■ ■ ■

Four local transition homes forwomen and children starting overafter experiencing domestic vio-lence are beneficiaries of RoyalLePage Coast Capital Realty’s golfevent held recently. The eventraised a goal-surpassing $24,876,all of which will be donated tolocal shelters through the RoyalLePage Shelter Foundation.

The event was attended bysales reps, clients, friends and busi-ness partners and organized bycommittee members Sarah West,Matt Green, Sharen Warde,Sandra Govender, Tara Lynn,Murray Lawson, AndrewWhidden and Larry Pistell.

■ ■ ■

It took just two hours for SairaWaters and Tasha Noble of RoyalLePage Coast Capital Realty inVictoria, B.C. to raise $5,000 forthe Royal LePage ShelterFoundation.

After hosting their third annu-al Raise the Roof for Shelter, acocktail party with a silent auction,all proceeds will be donated to TheCridge Centre for the Family,Victoria Women’s TransitionHouse, Margaret Laurence Houseand the Sooke Women’sTransition Society.

■ ■ ■

James Hussaini, founder ofRealty Point Brokerage Franchisor,recently announced that the com-pany’s First Annual Dinner andFood Drive will take place on Dec.3 at the Shiraz Restaurant inRichmond Hill, Ont.

“Our food drive effort will notbe a one-time occurrence. Thiswill inaugurate the start of a regu-lar food drive effort supported andpromoted by our franchisee broker-ages and our real estate sales agentsthroughout the year,” saysHussaini.

For complete event and fooddrive details and to make a cashdonation, visit www.realtypoint-fooddrive.org. REM

Jim Horner, right, helped build 13 homes inCambodia.

Winnipeg’s Avison Young office helped out atthe Norquay Elementary School on the Dayof Giving.

From left, Royal LePageGardiner Realtybroker/owner LincolnThompson; StephenHorsman, Member of theNew Brunswick LegislativeAssembly; Bob Powell,mayor of Oromocto; and EricMegarity, Fredericton deputymayor.

At the 11th Annual Royal LePageCoast Capital Realty Golf Party,from left: Sales rep Bill Walters,broker/manager Bill Ethier, Blair

Sturrock and Marlie Hill.

At the Raise the Roof for Shelter event inVictoria, from left: intern Kaylyn Kershaw,sales representatives Saira Waters and TashaNoble and unlicensed assistant LauraRoberts.

Staff and sales reps from Exit Realty Group in Belleville,Ont. went door to door collecting for the local food bank.

Above: Avison Young’s Vancouver staffworked at the Imouto Housing forYoung Women project.


Announcement

RE/MAX CORE Realty Inc. marked a new beginning this month with hundreds of REALTORS® and Mayor Jim Watson in Ottawa to celebrate their Grand Opening. With their newly renovated location at 485 Industrial Ave.,

they have over 75 agents, and we look forward to watching them continue to grow their already successful business in the coming months.

Congratulations!

RE/MAX CORE Realty Inc. Opens its Doors

If you are interested in ownership opportunities with RE/MAX, the largest most productive real estate brand, contact Christopher Alexander at 1-416-786-5552 to arrange your confi dential meeting, or visit remaxintegra.com.

Appearing from L-R: Jim Watson, Mayor, Jarrod Davis, RE/MAX CORE Realty Inc., Tarek El Attar, RE/MAX CORE Realty Inc., Eli Skaff, Broker/Owner RE/MAX CORE Realty Inc., Marc Evans, RE/MAX CORE Realty Inc., Gurinder Sandhu, EVP, RE/MAX INTEGRA Ontario-Atlantic.

n owner of a condomini-um unit may feel secure inthe knowledge that he

owns title to his little piece of thebuilding and can do as he wishes,subject to certain reasonable rulesand general constraints on use andbehaviour that apply to all owners,and which are found in the condocorporation’s governing documen-tation (the declaration, bylaws andrules).

