november 2014

Should salespeople be available 24/7? Page 8

Listing luxury properties8

Challenges and goals of Canada’s largest boardPage 3

Issue #305 November 2014

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KenLamb’s leap of

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Calgary broker’s success story

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KenLamb’s leap of

faithIndependent

Calgary broker’s success story

Page 10

In an entertaining and eye-opening presentation, keynote speaker Terry Watson - the

along with ingenious advice for working

with clients and consumers

smarter, not harder.

Why be normal!Supercharge your career

TM

LIVE BROADCAST ON RE/MAX UNIVERSITYNOVEMBER 20, 2014. 9AM PST. WITH TERRY WATSON

REM NOVEMBER 2014 3

Paul Etherington has just finished overseeing his

first summer as president of the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), and while this seasoned veteran has been serving on the board since 1999, he’s as cautiously optimistic as ever about the future of the real estate industry.

Etherington speaks glowingly of the many changes that have swept through TREB during the last 15 years. Chief among them is ordaining fiscal responsibility as its unflagging policy, keeping its 40,000 members’ fees reasonably low in the process. One of the ways in which TREB membership fees have actually decreased seven times in 13 years was by trimming a staff of more than 200 employees to a more cost-friendly 113 that’s still, according to Etherington, every bit as efficient.

“The dues at TREB are among the cheapest of any real estate board in Ontario, partly because we have the buying power of 40,000 members,” says Etherington. “But we have a great MLS service that has not been down in 10 years. It does everything we need and we keep adding functions to it. We lobby the government and we’ve cut our dues seven times in the last

13 years because we really do practice fiscal responsibility and we try to cut where we can with regards to expenses.”

As for some of the difficulties facing Toronto Realtors, Etherington says that the industry is among the most competitive in the world and that the market will dictate who sinks and who swims. Among those one might expect to sink are part-time Realtors, frequent targets by some within the industry who regard anything less than categorical devotion with contempt.

“As long as people are competent and follow the rules, everyone has a place,” says Etherington. “That’s what makes this a great industry; everyone can choose to do what they wish.”

TREB is currently in litigation with the Competition Bureau over what the latter charges are discriminatory policies that stifle some real estate companies’ attempts to share certain MLS information online. While Etherington said he couldn’t openly discuss the matter in detail because it’s before the Competition Tribunal, he says TREB remains confident that it will be exonerated.

“We believe that we don’t discriminate; we’re very much in favour of any and all business models,” says Etherington. “I believe real estate is extremely competitive and when this all plays out in front of the courts, we’ll be vindicated.”

Etherington says 2015 will see the board increase its lobbying efforts, introduce more technological interaction between the board and its members, and start new initiatives to foster stronger bonds between its Realtors and the community they serve.

“This coming year I want to promote, as much as I can, investing in real estate and homeownership as a good thing,” he says. “We’ve got historical trends, prices going up; so, buying houses and buying real estate benefits the public, the community and the individual.

“At the same time, we have new initiatives like our TREB Fact Sheet and enhanced market data for members. We also want more of a sense of community this year, which we will build with different functions and more promotion to get people out and get better press on it. We’re also going to use technology to engage members to get them more involved.”

Etherington says TREB is busy lobbying the government on behalf of consumers, too, which will in turn encourage more activity in the market.

“There’s the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan. We’ve lobbied to have that increased,” he says. “We’d like to see some capital gains rollover exemption, there’s the new Condo Act that we’re giving input on. We’re providing input on a lot of things.”

Another hot topic Etherington addressed is the city’s controversial Land Transfer Tax, which he unequivocally opposes. Not surprisingly, considering his fiscal conservatism and the fruits such policy has yielded for TREB and its members, Etherington is concerned that the tax will dissuade real estate activity in Toronto, which can have ramifications that percolate throughout the economy.

“Real estate is one of the economic engines that drives this country,” he says. “Every time a house sells, people get new carpets or hardwood floors, they paint, they buy appliances. In addition to the costs associated with the house, lawyers are involved, mortgage brokers are involved, banks are involved. Every time a house is sold, there’s a lot of economic activity generated by that one house, and anybody who puts a barrier, whether it’s an extra tax or whatever it is, they’re not smart enough to figure out they’re hurting the economy.”

Etherington’s comments on the Land Transfer Tax come at a pertinent time because of the looming mayoral election. Doug Ford, now running in lieu of his brother Rob, who’s been felled by illness, has pledged to cut the tax by 60 per cent over his four-year term if elected, while other mayoral frontrunners John

Tory and Olivia Chow have countered that it cannot be done. Etherington is careful not to endorse any one candidate, but he didn’t mince words with regards to one candidate’s policies.

“The Land Transfer Tax is a detriment in Toronto, and now you have Olivia Chow coming out and saying she wants to increase it even more,” he says. “That’s a barrier to home ownership, and a barrier to home ownership is a bad thing in this country. I think Ford and Tory get that; I don’t think Olivia Chow does.”

Candidates had an opport-unity to explain their visions for the future of real estate in the city at a recent mayoral debate being hosted by TREB at its Annual General Meeting.

Asked if TREB has any plans to implement an online agent rating system, as has been put in place in Saskatchewan, Etherington says, “We are involved in a lot of things right now and we are not considering a Rate Your Realtor. There’s one that recently failed in the U.S. and TREB is not considering that activity at this time. We’ve had discussions on it in the past and the overwhelming majority of our members don’t seem to want it, so we’re not planning on going down that road.” REM

Challenges and goals of Canada’s largest boardToronto Real Estate Board president Paul Etherington talks about real estate dues, lobbying efforts and other issues facing his 40,000 members. By Neil Sharma

TREB members’ dues have decreased in seven of the last 13 years.

Paul Etherington

4 REM NOVEMBER 2014

Pat Baker Barbara Lawlor Alex Ocsai Gloria Riddall

Finn Poulstrup Mike Cartwright John Knox Wesley Marstaller

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

By Jim Adair, REM Editor

new home sales of almost $2 bil-lion dollars. It is part of PeerageRealty Partners.

■ ■ ■

Alex Ocsai and Gloria Riddall,brokers/owners of Royal LePageMeadowtowne Realty inMississauga, Ont., recentlyacquired Johnson Associates RealEstate, an established independentbrokerage based in Georgetown,owned by Finn Poulstrup.

Johnson Associates has 50salespeople and brokers who havemaintained the No. 1 market sharein their core market areas for morethan 20 years, the company says.

“This is a great cultural fit forthe people at Johnson Associates,”says Poulstrup.

Catherine Fox remains in hercurrent role as area manager –Halton and branch manager,Georgetown office.

■ ■ ■

Mike Cartwright, owner ofMain Street Realty, has opened anew branch office in Caledon inthe Town of Bolton. The indepen-dent brokerage also has offices in

at Baker has been namedchairman and BarbaraLawlor president and CEO

of Baker Real Estate in Toronto. Baker founded Baker Real

Estate in 1993 and most recentlywas CEO. The company isknown for its niche business ofmarketing and selling pre-con-struction new homes and condo-miniums for the developmentindustry. As chairman, Baker isresponsible for developing strate-gic focus for the company and tak-ing a role in new business, newclients and major projects wherethe company is involved, thecompany says.

Lawlor has been a member ofthe Baker Team since 1993. Shehas opened new offices and ledmajor sales and marketing cam-paigns for the company in NorthAmerica and international realestate markets. She is an in-demand columnist and speaker,the company says. Her responsibil-ities include new business develop-ment and overseeing theCanadian, U.S. and overseasoffices.

Baker Real Estate has annual

P

Re/Max Rouge River Realtyhas expanded its footprint acrossDurham Region with the openingof a new office in Newcastle, Ont.It will be managed by GaryPlummer.

The brokerage now has eightoffices and 220 salespeople inToronto, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby,Oshawa, Courtice, Bowmanvilleand Newcastle. Local boardmemberships include The TorontoReal Estate Board, The DurhamAssociation of Realtors, TheKawartha Lakes Real EstateAssociation and TheNorthumberland Association ofRealtors.

Re/Max Rouge River Realtywas established in 1987 by Davidand Dolores Pearce and remainsfamily owned and operated byDavid, Dolores and daughtersMelody and Jennifer Pearce.

■ ■ ■

Wesley Marstaller has joinedThe Rennie Group in Vancouveras chief operating officer.Marstaller will oversee some ini-tiatives in the Rennie real estatebusinesses and will also beresponsible for the non-real estateactivities of the company, includ-ing group investments in technol-ogy, art and other areas, the com-pany says. Marstaller was withMacquarie, a global investmentbank, where he was a vice-presi-dent in the private equity invest-ment division.

■ ■ ■

Newmarket and Stouffville.The office will be managed by

Christina Pilon, an experiencedlocal broker.

“Our short-term goal is to have10 new salespeople by year-end,”says Cartwright. “Our future plansare to expand and become thelargest brokerage in Bolton.”

■ ■ ■

John Knox has been namedvice-president of Fair Realty inVictoria.

Knox joined the company in2010 and opened the KootenayRegional branch office of FairRealty in Nelson. That was fol-lowed by branch expansions intoFruitvale, Trail and Kelowna andthe company says two more branchopenings are in the works. Knoxhas 27 years of real estate experi-ence.

President Bob Wilson foundedFair Realty in Victoria in 2002 andnow has more than 160 salespeo-ple in 13 company-owned branchoffice locations covering 10 realestate boards across B.C.

■ ■ ■

McGill Real Estate inMontreal has been named theexclusive agency in the province ofQuebec for Leverage GlobalPartners.

Leverage specializes in con-necting clients seeking luxury realestate with vetted, independentreal estate brokers around theworld. It is currently in 17 coun-tries and 129 markets with 225agencies.

“For McGill Real Estate, this isa colossal strategic alliance,” saysowner Patrice Groleau. “We arenow partners with the biggestnames in the industry such asCORE in New York. Our cus-tomers will have access to thelargest real estate network of capi-tal and investors in the world.”

Debby Doktorczyk, presidentof McGill Real Estate says, “Thefact that Leverage is interested inthe real estate market in Montrealsends a clear message, positioningMontreal as a major city of theworld, both in terms of real estate,and (the) economy.”

■ ■ ■

JLL recently announced theformation of the CommercialReal Estate Lenders Association(CRELA) at its inaugural roundtable, hosted by the firm’s down-town Toronto office and featuringOntario Finance MinisterCharles Sousa as the keynotespeaker.

“This event has been the offi-cial launch of CRELA,” says AmarNijjar, VP of debt capital marketsat JLL. “The association has beenformed as a networking and profes-sional development platform thatwe hope will be the voice of thecommercial real estate lenderindustry.”

Hosted at JLL’s downtownoffice, the organizing committee iscomprised of Amar Nijjar (JLL),Chad Gemmell (JLL), MichaelRupar (Scotia Bank), DanielSimunac (Raymond James), SteveGagro (Laurentian Bank), NeilCarpenter (National Bank) andChris Green (BMO).

