Featured News
President's message: BCREA to reduce your dues by 38 per cent
Your Board has been a leading voice in calling for the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) to eliminate unnecessary spending, reduce its budget, and focus on its core mandate. After months of negotiation and analysis, we reached an agreement with your provincial association that we believe will do just that.
Beginning April 1, annual BCREA REALTOR® fees will be reduced by 38 per cent, from $232 to $144, saving Realtors province-wide more than $2 million in annual dues. This agreement also allows BCREA to provide more focus and resources to deliver stronger government advocacy and education, the two provincial services that Realtors value most.
This is a historic change that wouldn’t be possible without the hard work and persistence of a lot of people working on your behalf.
The elected officers and CEOs of the 11 BC boards met with BCREA on December 5 to finalize this arrangement.
In our negotiations, we wanted to ensure that time doesn’t erode these changes, so we agreed on these accountability measures:
- BCREA will create an internally restricted reserve for any dues collected above what’s expected to occur for the year.
- BCREA will report on its finances each year at its AGM.
- A bylaw change will be voted on at BCREA’s AGM for Boards to approve future dues increases.
The agreed-upon changes are premised on work that funding model and governance review task forces undertook this fall. These task forces were comprised of senior staff and directors from around the province.
REBGV members account for roughly 65 per cent of BCREA’s membership today. Each year, we collect about $4 million in provincial dues from you and remit them to BCREA.
It’s our responsibility to ensure you get full value for the money you pay. For years, we’ve believed that BCREA is falling short.
I can’t tell you how excited I am that we, along with our partner boards around the province, were able to achieve this significant decision and structural change to BCREA and organized real estate. Our hard work has paid off.
I look forward to continuing our work to serve, engage, and advocate for you in 2018.
Wishing every one of you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Jill Oudil
President
Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
The latest on Touchbase and ShowingTime
After moving from Touchbase to ShowingTime on December 4, members expressed concerns about functionality that’s not available in the new messaging and appointment scheduling app.
We reached out to members and Brokers to better understand these concerns. These conversations resulted in us bringing the Touchbase service back to you on Friday.
Both Touchbase and ShowingTime will run in parallel over the next few months.
Replacing a member service without providing you a satisfactory solution fails to meet our high customer services standards.
Our long-term plan is still to replace Touchbase with ShowingTime. It’s a more feature-rich product that has proven popular with REALTORS® in Canada and the US. It includes new features that makes it easier to communicate with other Realtors, send documents, driving directions, and pictures with your messages. It also syncs with your online calendars in Outlook and on your mobile devices.
We won’t make any change until ShowingTime includes the critical functionality members need to conduct business.
Here’s a summary of the key ShowingTime issues we’re working to fix.
Sending messages
ShowingTime only allows users to send messages to each other after requesting or scheduling a showing. This is a change from Touchbase. We know you need more flexibility to contact colleagues outside of showing situations. We’ve raised this with ShowingTime and they’re working to make this change. ShowingTime estimates that this functionality will be available in the spring.
Office-to-office messaging
Some brokerages use Touchbase as a paging tool for Realtors in other, affiliated offices. ShowingTime is limited in this area. We’re exploring an additional Broker messaging module within ShowingTime as a potential solution. We’ll report back to you as we learn more.
Too many messages
This isn’t a functionality issue, but it’s a nuisance for new users. By default, all message delivery options are active in ShowingTime. As a result, every time a showing is requested or modified, you receive a call, email, text, and push (pop up) notification.
You can control how and when you’re notified through ShowingTime. To do this, log in to Paragon, select the ‘Preferences’ tab, and choose ‘ShowingTime Setup’.
Next, select ‘Agent profile' and choose the notification and delivery options you want.
Click here to learn more.
We appreciate your patience as we address these issues. If you need support, call our Helpdesk at 604-730-3020.
For more information on ShowingTime, visit our ShowingTime help resources page on www.rebgv.ca and access how-to guides, videos, and other resources.
Toronto Real Estate Board loses appeal of Competition Tribunal decision
In a December 1 decision, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld a 2016 Competition Tribunal ruling that ordered the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) to allow for the release, via virtual office websites (VOW), of sold and pending sold data without the informed consent of consumers.
The Tribunal’s decision concluded that certain aspects of TREB’s current VOW policy constituted an abuse of dominant position under the federal Competition Act.
TREB plans to appeal the federal court’s decision.
“The Toronto Real Estate Board is disappointed in the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision. TREB disagrees with the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal and will be seeking leave to appeal the decision together as well as an order staying the decision pending the outcome of that appeal, if granted,” John DiMichele, TREB’s CEO said in a statement. “TREB believes strongly that personal financial information of home buyers and sellers must continue to be safely used and disclosed.”