But it may surprise you that inmore than a few cases, condo unitowners have been forced againsttheir will to vacate and sell theirunits, under powers granted tocourts under the OntarioCondominium Act, 1998. Whilethe circumstances are admittedlyunusual, the common thread

Courts can evict condo ownersfor bad conductIt may surprise you that in more than a few cases, condo unit owners have been forcedagainst their will to vacate and sell their units, under powers granted to courts underthe Ontario Condominium Act, 1998.

By Martin Rumack among them is that courts wereforced to take drastic measuresagainst one misbehaving owner inorder to effectively keep peace andharmony among the others.

In these kinds of cases – whichtypically involve egregious, danger-ous and disruptive owner behaviourover a period of time – the courts’intervention will be prompted byan application by the condomini-um corporation itself, almostalways after it has given the offend-ing owner ample warning to stop.

Courts must evaluate thebehaviour against the provisions ofthe provincial condominium act tosee whether it is “oppressive andunfairly prejudicial” towards eitherthe corporation itself or the otherowners. They will also scrutinizethe provisions of the particular cor-

poration’s declaration, bylaws andrules, and will also considerwhether the offending owners’ con-duct poses a health risk.

Once it has concluded that aparticular unit owner is disruptive,unruly or unmanageable, the courthas a spectrum of remedies at itsdisposal. While not the most com-mon, the most drastic is for thecourt to force the intractable ownerto vacate and sell his unit, almostalways after several prior requestsand warnings by the condominiumcorporation have gone unheeded.

Even where the court-orderedremedy falls short of forcing theowner to sell and move out, courtswill frequently force the owner topay for any remediation or clean-upcosts arising from his misconduct,and may even require payment of

the legal costs incurred by thecondo corporation to bring thematter before the courts in the firstplace. For example, in a recentcase, York CondominiumCorporation No. 41 v. Schneider,2015 ONSC 3919 (CanLII), thecourt declined to add the corpora-tion’s legal costs to the commonexpenses, concluding that “to havethe (condominium corporation)and the other unit holders bear thelegal costs of this application,which are incurred due to the con-duct of (one misbehaving unitowner), would be unfair.”

A parade of troublemakers: Sowhat kinds of situations will attractthe courts’ intervention? A round-up of Ontario decisions from thepast few years shows the types ofowner misconduct that attracts a

court-ordered, forced-sale remedy. One of the early cases in this

category is Metro TorontoCondominium No. 747 and NataliaKorolekh, 2010 ONSC 4448(CanLII). It involved an incorrigi-ble and unmanageable unit ownerin a senior citizens’ building. Thecourt described her transgressionsas “serious”. It includes physicalassaults on other unit holders, actsof mischief against their property,racist and homophobic slurs andthreats repeatedly made againstother unit holders, playingextremely loud music at night,watching and bothering other unitholders and using her large andaggressive dog to frighten andintimidate other unit holders andtheir children, as well as failing toclean up the dog’s feces.

After confirming that it had therequisite power under the act andthe corporation’s own governingdocuments, the court ordered theowner to vacate and sell her unitwithin a stipulated period of time.

The outcome was the same in amore recent case, YorkCondominium Corporation No. 301v. James, 2014 ONSC 2638(CanLII). The owner in questionhad a long list of worrisome anddangerous conduct, including start-ing two fires in her unit, threaten-ing others and leaving humanexcrement on their doorsteps,punching someone in the face,exposing herself and makingobscene gestures, and forcing herway into another owner’s unit.Even though the court found thatthe owner clearly had a mental ill-ness, and commented that orderingher to sell her unit might imposehardship on her, it had no otherchoice. It had to keep in mind thewelfare of the other men, womenand children in the building “whohave been confronted with behav-iour that ranges from disturbing todisgusting to threatening.”