The event included 50 seniormanagement representatives ofvarious financial institutions.CRELA will host quarterly lun-cheons, to be attended by lendersfrom different facets of the indus-try. The theme of each luncheonwill vary, but the sessions will pro-vide advice from legal, environ-mental, engineering and real estateexperts, says JLL. REM

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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. For subscription information, email [email protected]. Entire contents copyright2014 REM. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is pro-hibited. The opinions expressed in REM are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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Cover photo: BRYCE MEYER

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ick Allenberg, a whitesales rep with FairRealty in Victoria, has

filed a complaint with the B.C.Human Rights Tribunal alleginghis black client broke a contractwith him over race and countryof origin.

Allenberg says he was born inSouth Africa but left the countryand moved to Canada 25 yearsago because he hated Apartheidand racial segregation. So, itcompletely angered him whenhis client, Dr. Roger Johnson,which tribunal documents show“identifies as a gay, multi-racial,black person”, decided to breakhis contract with Allenberg, inpart because he suspectsAllenberg “is a racist, whiteSouth African.”

Allenberg says, “Given that Ileft South Africa because ofApartheid, his comments feltlike sandpaper being run up myback and were extremely offen-sive.”

But he says it wasn’t onlybecause of the racial commentstowards him that he filed thehuman rights complaint.Allenberg says he told Johnsonin an email that if he wanted tocancel the contract, Johnsonhad to apologize for the racialcomments and request their con-tract be cancelled.

It was only when he receivedJohnson’s next email reply,which included a derogatorycomment highlighted in capitalletters and boldface type, thatAllenberg decided Johnson hadgone too far.

“No one should have to takethat kind of abuse,” saysAllenberg. “All he had to do wassend me an email saying that he

Agent alleges discrimination by clientBy Tony Palermo

was sorry, his comments wereinappropriate and to please can-cel the contract. When heresponded with more offensivecomments, that’s when I said tomyself, ‘no more’ and realizedthat this wasn’t just an unfortu-nate set of circumstances.”

Allenberg says in earlyNovember 2013 he was called inby Johnson to see if he couldhelp Johnson terminate the list-ing agreement for his high-endcondo that he had with anotheragent. Allenberg says heattempted to negotiate a termi-nation to the agreement, whichwas set to expire about 30 dayslater, but was unsuccessfulbecause that agent had issues oftheir own with Johnson.

Johnson couldn’t list hisproperty with another agent forthe next 30 days and the agentwho was holding Johnson for theduration of the existing contractcouldn’t show it.

Realizing everything was at astand-still until the current con-tract expired, Johnson enteredinto an agreement withAllenberg, which was to haveAllenberg take over the listing

once the agreement with theother agent expired.

Allenberg says the next day,after he and Johnson met in per-son and signed the contract, hereceived an email from Johnsonsaying he was cancelling theircontract. When questioned,Allenberg says Johnson offereddifferent reasons, including thatJohnson had already promisedthe listing to another agent andthat Allenberg was unethical tohave signed a contract to takeover his listing while there wasalready a contract with anotheragent in place.

When Allenberg pressed fur-ther, explaining there was noth-ing unethical going on andpointing out that he was called

in by Johnson; Johnson said hecouldn’t trust Allenberg becausehe was a white South African.

Allenberg says it was at thispoint that he reminded Johnsonthey had an enforceable con-tract in place, and that ifJohnson wanted to cancel thecontract, he couldn’t simplycancel it on his own – he had toapologize for the comments andask Allenberg if he would agree

to cancel the contract.Johnson allegedly responded

with another derogatory com-ment, so Allenberg filed the dis-crimination complaint with theB.C. Human Rights Tribunal.

Allenberg says after Johnsonwas notified of the complaint bythe tribunal, he contactedAllenberg’s broker and com-plained that Allenberg wasunprofessional and should be dis-ciplined. The broker reportedlytold Johnson there was nothingwrong with Allenberg’s conduct,so Johnson then filed a com-plaint with the Victoria RealEstate Board (VREB), whichAllenberg says was dismissedwithout a hearing.

Citing privacy concerns,VREB did not want to provide acomment to REM.

Allenberg says the com-plaints against him by Johnsonto the broker and VREB werevindictive and launched becauseof Allenberg’s original discrimi-nation complaint to the tri-bunal. The B.C. Human RightsCode protects against such retal-iatory action, so Allenberg fileda second complaint with the tri-bunal.

Allenberg has asked the tri-bunal to hear both of his claimsat the same time and is waitingfor a hearing date.

The tribunal rejected arequest by Johnson to have theoriginal discrimination com-plaint dismissed, saying, in part,“… the new application to dis-miss is made under each andevery ground contained in s.27(1), the vast majority of whichsimply have no conceivableapplication. Such an approachraises at least an index of suspi-

cion that the application was notframed seriously or may beintended to delay matters. Iwould also add that, even if theapplication had been broughtonly under s. 27(1)(b) or (c) ofthe Code, I would, consideringthe admissions contained in Mr.Johnson’s response to the com-plaint, have declined to exercisemy discretion to dismiss it.”

REM’s attempts to reachJohnson for comment wereunsuccessful.

Allenberg says throughoutmost of the process in the begin-ning, he had no intention of fil-ing a complaint. It was only afterJohnson continued to escalatethe issue with racist comments,and a refusal to issue an apologyand ask for Allenberg’s blessingto cancel the contract, thatAllenberg decided it had gonetoo far.

“I’ve worked hard to get myname out there, build a brandand develop a solid reputation,”says Allenberg. “This is an attackon me, (and) on other Realtorsand it just makes my blood boil.”

REM

R

Rick Allenberg

“I’ve worked hard to get myname out there, build a brand

and develop a solid reputation,”says Allenberg. “This is an

attack on me, (and) on otherRealtors and it just makes

my blood boil.”

THANK YOU.Pillar To Post Home Inspectors is celebrating our twentieth anniversary this year and our relationships with the real estate community lie at the very heart of our past, present and future. It is impossible to build a world-class company and brand without a meaningfulconnection between the company and its customers and to deliver on a brand’s promises every day and every time. Our promise continues to be to provide you and your clients with an extraordinary level of professionalism and service in home inspection and to deserve the trust and loyalty you place in us. And as we celebrate this landmark in our business we look forward to working with you in the future, and to the responsibility and accountability we hold as the easiest to work with and finest home inspection company in North America. Thank you from all of us at Pillar To Post. Sincerely,

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pillartopost.com

We have a big problem

In Niagara Falls and I’m surethroughout Canada, Realtors areselling homes that have been usedas grow-ops. The buyer is not awarebecause the Realtor is not tellinghim.

Nor is the lender aware, sincemoney for the mortgage would notbe available if they were. Forinsured mortgages, CMHC andGE will not insure homes that werepreviously used for grow-ops even ifthey have been remediated. So, theonly way to get financing is not to

tell the buyer or the bank. Problemsolved.

It’s one teeny little lie, except itis fraud. If found out, the Realtorcould be charged. He or she couldpossibly not only lose their license,they risk being sued and whoknows what else?

I spoke to a Realtor from one ofthe largest franchises and he askedme, “What should I do?” I advisedhim to either cancel the listing ordeclare the home was previously agrow-op. I did not follow up as I amaware of many homes in the samecircumstances that have been soldand sold again. I think the answer

is, if a home has been remediated,CMHC and GE should insure themortgage lender. In Niagara Falls,the fire department checks the airquality and declares that the homepasses their test.

It’s time the governmentauthorized CMHC and GE toinsure these homes if they havebeen remediated and passed what-ever requirements are necessary,thereby taking the risk off thebank.

I have not seen anything writ-ten about this problem. Sooner orlater, a buyer will discover he haspurchased a home that has beenused as a grow-op and he will sueeveryone involved.

Charles WoodBroker of Record

Sunshine Realty Corp.,Brokerage

Niagara Falls, Ont. REM

8 REM NOVEMBER 2014

Letters to the Editor

s it mandatory to offer 24/7service to your clients?Should clients understand

that you have a life outside of realestate or is that hoping for toomuch? Establishing how accessibleyou need to be to your clients is notalways a simple thing.

John Angus, broker/owner ofJohn Angus Realty in Lac duBonnet, Man., doesn’t claim thathe provides 24-hour service. “I domy best to respond to my cus-tomers, prospective customers andclients in a timely fashion. Doesthat mean they get instant feed-back? Not necessarily, because if Iam with a client or a prospect, I domy best to give them my full atten-tion.”

But Angus says he has set up asystem so “a real live knowledge-able person takes the calls andimmediately sends the message tome. Doing your best to respond asquickly, as accurately and as hon-estly as you can is what my clientsand prospects deserve. And it hasbeen my experience that most peo-ple are prepared to co-operate withyou and you can usually work out amutually convenient time.”

Being accessible 24 hours a daydoesn’t necessarily equal great cus-tomer service, just as providingoutstanding service doesn’t require

Should salespeople be available 24/7?By Toby Welch

you to work 24 hours a day. Thinkof the professionals who don’t haveclients calling them at all hourswho still provide top-notch ser-vice. Doctors, teachers, dentistsand bankers all come to mind. Itisn’t mandatory to be constantlyon-call for clients in order to besuccessful at your job.

But it’s tempting to always beavailable as the ramifications ofnot answering a call or email canbe far-reaching. One sales repshared a story of a client whodumped her because she didn’tanswer her phone when the clientcalled. The sales rep was havingher hair blow-dried at a salonwhen the phone rang. And takingtime off for holidays (gasp!) canlead to lost deals and clients if youdon’t have a back-up plan in place.

Marty Waite, broker and teamleader of Re/Max Direct inGatineau, Que., is available to hisclients 24/7 from the moment hesigns the contract with them. “It isnot easy to do and deal with but Ionly want the best for my clients. Ido not set boundaries with myclients. If I do receive a call and itis not the perfect timing, I will stilltake it or try to call back with theleast delay.”

Waite says: “I believe that inthis business you do have to be

available to clients 24 hours a day.I believe it’s part of our job. Thereare no Realtors working from 8 amto 4 pm. When you choose to be aRealtor, you necessarily expect todo long hours (and) receive calls atany time and you need to be readyfor that or real estate is not for you.We need to be there at all times forthem; they are the reason why weare in the business.”

Let’s be honest – the generalpublic has no clue what being areal estate agent entails. Most peo-ple think sales reps sit by the phoneday and night waiting for their call.They can’t comprehend why youaren’t able to drop what you aredoing and immediately meet withthem or take them through proper-ties they want to see. It wouldn’tdawn on the average Joe that youare heading to your child’s recitalor taking your spouse out for datenight.

If you decide you don’t want tobe accessible all the time, establishboundaries up front as to when youwill and will not be available. Thiseither annoys clients (people whohave been “trained” to expectagents to be at their disposal) orclients respect sales reps for it. Onyour schedule, block out the timeyou want set aside for yourselfand/or your family. Mark those

occasions in your calendar just asyou would any other appointment.The rest of your time is when youare available to your clients.