REBGV legal counsel is reviewing this case to help us understand any potential implications.
We’ll share more information as it becomes available.
Two resources to help you understand the Superintendent’s latest rule changes
Effective March 15, 2018, the practice of limited dual agency will be prohibited in BC and new disclosure requirements will be in effect for all real estate licensees in the province.
To help you understand how these new rules will affect your business, the Real Estate Council of BC, the licensing body for real estate licensees in BC, has published two resources:
- Click here to read an overview of the rule changes; and
- Click here to read an FAQ resource.
If you have questions that aren’t addressed in these materials, you’re encouraged to send Council your questions using this online form. They’ll post responses to your questions in the above FAQ resource in the weeks ahead.
We’ll continue to share more information with you as we learn more.
Who’s who in BC real estate
It can be confusing to know what the different real estate organizations in BC do. Here are some brief descriptions to help you understand the differences.
REALTOR® associations
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) is your professional association. We represent you, your brokerage, and all 14,500-member Realtors working in the Metro Vancouver area. We maintain and provide member access to the MLS® System, professional development education, professional standards and arbitration, government relations, and more.
The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) is your provincial association. It represents the 11 BC real estate boards, including REBGV, and provides provincial government advocacy, Realtor education, and Standard Forms.
Government bodies
The Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate (OSRE) is the provincial government’s primary real estate agency responsible for creating and modifying the legislation and rules affecting all BC real estate licensees.
The Real Estate Council of BC (Council) licenses people in BC who engage in the trading of real estate services, including Realtors. The Council takes its instructions from the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate, on behalf of the provincial government.
A difference without a distinction
Members have significant questions about Council’s new rules taking effect on March 15, 2018.
Unsurprisingly, these questions involve agency representation and how a member deals with former clients when the member is already representing a current client in a proposed transaction.
Understandably, members are concerned about how they should handle this stick of dynamite without running afoul of their legal, regulatory, and ethical obligations. As discussed below, Council is providing guidance in this area, but members still have questions. You know, the “How about if I do this? Would that make it okay?” or “How do I get around this?” kinds of questions.
Managing brokers and the Ethics Guy® get these questions too. REALTORS® are wired to be problem solvers. So it’s natural for some, when they’re faced with a new rule and situation that doesn’t fit their longstanding business practice, that they’d want to find a workaround, such as a form with lots of verbiage in six-point type to cover off some particular risk. Their theory is that when a form like this is presented to and signed by a client or unrepresented party, presto, the problem disappears. That’s just how some Realtors roll.
Unfortunately, a form or a new clause buried in the depths of a standard form isn’t going to cut it. The superintendent’s phalanx of lawyers (who, I’m sure, are very nice people when they’re not at work) fear that some devilishly clever licensees will use their wiles to get a form signed without the signatory really understanding what they're agreeing to.
If you’re a regulator, this is a risk and a legitimate fear to have. And since regulators have all the power, they’re entitled to create whatever new forms they want. Have you ever opened an RSP account, established a trading account, or bought life insurance? Remember the blur of forms you signed? Welcome to your new world.
We’re told there are four new forms coming our way. “Enhanced disclosure” has become the watchword of our time. It sounds kind of warm and fuzzy, doesn’t it? But in regulator-speak it means much longer, more detailed forms with lots of fields to fill in. We’ll see what they look like by the end of January. While we’re still allowed to have an opinion about the new rules, our opinion mustn’t get in the way of making sure we observe them to the letter.
This column’s title is a catchy way of characterizing how a workaround could be used to side-step a rule some may not like. That is, the workaround doesn’t change the result in any significant way; it just gives the rule a nod. It also illustrates why it isn’t a good idea to turn a former client into an unrepresented party. That’s because the difference between (a) giving agency to two clients at the same time, and (b) giving agency to one while the other is unrepresented, is microscopic.
“Unrepresented party” in Council’s new speak means “customer.” We’ve explained to the superintendent that his new rules limit consumer choice by requiring our former clients to get their own representation if they want to buy our listings. He understands this argument but hasn’t accepted it. My concern for members is that they may occasionally be tempted to turn a former client into an unrepresented party. In my opinion, members probably know too much about their former clients to ever treat them as unrepresented parties – ergo, “a difference without a distinction.”
The big stick Council carries is that it not only responds to the complaints it receives, it also audits brokerage records. If you're tempted to turn a client into an unrepresented party after March 15, 2018, you'd do well to remember that the complaint and brokerage transaction records Council audits will very likely reveal this arrangement.