In yet another decision featur-ing excrement (a recurringtheme?), the case of PeelCondominium Corp. v. Pereira,2013 ONSC 7340 (CanLII), had a

A

REM DECEMBER 2015 29

different result. There, the offend-ing unit owner engaged in manytroubling incidents, but among themost disturbing was his establishedhabit of throwing cat feces and lit-ter from his balcony (and on oneoccasion, hitting a landscaper onthe head with it). He blatantlydenied the recurring behaviour, yetcontinued to do it even after he wasrepeatedly warned. He also failedto pay a $170 bill for cleaning upthe litter, assaulted the buildingsuperintendent (which resulted incriminal charges that were laterwithdrawn), stole a bench from thebuilding lobby (which was caughton surveillance video) and engagedin numerous incidents of verbalassaults of other residents and theproperty manager.

Despite finding his conduct tobe “extremely serious and trou-bling”, the court was more temper-ate in its ruling: it expressly orderedthe owner to comply with the act,to abide by the condo corporation’sdeclaration, rules and bylaws and torefrain from future verbal or physi-cal assaults and intimidation.Perhaps most importantly to theother owners, he was specificallyordered to refrain from throwinganything from his balcony in thefuture. However, the court cau-tioned that the breach of any ofthese conditions would result in acourt-ordered immediate sale of theowner’s unit.

Lesser misbehaviour countstoo: These cases may not surpriseyou, since the owners’ miscon-duct clearly put the safety andright to peaceful enjoyment ofother owners in jeopardy; it seemsonly fair that the collective rightsof all owners should outweighthose of the individual. However,courts will readily step in evenwhere the conduct is not so egre-giously harmful to others.

For example, in the earlier-mentioned case, YorkCondominium Corporation No. 41v. Schneider, 2015 ONSC 3919(CanLII), the problem was notexcrement but rather cockroaches– an infestation of them – and apair of unit owners who refused tocomply with a prior court orderrequiring them to facilitate accessto their unit to allow for clean-up.Specifically, the court had previ-ously ordered the owners to allowcondo corporation representativesand extermination crews to enterand clean the unit, and to carryout pest extermination measures.They were also ordered to keepthe unit clean to avoid future

infestation and foul odours (forwhich they refused to acceptresponsibility and blamed on theneighbours’ cooking). Yet theowners completely refused to co-operate. Faced with this impasse,and since the owners had receivednumerous warnings in the past, thecourt had no choice but to orderthem to vacate and sell for theoverall good of the owners and thecorporation.

Finally, it was contraband beersales that prompted the court tointervene in a case called YorkCondominium Corporation No. 82v. Singh, 2013 ONSC 2066(CanLII). Despite repeated warn-ings from the condo corporation(which were wholly ignored), aswell as prior court orders (whichwere deliberately and wilfully dis-obeyed), the owners continued tosell beer from within their unit tooutside parties. The court foundthat this was not only illegal, butalso breached the corporation’sdeclaration and rules. Moreover,it enabled “disorderly and oftenlawless activities” and some vio-lence that took place in the com-mon areas near the unit. Thecourt ordered the owners to selltheir unit, and also barred themfrom the complex, seeing it as theonly way to ensure that the own-ers’ offending conduct would stop.

What’s the bottom line? Whatthese cases illustrate is that Ontariocourts are more than willing to takedrastic steps in the face of unrea-sonable, dangerous and intransi-gent misconduct by owners, partic-ularly where it impinges on safetyor on the enjoyment by others oftheir individual units or the condodevelopment as a whole.

More to the point, the decisionsimplicitly acknowledge that whilecondo unit owners have definedlegal ownership rights, they stillremain subject to a certain level ofrestriction on their conduct.These two competing rights andinterests must sometimes be re-bal-anced; the Condominium Act,1998 allows courts to step in and doso, when the greater good is atstake.

