july 2010

Issue #253 July 2010

John Bowes on 60 years of change2

iPad real estate appsPage 18

Don Lawby Century 21 Canada’s president talks about syndication of listings and the future of Canadian real estatePage 8

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RE Marketing 6-10.indd 1 6/14/10 1:44:39 PM

REM JULY 2010 3

Rankings stir up Canadian brokerages

In the United States, research company Real Trends has

been producing Top 500 brokers lists for 22 years, ranking the country’s real estate firms by sides (number of transactions) and closed sales dollar volume. This year the company made its first foray into the Canadian market, and while many companies welcomed the Real Trends survey, others greeted it with suspicion or indifference. When the two lists of the top 200 firms in Canada were first released to real estate firms and selected media outlets in April, there was an uproar. Some companies felt that their competitor’s numbers were incorrect, and others were angry they were left off the lists.

“There was some mis-understanding and some finger pointing,” says Steve Murray, publisher of the list and editor at Real Trends. “There were some things that were wrong with the list, so we dealt with that and took full responsibility for it.” Real Trends asked media outlets, including REM, to wait until the list was finalized before releasing it. However, one newspaper chain chose to print the top 10 from each list, despite the fact that some numbers were incorrect,

says Murray. Included in the corrections was the No. 1 ranking on the dollar volume list.

The top spot on both lists goes to Royal LePage’s 15 corporately owned offices. Second place on the sides list is Royal LePage Team Realty and Royal LePage Gale – two offices in the Ottawa area with the same ownership, which allows them to be combined under the parameters of the list. Second place on the dollar volume list goes to MacDonald Realty Group’s 13 corporately owned offices in B.C.

Re/Max franchises dominate, taking 130 of the top 200 spots on the largest brokers list. The company purchased a two-page ad in the June issue of REM and reprinted the entire top 200 list.

Real Trends says the new lists are accurate but admit they may have missed some brokerages, particularly large independent firms. Others chose not to participate. “We know that there are companies that would qualify in this list that are not in it,” says Real Trends’ Nicolai Kolding. “We made every effort we could to reach them. We certainly respect the decision of those that we reached that chose

not to participate, and apologise to any that we inadvertently did not reach.”

Real Trends sent surveys to any companies it believed might have a minimum of 500 sides closed in 2009, and received more than 200 surveys back. The information was verified by an external auditor’s letter or by approval from the franchisor.

Why would a company that knows it isn’t No. 1 in its marketplace want to be part of the survey? “There are nuggets in the list for any company to use effectively to tell people the story of who you are,” says Kolding. “You may not be the biggest but maybe you have a better per person productivity – maybe you are the biggest in a particular submarket segment or maybe your average sale price turns out to be better. Even with the relatively simple metrics that are in this – offices, agents, volume and sales – there are a number of different stats you can pull out of this. Bigger is not always the best.”

Kolding says there are some interesting comparisons between the Canadian survey results and those in the U.S. “Productivity per office was significantly higher, on

average, in Canada than the U.S. (598 transaction sides per office in Canada vs. 367 in the U.S. and dollar volume $176 million (Cdn) in Canada vs. $97 million (US) in the United States),” says Kolding. “This despite the fact that the Canadian group had fewer agents per office than their comparables in the U.S.”

Murray says the difference may be because the Canadian real estate industry is more consolidated than in the U.S. and the amount of money that brokerages retain after the sales reps have been paid is less. Brokerages in Canada need higher productivity in order to survive, he says.

Real Trends plans to make the rankings an annual event and Murray says things should

go smoother next year. “I think that when nothing like this has been published before, everyone is free to make their own claims – and someone like us comes out and says we verified this stuff and got third-party verification of the data…and it turns out that maybe some firms are still very large but there are other firms that are every bit as strong. It’s a stunner because all of a sudden it knocks the legs out from under your public relations.”

Kolding says the goal going forward is to make sure all firms are aware of the survey and to make it easier to submit their data online.

Both lists are availableat www.realtrends.com for$35 US. REM

While many companies welcomed the Real Trends survey, others greeted it with suspicion or indifference.The lists rank Canadian real estate brokerages by sides and closed dollar volume. By Jim Adair

Steve Murray Nicoli Kolding

Real Trends Largest Brokers in Canada, top 10 (ranked by sides):1.Royal LePage Real Estate Services, Toronto (9,849)2.Royal LePage Team Realty & Royal LePage Gale, Ottawa (7,697)3.Re/Max Realtron, Markham, Ont. (7,390)4.Re/Max Twin City Realty, Kitchener, Ont. (6,802)5.Re/Max Hallmark Realty, Toronto (6,785)6.Re/Max Real Estate Centre, Cambridge, Ont. (6,779)7.Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty, Belleville, Ont. (6,627)8.MacDonald Realty, Vancouver (6,335)9.Royal LePage Your Community Realty, Richmond Hill, Ont. (5,323)10.Century 21 Conexus Realty, Regina (5,306)

Real Trends Largest Brokers in Canada, top 10 (ranked by closed sales volume)1. Royal LePage Real Estate Services, Toronto ($5,029,207,255)2. MacDonald Realty Group, Vancouver ($4,710,426,423)3. Re/Max Real Estate Central, Calgary ($2,752,198,032)4. Re/Max Hallmark Realty, Toronto ($2,710,451,789)5. Re/Max Realtron Realty, Markham ($2,676,282,077)6. Royal LePage Team Realty & Royal LePage Gale, Ottawa ($2,224,549,009)7. Prudential Sussex Realty, North Vancouver ($1,979,991,706)8. Re/Max Real Estate Centre, Cambridge, Ont. ($1,814,460,130)9. CIR Realty, Calgary ($1,753,292,010)10. Royal LePage Your Community Realty ($1,748,396,784)

Productivity Report:Average sides per agent: 14.5 • Average volume per agent: $4,319,000 • Average sides per offi ce: 608.2 • Average volume per offi ce: $188,314,189 • Average agents per offi ce: 41.9

4 REM JULY 2010

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

By Jim Adair

ichel Friedman has beennamed general managerof HomeLife Realty’s

Canadian operations.Friedman was licensed to sell

real estate in 1990 and received hisbroker license in 1992. Over theyears he worked for various realestate companies as a salespersonand manager and as broker ofrecord for his own multi-branchreal estate company. He has beenactive at the Toronto Real EstateBoard in the Education, Bylawsand Ethics Committees.

Friedman is also an approvedspeaker for the TREB ProfessionalDevelopment program and for var-ious Real Estate Council ofOntario courses.

M HomeLife says that Friedman’smandate is to “expand theHomeLife brand in Canada and toimplement the ‘No agent leftbehind’ corporate motto of educa-tion and higher production for allHomeLife agents.”

■ ■ ■

Mike McCarron, formerly afranchise business associate withExit Realty International, has beennamed supervisor of growth anddevelopment for Canada.McCarron, who originally joinedExit as a franchisee, was instru-mental in building one of Exit’smost productive offices in Canadaalong with his former partner, RonYoung, who still operates the bro-

kerage, the company says. “Mike transitioned from fran-

chisee to head office team playerwith absolute finesse. His businessacumen, tremendous initiativeand his dynamic enthusiasm arekey ingredients to his success,” saysJoyce Paron, president – Canada.“He will be part of the ongoinggrowth and development of Exitacross Canada, which is targetedfor over 320 franchisees and over18,000 sales associates.”

Michel Friedman Rod Forsythe Darren Murphy

The team at Wise Move Realty.

■ ■ ■

The former Alison RealtyGMAC Real Estate brokerage,with 17 sales reps and offices inPeterborough and Bowmanville,Ont., has become RealtyExecutives Alison. Broker/ownerClarence Collison was president ofthe Peterborough and KawarthaAssociation of Realtors in 2008/09and has been an agent in the mar-ket since 1985.

“Our goal is always to remainthe best, not necessarily the largest,team of real estate professionals,”says Collison. “By aligning withRealty Executives, our clients andagents benefit from a culture withstrong family values and the mostprogressive technology and tools.”

Collison says the Peterboroughand Durham markets have beenvery strong this spring due to thecontinuing low interest rates,pending HST tax increase and thecreation of new jobs.

“Clarence’s team of experi-enced and productive real estateagents are among the most activeand prominent Realtors in theircommunities because they intrinsi-cally understand their market-place,” says Scott Gilmour, presi-dent of franchise development forRealty Executives in Ontario,Quebec and Atlantic Canada.“Couple their real estate knowl-edge with their work ethic and it isapparent they are a powerhouse.”

■ ■ ■

Re/Max Premier of Vaughanand Re/Max Excellence Realty ofWoodbridge, Ont. have mergedand will now operate under theRe/Max Premier banner. The dealwill result in greater market pres-ence for Re/Max Premier, as itssales force could swell to 200Realtors working out of three officelocations.

“The community we serve hasgrown tremendously over the pastdecade,” says Gabriel Bianchi, bro-ker/owner, Re/Max Premier. “Wehave been looking to expand forsome time to address our evolvingmarketplace. This deal presentedan unparalleled opportunity forgrowth by uniting two exception-ally successful companies thatshare a commitment to outstand-ing quality, service and results.Our company culture and businessphilosophies meld so seamlessly,the situation could not be moreideal.”

Former broker/owner PatriciaCostanzo of Re/Max Excellence

will remain with the expandedRe/Max Premier. “I believe thechange to the Re/Max Premierbanner will move the franchise tothe next level. Re/Max Premierhas the tools, the knowledge, thepeople and the strategic vision tobe a serious frontrunner in themarketplace.”

■ ■ ■

Sales rep Rod Forsythe hasjoined KW Realty South ofCalgary. Forsythe has been sellingreal estate since 1986 and hasspent most of his career withRe/Max.

“My focus has always been onservice and learning,” saysForsythe. “This has allowed bothmy family and clients to expect thevery best of me every day.”

■ ■ ■

Century 21 United Realty inPeterborough, Ont. recently wel-comed Darren Murphy to the roleof general manager. Murphy wasformerly publisher and generalmanager of the PeterboroughExaminer. He decided to make acareer change after more than adecade in the media industry.

When he left the newspaper,he says, “It was reported on a radiomorning show that I was runningfor mayor. The competing news-paper in the market ran a story thatI was taking over as CEO of theUnited Way. The GM of the PetesOntario Hockey League franchiseleft his position at around the sametime, so it was rumoured that I wastaking over that position. Otherrumours had me running for theprovincial Tories and becoming aswimming coach at TrentUniversity. Instead I joined CarlOake’s team at Century 21 Unitedand caught everyone by surprise.”

Murphy says there are similari-ties between managing a real estatefranchise and a news organization.“The news business is a peoplebusiness and real estate is much thesame. It is the people that makethe company successful andCentury 21 United has really greatpeople.”

■ ■ ■

Century 21 Canada haslaunched a mobile web platformfor users of popular hand-helddevices and smart phones, includ-ing Blackberry, iPhone, iPodTouch, iPad and Google Androidphones. Additional devices will be

Mike McCarron Gabriel BianchiCentury 21’s new mobile platform.

Continued on page 6

1-800-446-8737 | Century21.caIndependently Owned and Operated. ® TM, trademarks of Century 21 Real Estate LLC, used under license. ®™ Trademarks of AIR MILES International Trading B.V. Used under license by LoyaltyOne, Inc. and Century 21 Canada Limited Partnership.

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TREB loses motion against Lawrence DaleFormer Realtysellers owner awarded $3,000 in costs By Kathy Bevan

6 REM JULY 2010

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

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

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he Toronto Real EstateBoard (TREB) has lost amotion against lawyer

Lawrence Dale and has beenordered to pay Dale $3,000 in costswithin 30 days.