If Council finds something of concern, it will interview all parties. Your former clients would be asked why they chose to be unrepresented, what you told them, and what services and advice you provided to facilitate the deal. If you're not absolutely confident that your actions will withstand the harsh light of the Council’s scrutiny, reconsider what you’re about to do. As one lawyer suggests, remember the maxim: “when in doubt, refer it out,” if you’re dealing with a past client who wants your help to buy your listing. In our new world, keep things simple by having only one client at a time. You’ll sleep easier, and so will your managing broker.
Our best wishes to you
We wish you the very best of times, happiness, and success during the next few weeks and the year to come.
Merrily,
Kim, Arnelle, Barb and Johanna.
More on our advocacy efforts, Vancouver’s new housing strategy, and new PTT return
During the year, our Board’s Government Relations Committee advocates for legislative and regulatory changes favourable to property buyers, owners and sellers by preparing submissions and fact sheets and meeting politicians at all levels of government. Here’s what we did this year.
After nine years of research, studies and public engagement – including asking us for ideas – the city of Vancouver rolled out its new housing strategy. If implemented, it’ll see 72,000 homes – ownership, rental, social, cooperative and more – come onto the market. Here’s a summary of what’s proposed.
The BC Ministry of Finance has issued an updated Property Transfer Tax (PTT) Return 530 (version 29), in effect as of November 27, 2017 which includes many significant changes. Here’s a summary.
Metro Vancouver continues to experience above-average demand and below-average supply
Metro Vancouver saw modest home listing changes and steady demand in November.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 2,795 in November 2017, a 26.2 per cent increase from the 2,214 sales recorded in November 2016, and a 7.5 per cent decrease compared to October 2017 when 3,022 homes sold.
Last month’s sales were 17 per cent above the 10-year November sales average.
“We’re seeing steady demand in today’s market. Home buyer activity is operating above our long-term averages, particularly in our townhome and condominium markets,” Jill Oudil, REBGV president said.
Listings
There were 4,109 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver in November 2017. This represents a 30.6 per cent increase compared to the 3,147 homes listed in November 2016 and a 9.5 per cent decrease compared to October 2017 when 4,539 homes were listed.
The total number of homes currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 8,747, a 4.3 per cent increase compared to November 2016 (8,385) and a 4.3 per cent decrease compared to October 2017 (9,137).
“While we’re seeing more listings enter the market today than we saw at this time last year, we have a long way to go before our home listing inventory rises back to more historically typical levels,” Oudil said.
Sales-to-active listings ratio
The sales-to-active listings ratio for November 2017 is 32 per cent, which is up three per cent since September 2017. By property type, the ratio is 15.9 per cent for detached homes (up one per cent since September 2017), 36.4 per cent for townhomes (down six per cent since September 2017), and 67.8 per cent for condominiums (up seven per cent since September 2017).
Generally, analysts say that downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below the 12 per cent mark for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20 per cent over several months.
Benchmark price
The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $1,046,900. This represents a 14 per cent increase over November 2016 and a 0.4 per cent increase compared to October 2017.
Click here to download the full stats package
Legal Update changes: what you need to know for relicensing
Your provincial regulator, the Real Estate Council of BC (RECBC), will launch a redesigned version of its Legal Update course on January 1. To complete the course under the new format, you’ll be required to first complete an online component, including an assessment, then complete a five-hour classroom component.
Legal Update is RECBC’s required course for its Relicensing Education Program that you must complete every two years before you can renew your license. You also earn six PDP credits for completing the course.
If you want to take Legal Update before these changes are in effect, you can register for the 2017 online Legal Update course here.
Once the new blended format is up-and-running, you’ll no longer be able to take the course in an online-only or classroom-only format.
What if my license renewal is coming in January or February?
If you haven’t completed the Legal Update course and your license is up for renewal in the first quarter of the year, we strongly recommend you register for the 2017 online Legal Update course as soon as possible – register here.
While the 2017 online course will continue to be available and valid for license renewal through Q1 of 2018, RECBC won’t allow us to conduct in-person Legal Update classes until the new course is available.
Your provincial association, the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA), has a contract with RECBC to design and deliver the course. We’re working to get more details from both organizations about how the new course will be implemented. Here’s what we know so far.
What we know about the new course
- The cost of the course will increase. RECBC hasn’t indicated what the new cost will be.
- Members will have to complete the online component, and receive a 70 per cent or higher mark in the online assessment, before attending the classroom component.
- You’ll likely need to complete the online component at least one week prior to attending the classroom component.
- The online component should take about five hours to complete.
- The launch date for the online component is January 1, 2018. The revised classroom component won’t be available until late January at the earliest.