Toronto lawyer Martin Rumack’spractice areas include real estate law,corporate and commercial law, wills,estates, powers of attorney, family lawand civil litigation. He is co-author ofLegal Responsibilities of Real EstateAgents, 3rd Edition, available at theTREB bookstore. Visit MartinRumack’s website at www.martin-rumack.com. REM

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Richard Pochylko winsnational Century 21award

“Pay attention to detail, workharder than the next guy andalways play to win.” That’s the phi-losophy of Richard Pochylko ofCentury 21 Advantage in RedDeer, Alta., winner of the peer-nominated Century 21 Canada

Sales Associate of the Year awardfor 2015.

The award considers successaround all aspects of a real estatecareer, including industry andcommunity involvement and salessuccess.

Pochylko was also recentlyvoted Red Deer’s Best Realtor byhis community in the Red DeerExpress. He continually ranks in

the top 75 Century 21 sales pro-ducers across the country. He hasearned the company’s top salesawards every year since 2006 andhas been inducted into theCentury 21 Masters Hall ofFame.

Profusion Realty winsinternational honours

Profusion Realty in Montrealhas won top international honoursin the Best Overall MarketingPackage category at the recentLuxury Real Estate InternationalConference, held recently inSeattle.

Who’s Who in Luxury RealEstate is an international net-work of real estate professionalsin more than 70 countries repre-senting industry leaders specializ-

Brian Rushton, Richard Pochylko and U. GaryCharlwood, founder and executive chairman ofCentury 21.

From left: REIC vice president, corporate develop-ment Gareth R. Jones; executive director and CEOMaura McLaren; Natalka Falcomer; and presidentEugene Korneluk.

Honourees and presenters of the Portage la Prairie andDistrict Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Small BusinessAward, from left: Preston Meier, chamber emcee; IrvinFerris, mayor, Portage la Prairie: Chris Bures, Robin Baileyand Warren Neufeld, partners at Royal LePage PortageRealty; and Ian Wishart, Member ofthe Legislative Assembly, Portage laPrairie.

John BrianLosh, chair-man of Who’sWho inLuxury RealEstate, pre-sents theaward toLouiseRémillard,president ofProfusionRealty.

Barry Lebow

Brian Rushton, Stephen Chow and U.Gary Charlwood.

Barry Lebow

Lorne Weiss


ing in luxury residential estateand elite brokerage houses aroundthe world.

“We are proud of this inter-national recognition” says LouiseRémillard, president of ProfusionRealty. “Profusion’s objective is tooffer the best visibility for theproperties we represent and weare constantly striving to perfectnot only our local and interna-tional marketing strategies butalso our print media and web-based platforms.”

The brokerage has grown toalmost 50 brokers since it wasfounded in 2008.

Century 21 AtriaRealty honoured

Eleven years ago at the age of27, Stephen Chow openedCentury 21 Atria Realty inToronto. Now his office has 260sales reps at three locations.Chow’s firm was named Century21’s 2105 Franchisee of the Yearrecently.

The award considers all aspectsof a Century 21 franchisee’s busi-ness practices, including industryand community involvement andsales success.

Chow’s industry peers recentlyelected him vice president of theCentury 21 Brokers’ Association ofOntario, Metropolitan TorontoArea. As well as impacting thelocal real estate market, he is alsoan active member of the AsianAmerican Real Estate Association(AREAA).

REIC Toronto honoursNatalka Falcomer,Barry Lebow

Two REM columnists wererecently honoured by the RealEstate Institute of Canada,Toronto Chapter.

Natalka Falcomer, a Torontolawyer and licensed real estatesales agent, was presented withthe REIC Toronto ChapterEducation Award. It is awardedfor “demonstrated leadership,ingenuity and persistence specifi-cally contributing to the profes-sional advancement of the insti-tute through the development ofan educational program.” Therecipient of the award is nominat-ed for the national version, thePatrick J. Harvey MemorialAward.

Barry Lebow, a 48-year real

estate veteran, was presentedwith the Creative Writing Awardfor 2015. “This is in recognitionfor my years of contributions onreal estate topics to REM, to realestate publications across NorthAmerica and my own blog,” saysLebow.