If you aren’t on standby 24/7, itis vital you let clients know whenyou will and won’t be available sothey don’t wonder why theyhaven’t heard from you andbecome dissatisfied. One sales represets his voice mail message everymorning stating the best times toreach him and the times he will beanswering messages. He does thesame for his email auto-responder.He said these two steps – whichtake an average of three minutes aday – have been a big hit withclients who like knowing when heis accessible.

Another sales rep suggestskeeping your availability relativelythe same from week to week, asthat is easiest on the clients. Whilebeing in real estate typically isn’t a9-5 job, some do find a way tomake it work without slaving awayon the weekends and weeknights.

IJohn Angus

Marty Waite

Chris Averyjoins Lone Wolf

Chris Avery has joined LoneWolf Real EstateTechnologies as VPof sales and market-ing.

Avery has 10years of experiencein sales and market-ing in real estatetechnology. He waspreviously at Trulia, formerlyknown as Market Leader.

GTA property surveysavailable online

Krcmar Surveyors Ltd. ofToronto recently launchedProtectYourBoundaries.ca (PYB),billed as “the first comprehensiveonline source of information, toolsand services to help homeownerssafeguard their property invest-ment and avoid boundary mis-takes and conflicts with neigh-bours.”

PYB provides access to exist-

ing plans for morethan one million res-idential addresses inthe GTA throughagreements withTeranet, which ownsand operatesOntario’s ElectronicLand RegistrationSystem, and LandSurvey Records, anonline digital ware-house of legal prop-erty surveys, co-operatively owned

by a group of Ontario surveyors,including Krcmar Surveyors.

Sasa Krcmar, principal andmanaging director of the compa-ny, says the site is “a remarkableadvance over the archaiclabyrinth of data that anyonesearching for these records previ-ously had to navigate.

“An up-to-date survey plan isalways a homeowner’s bestresource; however, previous surveyplans of a property can provide agreat deal of valuable informationabout the true boundaries and his-tory of development on the site,”Krcmar says. REM

What’s

New

What’s

New

Angus leaves us with a finalthought: “Customer service is anattitude and not a casual, passingthing. It is a way of life and youbuild a good reputation as beingavailable, honest, direct and pre-pared to go the extra mile to assistboth your clients and prospectiveclients.” REM

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Ken Lamb’s leap of faithThe founder of Real Estate Professionals Inc. in Calgary took a chance by leaving the safety of a well-known brand and launching his own independent firm. By Toby Welch

10 REM NOVEMBER 2014

Ken Lamb took a leap of faith – and it was a big success.

Lamb got into the real estate industry in the mid-1980s, when real estate franchising in Canada was still a fairly new idea, working for a Re/Max brokerage. There he met his wife, Maria Corley. Both were prolific agents and top producers in their Calgary office; Corley was the top agent at the 100-person Re/Max Mountain View office every year during the last decade they spent there.

But after 17 years, when the annual fees they were paying Re/Max began to approach high five figures, Lamb and Corley decided they wanted to put more of the money they made into their own pockets. They checked out other brands that charged a quarter or a third less, but were not inspired enough to make the lateral move to another franchise.

Unsatisfied with what was available at that time, they came up with a business plan based on production. The thinking behind the business model was that costs are marginally higher with increased production but the impact is less due to higher earnings. That guideline in place, Lamb and Corley left the security of the brand name and established their independent brokerage, Real Estate Professionals Inc.

Originally operating REP from an 800-square-foot office space in their home, Lamb and Corley jumped into real estate with a renewed commitment to one another and the real estate industry. From the get-go, a number of agents wanted to join REP and Lamb took them on. Within 18 months, REP had 30 associates.

As REP closed in on its two-

year anniversary, Lamb began to recruit and during the next 18 months, the brokerage grew to 80 associates. When REP passed the 100-agent milestone, Lamb knew the company was at a precipice. They needed larger office space, so Lamb and Corley moved REP out of their home and into a south Calgary storefront location.

Lamb says he knew he needed to either hire someone to run the brokerage (he was still selling at a high level and didn’t have the time and energy to focus on the business aspect of REP) or he had to take over the operations on a full-time basis. He opted for the latter. Since 2006 when he turned the sales side of business over to his daughters, Lamb hasn’t sold real estate and he spends his days running the brokerage and mentoring associates.

July and August 2014 were two of Lamb’s best months to date. Each month included over 300 ends and the top 10 agents produced an average of $50,000 each, due partly to Calgary’s hot real estate market. REP is now the seventh largest brokerage in Alberta with more than 220 agents in two offices.

When first making the transition from Re/Max to their own brokerage almost 13 years ago, Lamb admits there were challenges. One of his main concerns was that not having a franchised name would hurt their credibility but he quickly learned the opposite was true; the agents and clients who used their services were much more concerned with the individuals they were dealing with than the name of the company.

The greatest struggles initially were internal issues for Lamb and Corley, but once they convinced themselves that what

they had to offer to their clients was valuable, it became a non-issue. The first three months were rocky, Lamb says, but when the new brokerage hit its one-year mark, Lamb was certain REP would be a success.

One of the most rewarding aspects of branching out on his own has been the opportunity to work with newcomers to the real estate profession. When Lamb speaks on this topic, it’s obvious that the entrepreneur takes pride and satisfaction in helping newbies become top producers in the industry. “You can’t create enthusiasm but you can channel it,” he says.

Lamb says that of his top office producers in 2010, eight of them were brand new to the industry when they came to REP.

As I spent time with Lamb, it became clear that a major aspect of his success is his attitude. While it may be a stretch to say he embraces adversity, he does find pleasure in coming up with solutions to challenges. “There are no problems in real estate and in life, only challenges,” he says.

Asked what he would say to someone who is debating leaving a franchised company to start their own firm, Lamb says he would encourage them. “Make a list of the pros and cons and if you decide that you really want to do it, do it.” Lamb offers the following suggestions to those starting an independent brokerage:

• “Don’t use your own name. There are exceptions such as Keller Williams, but try to find a name that is unique and build on it and your brand.”

• “Avoid names such as Jack’s Realty or Canmore Real Estate Company as this isolates and restricts you in the event

you grow and want to expand to new areas.”

• Spend time working on your logo and slogan. “By building your own unique brand from the start, you will not have to rebrand as you grow to meet the professionalism you are projecting.”

• “Stick to what you know best and don’t try to be a one-stop shopping spot. If you are selling real estate, be the best

real estate company you can be. Do not sell insurance or travel, as this broadcasts that you are not a specialist in anything.”

• “If you do not have a great cash flow at the start, get a line of credit or a small business loan to start a very professional looking company.”

My favourite piece of Lamb’s advice sums up his journey: “Don’t resist change, embrace it.” REM

Ken Lamb (Photo by Bryce Meyer)


®

Good advice for bad neighbours By Yvonne Dick

here’s always a fear that aproperty you’ve listed forsale is going to be viewed

at a lower value because of sur-rounding properties and their con-dition, or because of bad neigh-bours.

When listing a house for sale, itis important to assess the neigh-bourhood. Note any potential neg-atives such as nearby entertain-ment venues, bars, railway linesand noisy neighbours along theblock. Take a look at how theother homeowners keep their yards– is it in line with the look youwould like to see in the propertyyou are selling?

“Generally we try and take thepath of least resistance” with sell-ers’ neighbours, says Adam Bendigof Re/Max Connex Realty inRockwood, Ont. “It’s nice toknock on the door and say hi, or ifthere is bad blood (with the seller),try to remedy it prior to selling thehouse. The past issues may beminor but people hold grudgeslonger than they need to.”

Don’t forget to leave business

T cards and make sure that everyoneyou meet has a way to get in con-tact with you if they have anyproblems. Talk with the seller andmake a list of any difficulties theyhave ever had with neighbours,paying attention to what and howthings are said. You want to clearlyunderstand what the issues are andhow serious or minor they may be.Assume nothing and always clarify.

“Sometimes it can be a finan-cial issue – if a property doesn’tlook up to par it might just be thatthey’re not capable of taking careof their house and maybe theyneed help” cleaning up their yard,says Bendig. He suggests offering tohelp out with cleaning projects as away to build better relationshipsbetween neighbour and seller.

Privacy walls or fences, largeplants or temporary decorativeitems can help make your propertysale smoother by accenting thehouse rather than drawing the eyeto other houses or their occupants.

What if you are considered thebad neighbour? For instance, whatif a neighbouring property feels

they are being harassed by openhouses scheduled during the timethey sit down to dinner?

“A gift card can go a long waystoward smoothing things over.We’ve done that with clients aswell as neighbours when smallissues have arisen,” says Bendig.

Neighbours can be quiet yetdeadly – passive aggressive orprone to blow a fuse for unpre-dictable reasons. While they are inthe minority, head it off at the passwith open communication.

“When you leave notes you justdon’t get the same response,” hesays. “Show them the courtesy ofdiscussing what’s going on and howyou’d like to see things. Explainthat you are trying to sell thehouse,” says Bendig. If you feel ten-sions are escalating during a con-versation with the seller’s neigh-bour, back off and come againanother time.

If you think a neighbour is notgoing to respond well to the sellertalking to them, be prepared tostep in as a sort of mediator. It takesthe personal aspect down a notch

because it is now a professionaltalking to them and not the neigh-bour that they don’t get alongwith. Bendig says one of the toolsin the sales rep’s kit is being able toshow neighbours how what theyare doing affects property value. Itcan benefit the neighbour if theyrealize others may see their ownhome as more valuable.

“A lot of people have in theirhead the worst-case scenario. Ninetimes out of 10 just talking withpeople, they are more than willingto work with you.”

Bendig says your last resort isgetting local bylaw enforcementofficials involved, but if you go thatroute, “you might stir the pot a lit-tle more than you want.” REM

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By Cliff Baird

Believe in yourself and real estate scene miserably discouragedbecause everything they hadassumed would work was renderedutterly ineffective.

But one day after spendingconsiderable time with his mentor,young Arthur was finally encour-aged to make his way to the rock.It was probably a damp, foggymorning. Arthur gazed from a dis-tance as the others continued toline up one by one, brimming witharrogant confidence that theyknew how to unlock the prize. Hewatched as they all ultimatelyshuffled away … some in anger,some in despair but all in failure.

After a brief moment of innercontemplation, revisiting thebeliefs that had been his source ofstrength, he approached the rock.As he stood about 40 feet away hesteadfastly fixed his gaze and hisheart on the Excalibur sword. Hewas aware of all the ramificationsand welcomed them. Eventhough every other attempt hadproduced nothing but failure henever doubted for a singlemoment. He simply glanced back

at his mentor one last time andthen took the step.

Arthur had now been empow-ered not merely with cerebralknowledge laden down with facts,but with a life force sufficient tooverwhelm any circumstance. Hehad evolved. Arthur had gainedwhat everyone else lacked. He hadfaith. He simply knew that hecould accomplish the task.

The very moment that Arthurtook his first step, overflowingwith inner peace and assurance,the rock immediately released itsgrip. Although the rock hadaggressively imprisoned the prizefor a long time, how wonderful is itto know that there is no powerthat can withstand a simple,unadulterated act of absolute faith.Arthur placed his small hand onthe great sword and he pulled itout as though it had been restingin putty. His quest was not drivenby thoughts of the “kingdom”. Hehad loftier goals. He was recogniz-ing his amazing opportunity andaccepting his responsibility toembrace it.