TREB’s motion was firstbrought before Justice DavidBrown of Ontario’s Superior Courtof Justice in June 2009, when atrial involving Ontario brokerFraser Beach versus TREB was justbeginning. Dale was one of thelawyers representing Beach, whowas seeking restoration of hisaccess to TREB’s MLS database.TREB suspended Beach’s MLSaccess after learning that Beach,without TREB’s authorization, haddownloaded thousands of TREBlistings from the board’s MLS data-

base onto his discount brokerage’spublic website, realestateplus.ca. Ineffect, TREB argued, this hadgiven consumers access to themore extensive listing data thatthe board only made available toits membership.

The motion TREB broughtagainst Dale claimed that, whilerepresenting Beach, Dale hadbreached the “deemed undertak-ing” rule (Rule 30.1). Specifically,TREB alleged that Dale had pro-

vided the Competition Bureauwith transcripts of the examina-tion for discovery of DonRichardson, TREB’s CEO.

Justice Brown dismissedBeach’s lawsuit in December 2009,agreeing with TREB’s argumentthat the broker had breachedTREB’s Authorized UserAgreement. At that time, thejudge also announced that he wasdeferring dealing with TREB’smotion against Dale until a laterdate.

On June 14 of this year, JusticeBrown announced his decision onthe outstanding motion, rulingagainst TREB and awarding Dale$3,000 in costs. In advance of thejudge’s decision, Dale’s legal coun-sel had asked the court for an

award of $11,500; TREB’s legalcounsel had submitted that anaward of $10,000 would be moreappropriate. In his ruling, JusticeBrown concluded that “an awardof costs in the amount of $3,000would be a reasonable one in thecircumstances”, based on, amongother reasons, the fact that themotion took half a day to argue, no pre-hearing examinationsoccurred; and the motion involveda “narrow factual and legal issue”.

While the contents of an emailfrom Dale’s counsel to one ofTREB’s lawyers indicated thattranscripts had been provided tothe Competition Bureau, JusticeBrown said the person who actual-ly provided the transcripts to thebureau had not been identified.

“While I have my suspicionsabout who, on the Beach side ofthe litigation, sent the transcriptsto the Competition Bureau, suspi-cion is not good enough,” JusticeBrown said in his decision.“Accordingly, TREB has not estab-lished that Mr. Dale was the source

of the transcripts, so its motionagainst him must fail.”

Dale and TREB have not seenthe last of each other in a court-room – three legal cases involvingthose two parties, as well as others,are pending trial dates. One is theappeal Dale launched againstJustice Brown’s December 2009ruling in Beach v TREB. The sec-ond is a Breach of SettlementAction for $100 million Daleserved in October 2009 againstTREB, CREA and a number ofrelated association and board offi-cers. This second lawsuit is related

to a settlement agreement original-ly reached in 2003 involvingRealtysellers – the Toronto-baseddiscount brokerage, now dormant,that Dale co-founded withStephen Moranis.

The third is a $750 million law-suit Dale served in April 2010against TREB officials and mem-bers, as well as a number of otherindividuals, including senior executives from Royal LePage and Re/Max Ontario-AtlanticCanada. This action alleges breachof contract and actions contrary tothe Competition Act. REM

T

added as development continues,the company says.

The mobile website offersmobile-device-optimized propertysearch, real estate agent/officesearch and agent pages; proximitysearch, enabling users to findhomes and offices near their cur-rent locations; functionality forconsumers to view and savefavourites; the ability to add prop-erties and notes on the go; full inte-gration with the Century21.cawebsite and more.

iPhones users currently accountfor the majority of visits toCentury21.ca from mobile devices,with iPods and Blackberry userscoming in second and third,respectively. “Most of the approxi-mately 900,000 monthly visits toCentury21.ca still come fromhome computers,” says Century 21Canada president Don Lawby.“But mobile search optimization isthe future of online real estate mar-keting, in my opinion.”

Alex Blyakhman, president

and chief product officer ofWhereToLive.com, which devel-oped the platform, says, “Manysmart phones today have searchfunctionality equivalent to homecomputers. Their technology letspotential home buyers tour neigh-bourhoods, view properties, down-load pictures or videos and thenshare their favourites with friendsanywhere in the world. As a mar-keter, your website had better pro-vide a positive and problem-freeexperience for these users or they’llgo somewhere else.”

■ ■ ■

Exit Realty’s annual CanadianFranchisee Conference was heldlast month in Niagara Falls, Ont.Hosted by Paron, Ed Martens,senior VP franchise sales andMcCarron, the two-day businessimmersion event included guestspeakers Bruce Mullett and AnneSquires of Exit Realty on the Rockin St. John’s, Nfld.; LorettaHughes of Exit Realty Fusion inRegina and Wayne Cochrane ofExit Realty Optimum inDartmouth. Founder and CEO

Steve Morris was the keynotespeaker.

“The energy of this group isunstoppable. Everyone is focusedon the goal of 40 per cent marketshare through the building of har-monious relationships with theiragents and the public,” saysMartens. “I have been in real estatefor over 30 years and never felt thiskind of excitement and intent.”

■ ■ ■

Wise Move Realty has becomea member of the Aventure RealtyNetwork. Broker/owner HazelLadouceur and an experiencedteam bring a full array of real estateservices to the Petawawa,Pembroke, Deep and Chalk River,Ont. markets, and have establisheda strong record of working withmilitary personal. Aventure mem-bers will continue to build theircapacity to work with military per-sonal by connecting their marketsthroughout the network, the com-pany says. The network of inde-pendent broker members now hasmore than 50 locations and morethan 2,000 Realtors. REM

Multiple ListingsContinued from page 4

TREB alleged that Dale hadprovided the Competition

Bureau with transcripts of theexamination for discovery of

Don Richardson, TREB’s CEO.

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entury 21 Canada’s presi-dent and COO, DonLawby, has been with the

franchisor since 1976, two yearsafter he began working in real estate.Lawby oversaw the significantrestructuring of the corporation’sbusiness model in the mid-1990s, inresponse to the surge of “head fee”alternatives. At the same time, thecompany began operating muchmore independently from its U.S.-based parent firm. In 2007, it begana branding makeover; in the Mayissue of REM, Lawby announced anew corporate tagline – Connectedto More – to draw consumer atten-tion to its remodeled Century21.cawebsite. Recently, Lawby spoke withREM senior editor Kathy Bevanabout the way his company and theindustry continue to evolve.

REM: I understand you’renow awaiting the court’s ruling onthe issue of proprietary listingdata, in your lawsuit againstRogers and its Zoocasa.com syndi-cation service. We haven’t yetseen other franchisors take up thislegal battle – do you feel like alone voice in the wilderness?

Lawby: Pretty much. I thinkthat many in the industry don’tunderstand what’s happening totheir data. They don’t understand,when they tick boxes that say, “Iwant the listing information to goeverywhere”, what that reallymeans.

I am not against syndication. Iam against how it’s being done byorganized real estate. Look at howhard it is for us to get data fromour brokers to put on their site.We go back and forth with boardsabout how to get the data, createthe software and get each of ouroffices to agree. We don’t send thedata anywhere; it’s on our fran-chisees’ and our brokers’ sites. Wespend hundreds of thousands ofdollars to do this and a companygoes to a board and the board says,“Okay, no problem, here’s thedata”? This takes the data outsidethe industry. And let me tell you,all of the companies that are usingthe data are using it to build for-profit businesses.

Maybe I am a lone voice, but I

8 REM JULY 2010

In conversation with Don LawbyCentury 21 Canada’s president and COO on the syndication of listings, the Competition Bureau, future real estate trends and his own career

will continue to speak out. I’m notagainst a salesperson or an officesaying, “I want my data to go onZoocasa.” I just want them to real-ize what that looks like, that’s all.

In future, I think we will seemuch more competitive sites pro-viding information to the con-sumer on real estate transactions,with more and more proprietarydata on the site – not just havingthe same data. That is, unless adecision comes from the courtthat says that companies have theright to take everybody’s data andput it on their own sites.

REM: Your company has been meeting with Royal LePageand Re/Max Ontario-AtlanticCanada to explore sharing eachother’s listings on your corporatewebsites – what stage are thosediscussions at now?

Lawby: The three of us havehired a consultant we are collec-tively paying for, so that when wemeet and talk, something actuallyhappens from those discussions.That consultant is representingour three companies and dealingwith CREA, as we speak.

We’re endeavouring to findthe ability to get data from onesource – that would be the sim-plest way, if possible. But it truly isup to each of the boards as to howthis is put together. So we’re talk-ing with a number of bureaucra-cies and the timeframe is expand-ing and some of us are losingpatience. We may just continue toendeavour to get data fromCREA, a feed, but until we can dothat, we may start getting datafrom some boards, with of course,the approval of salespeople andoffices.

Our intention is to test andstart and then anybody whobelongs to organized real estatewill be able to participate. Therewill be a fee, but will it be lots?No. It will all be web-based – thesimpler it is, the simpler it willwork. If we can just take data fromCREA, the fee will be whateverthey’re going to charge. But ifwe’re pulling it all, sending itthrough and holding it on servers,then costs go up. We’re not trying

to build profit – this is a businessfor us to continue to compete,that’s all.

REM: And how is your newbusiness model competing in2010?

Lawby: We’re really happywith our business model today.We’re becoming more of arecruiter and distributor of leadsto our franchisees. We’re putting

more and more actual, direct sys-tems in place.

We believe, going forward,that there have to be benchmarksystems where we can say, “Here isthe system and when you put it in,these are the results that you’llget.” We’ve watched other com-

panies that are doing that – most,if not all, in the U.S. – and we’reseeing how that is working.

The travelling I’ve been doingis to meet with groups of our bro-kers and salespeople to push ourtechnology, which we consider tobe the leading Internet technolo-gy in this space. We continue topush our people to use it to themaximum effect, to provide thebest experience they can to the

consumer.Today we have a website that

operates in three languages –English, French and Chinese.We’re launching a mobile appli-cation in English; by the end ofJune, it will be in French; inAugust, it will be in Chinese.

Then we’ll see if there is anotherlanguage we want to add, becausewe truly are a multi-cultural orga-nization.

REM: Is Century 21 still grow-ing in Canada?

Lawby: Yes, we are. And withthe re-acquisition of the manage-ment of the province of Quebec,we will have significant growthover the next 18 months.

In Quebec, we had a manag-ing contract and we had to takecourt action last year. In October,we took it over and havereopened a corporate office.We’ve already started to buildfranchises and started to recruit.

We didn’t lose any offices orpeople in the process. There was asense of “what’s going to happen?”But all of a sudden, we started todeliver service and we started todeliver tools. I took a translatorand went and sat down in everyoffice.

We were very candid witheveryone – very straight. That’sthe one thing I pride myself on –and our whole organization.We’re ethical, we’re straightfor-ward, we tell people how it is.We’re not afraid to make deci-sions, we don’t make easy deci-sions – the easy decision is to sayyes all the time; we don’t say yesall the time.

As well, we don’t just run C-21 Canada. We acquired andbuilt Cendant Financial Group, amortgage brokerage franchise,based in Vancouver. And we’vejust negotiated the rights for RealProperty Management forCanada.

REM: What’s the fit you seewith Real Property Management?