The REIC Greening Awardwent to Stonebridge BuildingGroup.

The Community ServicesAward was presented toGurcharan “Garry” Bhaura, bro-ker of record at Century 21President Realty.

The Corporate Citizen of theYear Award went to Matrix SearchGroup, and the Alice CostantinoMember of the Year Award waspresented to Ron Fraser, vice pres-ident, capital planning, atInfrastructure Ontario.

Royal LePage PortageRealty wins localaward

The Portage la Prairie andDistrict Chamber of Commercehas named Royal LePage PortageOutstanding Small Business for2015.

Brokerage co-owner WarrenNeufeld says it was an honour totake home the award because therewere many worthy recipients.

“It’s obviously gratifying to berecognized and have our compa-ny recognized,” Neufeld told thePortageOnline. “There were a lotof great people up there who wererecognized, a lot of great compa-nies doing great things. We’re justhumbled to be in that group.”

Lorne Weiss receivesfirst Brian M. CollieAward

Recently Manitoba RealEstate Association president-elect Michael Barrett surprisedManitoba Political ActionCommittee chair Lorne Weisswith a decision made by theMREA Board of Directors.

Weiss is the first recipient ofthe Brian M. Collie Award forIndividual Achievement inProvincial Advocacy. This awardwas named in memory of Brian M.Collie, the late CEO of MREA, torecognize and honour outstandingcommitment and dedication to theprofession’s political advocacyefforts. REM

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anitoba Premier GregSelinger and FinanceMinister Greg Dewar

officially proclaimed the firstRealtor Week in Manitoba his-tory.

A large group of Realtorsgathered in the rotunda of theManitoba Legislative BuildingOct. 27 for the surprise specialannouncement. The officialproclamation was signed byDewar, who read it aloud.

“Realtors are hands-on com-munity builders that contributeto the multi-billion-dollar realestate industry in Manitoba byhelping to support local andprovincial economies throughjob creation and consumerspending,” Dewar said, beforepresenting the proclamation to

Roberta Weiss, MREA’s 2015president.

Selinger praised Realtors andthe real estate industry for“ongoing community and eco-nomic development contribu-tions that support and enable abetter quality of life for allManitobans,” says MREA.

■ ■ ■

Recently members of theOttawa Real Estate Board partic-ipated in a Habitat for Humanitybuild on behalf of the OntarioRealtors Care Foundation.

Habitat for Humanity GO(Greater Ottawa) is buildingfour homes (two semi-detachedand two single-family homes) inOrleans on Cousineau Street.They will be purchased by four

low-income families with inter-est-free, long-term mortgages.The Realtors Care Committeeparticipates in a Habitat buildday each year, using funds donat-ed from the previous year. Theyhelped with general site clean-upand prepared the semi-detachedunits for window installations,including finishing windowframing and putting up vapourbarriers.

■ ■ ■

Members of the Associationof Saskatchewan Realtors (ASR)recently toured the MackenzieInfant Care Centre (MICC) tosee how a $5,000 grant is helpingto improve lives of young moth-ers and their children. Thegrant, provided by the ASRQuality of Life Legacy Fund, hasbeen allocated to the Motherand Baby Literacy Program,which provides books to youngmothers, providing an opportu-nity for bonding with their chil-dren and enhancing literacy.

Lane Boghean, an ASRboard member says, “It’s certain-ly not your typical classroom,with strollers parked outside the

door and daycare down the hall.But you can tell there’s a level ofcomfort for these young mothers,knowing they are leaving theirchildren in a caring place – that’sone less worry for them whilethey’re in class.”

■ ■ ■

Members of the KawarthaLakes Real Estate Associationdonned their hard hats and bootsrecently to take part in twoRealtor Build Days for Habitatfor Humanity Peterborough &Kawartha Region.