If we need to explain thismetaphor you are most likelystruggling. If you are dismissingthis legend as completely irrele-vant for you in today’s world, youare already determining yourfuture as grossly mediocre.However, if this has sparked thefire within and you are againaroused to realize the sheer sim-plicity of personal faith, you willthrive in the midst of chaos. It’s alaw and no amount of doubters,failures or headlines can change it.

You can arm yourself with allthe gadgets. You can have aplethora of websites. You canattend every seminar, listen toevery conference call and enjoyevery webinar. Neither cerebralbrute force nor an armament ofworld-class marketing battleweapons will get you to the land ofyour dreams. You can get certified,clarified and glorified but no spe-cial alignment of your stars will getyou to where you want to be.

In the end it is profoundly sim-ple really. Do you believe in your-self or have you surrendered your

personal power to all the negativeforces that are plundering yourpotential for success? Not until youtake back control of your life willany business tools have the capaci-ty to create the tranquility of suc-cess. They will have no power ifthey remain external to you. Butthe moment you internalize themand embrace them as part of yourfaith system, you will rise aboveany circumstance. The futurealready exists in your present.

You cannot think your way tobetter behaviour but you canbehave your way into betterthinking.

Cliff Baird, MBA, PhD is a clin-ical psychologist and a former profes-sor at Wilfrid Laurier. He has spentmore than 35 years in real estate. Hecreated a 32-office franchise, devel-oped several online recruiting profiles,was the keynote speaker for everymajor real estate franchise in the USAand Canada and was a featuredkeynote speaker for 12 years in a rowat the NAR convention. www.cliff-baird.com REM

oung Arthur was not thefirst to try to pull Excaliburfrom the rock. The legend

tells us that many others hadattempted to use their vast array ofskills and powers in their lust forthe bounty. The reward was cer-tainly great. The one who coulddislodge the sword from the rockwas going to get the kingdom.

The most powerful people inthe land all took their turn. Themuscle-bound titans tried to usebrute force. The alchemists usedtheir knowledge of metallurgy andgeology. Then there were thosewho waited for an appropriatealignment of the stars. Somewould even think this was theirlucky day. But they all failed.Countless scores of them left the

Y

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By George Lorimer

I got involved in real estate right out of col-lege. I’ve been doing it many years, but it’s tough to make a living on your own. I’ve been to many of the differenttrainers and not one of them had any lastingsuccess, but once I started using Craig Proctor’sSystem, I really startedlearning and my businessimproved.

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Thanks Craig and all the people in his orga-nization for helping me move from a strugglingand sometimes bitteragent to having fun, making more sales and having a profit. I havethe Quantum Leap Sys-tem up and running and I’m getting hundreds of new leads per month. In the last year I have gone on vacations toEurope, New York, andHawaii. It is awesometo come back and havedeals closed. It hasallowed me to havethe life I want and beproactive and work

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ere at REM, it’s difficultto ignore the trend ofmobile devices replacing

desktop computers for ordinary,everyday tasks. Up to half our audi-ence now visits our website andreads our email newsletter from asmartphone or tablet device.

So it should come as no surprisethat even Apple is getting in onthe trend of making “phablets”.After all, if you’re using yourmobile device for more things thatyou used to do on a computer, ithelps to have a bigger screen.

Is the iPhone 6 a must have forreal estate agents? Will the iPhone6 make you more productive?

Undeniably, the most notice-able new feature is its size. When itcomes to showing off a listing, orwriting and sending emails toclients, a bigger screen is definitelybetter and the iPhone 6 – as wellas its even larger variant, theiPhone 6 Plus – delivers. With ascreen size of 4.7 inches – 5.5inches on the Plus – the iPhone 6boasts a display resolution of 1334


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REM reviews the iPhone 6By William Molls

by 750 pixels. The iPhone 6 Plus,meanwhile, has full 1080 HD res-olution, a vast improvement overthe iPhone 5’s four-inch, 1136 by640 pixel display. All of this is tosay images, text and video aremore clear and precise than onprevious models, which makes adifference when, for example,showing off photos of a new listingto clients, or reading the fine print

on a contract.The iPhone 6’s eight mega-

pixel iSight camera is better thanever, offering automatic HDR,optical image stabilization and animproved panorama mode. Whileon the front-facing side of thedevice, a 1.2 megapixel cameraoffers improved face detection anda back-side illumination sensorthat can sense how bright or darkyour surroundings are and adjustthe aperture as necessary. And asfor recording video, the improvediSight camera offers full 1080p HDvideo capture, now including theability to record in slow motion(up to 240 frames-per-second).

Imagine being able to give alive virtual tour of a listing in HDvideo, then flipping to the front-facing camera to have a one-on-one video call with the client overFaceTime. You can do all of thesethings more seamlessly than everwith Apple’s newest phone.

Bigger also means more power-ful. The iPhone 6 boasts an A8chip and quad-core mobile proces-

sor, so running large, data-heavyapplications can happen moresmoothly than ever. Early tests bycnet.com indicate that battery lifeis on par with the previous iPhone5 model, meaning that under aver-age conditions, the battery shouldhold a charge throughout the day,though two days or more without acharge may be pushing it.

But what’s really exciting iswhat’s on the horizon for Apple’ssignature product. ApplePay, awireless payment system that usesTouch ID fingerprint verificationand near field communication(NFC), will soon allow you toquickly and securely pay for every-day purchases without ever reach-ing for your wallet. The AppleWatch, Apple’s foray into the“smart watch” product line, can belinked with your phone and allowyou to do basic tasks like answeringcalls and responding to texts with-out needing to reach into yourpocket for the phone itself.

What should be the most excit-ing new feature for real estate pro-fessionals, though, is Handoff,which will allow you to start taskson one device and finish them onanother. For example, you couldstart a text document on youriPhone, pick up an iPad and edit it

there, and then proofread andemail it away on a Mac orMacBook, transitioning betweendevices seamlessly. Being able toswitch back and forth betweendevices while working on, forexample, a contract or disclosureagreement, promises to greatlyincrease the efficiency of a typicalagents’ workflow.

Still, all of these exciting newpossibilities are just that – possibil-ities. It remains to be seen howpractical these new features willend up being in the real world.

So while it may not excel inany one category over offeringsfrom Samsung and others, it’s cer-tainly the most impressive all-around mobile phone on the mar-ket. If you’re up for a new contractwith your wireless provider, itshould be the first device you con-sider buying. But it’s not quite a“must-have” for real estate agents.Not yet, at least.

William Molls has been REM’sdigital media manager since 2009. Hehas also worked freelance in mediaproduction for Bell Media, CityTV,and Rogers Communications, and isa graduate of Ryerson University’sRTA School of [email protected] REM

©2014 My Lifestyle Brand Inc. Better Homes and Gardens® and Be Better® are registered trademarks of Meredith Corporation licensed to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC and used with permission. Each Franchise is Independently Owned and Operated.

In 2008 I was given the greatest opportunity of my 30-year career in real estate — to build and launch a next-generation lifestyle real estate brand: Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate.

I have had the pleasure of working with an amazing team and a culturally aligned broker network. And I am extremely proud of the increasing influence Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate has had on the industry over the past 6 years thanks to its commitment to innovation. Through this innovation, we are able to help our affiliated network with their most important business goals: success, growth and productivity.

Our real estate professionals are great at what they do, but our mission is to provide tools and resources so that with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, they are even better.

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Listing luxury properties Patience, perseverance required By Dennis McCloskey

Michael Poczynek believes that patience is a virtue.

When he secured the listing for one of the most expensive summer homes in Eastern Canada several years ago, he knew it would take extraordinary measures to sell this spectacular architectural gem in Canada’s smallest province.

Poczynek also believes in the proverb that “good things come to him who waits” but the sales rep with Century 21 Northumberland Realty in Summerside, P.E.I., has not been sitting around waiting for a buyer to magically appear.

Five years ago, a nationally renowned American architect built the $6.9-million, 13,360-sq.-ft. Cape Cod summer home on 11 acres of oceanfront property in Cable Head East near the eastern tip of the island. A few years later, when the owner put the home up for sale because of family health reasons, he contacted Sotheby’s International Realty. As the sole Sotheby’s representative in P.E.I. at the time, Poczynek was contacted by the firm and was given the listing in 2013. As of August 2014, the asking price had

been reduced to $3.95 million.You would think such a

price drop would be seen as a steal by some international financial magnate looking for a recreational property, but

Poczynek faces many challenges in attracting a buyer for this ultra-luxurious house.

“The biggest challenge has to do with the U.S. market crash and 99 per cent of potential buyers of a property such as this come from the U.S., mostly the New England states, New York and Florida,” he says. “We are seen as the Cape Cod or Long Island of the north. So, the saleability is dependent on those American buyers and the market

is at the bottom right now.” Always the optimist, Poczynek adds that an American broker recently said that’s a good thing because the time to buy (a stock) is when prices are low.

Poczynek, who is a self-described “technology addict” and uses an airborne drone to videotape some of his properties to show prospective buyers, says another drawback he faces – besides a lack of consumer confidence – is the size of the province.

“A property like this in P.E.I. is seen as a hidden gem or diamond but the province is so small the government doesn’t have a big marketing budget, nationally or internationally.” He suggests that the larger province of next-door Nova Scotia has a big budget for advertising, so Americans who are looking for east coast Canadian property tend to buy there.

Geography, on a national and local scale, comes into play in a big way when offering a luxury product. “If this was in Malibu or Beverly Hills where every other home is worth a million dollars or more, the potential to

sell is high,” says Poczynek, who moved to P.E.I. from Burlington, Ont. in 1997. “But in P.E.I. you might have a luxury home next to a $100,000 home.” And that, he says, is where the risk/reward factor comes into play.

“If you’re selling a house in Cape Cod or Nantucket – or even Toronto or Oakville – you’re almost sure it’s going to sell so you have no problem spending a massive amount of money marketing that product. It’s not a big deal there; but here it is.”

Because the large and spectacular north shore summer home is such a difficult sell in such a small province, Poczynek has pulled out all the stops, including the creative suggestion that it could be turned into a luxury B&B or a corporate retreat for company executives or employees. He has a high-profile online presence with professionally taken creative photos and videos, including a video exclusively for the China market. “Two of our brokers were in China for a total of 90 days and the home was shown to clients who have purchased a hotel and other properties from us in P.E.I.,” he says.

He lists a plethora of other ways he is marketing the house, including advertising in the strong markets of Boston and Long Island; emails to his contact list of 22,000; using Century 21’s world property sites and other industry resources such as CREA’s Data Distribution Facility (DDF).

When asked about the massive amount of media coverage, both locally and nationally, that he has garnered in print, radio and TV, Poczynek laughs and says he is a “media whore.” He is proud of the self-described moniker “because I can’t buy the kind of coverage I’ve received on CBC, CTV, Charlottetown Guardian, YouTube and even a story in the

Huffington Post.”Poczynek, who also sells

residential and commercial properties, got into the recreational and waterfront property listings when he sold a house (that another agent had given up on) through an ad in the New York Times. He denies that he gets discouraged by the seeming lack of serious buyers of this particular property, saying he enjoys the challenge.