Lawby: There hasn’t been anynational property managementoperation of this kind in Canada.We’re not talking about the bigbuildings downtown – we’re talk-ing about investor real estate, thetype that gets looked after bysalespeople. There are a lot ofinvestors that buy three, four, fivedoors and get a Realtor or realestate salesperson to look afterthem. Many of those Realtors andsalespeople do this just to makethe sale – they don’t have any realproficiency in property manage-ment. When the toilet plugs inthe middle of the night, they hategetting the call. When you start

C

Continued on page 10

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talking about large offices, there’san opportunity for a service to beput together. We think there arereally good synergies for this.

Because of how this industryis, our franchisees need theopportunity to be able to connectto opportunities to have on-going profitable businesses.There continues to be pressureon commissions, both from con-sumers and from salespeople andprofitability continues to be anissue in this industry. We believethat there are changes in whatGeneration X and Y want andlook for – more lifestyle, that sortof thing – that will mean therewill be more people turning torental accommodation. So wecontinue to look at the businesswe’re in, which is the real estateindustry.

That’s what we do – we look tothe future and say, “How do wecontinue to build business andlook after what it is that our fran-chisees and salespeople make aliving doing?” I want to make surethat it is understood in each of theoffices where we think this indus-try is going and how we thinkthey need to address this – bothsalespeople and office owners – fortheir successes and our success.

REM: What are you hearingfrom your brokers and salespeopleabout the legal dispute betweenCREA and the CompetitionBureau over access to MLS data?

Lawby: Everybody is con-cerned about what’s taking placewithin the real estate industry –nobody knows what the end effectwill be. They all look around theirmarketplace and say, “We’re in avery competitive marketplace, wedon’t understand.”

All we can say is, you need tofine-tune how you deliver themessage of the value you bring tothe transaction. People are willingto pay for value, for the value theysee. Most consumers don’t under-stand the complexity of the trans-action.

We have people in the indus-try saying, “We’re going to pro-vide ‘no service’, we’ll just guaran-tee the data that is on the listingand put it on MLS for a fee and wewon’t have anything to do withthe transaction.” Well, in someprovinces, they can’t do that – it’sagainst the act. So it’s not just

what the Competition Bureausays; it really depends on the actswithin the provinces.

I look to the American exam-ple and see that commissions haveheld. Actually, in the last 12months – maybe because of thekind of market it is – average com-missions have increased. So thebottom isn’t falling out the indus-try and I don’t think it is going tofall out of the industry.

REM: What do you think theindustry and your company willlook like over the next few yearsand what will you focus on per-sonally?

Lawby: Personally, my com-mitment to C-21 is to be here forthe next three and a half years.For me, over that time I want tomake sure that I leave the organi-zation in fine shape. I don’t wantanyone to say that he rode thehorse to the top of the hill andthen jumped off. I really do careabout the industry and my cus-tomers and their customers.

I’m thinking that sometimenext year, I’ll do another nationalpresident’s tour – this will be myfourth one. We have 378 officesand I’ve hit close to all offices oneach tour. Sometimes people willhave three or four offices and we’llvisit all those in one location; itdepends what works for each fran-chisee.

The reason I do these tours isbecause I like to do things that Idon’t think some of my competi-tors would do. I go places that I’mnot sure all my competitors will goto. I want to make sure I touchpeople who don’t come to compa-ny events. There are lots of thosepeople in every organization –they just don’t come out. They’remy customers – they have a rightto ask things that they want toknow and to get the straightgoods. I think that’s why we havea very good renewal rate and whatI think is an excellent relation-ship with our franchisees.

As for the future of the indus-try, it will continue to havebrands. Century 21, Re/Max,Royal LePage, Sutton will contin-ue to do well with brands, becausewe will all do the things necessaryto protect and build our brandwith the consumer. And I can tellyou that the consumer will pay forvalued service, but it is up to sales-people in the industry to demon-strate the value they bring to thetransaction. REM

In Conversation with...Continued from page 8

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The old joke, “change is inevitable – except from a

vending machine,” is as applicable today as it was 60 years ago. Although people are naturally wary about change, there’s no question that our lives have been vastly improved by the evolution of business and industry. Real estate is no exception. The way real estate is bought and sold has changed a lot in six decades, but the principles remain the same. It takes a willing buyer, a willing seller and, in most cases, a qualified agent to negotiate an agreement satisfactory to both sides.

When I started my real estate career in June 1950, I was working with Ridout Real Estate, then the largest brokerage in Canada with some 600 salespeople in Toronto and Southern Ontario. Ridout was one of the first real estate firms to offer in-house training, which consisted of morning sessions in its Bay Street office in Toronto, followed by afternoon cold calling and door knocking. Licensing was as simple as completing an application and filing a $1,000 bond with the Real Estate Registrar. Offers to purchase were brief and often

hand-written on the kitchen tables of buyers and sellers. The homes sold from its Danforth Avenue office were typically priced at $8,000. Our usual fee of five per cent ($400) was split 50-50 between the salesperson and the brokerage. Keep in mind that you could buy a new car for under $2,000 at the time.

When Bill Cocks and I started our own company, Bowes and Cocks, in 1956 we were required to write an examination to obtain registration as real estate brokers. The test was taken at the home of an elderly local Justice of the Peace. The JP promptly fell asleep on his living room sofa. We both passed with flying colours and went on to build one of the largest brokerages in Ontario. The iconic firm is still active in parts of Eastern Ontario.

Most real estate organizations, like ours, began as small start-ups and expansion was generally regional in nature. A few trust companies were opening real estate divisions, but there weren’t any national real estate chains or franchises until much later. Bowes and Cocks acquired Canadian rights to Gallery Homes in the mid-1960s and established a scattering of franchised offices across the country – a very progressive move at the time. Yet the framework of a multi-office franchise was much different than today. In the early days, there was little sharing of property information among offices, until the introduction of Co-Operative Listings, which later became the Multiple Listing Service.

Even then, change was on the horizon. In 1967, a broker in Baltimore began applying emerging computer technology to real estate sales. Air force veteran Donald Grempler

developed a primitive card sorter, programmed to select property listings by location, price, number of rooms and other criteria. Bowes and Cocks was the first in Toronto to install the device. At a meeting of the Toronto Real Estate Board in 1968, TREB president Brian Magee inquired from the stage, “Mr. Bowes, do you think there is a future use for computers in selling real estate?”

To which I replied, “Yes. The time will come when every agent has to have one.” That got a good laugh from the crowd. I wonder what the real estate people of the ’50s and ’60s would think of today’s email communications and World Wide Web exposure.

Meanwhile, in Denver, a new revolution in real estate was brewing. Dave and Gail Liniger may not have invented the 100 per cent commission concept, but they certainly created a pioneering brand that has had remarkable world-wide success. My wife Kelly and I had the good fortune to meet Frank Polzler and Walter Schneider in 1980 when they were starting to build one of the most successful regions in the Re/Max network. In our case, having sold my interest in Bowes and Cocks, we were struggling as an independent start-up company until we joined the franchise, and we have since grown to the largest brokerage in our region with 10 offices and 120 agents.

In the 30 years that followed, the real estate industry has experienced steady evolution. A degree of self-governance of our industry, agent disclosure, PIPEDA, FINTRAC, GST, HST, Independent Contractors and a host of new rules seemed designed to make our lives more complicated. Apart from

the changes in technology and regulations, we also have competition from discount brokers, FSBO marketers and their related websites.

Not to mention the rumblings heard down south this winter of Canada’s Competition Bureau vs. CREA. We know that in the U.S. there are few, if any, restrictions on registered real estate people accessing MLS systems. This has led to the establishment of firms like Sarasota-based KeepCommissionRealEstate.com, which takes MLS listings for $299, plus a selling broker fee of three per cent. The broker/owner of this small firm conceded to me that most of her clients are not prepared to take buyer calls, arrange showings and negotiate offers, so instead many opt for further broker assistance at an additional fee. Speaking to established Realtors in the same market area, I was told that the presence of cut-rate listing services on their MLS system has not interfered with the operation or fee structures of full-service offices. As a result, I was pleased

to report back to my colleagues on the home front that the real estate world, as we know it, is not about to end.

Clearly, no matter what happens, people move forward. Life – and business – moves forward as well. As I approach my 83rd birthday and 60 years in the business (and counting), I still look forward to the challenge of each day at the office. Yet, as every good businessman does, I continue to prepare for change.

My long-time associate, broker John Hope, has now acquired a half interest in our company, Re/Max Eastern Realty Inc., with a view to moving into the corner office a few years down the road. Despite this significant development, I am reminded that, sometimes, the more things change, the more they remain the same. My son, Michael, is now a Realtor with a full-service brokerage near our winter home in Florida. I guess some things never change… and that’s good too. REM

Sixty years of change12 REM JULY 2010

John Bowes began his real estate career in 1950 with Ridout Real Estate in Toronto. He was later co-founder of Bowes & Cocks in Peterborough. (Photo: Gordon Parks)

Bowes was manager of the Ridout office when this home sold for $6,000 in 1954. The current owner, Peterborough Mayor Paul Ayotte, found the sign in his garage.

As I approach my 83rd birthday and 60 years in the business (and counting), I still look forward to the challenge of each day at the office. Yet, as every good businessman does, I continue to prepare for change. By John Bowes

f you happen to be waiting fora train in a Toronto subwaystation and notice the pro-

jected image of a colourful muralon a video screen there, take aminute to consider that somewherein the city, there’s a group ofteenagers who can possibly thankthat mural for giving them a bettershot at a decent life.

It’s an unfortunate fact thatopportunities to participate in thearts may be severely limited forchildren in disadvantaged neigh-bourhoods. The same goes for qual-ity after-school programming thatstimulates them and keeps them offthe streets during the pivotal mid-dle school years when they are eas-ily led into trouble.

Statistics show that between 3pm and 6 pm, unsupervised chil-dren and youth are more likely toengage in gang-related or delin-quent behaviour, or to become vic-tims of crime themselves.

By funding suitable program-ming, The Toronto branch ofCanadian Real Estate Women(CREW), is making an effort tochange this. CREW is an associa-tion of women (and some men)who work in commercial real estateand are committed to philanthrop-ic pursuits that support theadvancement of women in realestate and business, as well as ofwomen’s issues, education and networking.

14 REM JULY 2010

Toronto CREW makes a difference with youthPrograms provide after-school activities for children in disadvantaged neighbourhoods By Susan Doran

By all accounts, most of themoney Toronto CREW uses tofund these pursuits comes from itshugely successful annual charitygolf tournament, which last yearbrought in $85,000, says TorontoCREW president Barbara Bees.

“I don’t know of any other asso-ciation that raises this much, all forphilanthropic endeavours,” shesays.

Toronto CREW looks to theToronto Community Foundation –an umbrella for hundreds of com-munity-minded organizations – tosteer it towards suitable initiatives.

“We have very strict fundingcriteria. It’s a challenge to findthings that meet it,” says Christina

Kobi, chair of Toronto CREW’sFoundation Committee. So shewas excited when an existing col-laborative Toronto CommunityFoundation program called Beyond3:30 (offered at eight schools insome of Toronto’s poorest neigh-bourhoods) decided, among itsother offerings, to introduce stu-dents to mural making in order tofamiliarize them with real-estate-related trades such as design andarchitecture.

“It’s a good fit,” says Kobi, whoespecially likes the fact that thefocus is on public art, architectureand education, and that femalearchitects visit the students to dis-cuss such things as real estate, struc-

tural concerns, artistic placementand gender issues related to the arts.There’s now a plan underway toshow some of the completed muralson video screens on Toronto sub-way platforms, sharing them withmillions of people daily.

The Beyond 3:30 program isoffered free to participating mid-dle school students (generallygrades 7, 8, and sometimes also 6and 9) after school on weeknights. Enrolment tends to be pre-dominantly female.