Taking part in the build wereHayley Davies, Doug McMullen,Guy Masters, Lisa Harrison,Gina Masters, Ruth AnnGeelan, Heather Porter, TammyHenley, Joe McGuire, Pat Boyd,Michael Jancsik, BethanyBowyer, Joanne Phendler,Heather Ahrens, StephanieLange, Kelly James and TomWood.

■ ■ ■

To help meet the need forplain-language financial literacytools, the Manitoba Real EstateAssociation (MREA) teamed upwith Literacy Partners of

Manitoba and the ManitobaImmigrant and RefugeeSettlement Sector Associationto develop a free illustrated guideto the home-buying process.

The booklet covers budget-ing before you buy, applying for amortgage, working with Realtorsand writing an offer to purchase.It also includes a “words toknow” glossary section. It willsoon be available in banks,schools, community centres,libraries and through ManitobaRealtors. MREA will also pro-vide the booklet on its websiteand free copies will be availablefor pick-up on request.

■ ■ ■

Recently at the London andSt. Thomas Association ofRealtors annual President’sBreakfast, LSTAR’s Quality ofLife Advisory Group chairHeather Arnott presented acheque for $25,000 to be usedtowards the construction of anew Women’s Shelter in ElginCounty.

At the same meeting,LSTAR president CarlVandergoot presented outgoingMP Joe Preston with a plaque in

M

Manitoba Real Estate Association presidentRoberta Weiss is front and centre with FinanceMinister Greg Dewar (left) and Premier GregSelinger (right) following the official proclamationof Realtor Week in Manitoba.

From left: MICC assistant director Shirley Dobrescu, MICC execu-tive director Edie Paquette and Realtors Kim Oberthier, LaneBoghean, Karen Krawczyk, Ryan Bremner, Noel Geremia and AdamTondevold.

Kawartha Lakes Real Estate Association mem-bers taking part in the build, from left: MichaelJancsik, Bethany Bowyer, Joanne Phendler,Heather Ahrens, Stephanie Lange, Kelly Jamesand Tom Wood.

The new MREAresource for first-

time buyers andnewcomers.

From left: Swift Current &Region Council of Realtorsrepresentative Faye Rister;Realtor Erin Fuchs; ASRboard member TeressaMannle; SCCYI programdirector Nathan Wiebe;and Realtor Kelsey Adam.

From left: Realtor Kiel Kelly; RALD EOEileen Rohs; Realtor Tracy Cavanagh; ASRboard member Al Wieler; RALD presidentMichaelDewing; RealtorLiz Frieser; andLCYC executivedirector LoisButts.

OREB members Sandra Lee Lacroix,Shane Silva and Tara Scharf prep awindow at the Habitat for Humanitybuild.


appreciation for his decade ofservice to the people of Elgin-Middlesex-London.

■ ■ ■

Members of MuskokaHaliburton Orillia – TheLakelands Association ofRealtors spent a morning split-ting wood recently to help makethe pile higher for those in need.

“It seems timely as the nightsget colder to make sure we havetime to be thankful for our ownwarm homes,” says TomWilkinson, association presi-dent. “It seems hard to imaginethat there are families in ourneighbourhoods who have tomake the decision betweenwarmth, food or paying rent.”

Heat Bank Haliburton gath-ers firewood to distribute tohouseholds struggling to keepthe heat on. As a member of TheLakelands, local Realtors con-tribute $2 per month to theOntario Realtors CareFoundation. Heat BankHaliburton is one of five localcharitable organizations chosento benefit from these funds forthis year.

■ ■ ■

Realtors in Lloydminster,Sask. were on hand recently tosee how the LloydminsterCommunity Youth Centre(LCYC) is making good use of a$5,000 grant awarded to themearlier this year. The grant, pro-vided by the Association ofSaskatchewan Realtors (ASR)Quality of Life Legacy Fund, hascontributed to the Hot MealProgram, which provides threemeals each week to youth in thecommunity.