- You won’t receive your educational credits until you complete both components.
- For further Legal Update questions, you can email BCREA at rep@bcrea.bc.ca or call them at 604-683-7702. Press 3 for the re-licensing information extension.
We still don’t know:
- How you will register for the new course.
- How you will cancel or reschedule the course.
We’re working to answer these questions for you as quickly as possible. We’ll keep you informed as we learn more.
Other News
Latest disciplinary decisions posted
Our Professional Conduct Committee investigates alleged breaches of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and our Rules of Cooperation.
Stay on top of our efforts to uphold and enforce professional standards. The latest decisions from our Professional Conduct Committee (C17-16 and C17-08) are available here.
REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive provides warmth to 36,000 people in need this winter
More than 36,000 Lower Mainland residents will receive blankets and warm clothing this winter thanks to donations collected during the 23rd annual REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive.
Between November 14 and 21, over 100 real estate offices served as drop-off locations for donations. REALTOR® volunteers then collected, sorted and delivered the donations to local charities last week.
“This year’s donations will once again help charitable organizations across the Lower Mainland bolster their supply of warm clothing for those most in need,” Jill Oudil, Board president said. “We’re thankful for the thousands of people who responded generously to this year’s campaign and to the hundreds of Realtor volunteers who collected and distributed the donations.”
All donations remain in the community in which they were collected. More than 70 Lower Mainland charities received donations from the Blanket Drive this year.
“A warm blanket can mean the world to someone who is suffering in the cold,” said Derek Weiss, Union Gospel Mission spokesperson. “Year after year, the Blanket Drive makes an immediate difference in the lives of people who need our help the most.”
The REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive is a partnership between the Realtors of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, and the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board and their communities.
The program is the largest and longest running blanket drive in British Columbia. Since it began in 1994, it has helped more than 340,000 people in our communities keep warm and dry during the winter months.
Go to www.blanketdrive.ca for more information. For photos from this year’s campaign, visit www.facebook.com/BlanketDrive.
Sales down, values up in Lower Mainland commercial real estate
Commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland have edged down from last year’s record highs while dollar values continued to rise in the third quarter (Q3) of 2017.
There were 652 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in Q3 2017, an 8.8 per cent decrease from the record 715 sales in Q3 2016, according to data from Commercial Edge, a commercial real estate system operated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).
The 652 sales in Q3 2017 are 10.7 per cent above the five-year Q3 sales average for the region (589).
The total dollar value of commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland reached $3.270 billion in Q3 2017, a 16.1 per cent increase from $2.815 billion in Q3 2016.
“While there have been fewer commercial sales this year compared to 2016, activity remains in line with the long-term average for the region,” Jill Oudil, REBGV president said. “On the pricing side, dollar values for commercial properties have climbed about 16 per cent in the last year. This growth can be attributed, in part, to the extended economic growth we’ve been experiencing across a variety of sectors in our province.”
Q3 2017 activity by category
Land: There were 278 commercial land sales in Q3 2017, which is a 4.5 per cent decrease from the 291 land sales in Q3 2016. The dollar value of land sales was $2.100 billion in Q3 2017, a 35.3 per cent increase from $1.552 billion in Q3 2016.
Office and Retail: There were 225 office and retail sales in the Lower Mainland in Q3 2017, which is up 0.9 per cent from the 223 sales in Q3 2016. The dollar value of office and retail sales was $578 million in Q3 2017, a 6.1 per cent increase from $545 million in Q3 2016.
Industrial: There were 128 industrial land sales in the Lower Mainland in Q3 2017, which is down 21 per cent over the 162 sales in Q3 2016. The dollar value of industrial sales was $400 million in Q3 2017, a 15 per cent increase from $348 million in Q3 2016.
Multi-Family: There were 21 multi-family land sales in the Lower Mainland in Q3 2017, which is down 46.2 per cent from 39 sales in Q3 2016. The dollar value of multi-family sales was $192 million in Q3 2017, a 48.1 per cent decrease from $371 million in Q3 2016.
Download the full Q3 2017 Commercial Edge market report
REALTOR® Sing Yeo honoured by Senate of Canada
REBGV member Sing Yeo was recently awarded the Senate 150th Anniversary Medal for his decades-long service to the community.
These medals commemorate the first sitting of the Senate of Canada in 1867. They honour Canadian citizens and permanent residents who’ve made their communities better places to live through their generosity, volunteerism, dedication, and hard work.
“Not only does the medal highlight the contributions of Canadians – from coast to coast, from all walks of life and from varied backgrounds – it also highlights the wide diversity of the people whose efforts make Canada great,” says Senator Serge Joyal.