“What happens is that a profes-sional female artist is there with thekids every session, helping them toexecute their work,” says BarbaraLilker, one of the architectsinvolved. A female architectcomes in at the beginning and endof the project to talk about suchissues as, “how mural art can trans-form a space…the end result isalways a permanent large-scalemural, done by students,” saysLilker.

They choose mural themes(community, academics, peace, theenvironment and inspirationalwomen are some that have beenselected) as well as sites, in con-junction with the architect and theschool principal.

Lilker says the painted muralshave appeared everywhere from incorridors and auditoriums to alonglockers and lunch-room walls.Some use different techniques, for

instance clay, or batik quilting oncotton panels.

“The artist is the facilitator,teaching the kids how to use thedifferent mediums. But the kids arethe artists,” she says. “They have achance to impact the quality of thespaces they inhabit; to make thembetter ... It’s a way to empowerthem. That seems to excite them alot,” she says. “It’s about takingpride in your environment.”

In one school the basementcorridor chosen for the mural wasinitially so dreary that studentscomplained about getting tired justwalking down it. So they decidedto put a lot of movement in theirmural, using vivid colours, “energylines and silhouettes of kids movingdown the hall,” says Lilker.

Transformations such as thesecause students to really notice andunderstand their school’s architec-ture for the first time, says JulieFrost, executive artistic director forArts for Children and Youth, aToronto non-profit organizationhired to help with the Beyond 3:30program’s mural project upon itsinception last fall.

“A lot of them say the muralreally brightens up the space. A lotalso say they never knew they coulddo it,” says Frost. “At first, studentsmay say a space is too huge for amural. But once they work togeth-er as a team they see they canachieve it.” REM

I

Students work on a mural at Beverley Heights Middle School inToronto.

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16 REM JULY 2010

know this sounds like asilly topic, how to pick upthe phone. But you’d be

amazed at how difficult a taskthis really is. If it was a simplecase of grab the receiver in yourdominant hand and lift, realestate would be a much easiergame than it is. The picking upof the phone is the easy part;the dialing is where the prob-lems begin. So many sales reps,on a daily basis, do their verybest impression of a 15-year-oldnerd calling the head cheer-leader. A lot of phones world-wide are stared at all day long,with nothing accomplished.

Dialing the phone is a MEN-TAL game. You need a goodenergy level, a positive attitudeand confidence in yourself, yourmessage and your ability to han-dle all situations that mightcome up. When you haveachieved this you will see anamazing thing start to happen.Your ability to pick up the phoneand dial will grow. Soon yourlove of picking up the phone willgrow and then it will no longer

By Andy Herrington

How to pick up a phone and dial

I

be a task or a necessary evil, itwill be an amazing part of yourbusiness and one you look for-ward to every day.

Some things to try to help youbuild your mental game:

1. Set a reasonable daily goalfor dials, contacts and appoint-ments. And a prize for attainingthem.

2. Do not worry about every-thing on your day timer, only thestuff you can get to – you will notget to it all. This is okay.

3. Use a headset when dialing.Stand and walk around when dial-ing, have music in the background(quiet).

4. Role-play “out loud” a cou-ple of successful calls prior to pick-ing up the phone.

5. Take a break every 90 to 120minutes for five or 10 minutes or ifa client angers you on a call. Getup and walk around to take yourmind away from calling. Whenyou return, refocus and begin dial-ing again.

6. Know that the hardest dial isthe first one. Call a friendly personor simply use the will power tobegin dialing.

7. Watch funny or inspiringvideos on www.youtube.com onyour breaks.

8. Affirmations said out loudprior to calling or even prior toeach call can work wonders. (try –“helping people”, “high energy,great message, lots of appoint-

ments”, “here is my next appoint-ment” or “I’m an appointmentbooking machine”.)

9. Have a mirror in front of youand make sure you are smiling allthe time.

10. Have a tally board so youraccomplishments are noted andshown to the world. Know whatis happening daily, monthly

and yearly.Finally, have you completed

your own personal goals thisyear? What goal specifically canbe achieved through makingthese calls? What is the directbenefit to you to pick up thephone and dial? When you cananswer that, you will be well onyour way.

Andy Herrington is a Realtor with10 years experience. He has worked forsix years as a lead conversion agent onthree top producing teams across theGTA. A founding member and mastercoach with Dan Plowman TeamSystems Inc., he is regarded as a special-ist in human behaviour, scripting andteam development. Email [email protected]. REM

Boards and associations newswayne Hayes ofMoncton was electedpresident of the New

Brunswick Real EstateAssociation (NBREA) recent-ly. Hayes has been a Realtorsince 1999, and served on sev-eral local and provincial com-mittees during the past eightyears. He also served as a direc-tor of the Greater MonctonReal Estate Board for threeyears, chairing the board’s MLSand Technology committee,MLS Implementation TaskForce and By-Law Task Force.

Also on the new Board ofDirectors are: first vice-presidentPaul Burns, Moncton; secondvice-president Deborah Murchie,Fredericton; past-president Don

Ketchum, Saint John; secretary-treasurer Austin Drisdelle,Fredericton; and directors ChrisConstantine of Moncton, JasonStephen of Saint John, DianaOtteson of Fredericton, RobertStewart of Northern andRoland Couturier, Valley. Thegovernment relations represen-tative is Greg Davis, Northernand the government appointeeis Hugh Whalen.

■ ■ ■

J. Yu of Montréal was thehappy winner of the $25,000down payment offered as partof the “Win a $25,000 DownPayment Contest” that wasorganized as part of the launchof centris.ca, Quebec’s new real

estate industry website. “This money is totally unex-

pected and will help me buy myfirst home,” says Yu. MichelBeauséjour, CEO of the QuébecFederation of Real EstateBoards, says, “It’s a great giftthat will go toward a greatinvestment. This down pay-ment will enable a first-timebuyer to acquire the property oftheir dreams.”

The contest took place fromApril 7 to May 7. The winnerhas one year to use the downpayment, which is applicable tothe purchase of a propertylocated in the province ofQuébec and listed on the cen-tris.ca website. REM

D

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Prudential plans ‘immersive’ virtual toursBy Andrea Brambila

18 REM JULY 2010

rudential Real Estate andRelocation Services haslaunched a collaborative vir-

tual research and development lab-oratory, the company announcedrecently.

The venture, Prudential RealEstate Collaborative InnovationPartnership (PRECIP), will be a“collaboratory,” or virtual lab“without walls,” to marry theexpertise of outside technologycompanies and the Prudential RealEstate network, the company said.Owned by Prudential Financial,the network has about 60,000 salesassociates and about 1,700 officesin North America.

“It’s not a traditional laboratoryin its own right. It’s a combinationof three things: innovation, aresearch and development effort,and collaboration between expertsin the (tech) industry and (realestate) practitioners. We think itshould allow us to bring new toolsto the market even faster,” says JimMallozzi, the company’s chairmanand CEO.

The company says the labora-tory will focus on four areas: videogaming and sensory spaces; social

networking and media sharing;mobile computing; and the appli-cation of semantic web searchengines research.

The latter refers to searchengines that display results basedon word meaning rather thankeyword page rank. The point isto actually answer a user’s ques-tion, such as, “What is the bestItalian restaurant in SanFrancisco’s Nob Hill neighbour-hood?” rather than give them theinformation to figure out theanswer for themselves.

“If you ask Google a question, itdoesn’t give you an answer, it givesyou a list,” says Steve Van Anden,the project’s interim director and along-time consultant to PrudentialReal Estate. “We want to give(users) a very specific answer.”

The company has alreadysigned a letter of intent withMontreal-based virtual worlddeveloper Immersive DesignStudio (IDS) to create one of theproject’s first priorities: a virtual,immersive home tour.

“This is actually Avatar meetsreal estate. We demonstrated ...how (two people) could both be in

different rooms at opposite ends ofthe country and be holographical-ly next to each other. Buyers canstart to experience homes andwhat they would do with (a home)even before they actually see it,”Mallozzi says.

While the tour prototype usestraditional navigation with amouse or joystick, the projecthopes to incorporate technologythat IDS has already developedthat tracks the body as it moves,Van Anden says. People will beable to project a to-scale versionof a room onto a wall and “walk through” a room without clicking or wearing any specialequipment.

The prototype’s sensory-rich,immersive-world technologycomes from already existing gam-ing platforms, the company says.

“IDS has been working in‘hybrid space’ trying to look at howyou can merge the virtual and thephysical where those forces are notopposed as one over the other.Hybrid space is the core of IDSresearch and development andespecially for virtual house tours itmakes a lot of sense,” says Thomas

P Soetens, co-founder of IDS.Although the tours are not

ready for release yet, Mallozzi saysthe project could be ready in the“not-too-distant future.”

In the meantime, Prudential isseeking other potential tech part-ners and hoping to “connect thedots” between the real estateindustry and other fields, such asvideo gaming. Van Anden said akey objective for the collaborativetech effort “is to dramaticallyincrease the number of partici-

Jim Mallozzi, Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services chairmanand CEO, demonstrates a virtual home tour during a presentation at thecompany’s sales convention.

pants and perspectives that shapeour research efforts.”

The company is acceptingapplications from members of itsown network who would like toparticipate in the project. The pro-ject has attracted a lot of interest.While Prudential has consultedagents in its network about tech-nology before, the project will givethem “a more active voice” to setthe company’s research agenda,Van Anden says.

– Inman News REM

he way people view realestate information ischanging, and with sales of

over a million in the U.S., Apple’siPad offers access to a new genera-tion of real estate apps. This multi-touch tablet computer allows usersto scroll through listings on its 9.7-inch screen with a flick of their fin-ger and comes with a digital com-pass on 3G models to display ahouse hunter’s current location.With the iPad now available inCanada, let’s look at some of thereal estate applications that areavailable in Apple’s App Store(www.itunes.com/appstore/).

Complete Realty (www.com-pleterealtysuite.com) offers threereal estate apps for the iPad includ-ing Complete Foreclosures forsearching through foreclosed andbank-owned properties using search

criteria such as asking price, squarefootage and housing type.Complete Rental and CompleteHomes apps allow users to searchlocal rental home and property list-ings using similar criteria. All threeapps use the iPad’s GPS technologyto locate homes on an interactivemap complete with satellite views.

Complete Realty founderDaniel Burrus says, “Our apps areredesigned for the iPad takingadvantage of the larger screen andbetter processing power and speed.All three will become available inCanada most likely in the secondhalf of the year. The apps work inmost major cities in Canadaalready, but we need to do moredatabase work to cover all ofCanada. Complete Foreclosuresgives agents as well as the homebuyer instant access to all foreclosed

and pre-foreclosed homes with fulldescriptions and photos. We alsohave an intelligent foreclosureguide to help the public understandhow to buy an auction, or bank-owned home.”

A financial real estate calcula-tor app is also available for theiPad. Completely redesigned totake advantage of the iPad’s largerscreen, PowerOne features anRPN calculator capable of per-forming logarithmic, algebraic andtrigonometric functions and calcu-lations in decimal, fraction andfeet/inches.

Infinity Softworks CEO EliaFreeman says, “PowerOne com-bines calculators and spreadsheetsinto a form we call templates. Thesetemplates make entry and what-ifscenario analysis very fast and easy.Almost 60 templates are included

with about 25 specifically applica-ble to both residential and commer-cial real estate.” PowerOne is avail-able in Canada for $5.99 as a uni-versal application capable of run-ning on iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.“PowerOne is infinitely expandableas you can also create your owntemplates or use those created byothers at our template sharing site,”says Freeman. “Finally, you canemail the results of any template toyourself or client.”