Local Realtors, along withprovincial and local associationrepresentatives, took part in anon-site barbecue where theycooked and served burgers to anexuberant group of Lloydminsteryouth.

In Melfort, Realtors had theopportunity to see how theNorth East Outreach andSupport Services (NEOSS) willuse a $5,000 grant awarded tothem earlier this year. The granthas contributed to a new storagefacility, where donations will bestored until the new shelter iscomplete, and will continue to

house donations that will gotowards second stage housing forthose affected by domestic andsexualized violence.

In addition to supplying safe-ty and shelter, NEOSS also pro-vides counselling and ongoingsupport. The centre regularlyreceives donations from thecommunity – furniture, appli-ances and other supplies thathelp survivors get a fresh start.

Swift Current Realtors wereon hand to see how the SwiftCurrent Community YouthInitiative (SCCYI) is makinggood use of their $5,000 grant. Ithas contributed to a new coffeeshop within the centre whereyouth will have the opportunityto develop employment skills.

Local Realtors took part inan on-site barbecue where theyreceived a tour of the facilities,experienced a taste of what thecoffee shop will offer and min-gled with youth. In addition tofacilities that offer everythingfrom pool tables to basketballhoops to gaming stations, thecentre provides counselling,tutoring and mentoring services,among other things. REM

Heather Arnott and Carl Vandergoot present theLSTAR cheque to Pam Dyck.

Lakelands Association of Realtors membersspent a morning splitting wood to help outthe local Heat Bank.

From left: Realtor Janet Lutz; NEOSS executive directorLouise Schweitzer; Realtors Gary Stoneman and DebHonch; ASR vice president Kevin Wouters; RealtorsTynelle Badinski, Gary Gratton, Richelle Rogers andColleen Ratcliff; project manager Jason de Haan; RealtorsEleah Tolofson and Gregg Reed; and ASR CEO BillMadder.

Carl Vandergoot presents the plaque toJoe Preston.

Books I’ve read:A great trainingguide By Barry Lebow

Foundations forSuccess, TheComplete Seriesby Stephen L. Silver

There are many real estatetraining books on the market.A few are classics by the greats,those wonderful Americantrainers we know so well. But agood Canadian training guideis rare.

I think that I have finallyfound one in this no nonsense,no fluff, meat and potatoesbook by Steve Silver. Steve hasbeen an active Realtor and manager for many years and has writ-ten about his experiences in the trenches. Over the years, hestarted programs for his staff, in modules, weekly sessions andwith handouts such as working charts. Steve has refined hismaterial, brought the modules together and has written what Inow consider to be the best Canadian training manual that Ihave read.

Steve has laid down a foundation, a path to follow to get newagents up and successful in the shortest time, and to help veter-ans who have hit slumps get back to basics with a set plan and todevelop new skill sets. It is an eight-week program and from whatI have reviewed, anyone who approaches real estate following hisbook as a guide should be on their way to a successful career.

The book is full of easy to read and implement charts. Onehas to analyze their business and daily routine in order to maxi-mize their return on time. Steve has excellent advice on that sub-ject.

It is written for working Canadian agents, written for todayand not based on “the good old days.” It is relevant and a sageguide for a real estate career. Not only is it a great book for theindividual salesperson, but it is a good guide for a brokerage seek-ing an ongoing training program.

From working scripts to time management, it is all in thiswonderful book. It’s available at Amazon.ca or direct atwww.stevesilver.ca/buy-the-books.

Barry Lebow, FRI, Master-ASA is one of Canada’s most recog-nized real estate authorities. Now in his 48th year of professional realestate, Barry has been honoured by many real estate associations forhis work in the profession and is considered one of the leadingCanadian experts in the field of real estate stigma. He is a broker atRe/Max Ultimate Realty Inc. in Toronto. [email protected] REM


ere are the three mostimportant aspects aboutthe recent Competition

Tribunal hearing, in my sole andhumble opinion.