“As a businessperson, I could look at the numbers and say it’s time to cut my losses, but as an eternal optimist, I am stupidly motivated to sell P.E.I.’s most phenomenal waterfront property. Also, I am a patient man.” He keeps the vendor apprised of his marketing efforts and he explains absorption rates to the client (how long it could take to sell such a property in that location) and supplies other forms of data as often as necessary or requested.

Asked if he has advice for other agents who are listing – or would like to list – luxury properties, Poczynek says with the right marketing mix and the use of creativity and technology, a good real estate agent can connect a luxury listing with qualified and interested buyers. He also recommends a book by Jack Cotton, titled Selling Luxury Homes. Poczynek says it is far and away the best book for selling all kinds of real estate, not just luxury properties. REM

Michael Poczynek

The oceanfront property in Cable Head East is currently listed for $3.95 million.

“He that can have

patience can have what he will.”

- Benjamin Franklin

©2014 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. This advertisement is not an offering of a franchise, and where required by law, an offering can only be made 14 days after delivery of the applicable franchise disclosure document.

Extend your reach. Expand your resources.Be part of our truly connected worldwide network.

The local market leadership of our agents and the global recognition of our brand come together to provide the highest level of international real estate service in markets around the world. Each of our 4,700+ agents operating in 38 countries throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and North America, are truly connected by our propriety global technology and a culture that is united by our three core values – competence, exclusivity and passion.

Be part of this extraordinary network and enhance the services you provide to your clients.

Engel & Völkers Canada2 Bloor Street West · Suite 700 · Toronto · Ontario M4W 3R1 · Canada · Phone +1-416-323-1100

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royallepage.ca/joinus

The 2014 Royal LePage National Sales Conference was an incredible success! Royal LePagers, from coast-to-coast came together to network, learn,

be inspired, and have fun.

Wow... what an awesome week! Had a blast. - Gia Lucchetta, Royal LePage Royal City Realty, Brokerage*

What a great week! Thanks fellow Royal LePagers for such good memories, sharing of ideas and inspiration. An amazing event.

- Jennifer Trentadue, Royal LePage Wolstencroft Realty*

Don’t miss out on the fun and referrals. We hope to see you at our next National Sales Conference in Halifax.

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IS WHAT WE DOReaching new heights

This is not intended as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, including a solicitation of any sales representatives or broker that is currently under contract. Any copying, reproduction, distribution or other use of these materials is prohibited. All offices are independently owned and operated, except those marked as “Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd.” and “Royal LePage West Real Estate Services.” ©2014 Brookfield Real Estate Services Manager Limited. All rights reserved.

fter working 30 or 40 yearsto build your brokerage,you’ll want to leverage the

equity you have created to sell it atthe right price and to the peopleyou want.

As you begin to think aboutspending more time on the golfcourse or whatever your choice ofleisure, questions will arise. Howdo you prepare your business forsale? How much is your businessworth? Who are your prospectivebuyers? Who are the buyers thatwill make the transition to newownership as smooth as possible?

As someone who has put a life-time into building your brokerage,you’ll want to consider youroptions carefully. For businessowners who already have an exitplan, answers to the questions


By George Heos

A

ave you ever beenabsolutely right? I meanthat 100-per-cent posi-

tive, bet the house, certain you wereright about something that otherpeople were unsure of. Whatever itwas, you knew it and everybodyknew you knew it. You had thatconfidence about you. That com-fort level that only comes from thepower of possessing that knowledgeat that time.

The term people use for thosemoments is “a position of power”.

Knowledge, as we all know, ispower, so if you have it you are in aposition of power. It’s that simple. Iremember clearly the first time Iexperienced it in my real estatecareer. I was still a relatively newand inexperienced agent and myself-confidence wasn’t that great.After all, who was I to think I knewmore than agents who had been inthe business for so much longer?How dare I question them? Evenwhen I thought something theysaid was wrong, I would never havethe nerve to correct them. Thatwent on for months until oneevening I was at a get-together at afriend’s house.

It was her birthday and quite afew people were there helping hercelebrate. Some of them I knew andothers I’d never met before. At onepoint in the evening I was intro-duced to a young couple as a realestate agent. There’s someone youcan talk to, the person doing theintroducing said and left me with

the two of them. They were recent-ly married, expecting their firstchild and in the preliminary stagesof looking to buy a house. They did-n’t have an agent, which was thefirst question I asked them out ofprofessional courtesy. After somesmall talk they let loose with ques-tions they had no doubt beenthinking and talking about for awhile.

Luckily for me I had done myhomework as well. Between thehome buyers talks and press releasesI was sending out to the media reg-ularly about the state of the localreal estate market, I was quite com-fortable fielding their questions.

At one point, I rememberthinking to myself, wow, I know alot about real estate. I was certainand confident in my answers – andlooking cool while I did I mightadd.

By reading everything I couldfind on real estate, checking mylocal MLS listings daily, visiting

agent open houses, doing walk-abouts of the new listings in myfarm area and searching for infor-mation for my press releases, I hadaccumulated a lot of knowledge. Alot of power.

Soon, other people joined ourconversation with their own ques-tions and comments. I was able tohold their attention because I knewwhat I was talking about. There wasno bluffing involved, no deflectingquestions or stammering foranswers. Everything just rolled offmy tongue. Standing there in myposition of power was an amazingfeeling and one I’ve strived to main-tain ever since.

Keep in mind that this waslong before the Internet andGoogle. I couldn’t find answersand information on a smartphonewhile I ate lunch. Today it is somuch easier for any agent to be intheir position of power. In fact,there’s really no excuse not toknow your business. All it takes is

dedicating as little as 10 minutes aday to doing research.

That young couple have beenmy clients ever since that eveningwe met and they’re on their thirdhouse now. Plus they were morethan happy to recommend me totheir friends and family.

So I’m going to challenge you toa 10/10 task. Spend 10 minutes aday for the next 10 days studyingyour local real estate market. Youwill feel your confidence growingand at the end you won’t stop.You’ll be enjoying your new-foundposition of power too much.

Debbie Hanlon is a real estate bro-ker who has helped train hundreds ofsales reps and brokered and managed anational real estate franchise. She alsofounded an independent real estatefirm. Currently she coaches sales repsall over the world. She is the CEO ofAll Knight Inc. https://www.face-book.com/missdebbieandfriends

REM

STOP S ELLINGHOUSES & STARTMAKING MONEY

By Debbie Hanlon

An exit plan for your businessThe golf course beckons. Steps you take now toward succession planning will pay dividends later.above should come readily. Forthose who don’t have a plan inplace, several key points shouldhelp you to establish an exit planand to maximize your selling price:

1. Present a clear picture ofyour company’s financials.Preparing for a sale is different fromyour year-end financials preparedfor taxation purposes. In selling,you need to prepare an accuratereflection of the business. Thisinvolves taking out costs, and insome cases, adding them in.

For example, the seller may nothave previously included his salaryin the company’s financials.Conversely, some expenses willcome out, such as vehicles or busi-ness trips. The purchaser will lookfor two to four years of history onthe business to understand where itis within its lifecycle. Is the busi-ness growing? Has it plateaued or isit declining? All this will affect theprice.

2. How much is your businessworth? As a rule of thumb, a

mature business is worth three tofour times its cash flow. For exam-ple, if a business makes $100,000per year, it is worth $300,000 to$400,000. Keep in mind that val-ues can vary greatly, particularly ifthere is a competitor interested inpurchasing. A business is alwaysworth more to a competitor wheneconomies of scale can be lever-aged and when a nearby competi-tor wants to grow. Instead of hav-ing two offices at which to payrent, utilities, furnish and adminis-ter, the business can be consolidat-ed by a competitor under one roof.

3. Who are the prospectivebuyers? The operating models ofvarious brokerages can be starklydifferent. When you think ofprospective buyers, you want tolook for a fit in order to maximizethe value to the buyer. Conversely,in some cases, you may want toconsider whether your businessmodel can be transformed to bemore synonymous to the buyers’culture and operating model.

4. Decide what your role willbe in the transition. If you areplanning to sell your business andsimply hand over the keys, thatwill have some impact on your sell-ing price. Your agents play a hugepart in the value of your brokerage,so retention of your agents isimportant to the value. Whileagents believe in the power of thebrand and the benefit of tools andservices in terms of helping themto build their business, yourinvolvement will also play a criti-cal role. As an owner, how longyou decide to stay with the busi-ness, working with the new ownerto ensure a successful transition,will have a positive impact onagent retention and the value ofyour business. In many cases, own-ers plan to stay with the new own-ership for one to two years.

5. Where do you find adviceand assistance to get the dealdone? There are a lot of ownerswho have built and run very suc-cessful businesses, but they may

never have acquired another com-pany or have sold a business.Companies like the one I work for,Royal LePage, help brokerageswithin our network who want togrow, and are capable of growing,to do so. We support these compa-nies from both a financial andoperational perspective to makegrowth an option.

While each situation for achange of ownership is unique,there are considerations and aprocess to get everyone where theywant to go. Seeking out the rightadvice and negotiation expertise,from those with a track record forgrowth, is a smart first step in exit-ing your business.

George Heos is senior vice-presi-dent, network development at RoyalLePage, where he has contributed tomake Royal LePage Canada’s fastestgrowing real estate brand since joiningthe company in [email protected] 416-510-5827 REM

Put yourself in a position of power

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Don’t block my way LEGAL ISSUES

By Donald H. Lapowich

he plaintiff allowed its ten-ants to park in a lot.However, access to that lot

from the street was over a right-of-way on property owned by thedefendant.

During an eight-year period,the right-of-way was disturbedwhen the defendant constructed ahotel. When the right-of-way wasrestored, it was narrower, had lessheight and was obviously morerestrictive. The plaintiff sued fordamages and succeeded at trial.The plaintiff was awarded$441,400. These damages repre-sented the hotel interfering “per-manently” with the right-of-waythat had originally been granted.(Fountas v. Melo, 2014 ONSC2463)

■ ■ ■

Lease terms and attempteddeception: This is a Court ofAppeal case from Quebec involv-ing a lease by a commercial tenant,which sold, exchanged and pur-chased new and used videogames.

The lease was located in ashopping centre and as a protec-tive clause, included exclusivity to

this tenant so that no other tenantwould be authorized to sell,exchange and purchase new andused videogames in the centre.The owner subsequently advisedthat it was going to lease spaceallegedly “near the shopping cen-tre to a major video store chain.”Of course, the tenant sued for aninjunction and declaratory judg-ment based on the exclusivityclause.

The Court of Appeal upheldthe trial judge that the proposedlease to the video store chain vio-lated the exclusivity clause in thelease granted to the plaintiff. It alsowas found that the owner attempt-ed to deceive the tenant by claim-ing that the other business “wouldnot be operated inside the shop-ping centre.”