Sing is no stranger to these kinds of honours. He’s been recognized with the REALTORS Care® Award, the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award, the Giving Hearts Award for Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser from the Vancouver Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the Order of British Columbia.
Over 30 years, his efforts have helped raise more than $20 million for a range of charitable causes such as the Tapestry Foundation for Healthcare, the Chinese Cultural Centre and S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
He’s also a founder of both the BC Children’s Hospital REALTORS Care® Endowment Fund and the Canadian REALTORS Care® Foundation, and a long-time supporter of the REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive.
Congratulations Sing!
Support Vancouver’s Habitat for Humanity: win CREA’s gingerbread dream home
This December, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is supporting local Habitat for Humanity chapters through their Gingerbread Dream Home campaign.
It features a fictitious listing of a luxury gingerbread house, complete with listing details and this promotional video:
Make a donation to Vancouver’s Habitat for Humanity and you’ll be eligible to win a replica of the gingerbread dream home.
View the listing and find the link to donate at www.gingerbreaddreamhome.ca.
Your feedback helps us improve our education program
Your feedback influences the way we develop and evolve our education program. We review the course evaluations you complete after every course and use the information to enhance our service to you.
For example, you asked us to provide course materials in advance of the course date. We began to do this in March. You can access these materials as soon as you’re registered for the course by visiting My Course Materials on www.rebgv.ca. They remain accessible for 30 days after the course, and you can download them to your own computer to keep for yourself.
You also asked us to provide you with more information about the instructor for each course and the other courses they teach.
We’ve created instructor profiles that you can access by visiting the course description page and clicking on the instructor name(s) for that course. The link opens their profile page where you can learn more about each instructor’s knowledge and experience, along with a roster of the other courses they teach.
You can find a full list of our course instructors by visiting Instructor Profiles in the Education and Technology Support section on www.rebgv.ca.
If you have further suggestions, please continue to add them to the course evaluations or send us an email at education@rebgv.org.
REBGV member featured on Global News for safety app
Global News recently featured REALTOR® Merideth Schutter for creating a smartphone app Realtors can use to alert friends and colleagues if they’re in a dangerous situation.
The app, PROtect, has both a scheduled check-in function, which sends an alert if you don’t check in at a regular interval, and a “panic button” that can be used in cases of immediate danger.
Read the full story here.
Stay safe with other smartphone apps
SentriLock lockbox users also have access to a Realtor safety app. SentriLock’s SentriSmart app contains an agent safety feature that notifies your emergency contacts if you feel your safety is threatened.
Here’s a tutorial on how to set up this feature on your iPhone or Android device. Once set up, these tutorials show you how agent safety works on your iPhone or Android device.
If you have questions, contact SentriLock at 1-877-736-8745.
Congratulations, Paul Sekhon, Team 3000 Realty, Surrey. Bill Andrews, RE/MAX Central, Burnaby has sent you a bouquet. Here's what Bill told us:
"I met with a Realtor along with my client from Port Moody on a Wednesday evening to show a foreclosure listed in Surrey. I put my phone down while looking at some papers and then forgot it. I didn’t discover it was missing until I arrived back in Port Moody. After dropping my client off, I went home and called Paul Sekhon of Team 3000 Realty and told him what happened. He said he was on his way to Abbotsford and not returning. I figured I would head back to the condo building and figure out how to get in once I got there. Before I finished parking my vehicle in the visitor parking lot, the garage door opened and Paul walked out with my phone in hand, telling me 'it’s your lucky day,' which it certainly felt like. Thank you, Paul. You saved me a lot of aggravation."
Only a month left to nominate exceptional REALTORS®
Our Professional Excellence Award honours members who epitomize professionalism, and who go the extra mile for their clients, colleagues, and their community. If you know someone who fits this description, nominate them today using our easy-to-complete nomination process.
Our REALTORS Care® award honours members and offices who are committed to helping others by raising funds, volunteering, or doing other good deeds in the community. If you know a Realtor or an office that fits that description, nominate them for a REALTORS Care® award today.
The nomination deadline for both awards is January 15, 2018.
Broker load Fraser Valley listings
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board now allows REBGV members to broker load Fraser Valley listings.
The process to add a Fraser Valley listing will be the same as if it were an REBGV listing. To learn more about broker loading, contact MLS® Assistant Manager Irene Wilson at 604-730-3035.
The Board will be closed on the following days this holiday season:
- Monday, December 25 (Christmas Day)
- Tuesday, December 26 (Boxing Day)
- Monday, January 1 (New Year’s Day)
We’ll also be closing at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, December 15, for our staff holiday party.
We wish you all the best for a safe and happy holiday season!