The first is that the outcome ofthese hearings will have the mostprofound impact on the industrysince the advent of what people inthe real estate community refer toas “desk fees” at real estate broker-age offices back in the 1970s.

The second is that the realmeaning of the whole thing isevasive and hard even for themost seasoned real estate profes-sional to truly understand, letalone the general public, to whombrokers and sales reps will bestuck with explaining everything.The people who are making thisruling do not seem to get theimportance of the issues to thecommon real estate salesperson orbroker. The people who are goingto make the rules for real estatesales are not even close to under-

THE PUBLISHER’S PAGE

By Heino Molls

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Privacy and competitionstanding the real estate business.

The third item and most dearto my heart is the fact that the onlymedia, newsletter, magazine orwebsite that is covering this issueat every hearing is REM. No otherblog, information wannabe ormainstream media outlet has con-sistently sent a reporter to thesehearings as REM has.

This case is a big mess. It comesdown to government interventionin a business that for all intent andpurposes was running as well as anyother industry before somehow,somebody talked some govern-ment representatives into gettinginvolved in a business they knewnothing about and still know noth-

ing about. I am reminded that thelast time there was a significantchange in the practice of sellingreal estate it was the aforemen-tioned “desk fees” but that seachange was handled and embracedinternally by the real estate com-munity. There was no governmentintervention like this mess.

One thing that stands out tome here in the fall of 2015 is howthe various government outfitshave odd and opposite positionsthese days. I just finished readingthat the Ontario privacy commis-sioner has ruled that the LiquorControl Board of Ontario muststop collecting and using privateinformation about its store broker

clients and stop making that infor-mation available to whoever wantsit. And here we have theCompetition Bureau demandingthat TREB and CREA collect andgive out private information aboutthe clients of its real estate brokeroffices to whoever wants it. Comeon, which is it?

Make no mistake about thiswhole mess, the issue is about pri-vacy. The private information ofhomeowners related to the mostimportant thing that is in theirpossession, their home.

Even if a homeowner wants tosell their property, some informa-tion is private and should be treat-ed with the dignity of privacy itdeserves, the way TREB andCREA treat it now. That dignityshould be upheld by our govern-ment more than anyone. How

could they possibly think it is theirjob to ride roughshod over the dig-nity of its citizens’ privacy?

As reported in REM, lawyersrepresenting TREB used the fol-lowing quote from PresidentBarack Obama from 2012:

“One thing should be clear, eventhough we live in a world in which weshare personal information morefreely than in the past, we must rejectthe conclusion, that privacy is an out-moded value. It has been at the heartof our democracy from its inceptionand we need it now more than ever.”How appropriate.

In the words used commonlyby a Canadian celebrity: Make itright!

Heino Molls is the publisher ofREM. Email [email protected]

REM

Oakville, Milton and DistrictReal Estate BoardChristmas Luncheon andTrade ShowTuesday, Dec. 1Rattlesnake Point Golf ClubMilton, [email protected]

PM Expo, Construct CanadaDec. 2 - 4Metro Toronto ConventionCentreTorontowww.pmexpo.com

Fraser Valley Real EstateBoard Game ChangerConference and Trade ShowFeb. 3 - 5, 2016Coast Hotel & ConventionCentreLangley, B.C.www.fvreb.bc.ca/conference.php

Toronto Real Estate Board’sRealtor QuestMay 4 - 5, 2016Toronto Congress CentreTorontowww.realtorquest.ca

Atlantic ConnectionJuly 26 - 29, 2016Delta Prince Edward & P.E.I.Convention CentreCharlottetownwww.atlanticconnection.ca/

Compiled with the assistance ofBob Campbell at Colour Tech Marketing, www.colourtech.com

Trade Showsand ConferencesTrade Showsand Conferences

To add a listing to this calendar, email [email protected]

Make no mistake about thiswhole mess, the issue is

about privacy. The privateinformation of homeownersrelated to the most impor-tant thing that is in theirpossession, their home.

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December 2015

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