A quick look at those real estateapps already available in the U.S.gives an idea of what the future mayhold for iPad users in Canada.ZipRealty (www.ziprealty.com)offers a free iPad app providinginformation on recently sold homesand those for sale, including infor-mation such as listing price andsquare footage plus third-party

home value estimates. Free down-load Zillow (www.zillow.com/ipad/)displays properties for sale or rent,along with “Zestimate” propertyvalues and high resolution photogalleries while AgentFirst’s(www.firstam.com) app providesaccess to a database of property andownership information covering 97per cent of all U.S. real estate trans-actions.

So it would seem that CompleteRealty and PowerOne’s real estateapps are likely to be the among thefirst of many to become available inCanada. Complete Realty founderDaniel Burrus says, “We have manynew real estate apps we will belaunching that we are very excitedabout but we cannot make ourplans public yet for competitive rea-sons.”

If you’re a new iPad user andyou’re actively looking for other real estate related apps, con-sider using Apple’s Genius(www.apple.com/ca/ipad/features/app-store.html) a free tool that rec-ommends other apps based on thoseyou’ve already downloaded. REM

iPad real estate applications From foreclosure and property search tools to financial calculators, REM looks at what iPad apps have to offer real estate professionals By Petra Jones

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am confused as hell, butthen again maybe I’m not.

“An economist is anexpert who will know tomorrowwhy the things he predicted todaydidn’t happen tomorrow.” –Laurence J. Peter

As recently as these past fewweeks in the National Post and theGlobe and Mail, we read that the“bubble in real estate markets willeither level off or prices will movedown by five to 10 per cent, andin some areas of Canada, as muchas 20 per cent.

“We know that the marketwas due for a correction. Most

24 REM JULY 2010

I

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

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

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

Contact RECO’s Insurance Department Directly At:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

InsuOnline cLog on t

How to respond to gloomy newsAS I SEE IT FROM MY DESK

By Stan Albert

properties are overvalued,” oneeconomist shouts in the Globe andMail.

That may be so, but should webail out of the profession now?We know that the market had tolevel off eventually, but does thatmean that we should start cashingin our RRSPs? Should we cancelour trip to Vegas? Maybe weshould sell our SUV and buy aSmart Car?

In my opinion, we should donone of the above.

Over my 40 years (yikes!) inthe business, I’ve seen all kinds ofpeaks and valleys. One thingremains constant – the need forboth renters and move-up buyersto invest in real estate because it isthe safest haven for their hard-earned money.

Sure, the market was/is due fora correction on the resale end. Butnot in new homes or new condos.Builders have too large an invest-ment in land and the interest incarrying that investment. Newhome prices will continue to esca-late due to the HST in Ontario

and B.C. and buyers will still con-tinue to invest in new product aswell as resale homes/condos.

Will the HST affect us? Sure,but only in the short run of thingsas some of us experienced whenthe GST came in.

Canada is seeing a growingeconomy. So, what’s the conun-drum? The economy is good, thedollar is strong and employment isrunning smoothly.

What are successful salespeo-ple doing when they hear all thesevoices of experts and economists?They are:

1. Getting back to basics, con-tacting their database, often nowthrough networking vehiclessuch as Twitter, YouTube orFacebook.

2. Sending out a personal noteof thanks to their client base witha little gift card, perhaps fromTim’s, for a large double double.

3. Networking with other busi-nesspeople at luncheons (see yourlocal papers for dates and times).A progressive agent would do thisas he would be the only agent at a

table of five to eight businesspeo-ple. Referrals are always great,aren’t they?

4. Publishing articles in localpapers, personal websites or onFacebook.

5. Running yard sales for theneighbourhood and hosting a pic-nic or barbecue.

6. Attending future-thinkingseminars such as Richard Robbins’Master’s Edge or Dan Plowman’sTeam Building to further enhancetheir knowledge.

7. Last but not least, they willget closer to their broker or bro-ker/manager, who in all likeli-hood has been through mostpeaks and valleys and may justhave a few bits of advice to sharewith them.

I can remember times whenprices did go down during reces-sionary periods. But overall, thehomeowners of today and thebuyers of tomorrow will benefit inthe long run by owning their ownhome. History has proven that.The Toronto Star’s great bar graphin early May of this year showed

quite dramatically that over thepast several decades, single-familyhome ownership was better thanowning most stocks or bonds overthe same period of time.

A great philosopher said:“Own a piece of the earth, they’renot making it any more!”

Talk to people every day aboutthe benefits of owning their ownhome. Their equity may shrinkfrom time to time, but with care-ful budgeting they’ll win in thelong run.

You can catch some of mymeanderings on my blog onActive Rain. It’s a great site tai-lored for Realtors in Canada andthe U.S. You may be surprised byreferrals you receive with a verylittle investment of about $340(US) annually.

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

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Setting

THE STANDARD!

26 REM JULY 2010

ary Bales of ColdwellBanker Peter BenningerRealty in Kitchener,

Ont. won the national ColdwellBanker Ambassador Award for2009 in recognition of her human-itarian acts and commitment tocommunity service. Bales has beeninvolved in many local organiza-tions. In 2001, she createdHeartwood Place, a charitableorganization dedicated to provid-ing safe, affordable and adequatehousing.

Bales was recently presentedwith a Meritorious Service Awardby Governor General MichaëlleJean for her dedication to afford-able housing. Bales was awardedthe Coldwell Banker Eagle, whichsignifies the highest level ofaccomplishment within the inter-national Coldwell Banker organi-zation. Bales ranked eighth inclosed adjusted gross commissionincome (or total units) for affiliat-ed companies in the ColdwellBanker system in 2009.

Kim Shantz Trottier, also asales representative with ColdwellBanker Peter Benninger Realty,received the Coldwell BankerRookie Sales Representative of theYear award for Canada.

Also recognized was sales rep-resentative Dean Widdifield, whowas awarded the InternationalPresident’s Circle representing thetop two per cent of Realtors world-wide in the Coldwell BankerSystem. Mary Anne Gehl, GayeMales, Susan Raymond andMiranda O’Sullivan were namedto the International DiamondSociety representing the top fiveper cent and Trottier, KellyRuston, Susan Hopkins and Janevan Pelt were awarded theInternational Sterling Society des-ignation, representing the topeight per cent internationally.

■ ■ ■

Noreen Barwise, a FrederictonRealtor with 38 years in the realestate industry, is the 2010 recipi-ent of the Dave Hawkins Award,presented annually to an individ-

ual who has made an outstandingcontribution to the real estateindustry in New Brunswick.

The New Brunswick RealEstate Association (NBREA) saysBarwise has had an impact on thereal estate industry in Frederictonand New Brunswick through herprofessional involvement.

“Noreen is an amazing personwho has a tremendous passion forthe industry,” says NBREA presi-dent Dwayne Hayes. “She hasbeen a pioneer for real estate inNew Brunswick and her profes-sional resume and achievementsonly highlight that.”

■ ■ ■

Brad Gilbert of ColdwellBanker City Side Realty inLloydminster, Sask, is the recipientof the 2010 Distinguished RealtorAward, presented by TheAssociation of SaskatchewanRealtors (ASR) in conjunctionwith Canada Mortgage andHousing Corp. (CMHC).

Gilbert first became involvedin the industry in the mid 1980s.“He has shown great support andinterest in association activities atthe local, provincial as well asnational level, having served at thehighest level in both his localboard as well as the provincialassociation,” says the ASR in anews release. “As well, Brad servedon the Canadian Real EstateAssociation as the director for theSaskatchewan Region. Brad’s com-munity involvement includes serv-ing as a councillor at the Hamlet ofMcKellar Beach at Brights andLake. Brad leads by example pro-moting his values of high ethics,honesty, sincerity and beingstraightforward. He has alwaysdemonstrated that best practicesbe taken as well as ‘the high road’on all matters.”

■ ■ ■

The Association of ReginaRealtors (ARR) and CanadaMortgage and Housing Corp.(CMHC) have named DaleGriesser of Avison Young

Commercial Real Estate the 2009Realtor of the Year. Jacquie Bevillof CMHC made the announce-ment at the association’s 25thAnnual Member RecognitionEvening.

“This award is designed to rec-ognize a member of the Reginaassociation who has made anongoing and significant contribu-tion to the real estate industry andto the community,” says Bevill.“Dale Griesser’s involvement inthe industry and numerous activi-ties in the community are in keep-ing with the intent of this award.”

Griesser says, “One neverexpects to be recognized for some-thing that is simply the right thingto do whether within our industryor for the community. It is indeedan honour to be selected by myindustry colleagues for this award.”

Ian Johnston, ARR president,says, “Dale has been a leader in theRegina commercial real estate fieldfor many years and was instrumen-tal in establishing the CommercialDivision within the association.Over the years he has served on theassociation’s commercial commit-tees and on the Board of Directors.His contributions to the commu-nity and business sectors areextensive.”

■ ■ ■

Andrew Cassel, broker/ownerof Realty-Net Toronto, was recent-ly presented with the 2009Commercial Award of Merit bythe Toronto Real Estate Board.The award is presented to individ-uals who exemplify a commitmentto TREB goals, and who haveshown leadership and high profes-sional standards.

Cassel has worked almostexclusively in commercial realestate brokerage since 1977 andhas promoted organized real estatefor the last 25 years. He was activein organizing the Central CanadaCCIM Chapter and was electedpresident in 1990. He was electedto the Commercial Council ofTREB 1993 and 1994, electedvice-chairman in 1995 and 1996,and acclaimed as chairman in1997 and 1998. He was a directorof TREB in 1997, 1998 and 1999.Throughout his career, he has beenactive in committee work at theboard.

Cassel’s thank-you speech gavepraise to his wife and family fortheir patience and understanding,to Susan Bell, TREB’s manager ofthe Commercial Division, and to

all the other volunteers who tooktime from their life to make TREBa better association.

■ ■ ■

Hanlon Realty won the awardfor Best Sales Team at the AnnualHome Show at Mile One Stadiumin St. John’s, Nfld. recently. Theaward was judged on the criteria of

booth layout (imaginative, cre-ative, eye pleasing, originality);personnel (knowledgeable, abilityto answer questions, appearance,attitude, helpfulness); literature(supply of information, testimoni-als, recognition of CHBA-ENmembership); and marketing(marketing and promotion of com-pany, giveaways). REM

Mary Bales

Kim Shantz Trottier

Noreen Barwise (with the award) poseswith, from left, her daughter Michele, hus-band Tom, and nominator Diana Otteson.

Andrew Cassel (right) receives his awardfrom Garry Lander of DTZ Barnicke.

Earl Kotlar of CMHC (right) presents the DistinguishedRealtor Award to Brad Gilbert.

M

Dale Griesser (centre) receives his award from JacquieBevill and Ian Johnston.

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28 REM JULY 2010

ere’s one you can’t messup. Cut up a yummy(seeded) large fresh red

tomato into small pieces. Mince(chop very fine) about a teaspoonof fresh white onion. Put both in asmall mixing bowl. If you like a bitof garlic, mince a very tiny piece.Add a little salt and fresh groundpepper and a generous pinch ofdried thyme, but not the kind thatlooks like ground pepper. Makesure it’s just a pinch because it’spowerful.

Open a tin of chickpeas (gar-banzo beans), drain them and rinseoff the starch.