■ ■ ■

Mediation: Often the parties toa disagreement will enter intomediation. The MediationAgreement contains a confiden-tiality clause and the mediator willadvise that what occurs duringmediation is privileged.

However, if the two sides canreach an agreement (settlement)the best mediators always require asigned written SettlementAgreement.

In this case, which went all theway to the Supreme Court ofCanada, the plaintiff brought amotion for approval of a settle-ment. The defence moved to strikeout allegations referred to in themediation process.

The courts reiterated that com-munications leading to settlement“ceased to be privileged” if disclo-sure is necessary to prove the exis-tence or scope of the settlement.

As in any other situation, mat-ters set in writing record the settle-ment. Obviously mediation was toavoid the expense of having tolead evidence and a determinationby a judge. If not carried out in themediation settlement, that advan-tage can be lost. (Union CarbideCanada Inc. v. Bombardier Inc.,2014 SCC 35)

■ ■ ■

Your intent must be clearlyexpressed: Parties who live nextdoor to each other signed anEasement Agreement creating aneasement on the defendantowner’s property for the benefit ofthe plaintiff. Both parties alsosigned a Severance Agreementwhere the plaintiff agreed to severanother lot and “if successful” totransfer the parcel to the defendantowner.

At the request of the plaintiffthe owner refused to proceed withthe easement “until a severancewas granted.” The plaintiff thensought a declaration that theEasement Agreement was bindingand should be registered on title.The defendant sought specificperformance for the severance of the lot and the transfer of the parcel.

The judge decided on aSummary Judgment to grant reliefto the plaintiff. The EasementAgreement and the SeveranceAgreement were both binding andenforceable and the plaintiff wasentitled to the easement notwith-standing that the application forthe severance of the other lot hadnot been completed. The plaintiff,however, had taken all reasonablesteps to attempt the lot severance.

This decision was upheld bythe Court of Appeal as the agree-ments were not conditional, theone on the other. (Nordlund v.Plominski, 2013 ONSC 283)

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

T

When the right-of-way was restored, it was

narrower, had less heightand was obviously morerestrictive. The plaintiffsued for damages and

succeeded at trial.

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ventually, screenwriters finda way to work every subjectinto a movie. Go ahead,

think about it – love, war, SpringBreak, zombies…Heck, even war-ring zombies in love on SpringBreak. There’s probably been amovie made about it!

Real estate or real estate agentsdon’t often find their way into theflickering pictures, but on occa-sion, they just might play somesmall part in a movie. Here are afew popular films that have fea-tured either real estate or realestate agents:

Comedy:The Money Pit, a 1986 comedy

starring Tom Hanks and ShelleyLong. Despite what you mightthink, this is not a documentaryabout how much Brad Pitt isworth. Like a few listings you mayhave tried to market over the years,or a home you may have owned,this disaster comedy exaggerateswhat can go wrong after purchas-ing a fixer-upper. Let’s just hopethere was full disclosure and thebuyers walked into this knowingwhat they were getting into. Thefact that the seller’s name was ConArtist suggests perhaps not.

Neighbors, a 1981 movie withthe dynamic former Saturday NightLive duo, John Belushi andCanadian Dan Akroyd. There’sthat old saying that you can chooseyour friends, but you can’t chooseyour family. Sometimes, you takeyour chances when you buy a newhome and inherit existing neigh-bours you might not gel with.Frankly, it’s just too bad that somany building codes in this dayand age prohibit moats and 30-foot-tall perimeter stone walls.

Horror:House – Not the popular TV

series about medicine and one par-ticularly cantankerous doctor, this1986 horror film starring WilliamKatt features a gateway to anotherdimension. In a note of interest tobuilders, this is not a prudent fea-ture to install in a bathroom medi-cine cabinet with respect to future

resale values. This movie does feature zom-

bies, although I don’t recall if it wasset during Spring Break. Or if theywere in love.

If you’re a big fan of horrormovies blended with supernaturalhappenings in homes, you may alsowant to check out Poltergeist(1982), a home built on ancientburial ground, with spirits awak-ened by TV signals, then wreakingghostly hijacks worse than openingand seeing your monthly cable bill.

Drama:The War of the Roses from 1989,

starring Michael Douglas andKathleen Turner as a high-pow-ered couple who refuses to vacatetheir home during a divorce. Shortof literally splitting the residencein two, this movie is a great exam-ple of the delicate nature of dealingwith the parties during the sale of aproperty whilst divorcing. If yourstomach is weak however, andyou’d prefer something less stressfulthan dealing with two temper-flared, immovable objects, consid-er instead performing a root canalwith a paperclip on a non-sedatedsaltwater crocodile.

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)with Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon,Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey. Ifyou’ve ever worked in timesharesales, multi-level marketing or anyother sort of boiler-room salesenvironment, you will cherish thereality of the characters in this ter-rific film. You wouldn’t want to beon the other side of the table, espe-cially when they bring in “JimmyThe Closer” to clinch the sale, butyou’ll still enjoy the characters.

These are just a few moviesthat have had a degree of success,while featuring facets of the busi-ness of real estate. What are yourown favourites?

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

By Dan St. Yves

Realestatein themovies

E

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ave you ever had a dream?Maybe about that cottageup north, maybe that

cruise around the world, or aMount Everest climb or a vintagecar?

I had a dream – or was it anightmare?

It was a Victoria Day weekendand an old friend phoned to ask meto come over to his place. He saidhe had a surprise for me and that itwas something I always wanted.

Inside his large garage was a1973 Mercedes Benz 230 SL con-vertible in not-too-bad condition.What a beautiful little car. Theinterior had a custom Benz wood-grain interior, complete with amatching wood steering wheel anda Blaupunkt radio (no FM in thosedays). The mileage was only115,000 miles. But hold on! Thebest part was the car was to be a giftas a token of my friend’s apprecia-tion and friendship.

I asked my mechanic friendwhat he thought about restoring


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Knowing when to let goAS I SEE IT FROM MY DESK

By Stan Albert

the car before I took ownership ofit. Since he had never restored acar of collector vintage, my wifehad some concerns about his abili-ty to do so, but I pooh-poohed herand won the argument.

The car arrived at mymechanic’s lot a couple of dayslater. I had an appraiser come toexamine the car. To my astonish-ment, he kicked the under-panelson the body of the car and chunksof rusted metal fell to the ground.The appraiser told us the car wasworth only about $1,500 as is andcould be sold only for parts. Heoffered to buy it for $1,500. Aftera brief discussion with mymechanic, he convinced me thathe could do the work himself tomy complete satisfaction. I hadseen a number of older cars beingrestored at his garage and wasconfident he could do the job at anominal cost. He wanted to beinvolved in the project.

That was in 2008.As the spring rolled into sum-

mer and then fall, bills for essentialcar parts such as headlights, taillights and a new battery weremounting. I had no idea how muchall of this would cost.

On Thanksgiving Day, my wifeand I received another call frommy old friend, asking us to come toa barbecue at his home because hehad another surprise for us. He hadbegun cleaning out his garage and

found a steel roof that went withthe car. I took it to my mechanic tocomplete my dream vintage car. Ihad found in my research thatthere was a vintage Benz auto club,which I joined at a nominal cost,expecting that I would soon beable to take part in their regular carrallies.

As winter 2009 approached, Iasked my wife if I should put thebrakes on the spending or if weshould continue with the restora-tion project. After some brief dis-cussion we decided we were in fora penny, in for a pound (as the say-ing goes). Since this was mydream, my wife encouraged me tocontinue, so on we went.

I saw my car parked outside ofthe mechanic’s garage a number oftimes and was concerned that theconvertible roof was on instead ofthe metal roof. He kept assuringme that it was only temporary andit would be safe from the elements.This proved to be untrue. As thewinter of 2009 morphed intospring, the mechanic had only asmall amount of spare time to workon the car, since his garage is verypopular in the neighbourhood. Itwas as though both he and I hadsome sort of addiction to thisnever-ending project.

Finally, in mid-summer, mywife and I got the chance to takethe car for a spin. It was to be oneof our few driving experiences in

the car that summer.As 2009 rolled into 2010 and

then on to 2011, 2012, 2103 and2014, we replaced and/or repairedsome major components such asthe floor panel, carpeting and thecanvas top. We installed new seat-ing and a re-built transmission –which was the straw that broke thecamel’s back (and my bankbook).

With much regret I decided tosell the car through one of the automagazines, but I didn’t get anyinterest. I received a call from afriend of my son in EasternOntario, who offered a fraction ofwhat I was hoping to get for thecar. We all know that something isworth only what someone is will-ing to pay for it. Finally, I was satis-fied to let go of this particulardream.

What does this have to do withreal estate, you may well ask.

Well, I think one of the mostimportant things in life is to have adream. But to make that dream areality, make sure you do yourresearch. Make sure you have thefinancial wherewithal to bring thatdream to fruition. Acknowledgethat making a dream come truerequires total commitment. Andmake sure you can recognize whenit’s time to let that dream go andmove toward having another plan.

Stan Albert, broker/manager,ABR, ASA at Re/Max Crossroads’iRealty office in Toronto can bereached for consultation [email protected]. Stan is now cel-ebrating his 44th year as an active realestate professional. REM

Stan Albert’s dream car is towed away to its new home.

Want to know the value of a property before buying or selling?

Bring an AIC-designated appraiser on board to help make

your investment decision. AACI and CRA appraisers are real

estate experts, providing reliable, independent and unbiased

appraisals on all property types based on current and emerging

market trends. When property is involved, involve us.

YOU SEE A DREAM PROPERTY

WE SEE ITS REAL VALUE

Learn more about AIC-designated appraisers by visiting AICanada.ca

VALUATIONS APPRAISAL REVIEW CONSULTING FEASIBILITY STUDIES DUE DILIGENCE

lthough Toronto is theonly municipality inOntario that currently has

its own Land Transfer Tax, theOntario Real Estate Association(OREA) is proactively lobbying toensure the hated tax doesn’t cometo other cash-strapped cities.

“Municipalities across Ontarioare looking to the province for newrevenue tools or taxes,” says CostaPoulopoulos, London-based realestate broker and president ofOREA. “One of the tools beingconsidered is a second (municipal)land transfer tax on home buyers,similar to the tax imposed by theCity of Toronto. This tax carries ahuge cost.”


A A report conducted by AltusGroup Economic Consulting saysthe economic impacts of a MLTTon London, Mississauga,Hamilton, Ottawa and ThunderBay totals more than $1 billionand a loss of more than 10,000jobs.

OREA’s campaign against theMLTT launched on Sept. 15 andwill run through to municipal elec-tion day on Oct. 27, highlightingthe negative economic impacts ofa MLTT on local communities.The campaign includes billboardand bus shelter advertising,brochures, public relations, elec-tion events and a microsite atwww.donttaxmydream.ca.

■ ■ ■

The Brandon Real EstateBoard has found a new home andwith it came a name change.

The 200+ member boardchanged its name to Brandon AreaRealtors to reflect its entire mem-bership, not just the board of direc-tors. President Cam Toews saysabout one-third of its members arein rural areas as far away as 856 kmin Thompson, Man. and the nameis meant to encompass those mem-bers too.