Add about a quarter of the peasto the tomato bowl (save the rest ina covered container in the fridge...they keep). Now add a couple oftablespoons of your favourite oliveoil, a little white Balsamic vinegar(just a spritz – and this recipe worksbest only with “white” Balsamic –Fortino’s is the best one I havefound to date)... and adjust salt toyour taste. Toss with a tiny squirt offresh squeezed lemon juice. Addjust a little sprinkle of dried groundParmesan.

Buy a little jar of artichokehearts in olive oil. Keep the openedjar in the fridge – it lasts a longtime. Take a couple of the arti-choke hearts from the oil, and choploosely and place on side of eachsalad plate just before serving.Add a teaspoon of the artichokeoil, and a tiny bit of the mincedartichokes floating in the oil, to thetomato dish. If you like to cookwith spirits, add a tiny splash ofyour favourite brandy.

Just before serving, finely chopabout a half-teaspoon of fresh basilleaves and sprinkle on the salad.Give a quick toss and serve overshredded (horizontally) romainelettuce leaves, or place on top ofBoston Leaf Lettuce. Ideally use thehydroponically grown Boston Bibb

GOURMET COOKINGfor real estate professionals

By Carolyne Lederer

Saladon therunInstant freshtomato basil salad

H

lettuce. It really does taste different,and I think, better. Always washlettuce well, under quite hot run-ning water (yes, you read that right– quite hot water). Shake the let-tuce and pat dry. Roll the lettuce upsecurely in a clean light-weightkitchen towel and store in thefridge in a plastic bag until you areready to use it. This works reallywell for romaine lettuce also. Thelettuce will be crisp as though youhad just picked it from the garden.

Prep time: less than five min-utes. Amazingly simple, and DELI-CIOUS! Try it. You’ll love it. It canbe made ahead of time, except foradding the fresh basil. Add the basiljust before eating. I serve this saladwith havarti sun-dried tomatocheese and Melba toast on a sideplate. This salad looks particularlynice served on a black plate.

I love it, and salad doesn’t getbetter than this. It’s fresh and deli-cious and your friends and col-leagues will beg for more.Remember, first we eat with oureyes. Serves two.

This salad makes a greatSunday morning brunch, served asa first course, followed by searedchicken livers, mushrooms andonions and a sprinkle of driedthyme. Salt and pepper it whencooked. Keep it warm in a chafingdish, served alongside a great creamof roasted multi-coloured peppersoup, and your favourite freshbaked bread. If you would like theseadditional recipes, send me anemail note. They may appear in alater REM column.

Carolyne Lederer is broker ofrecord at Carolyne Realty Corp.Proudly putting her name to her workfor 29 years, she serves Burlington andBrampton, Ont. residential real estateclients. She taught gourmet cooking inthe mid 1970s prior to going into real estate, and wrote a newspaperweekly cooking column. [email protected]

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anada Day. Yahoo!Despite your current angerover – pick one – the

HST, Don Cherry, bagpipes, thedesignated hitter in baseball or mypersonal favourite – serviceproviders who say they’ll be at yourhome between 9 and noon –despite them all, we’re pretty luckyto be living in the best country inthe world.

And it is luck, not skill. Unlessyou’re an immigrant who con-sciously decided on Canada versus– oh I don’t know – Greece?

I mention Greece because of anemail I received on April 30, fromthe “I’m mad as hell and not goingto take it any more” department.“I’m getting ready to participate ina revolution…Did you hear aboutthe generic drugs in Ontario,increased hydro by eight per centAND to top it off, HST? Maybe I’llmove to Greece or someplacewhere they don’t pay income taxes.Maybe I can find a little islandsomewhere where they neverheard of government.”

To be fair, this CanadianRealtor was considering Greecebefore the protesters burned a bankand several employees in earlyMay. Now they are no doubtrethinking their choice –Zimbabwe? Perhaps I can help. Iwrote this column about 11 yearsago about a couple of immigrantswho chose Canada.

My Mom and Dad.My mother was a licensed

Realtor in and of the province ofB.C. for 30 years. But as an unli-censed practitioner, buying on herown account, she’d been in thebusiness for 30 years before her firstlicense in 1958. She and I weresnowbound in the great west coastsnow of ‘96, with my brother andsister and wife stuck in variousplaces in Western Canada, but notwith us. For two quiet days, ourreading and eating and video

30 REM JULY 2010

C

METES & BOUNDS

By Marty Douglas

Choosing Canadawatching was interspersed withanecdotes about her 82 years in“the show”.

She was born in 1915 to abutcher and his wife, in a smalltown on the outskirts ofManchester, England. A wellmeaning neighbour with a homeformula for rosy cheeks encouragedmy grandmother to feed my moth-er fresh-squeezed beef blood.Worms, then rickets followed.Such was the tenuous circle of lifein Britain during the First WorldWar.

Having survived everythingthe neighbours and the post-warcould throw at her, she finishedschool and ultimately got a jobwith Robertson’s, the jam and mar-malade manufacturer still occupy-ing grocery shelves in Canada.(Silver Shred rules!) There shemet my father and experienced theproduction line. As she and I wereputting labels on a batch of winebottles, she remembered youngwomen, slapping on jam labelsevery two seconds, for an eight-hour shift.

She married my father andbegan her unofficial real estatecareer buying a small cottage forabout 450 pounds sterling. Dadwas by then in the army and Momhad joined the police. Dad wouldcome home and find his bride,nose in the paper, looking for hous-ing bargains.

While her brothers and sistersstayed put – some were still in thesame homes 40 years later – Momand Dad were frequently on themove. By the time my sister and Ihad come along, our immigrationto Canada in 1951 was financedfrom the equity in their last home.

When we settled in CampbellRiver, B.C., home of the Tyee (it’sa fish!) we didn’t rent for long. Infact, moving seemed for us kids tobe a way of life. Houses and landfor subdivision were the invest-ments Mom and Dad made inaddition to Dad’s job with thecredit union and Mom’s part-timeforays into waitressing and runninga kindergarten. In 1957, she decid-ed to get into the real estate busi-ness on a professional level andbecame only the second woman totake the then new pre-licensingcourse, where the assignments andexam were written longhand.

Her first agent was a woman.Her first sale was an island inDiscovery Passage. Her first experi-ence with a lawyer, illustrative. Hecomplained her commission of$500 was more than he couldcharge for the conveyance, afteruniversity and three years of lawschool. Her reply was typical of herquiet, dignified sense of humour.“Did you always want to sell realestate then?”

Thirty years of unparalleled ser-vice followed – in Campbell Riveruntil 1970 and then, as a widow, inVictoria until 1988. On her retire-ment, she was the second oldestwoman selling real estate in thecapital city, withdrawing only topursue a new career – a secondmarriage.

Widowed three times, she hadsix addresses in Victoria – onehouse, one patio home and fourcondos – not to mention a fewinvestment rentals along the way, acondo in Maui and one in Florida.After retirement, she volunteeredto host open houses in new pro-jects.

Until she died at 92, sheembodied the CREA Code ofEthics preamble: “Under all is theland. Upon its wise utilization andwidely allocated ownership dependthe survival and growth of freeinstitutions and of our civiliza-tion.” She always left somethingon the table for the next buyer andfrequently, instead of cutting hercommission, left it on the title as amortgage. Product knowledge andthe instant ability to get people tolike and trust her were her skills.

My mother, the Realtor.Thanks Mom. For, among manyother things, picking Canada.

Happy Canada Day.

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

32 REM JULY 2010

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‘TexCoast’ secret discovered by buyers

Cinnamon Shore in Texas offers home sites, condos and single-detachedhomes in an area that remains a secret to many.

hile depressed propertyvalues in Florida are get-ting a lot of attention,

coastal Texas, a place few associateas a fantastic vacation destination,is stable and growing. The develop-ers of Cinnamon Shore in PortAransa say that Texas has thelargest growth rate of any state andfeatures five of the top 15 growthcities in the country. And unlikebeach erosion problems that areplaguing other areas of the country,the beaches in Texas are actuallyaccreting.

Real estate developer JeffLamkin purchased a large plot onMustang Island, a traditional sea-side community half an hour fromCorpus Christi, and is now enteringthe third phase of the 300-residen-cy Cinnamon Shore community.

“We looked at properties inSouth Carolina and what we sawwere properties on par withCinnamon Shore but for 13 timesthe price,” says Susan Bruck, anowner at Cinnamon Shore.Lamkin likens the Texas coast tohow Florida was 20 years ago whena family could easily find an afford-able beachfront property.

But the appeal of Texas coast ismore than just the price. Lamkinexplains that consumer taste haschanged so dramatically from evenjust 10 years ago that many familiesdon’t find the robust, over-devel-oped communities so common inFlorida appealing. Lamkin says thatCinnamon Shore will have no“cookie cutter” layouts. The prop-erty boasts activities that familiescan participate in together such as

fishing, meet and greets to get toknow your neighbours, and localrestaurants that envelope Texasflair.

Lamkin is basing CinnamonShore on “new urbanism,” whichincludes a pedestrian friendlydesign, minimal impact on theenvironment and amenities thatfoster relationships between neigh-bours. Lee Ann Peters, the proper-ty’s director of sales, says the newurbanism design is attracting buyersfrom in and outside of Texas.“What’s happening at CinnamonShore is really remarkable,” saysPeters. “We are going through oneof the worst real estate marketssince the Great Depression andsales are still exceeding expecta-tions.”

Cinnamon Shore is a seasidecommunity on Mustang Island inPort Aransas. Mustang Island is lessthan four hours drive from thestate’s three most populated cities –Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston andSan Antonio southwest of SanAntonio. It is comprised of distinc-tive homes, peaceful parks andponds, and a Town Center withgathering spaces, restaurants andservices.

Home sites start at $130,000US, with condos starting in the$200,000s and single-family homesranging from the $400,000s to $2million plus. Outside magazinerecently declared Mustang Islandone of America’s top 10 beach get-aways, boasting the country’s bestbay and deep sea fishing.

For more information:www.cinnamonshore.com. REM

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n my previous column I talkedabout the importance ofestablishing a database of con-

tacts and adding contacts to it on adaily basis. Obviously these con-tacts become clients and start tak-ing your time. You still need to addnew contacts whenever and wher-ever you can, but now you need totake it to the next level and havepeople contact you. It’s the differ-ence between you going out andknocking on people’s doors forbusiness and them coming andknocking on yours. Wouldn’t thatbe nice for a change? It’s not that

S TOP S ELLINGHOUSES & STARTMAKING MONEY

By Debbie Hanlon

Become a local expert

I

hard to do and it was what helpedme kick my career into the nextgear on my way to becoming num-ber one in Canada.

So, how do you do it? How doyou get people to think it’s in theirbest interest to call you, out of allthe other real estate agents outthere? You market yourself. Themistake most people make is theymarket themselves as a real estateagent or, even worse, they market ahouse they’re trying to sell. By tak-ing that approach, all you’re reallydoing is wading into the fray andsaying you’re just another optionthey should consider when buyingor selling property. All you need dois look at any real estate publica-tion to see the seemingly endlessnumber of real estate agents whoare doing this.

Sure, you could stand out morewith more ads or you could make abigger splash with bigger ads.Maybe you could get more atten-tion with more colours in your adsinstead of the sticking with theusual black and white.

At the end of the day, theseapproaches not only cost you a lotmore money, but they still sell as areal estate agent looking to sell orbuy houses. You don’t have to bebigger, more frequent or morecolourful to stand out in a crowdedmarketplace – you have to be dif-ferent than the person next to youoffering the same service. You haveto sell yourself.

The way I did this was very,very simple and equally as effec-tive; I marketed myself not as a realestate agent, but as a real estateexpert.

That set me apart, it gave meinstant credibility and it opened uplines of communications with peo-ple on subjects other than howmuch they should buy or sell theirhomes for. In short, it widened thenet I was using to get potentialclients. I was probably a lot furtherfrom being a real estate expert backthen than you are now. I was amere few months removed frombeing a single mother on socialassistance who had never enter-

tained the idea of buying my ownhouse, let alone selling someoneelse’s. But I knew even then that Iwasn’t going to compete witheveryone else in trying to sell hous-es, I was going to sell myself.

The first thing I did was scourthe local papers and gather thecontact information for theirreporters. These promptly wentinto my growing database. While Iwas collecting their contact infor-mation, I was also reading theinformation CMHC was sendingout, as well as local and nationalreal estate magazines, for readilyavailable expert advice. I also con-tacted city hall and had myself puton the mailing list for economicupdates for the city. This gave mean almost inexhaustible supply ofexpert advice that would be help-ful to people buying or sellinghomes. I would then send the sto-ries and updates out to all mymedia contacts as press releasesfrom me. The original name of thepublication was there and I gave itcredit, but it was me who was offer-

ing it to the reporters, so I came tobe seen as the expert.

The results were almost imme-diate and I began getting calls fromlocal reporters doing stories aboutreal estate. The interesting thingwas, all the stories I’d read to findinformation I could send as pressreleases actually helped me knowwhat I was talking about to thesereporters. So, not only did I get aload of free media exposure andmarketing, I also got a free educa-tion and ended up being a realestate expert in the real sense ofthe word. So set yourself apartfrom the crowd and sell yourself asa local expert and in no time you’llbe one.

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

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ill Stone has joined CBRichard Ellis Limited(CBRE) as executive

vice-president to lead CBREHotels’ Canadian Hotel practice.Stone is joined by colleaguesDeborah Borotsik and MarkSparrow and will also work closelywith CBRE Hotels’ Sarah Segaland Brian Flood to provideenhanced services to clients acrossthe country.

“Bill is an icon in the Canadianhotel industry. His experience andexpertise are unmatched and com-mensurate with the needs of ourinstitutional clients transactingbusiness throughout Canada,” saysKevin Mallory, senior managingdirector, practice leader, CBREHotels.

Stone joins CBRE fromColliers International, where hewas an executive managing direc-tor of the hotel group. He has beeninvolved in over 250 Canadianhotel transactions, valued in excessof $4.5 billion, spanning singleasset and portfolio sales, indepen-dent and branded properties, fromtwo to five star assets. At CBRE,he will be responsible for drivingproduction and will take on a lead-ership role in further developing

36 REM JULY 2010

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the hotel platform across Canada. Borotsik, associate vice-presi-

dent, brings 12 years of sales, mar-keting and due diligence experi-ence in the hotel sector to CBREHotels. She will be directlyresponsible for working with own-ers to complete property and mar-ket due diligence and financialunderwriting, property valuationsand strategic disposition strategies,as well as executing effective mar-keting programs. Her experienceextends across all asset classesthroughout Canada.

Sparrow joins CBRE Hotels asa sales associate and will be respon-sible for executing dispositionstrategies, sourcing buyers, provid-ing due diligence assistance andanalyzing Canadian investmenttrends. He will be activelyinvolved in assessing values for avariety of hotel and resort assettypes, and will work closely withowners to develop tailored market-ing programs.

■ ■ ■

John M. Sullivan will assumethe post of president and CEO ofCadillac Fairview on January 1,2011.

Before joining Cadillac

Fairview in July 1998 as senior VP,office development, Sullivan heldsenior positions with a number ofhigh profile companies. He waspromoted to executive VP, devel-opment in November 2006 wherehe led all areas relating to develop-ment, construction and architec-ture and design.

Peter Sharpe, who has servedas the president and CEO ofCadillac Fairview for 10 years, willretire on December 31, 2010 toallow for a smooth leadershiptransition, the company says.Sharp has been with the companyfor 26 years. He joined CadillacFairview in 1984 as VP of proper-ty management in charge of theCanadian office portfolio andlater assumed responsibility forthe retail properties in 1988. Hewas promoted to executive VP,property operations in 1996 andbecame president and CEO inMarch 2000 when the OntarioTeachers’ Pension Plan Boardpurchased 100 per cent of thecompany.

■ ■ ■

David Lieberman has joinedAvison Young’s Toronto multi-res-idential division of the CapitalMarkets Group. Lieberman willteam up with Brendan Hanna ofAvison Young’s multi-residentialgroup to strengthen the company’smulti-residential team locally andnationally and to address new mar-ket opportunities, the companysays. Lieberman’s career in com-mercial real estate spans 25 yearsand encompasses a broad range ofreal estate sales and consulting ser-vices. Actively involved in com-

munity fundraising, Lieberman hasacted as chair for Israel Bonds -Construction and DevelopmentDivision and is currently commit-tee chair for the George KnudsonOakdale Pro-Am GolfTournament, an event that hasraised more than $650,000 since2005 in the fight against cancer.

In other company news,Avison Young has opened a newoffice in Houston, Texas. Industryveterans Rand Stephens and JoshLaRocca join as principals, whileStephens also becomes managingdirector of the new Houston oper-ation and will lead Avison Young’s

growth in Texas and theSouthwest. With more than 40years of combined commercial realestate experience, Stephens andLaRocca were most recently co-managing principals of MohrPartners Houston, a national ten-ant representation firm based inDallas.

The newest Avison Youngoffice marks the company’s fourthlocation outside of Canada. In thepast 18 months, the company hasgrown from 11 to 18 offices inNorth America and from 300 to600-plus real estate professionals.

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n May 15, more than 120Royal LePage officeshosted record breaking

garage sales in support of the RoyalLePage Shelter Foundation, raisingmore than $300,000 to end vio-lence against women and childrenin communities across Canada. In2009, the National Garage Sale forShelter raised $120,000.

Every dollar raised by the eventsupports local women’s shelters, aswell as national and provincialprograms to help stop the cycle ofviolence. All proceeds from thegarage sales go directly to the causebecause Royal LePage underwrites100 per cent of the administrationcosts.

“Half of Canadian women willexperience abuse in their lifetimeand 360,000 children are exposedto domestic violence each year,”

38 REM JULY 2010

OGood WorksGood Works

says Sandra Diaz, executive direc-tor, Royal LePage ShelterFoundation. Since 1999, the RoyalLePage Shelter Foundation hasdonated more than $10 million tosupport women’s shelters, violenceprevention and education pro-grams across Canada.

As part of the event, JerryAulenbach of Royal LePageNoralta Real Estate in Edmontonorganized a “tweet up” fund-raiserand auction on Twitter.

In Ottawa, Royal LePage per-formance raised more than $3,000to support Nelson House ofOttawa-Carleton and regional vio-lence prevention programs .

■ ■ ■

Re/Max Professionals and itssales associates and support staffofficially became the first Re/Max

franchise in Ontario-AtlanticCanada to donate $1 million toSickKids Foundation throughChildren’s Miracle Network. Thecompany has championed the sup-port of sick and injured youngstersand their families for nearly 20years.

The brokerage, with 250 salesassociates operating out of threeoffices in Toronto’s West End andMississauga, has been a strong sup-porter of the CMN since its incep-tion. Through the Miracle HomeProgram, sales associates donate apercentage of their earnings on thesale of each Miracle home. Themoney has been used to purchasemedical equipment, upgrade facili-ties and help fund critical research,outreach programs and support ser-vices.

Linda Sansom, general manag-er of Re/Max Professionals, hasbeen instrumental in the processfor 18 years, encouraging newagents to participate in the pro-gram and those already involved toincrease their donations. She hasalso arranged numerous fundrais-ing events, including summer bar-becues, raffles, 50/50 draws anddress-down Fridays to bolster con-tributions to SickKids.

■ ■ ■

Richard Whittaker

ARR president Ian Johnston presents acheque to NCFC executive director SandyWankel.

Broker MicheleDenniston (centre)with Century 21Heritage Groupbroker/ownerPamela Prescottand Century 21Canada senior VPBrian Rushton,presents a $12,000gift to Easter Seals.

Royal LePage True North Realty in Fort McMurray didits part for Earth Day recently after revamping a city buswith its marketing material. The brokerage used the busto collect 18 bags of garbage from the highway.

Don Patterson Sebastian Albrech

Sales reps and staff at Keller Williams Golden Triangle Realtyrode a 30-seater Big Bike through the streets of Kitchener.

Royal LePage Burloak raised $26,000 for local shelters.

From left:CMN chiefinternationalofficer JohnHartman;Re/MaxProfessionalsoffice adminis-trators HappyMarwaha (EastMall), BonnieMiniaci(Kingsway)

and Sue Treleaven (Erindale); Re/Max Professionals generalmanager Linda Sansom; Sick Kids ambassador Selen Hasip; andpresident and CEO of the Sick Kids Foundation Ted Garrard.

Kelly Meek will soon shave her head to support the Canadian Cancer Society.

REM JULY 2010 39

The Calgary Real Estate BoardCharitable Foundation has con-tributed $500,000 toward theBuilding for Liberty capital cam-paign for the Brenda StraffordSociety’s housing initiative, whichwill provide new support forwomen and children fleeingdomestic violence.

The number one reasonwomen stay in abusive relation-ships is due to the lack of affordablehousing options in Calgary, saysthe foundation. The new centre isa one-of-a-kind facility and will becompleted in December, offeringsecond stage shelter services for sixmonths and affordable housing forup to two additional years.

■ ■ ■

Don Patterson, managingdirector, commercial at RoyalLePage Kingsbury Realty inMississauga, Ont. is about to hopon to his bicycle and start a solo3,500 km trip from Victoria toThunder Bay to raise funds for theYMCA’s Strong Kids Campaign.Along the way he will stop atYMCAs to spread the message offitness and program access toCanadian youth. Patterson alsohopes to increase public awareness

about the importance of physicalactivity for youth, while offeringsolutions such as the Y triathlonprogram where kids can participateregardless of their physical abilitiesor financial resources.

A father of three, Patterson isfunding the ride himself, whichmeans every dollar raised will godirectly to the YMCA. To donateonline, go to http://tinyurl.com/donpatterson. Income tax receiptswill be provided for amounts of $10or more.

■ ■ ■

Cutting seniors’ lawns, paint-ing dumpsters or placing murals onbuildings are only a few of the ser-vices that the North CentralFamily Centre provides to Regina’sinner-city area through its YouthEmpowerment Program. Thismarks the fifth consecutive year ofa partnership between theAssociation of Regina Realtors(ARR) and the NCFC for theARR to provide assistance to theprogram.

The ARR’s assistance takes theform of a further $5,000 contribu-tion this year. In addition, pro-ceeds from the ARR’s golf tourna-ment in July will go towards assist-

ing the program. The ARR hasprovided the NCFC with $22,000in assistance over the five-yearperiod.

The program employs 15 to 20inner-city youth to provide ser-vices to Regina’s north-centralneighbourhood, many of whomwould not otherwise be employed.

■ ■ ■

This summer, RichardWhittaker of Sutton Group -Associates Realty in Toronto willembark on the 600 km Friends forLife bicycle rally from Toronto toMontreal. This will be his fourthtime completing the event in sup-port of the People with AIDSFoundation (PWA). Whittakerhopes to raise more than $5,000.

During the past three years,Whittaker has collected more than$8,000 for PWA. The foundationprovides practical information andsupport services, such as a foodbank and treatment programs, tomany of the 18,000 people livingwith HIV/AIDS in Toronto.

■ ■ ■

Runway to Spring, an annualevent hosted by Century 21Heritage Group broker Michele

Denniston of Richmond Hill, Ont.raised $12,000 for the Century 21Kids to Camp program this year.