The rebranding “also includeda new mission, vision (and) valuestatement, to try to bring it up todate,” Toews said.

After moving out of its olddowntown location, the organiza-tion was renting an office for near-ly two years. Now the 47-year-oldassociation has moved back down-town.

“We felt it necessary as an orga-nization that promotes ownershipthat we should own our building,”Toews said. “It was prudent for usto put our money into a building.”

The association’s recentShelter Invitational GolfTournament raised more than$8,000 for charities in theBrandon area. Through theManitoba Shelter Foundation, thefunds will be used for shelter-relat-ed charities. Two applicationsfrom local charities have beenreceived by the foundation so far.

The Royal LePage team ofDoug Temple, Ron Cornell, RussVanbuskirk and Glen Tosh had thelow score for the tournament.Vanbuskirk, who won the 50/50draw, donated a portion of it backto the Manitoba ShelterFoundation.

■ ■ ■

Gareth R. Jones has joined TheReal Estate Institute of Canada(REIC) as vice-president, corpo-rate development at the REICnational office. He will be respon-sible for expanding the delivery ofREIC programs through industrypartnerships with real estateboards, sector related associationsand corporations across Canada.

He will also serve as a staff facultymember.

Jones is a real estate brokerwith more than 28 years of experi-ence in residential and commercialreal estate with prominent nation-al real estate companies, saysREIC. He also has experience inresidential and commercial financ-ing while working in the bankingindustry.

“Advancing ethics and profes-sionalism also advances the imageand status of real estate industryprofessionals,” says Jones.

■ ■ ■

The Realtors Association ofGrey Bruce Owen Sound (RAG-BOS) donated $21,200 to Habitatfor Humanity Grey Bruce recently.The association raised $20,100 atits annual charity golf tournamentand a further $1,100 with fundsfrom the Ontario Realtors CareFoundation (ORCF). LocalRealtors in co-operation withORCF have donated more than$151,000 to Habitat builds since2000.

The Lethbridge District Association of Realtors’(LDAR) recently donated funds from its Charity GolfTournament to the YMCA Strong Kids program. Thetournament raised $27,000, which will help providefinancial assistance to youth in Lethbridge so that theycan participate in YMCA recreation and leisure pro-grams. From left: Cathy Maxwell, LDAR CEO; DavidAgema, LDAR president; Jennifer Petracek-Kolb, CEOof the YMCA; and Heleen Jacobsen, committee chair.

Gareth R. Jones

From left: MichaelMcIntee, RAGBOSpresident; Brad Angel,golf committee chair;and Greg Fryer,HFHGB executivedirector.

Doug Temple, Ron Cornell, Russ Vanbuskirkand Glen Tosh hadthe low score atthe Brandon AreaRealtors’ ShelterInvitational GolfTournament.

ARR president Basil Pappas presentsthe cheque to Sandy Wankel, execu-tive director of the North CentralFamily Centre.

LSTAR members and their familiesplanted 60 trees and shrubs in

Springbank Flats recently.

Ladette Fuchs ofthe Albert ParkCommunityAssociationreceives thecheque from ARR presidentBasil Pappas.

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more than 60,000 people, offeringa helping hand to nearly 5,500people last year alone. In additionto newcomers, Furniture Banknow also serves women building anew life following an abusive situa-tion and homeless people transi-tioning to a permanent dwelling.

■ ■ ■

More than 60 members of theLondon & St. ThomasAssociation of Realtors and theirfamilies planted nearly 400 nativetrees and shrubs in SpringbankFlats recently. “The flats separate abusy street from Greenway Park,”says Heather Arnott, chair ofLSTAR’s Quality of Life AdvisoryGroup. “Having this beautiful nat-ural barrier will enhance the expe-rience of people visiting the parkalong with all the many other ben-efits trees confer on a community.”

To optimize London’s environ-mental and human health,ReForest London is partneringwith the City of London and com-munity partners such as LSTAR onthe Million Tree Challenge, with agoal of planting one million treesduring the next 10 years. LSTARsigned onto the challenge in 2011.

REM

participate in social outings,” saysCollette Wiebe, executive directorof the nursery. “Seeing a child getexcited about the thought of anactivity outside the nursery is verytouching and you know it has apositive impact in their lives.”

Madder says: “This is so muchmore than money. The positiveimpact this grant has for so manychildren is heart-warming. If chil-dren are here, it means they aresafe, even though their families arein crisis. And while $5,000 isn’t ahuge amount, it can buy a reallynice piece of ‘normal’ in the mid-dle of chaos and confusion.”

■ ■ ■

Through the Realtors CareFoundation, the Toronto RealEstate Board supports FurnitureBank, a Toronto-based charity thatoutfits homes with the essentials,giving those who are emergingfrom difficult circumstances astrong start as they begin a newchapter in their lives. The charitytraces its beginnings to 1998 whenSister Anne Schenck of the Sistersof St. Joseph began collecting fur-nishings for refugees in need ofhelp when establishing a newhome. Since then, it has served

from all across Regina come to ourspray pad and soccer fields,” saysLadette Fuchs, director of theAlbert Park CommunityAssociation, the group spearhead-ing the park’s improvement pro-ject.

■ ■ ■

Representatives of theAssociation of SaskatchewanRealtors (ASR) toured theSaskatoon Crisis Nursery earlierthis month. The session wasarranged so that ASR could seefirst-hand the results of a $5,000grant provided through the ASRQuality of Life Legacy Fund.Saskatoon Realtors Joanne Kerr,co-chair of the ASR’s Quality ofLife in Saskatchewan committeeand Rich Jeanneau, as well as ASRCEO Bill Madder and COOChrist Guérette, were on hand forthe tour.

The grant was spent onextracurricular activities for thechildren both on-site (crafts, read-ing stories, baking, backyard playpark) and outside the nursery (out-ings). “The funding provides some-thing for these children that theyjust don’t get every day – theopportunity to be children and

■ ■ ■

The Association of ReginaRealtors (ARR) has donated$12,585 to the North CentralFamily Centre’s YouthEmpowerment Program. That’shalf of the record proceeds raised atthis year’s ARR Annual CharityGolf Tournament plus an addition-al $5,000 from the associationitself, bringing the total that ARRhas contributed to the NCFC overthe past nine years to almost$98,000.

This year’s donation will pur-chase tutoring, reading and home-work help for the Centre’sChildren and Youth LiteracyProgram, as well as supplies for theClean The NeighbourhoodProject, which puts youth to workassisting elders and houseboundresidents with yard care and othermaintenance.

The association donated theother half of the golf tournamentproceeds to upgrades at southRegina’s Realtors Park, which localRealtors helped to establish in1987 as a legacy of their associa-tion’s 75th anniversary.

“Realtors Park is not just thehub of our community, people

RAGBOS members BradAngel, Judy Howard, GaryMcGillivray and Jason Steele par-ticipated in Realtors Day at theHFHGB 2 Homes for 2 FamiliesBuild in Port Elgin, at which rooftrusses were put in place.

■ ■ ■

A new study published by theQuebec Federation of Real EstateBoards (QFREB) says single-familyhomes that contained an intergen-erational dwelling – where agingparents live in a separate suite in asingle-family home with their chil-dren – sold, on average, at a pricethat is 15 per cent higher than thatof conventional single-familyhomes.

While the number of single-family home transactions decreasedby seven per cent across theprovince in 2013, sales of intergen-erational homes increased by sixper cent, with a total of 951 trans-actions concluded through the realestate brokers’ Centris system.

The study says in 2013, inter-generational homes stayed on themarket an average of 20 dayslonger than conventional single-family homes (111 days vs. 91days).


afflegab! We are used topoliticians not answeringthe question, parsing the

language and having their bureau-crats create communications soobtuse, any later retraction,amendment or denial can bemade to appear positive. This“skill” gained national attentionrecently when a Conservativeparliamentary secretary was forcedto apologize to the House ofCommons for disrespecting thezoo called Question Period.

In his defence, it is not calledAnswer Period, however he wasguilty of arrogant indifference,what we might call ignorant,

METES & BOUNDS

By Marty Douglas

Bafflegab in politics and real estate when called upon to answer aquestion from the Opposition.

I’m drafting this column theday following the speeches fromPrime Minister Harper, OppositionLeader Thomas Mulcair andwanna-be opposition leader andposturing PM-in-waiting JustinTrudeau, on the role of Canada inthe war against the Islamic terroristgroup, ISIS. (Full disclosure: I havesupported my Conservative mem-ber of parliament John Duncan forevery federal election. But I sever-al times voted Liberal when they,in the distant past, supported thearmed services and once, blame iton youth and that’s where the girlswere, I drifted to the provincialNDP. So I’m a bit of a politicaltramp.)

I fully support the governmentposition on ISIS.

I can’t help but think the gov-ernment has led the two opposi-tion parties into an election trap,and the NDP and the Liberalssniffed the air and decided againstthe right thing to do in favour of

doing what will win votes in 2015.In their opinion.

It boils down to the wrist bandthe NDP and the Liberals wearand glance at when they are indoubt about policy. You’ll recallthe wrist band in another format,but this one asks, “What wouldQuebec do?”

Because that’s where the grass-roots vote resides for the opposi-tion, the votes they cannot lose ifthey hope to gain power inOttawa. The Conservativeswouldn’t reject extra seats in LaBelle Province (the jurisdiction,not the fast food chain) but theydon’t need them. For Mulcair orTrudeau to turf the Harpers out of24 Sussex Drive, they need gainsin Ontario and the West whilemaintaining their base in Quebec.

And despite the glorious his-tory of that province’s contribu-tions to Canada’s military in warand in peace, the vote tends to goagainst military engagement atthe pointy end. Sure we’ll buildyour warships – in fact we insist –but support a conflict with ourallies against a global threat? Nonmerci et pass the poutine.

So mark my words (anotherphrase that will soon disappearinto the electronic miasma): theConservatives have just won thenext federal election by doing theright thing and luring the opposi-tion into playing politics forpower, because in their opinion, itwould have cost them everything.And besides, they can count. Themajority government will carrythe day regardless, so they canfearlessly posture.

But it’s a losing game.And we play it too, but our

war in real estate is on the truth.Or statistics. No one seems toknow for sure who coined thecomment, “There are three kindsof lies: lies, damn lies and statis-tics.” (Not Mark Twain, whoprobably caused its popularitywhen he incorrectly attributed itto Disraeli. And so the Wikipediabattle goes on.)

To quote Pogo (who?): “I haveseen the enemy and it is us!”

I’m afraid it starts from ourgrassroots and spreads to thedirectors of real estate boards, ourprovincial associations and

CREA, who then echo their con-stituents’ requirement that noth-ing but good news comes from thegoverning body. I understand thereason – years of positive thinkershave drilled it into our heads notto watch, read or listen to thenews or hang out with the “blackcloud” group at the water coolerbecause nothing lies down thatpath but despair.