The event featured food andbeverage sampling, live music anda runway show displaying thehottest trends in casual and formalwear. Richard Walker, managingbroker of Century 21 HeritageGroup, says, “Michele and herteam did great work and produceda terrific result. Most importantly,they helped to raise awareness ofthe services and fun that EasterSeals Camps provide to childrenwith disabilities in Ontario.”

■ ■ ■

Jason Shine, a sales rep withSutton Group - Assurance Realtyin Toronto, admits he had somedoubts when he and his wifepacked up their home and movedinto a small, 90-square-foot bed-room at Matthew House. Thecouple made a three-month com-mitment to serve as night man-agers at the refugee shelter indowntown Toronto.

“It’s interesting how much youcan gain by being willing to sacri-fice a little privacy,” says Shine,who shares a house with as many as13 refugees every day. There is one

kitchen, one dining room and onetelevision. “When you put it intoperspective, these are really smallthings to give up. What we gain isthe opportunity to make friendsfrom around the world, help peo-ple when they are most vulnerableand assist them in tangible ways.”

Since Matthew House openedits doors in 1998, it has welcomedrefugees from 87 countries. Moststay at the shelter for 60 to 90 daysas they complete governmentpaperwork, seek employment andarrange to find permanent hous-ing. Matthew House operates ongovernment funding and the gen-erosity of individuals in theToronto area.

■ ■ ■

The Alberta Real EstateFoundation’s Board of Governorsrecently approved $333,089 forcommunity investment projectsacross Alberta. Notable projectsapproved for funding include:

• $20,000 to the Calgary RealEstate Board to assess and imple-ment energy labelling as part of theMLS.

• $10,370 to the Peace

Continued on page 41

40 REM JULY 2010

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REM JULY 2010 41

William E. (Bill)

Johnston, M.A., LLB

President

Richard Silver

President-Elect

Tom Lebour, MVA

Past President

Stuart Braund

West Non-Brokerage

Director

C. Anne Briscoe, FRI, CMR

East Non-Brokerage

Director

James (Jim) Burtnick

Central Non-Brokerage

Director

John (Jerry) England

Director-at-Large

Paul Etherington

Director-at-Large

Heather A. Fuller

Central Brokerage

Director

Ann Hannah

West Brokerage

Director

Lydia Ingles

Director-at-Large

David Pearce

East Brokerage

Director

Toronto Real Estate Board2010/11 Board of Directors

Larry B. Purchase

Chair, Executive Council

Commercial Division

Joseph C.W. Shum

North Brokerage

Director

Dianne Usher

Director-at-Large

Karen Gerrard

North Non-Brokerage

Director

Association for Life Long Learningto develop seminars on condo-minium ownership and manage-ment for Grande Prairie and area.

• $20,000 to the DrumhellerHousing Authority for the devel-opment of a recycling program forlow income housing units.

• Up to $75,000 to the CentralAlberta Realtors Association asmatching funds towards theirfundraising goal to build RonaldMcDonald House in centralAlberta.

■ ■ ■

Kelly Meek of Century 21 FirstCanadian in London, Ont. willsoon star in a fundraising event forthe Canadian Cancer Society. Shewill shave her head for pledges anddonate her hair to Cuts for Cancer,an organization that makes wigs forcancer patients. Meek hopes toraise at least $10,000 at the event.

■ ■ ■

Thirty enthusiastic salespeopleand staff from Keller WilliamsGolden Triangle Realty rode a 30-seater Big Bike through the streetsof Kitchener, Ont. recently to raise

awareness and funds for the Heartand Stroke foundation. The foun-dation is organizing similar eventsacross the country with a goal ofraising more than $7 million in2010. The KW brokerage was theonly real estate company to ride inKitchener and intends to make itan annual event.

■ ■ ■

The 2.4 million children whohave called into the Kids HelpPhone lines over the past 20 yearsthe reason why Jill Sinclair, a salesrep with Sutton Group - WestCoast Realty in Langley, B.C.began volunteering and fundrais-ing. She gathered support for theninth annual 5-km Walk for KidsHelp Phone on May 2 and invitesothers in the real estate industry,clients and friends to play for thekids at the upcoming Chicks withSticks Ladies Charity GolfTournament.

The Kids Help Phone does notreceive any core government orUnited Way funding so events likethe walks and golf tournaments areessential.

The golf tournament will takeplace on August 26 at the CountryMeadows Golf Club in Richmond.

The $240 entry fee includes a buf-fet breakfast, dinner, snacks, 18holes of golf and a chance to wingreat prizes including WestJet tick-ets. For more information:www.kidshelpphone.ca/chick-swithsticks.

■ ■ ■

Vancouver Royal LePage salesrep Sebastian Albrech is onceagain climbing Grouse Mountainin the “Grouse Grind” to raisemoney for the Royal LePageShelter Foundation. This time heis upping his game and breakinghis previous record of 13 ascends to14, which is the equivalent ofclimbing Mount Everest in oneday. He hopes to raise $15,000.

■ ■ ■

An annual charity golf tourna-ment, an “Amazing Race forCharity” and a Halloween ChiliParty are some of the events RoyalLePage Burloak in Burlington,Ont. hosted to raise $26,000 forCarpenter Hospice and HaltonWomen’s Place. The money wasraised thanks to the dedication ofthe sales representatives, supportstaff and suppliers, as well as salesreps’ commission-based donations.

REM

Good WorksContinued from page 39 Moncton

Realtors werethe top fund-raisers at TheGreaterMonctonDragon BoatFestival recent-ly at JonesLake. Morethan $8,100was raised by

local Realtors in support of The Lion’s Sick Children’s Fund aswell as The Breakfast for Learning program in local schools.

Tom Fulton(right), presi-dent of theManitoba RealEstateAssociation,presents acheque for$50,000 fromto SandyHopkins, CEOof Habitat for

Humanity Winnipeg. Funding for the grant came from the interestearned on the broker trust accounts. This year Habitat forHumanity Winnipeg plans to build 20 homes in Manitoba. Eachhome is to be built to the Manitoba Hydro Power Smart Gold level,the highest level of energy efficiency recognized by ManitobaHydro. The donation from MREA will supply furnaces, ductwork and installation for each of these energy-efficient homes.

think it’s time to tell the worldto consider moving theUnited Nations headquarters

to Canada. I do not write this as anattempt at wry wit or with anyother humour intended. I say thiswith sincerity.

It has been awhile since I wentto New York City but not that long.I can tell you that the renovationsto the United Nations building areongoing and will be never endinguntil they build a new one. It istime to do just that. The old onewas built in 1952. Think of theinnovations and technology thatcould be put into a new buildingcomplex like that today.

42 REM JULY 2010

Trade Showsand ConferencesTrade Showsand Conferences

For complete listings, visitwww.remonline.comTo add a listing to this

calendar, [email protected]

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

Oakville, Milton and District RealEstate Board 2009 HaltonSymposium and TradeshowThursday, Sept.16Oakville Conference CentreOakvilleCindy Amodeo – 905-844-6491,Ext. 106

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

Edmonton Apartment Associationin partnership with the RealtorsAssociation of Edmonton Suitesand Homes Trade ShowTuesday, Sept. 28Mayfield Inn and Suites TradeCentre, Edmontonwww.eaa.ab.ca/eventdetail.aspx?ID=59

Realtors Association of Hamilton-BurlingtonRealtors Connections Conference& Trade ShowThursday, Sept. 30Hamilton Convention CentreHamiltonSheila Sferrazza – [email protected] 905-529-8101, ext.234

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

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

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

Realtors Association of GreyBruce Owen SoundTrade ShowTuesday, Oct. 19Harry Lumley BayshoreCommunity Centre, Owen [email protected]

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

THE PUBLISHER’SPAGE

By Heino Molls

I

creating Canada’s network of leading independent brokers

www.aventurerealty.ca

Aventure™ Realty Network

Build it hereFew people know that Canada

has put forward proposals to locatethe United Nations Headquartershere in Canada several times in itshistory. Two specific locations; oneon Navy Island near Niagara Fallsand one in the dockland area ofMontreal, were put forward withdetailed plans. Each time the pro-posals were rejected.

I suggest that Canada onceagain marshal a proposal. Neitherof those previous two locationsshould be put forward as potentiallocations but rather an area in thefar north. An area first discussedand agreed to with Aboriginal FirstNations as well as all other souls. Aplace in northern Canada wouldfunction well in an atmosphere ofrespect for humanity and the earth.

Today the United Nations isborderline if not completely dys-functional. The majority of dele-gates that come to New York cometo party and soak up the night lifeunder the guise of having tounwind after working long hoursfor peaceful resolutions. If the U.N.headquarters were located in aremote area, away from nightclubs

and parties, I would wager a greatdeal more work would get done.

Constructing a building ascomplex as the United Nationswould be a challenge, but what anopportunity it could be to build aplace that would be a beacon ofself-reliant clean energy and recy-cling. An environment that wouldnot just inspire a better stewardshipof the earth, but demand it.

A location like that woulddrive the potential for comprise. Aplace like that would make theexercise of compromise fly andthrive like no other. An environ-ment where world peace could beenvisioned and made real.

Security would not be as great achallenge because unauthorizedaccess would be daunting for anywould be trouble maker.

Have you ever been to the UNheadquarters? I can tell you first-

hand that when you stand on thecorner of East 42nd Street and FirstAvenue, you feel a gamut of emo-tions ranging from the excitementof being in a vibrant, lively place toreal concerns for your safety. Howdo you think a 30-something UNdelegate feels as he or she toursaround on an expense accountwithout fear of even a parking tick-et due to their diplomatic immuni-ty? Whatever they would be think-ing, I doubt that dedicating them-selves to world peace would be topof mind.

Now imagine standing before abeautiful forest setting or a pristinemountain. A place like that wouldinspire peace, compromise and anunderstanding that there is farmore to the world than someone’sself centred backyard.

Canada is the only country inthe world that can provide a placelike that. We could build such aplace with corruption no worsethan any other country and inmany cases less. We have so much

land, so much space and so muchpotential. We could spare a greatdeal of land, providing it is truly putto good use and that it is respectfulto the environment. Think of theinnovation and technology wecould apply to erecting a place thatcould be so much more than theplace the United Nations has now.

Canada is a country like noother in the world. We are a livingUnited Nations. We have morecultures, more religions, more eth-nic groups, more languages andmore understanding than any othercountry on earth. Why wouldn’tanyone believe that the UnitedNations could work better here?

Ask a Realtor the three mostimportant things of where a personlives and works and he’ll say loca-tion, location, location.

Come on. Let’s get to work.Let’s fix the world from here.

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

Lisa Fayle, Sales Representative Keller Williams Energy Real Estate, Brokerage - Whitby, ON

78,752 Associates | 695 Market Centers*

To learn more about franchise or leadership opportunities at one of Canada’s fastest growing real estate companies, we invite you to contact us.

[email protected] | 416.565.3851

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www.kw.com© 2010 Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

Each office is independently owned and operated.*Numbers as of May 2010

“I joined Keller Williams to be challenged and take my business to the next level. I have already built a successful real estate career, and by sharing a vision and implementing the models of Keller Williams, I intend to create a world-class business that truly lives up to the KW motto of careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living!”

Rod Forsythe, Sales Representative Keller Williams Realty South, Brokerage - Calgary, AB

“Today’s consumers are looking for incredible service from their real estate professionals. Keller Williams offers this and more. My team and I are honoured and excited to be part of the fastest growing real estate organization in North America.”

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