But when this “nothing nega-tive” philosophy couples with baf-flegab and invades our forecastingand statistics it denies the credi-bility we deserve. Consider theseexcerpts from the Sept. 15

CREA Housing Forecast:“British Columbia is forecast

to post the largest year-over-yearincrease in activity (11.9 percent) followed closely by Alberta(7.7 per cent). Demand in both ofthese provinces is currently run-ning at multi-year highs…Inother provinces, activity is fore-cast to decline in the range ofbetween one and two per cent. InBritish Columbia and Ontario,this trend reflects eroding afford-ability for single-family homes.”

On the one hand B.C. is fore-cast to have an increase in activi-ty and a few sentences later, cou-pled with Ontario, B.C.’s trend isjudged to reflect “eroding afford-ability.” No wonder HarryTruman demanded a one-handedeconomist.

I suppose CREA is demon-strating that increased activity isoccurring despite rising prices,with the result that affordabilitymay inhibit the ability of those onthe fringes to purchase real estate.But so do changes in mortgagequalification rules or a rising dol-lar or declining employment.

We do know who said, “Theonly function of economic fore-casting is to make astrology lookrespectable.” That was J.K.Galbraith, an economist. Heshould know.

I started this column with arant against bafflegab. I’ll finish

with the only statistic or forecastyou need to know in our business.Demographer, wine consumer,poet and sculptor David Baxteroffered long ago the secret to ris-ing prices. “House prices will notgo up until wages do. Lowincomes equal cheap housing.”

Contact Marty Douglas by email at [email protected] or connect with Marty onTwitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Heis a managing broker for Re/MaxOcean Pacific Realty in Comox andCourtenay, B.C. He is a past chairof the Real Estate Errors andOmissions Insurance Corporation ofB.C., the Real Estate Council ofB.C., the B.C. Real EstateAssociation and the VancouverIsland Real Estate Board. REM

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The directors of real estateboards, our provincial

associations and CREA echotheir constituents’ requirements

that nothing but good newscomes from the governing body.

But when that “nothing negative” philosophy couples

with bafflegab and invades ourforecasting and statistics, it

denies the credibility we deserve.

n the first article of this six-part series, we discussed howto assess your readiness to

invest in real estate. Now we willexplore the framework required toselect the geographical area whereyou will invest and building yourteam.

A process is defined as “a sys-tematic series of actions directed tosome end.” This being the case, itis important to keep in mind that,when looking to select an appro-


I

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By Eddy Boudiwan and George Hill

Building a real estate investment portfolio, Part 2priate investment property, youmust allow the process to guideyou, rather than deciding based onhow a property “feels” to you.

Research your area of focusbefore entering the market. Welook at real estate investments as alonger-term commitment thatallows steady and sustained wealthgrowth, rather than a quick-buckscenario.

GDP, job growth and popula-tion growth are examples of eco-nomic indicators that signal a pos-itive trend for investments in anarea of focus. For example, a townthat has shown steady increases ofpopulation and job growth canindicate a good long-term invest-ment where you can get cash flowand also build equity. Many fran-chisors and big-box stores look forsuch indicators to determine place-ment of their new franchises andproject these indicators for 10 to15 years into the future.

Keep an eye on indicators, as

they can tell you not only theappropriate time to enter a market,but also when to exit one, shouldthe growth trend be reversed.

Selecting and building yourreal estate investment team: Agood team of people in your net-work is an important asset inselecting the right property.

• A real estate agent andlawyer with experience in theneighbourhood and in dealingwith multifamily property transac-tions.

• A mortgage broker who hassignificant experience in invest-ment properties, to assist you infinding the most efficient fundingfor your properties. Sometimes cre-ative lending solutions are requiredthat only a broker with the rightexperience can help facilitate.

• An accountant who willassist in tax-savings strategies, eli-gible write-offs, appropriate filingfor your taxes with the correct taxstructure and preparing financial

statements and bookkeeping, ifnecessary. Meet with them at everystage of the property acquisitionand for continued counsel.

• A property inspector who hasexperience in general contractingwill have valuable insight to realcosts for potential abatements. Forlarger multiplexes, there may beadditional layers, such as buildingand engineering reports and envi-ronmental studies.

• A general contractor for larg-er jobs and other supporting tradessuch as plumbers, electricians anda general handyman. During theinitial visit to an interesting prop-erty, take the general contractorwith you to provide a high-levelestimate of needed work. Thisearly feedback will help you adjustyour analysis and structure theoffer if the numbers makes sense,prior to even going through thedetailed due diligence, includingthe official inspection.

• A property management

company will assist in taking careof the day-to-day issues after aproperty purchase. We will addressthis further in part six of this series,but at this stage, you should lookfor a PM company that servicesyour area of interest and has localmanagers. This will make on-siteservicing easier and more efficientbecause the property manager willbe familiar with the environment.

• An insurance broker experi-enced in recommending the rightinsurance for your building andwho can ensure that your propertyhas the right type of coverage suchas liability, sewer back-up cover-age, fire coverage and loss of rentprotection.

• Educational forums/groups:Education is of paramount impor-tance to become a successfulinvestor.

Real Estate Rangers is a realestate investment team that locates,operates and maintains properties for investors. Eddy Boudiwan([email protected]) andGeorge Hill ([email protected]) are the co-founders of the company. They have partneredwith Taft Forward Management as their acquisition arm.www.realestaterangers.ca REM


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See DDF database onbusiness or socialsites

A new platform from TRESLabs enables Canadian realestate agents and brokers toadvertise the full DDF listingdatabase on their personal web-sites, blogs, online profiles,Facebook and other venues.

Agent iFrame lets agentspaste the database into anythird-party site to create a mini-syndication network of listingsand profiles, the company says.

“No longer are buyers redi-rected to a commercialized web-site to browse listings. WithAgent iFrame, they can stay inthe social and business venuesthey are familiar with and searchthe national database as a seam-less experience,” says AaronLagadyn, general manager ofTRES Labs.

The platform costs $4.95 permonth and has no set-up fee orother costs.

“A lot of agents like to dotheir own thing and we fully sup-port that. We say ‘keep workingwith the one you like’ and useAgent iFrame to build youraffordable listings network,” saysLagadyn.

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Real EstateTechnologyReal EstateTechnology

Genworth app helps buyers makeinformed decisions

Genworth Canada recentlyreleased the HomeOpeners app,which the company says recog-nizes the need for a single tool toprovide mortgage professionalswith information to help theirclients make sound home-buyingdecisions.

Considering more than justmonthly mortgage payments, theapp provides an estimate of whathomeowners can afford byincluding additional expensessuch as property taxes, monthlyutilities and mortgage insurancepremiums. The company saysmortgage and real estate industryprofessionals can access the appfrom their smartphone, set up apersonal profile and use a num-ber of mortgage planning tools orview informational videos thatexplain product options. Theyare then able to share mortgageaffordability estimates andoptions, mortgage insuranceproduct information and otheruseful resources with theirclients.

The app is available at gen-worthmobile.ca and worksacross iOS, Android andBlackBerry platforms.

Tool helps agents planonline marketing costs

A resource launched by digitalmarketing firm Search EnginePeople now makes the cost perclick (CPC) of top real estate-sec-tor keywords easily available forcities in North America, the com-pany says. CPC refers to the actualprice an advertiser pays for eachclick received by a prospective cus-tomer in an online campaign.

For example, the keyword“condos” in Montreal will cost thehighest CPC for that keyword at$7.18 as compared to other citiesin Canada. By comparison, inWelland, Ont. the CPC is the low-est in Canada at 22 cents.

New home developers, apart-ment rentals, Realtors and realestate agents are among the manykeywords real estate sector profes-sionals look to invest in throughGoogle AdWords campaigns, hop-ing to draw the attention of poten-tial buyers searching online forproperties and services. Each oneof those keywords has a cost associ-ated to it that varies over thecourse of a month.

“Knowing what that cost willbe is valuable information for abusiness trying to determine whereit will get the biggest bang for itsGoogle AdWords buck,” saysSearch Engine People CEO JeffQuipp. http://tinyurl.com/ldab8vs

Anti-spam complianceprogram for realestate professionals

The Pro Broker APP has beendeveloped to ensure Canadian realestate professionals are compliantwith the new Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).

The new regulations meananyone who sends out commercialelectronic messages must trackwhen and how they obtainedexpress consent to send the mes-sages; when consent is withdrawnand when an unsubscribe tookplace; and varying expiry dates forimplied consent with each con-tract.

Pro Broker APP is used as anemail verification and contactmanagement system. It has a fol-low-up system to enable agents tocontact prospects through CASLcompliant emails and record con-tact verification through instantwebsites, the company says. Itoffers a free 30-day trial.

www.TheProBroker.com REM

We are pleased to announce that effective September 17, 2014 AlexOcsai & Gloria Riddall broker/ownersof Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realtyhave acquired Johnson AssociatesReal Estate Ltd. the respected, andestablished independent brokeragefrom Finn Poulstrup.

Alex Ocsai was born in Montreal,raised in Mississauga. Alex has beenin the real estate industry since 1987.He has been active in real estate brokerage and management since1995 and joined Royal LePage in May 2000 to manage theMeadowvale/Streetsville office.

Gloria Riddall began selling real estatein Mississauga in 1980, and joinedRoyal LePage in 1995. In 2003 sheand Alex acquired the Royal LePagecorporately owned offices at 6555Mississauga Road in Mississauga and 388 Main Street East in Milton,Ontario. Gloria and Alex then openedMeadowtowne’s Georgetown office inJuly 2003.

Finn Poulstrup has been licensed inreal estate for over 40 years. In 1995Finn became Owner, and Broker ofRecord for Johnson Associates RealEstate Ltd. (Founded in 1967 asJohnson Carney Ltd.)

Active in the industry, Finn has servedon numerous committees of theBrampton Real Estate Board (BREB)including Bylaws, Arbitration, MLSPublic Service Commission (PSC),Education, the Election Committee, and is currently a member of theProfessional Standards Committee. Hewas also President in 2000, and 2001and Past President in 2002. Within hiscommunity he has served as a HaltonHills Municipal Councilor (1982-1985),and is a Founding Member andCurrent Chair of the Halton HillsSports Museum/Sports Hall of Fame.

Today’s acquisition brings with it 50 salespeople/brokers who have maintained the #1 market share in their core market areas for over 20 years.

About joining Royal LePage Finn says, “Royal LePage Meadowtowneembraces a high ethical standard, training and support, compliance andbest business practices with a forwardview of the real estate business. Thisis a great cultural fit for the people atJohnson Associates. Royal LePagehas made significant gains in marketpresence, locally, regionally, andnationally. Together JohnsonAssociates and Royal LePageMeadowtowne Realty will be the clearmarketplace leader. The extensivesuite of services and support they provide will be effective in giving oursalespeople a clear advantage to offertheir clientele.”

Catherine Fox remains in her currentrole as Area Manager – Halton andBranch Manager, Georgetown office.

With today’s announcement the Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realtyforce totals 300 sales professionals and full time support team.

Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realtycan be reached at any one of theirseven locations, starting with theirnewest:

Please join us in congratulating Alex and Gloria, welcoming Finn andhis team, and wishing everyone at Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realtycontinued success.

Royal LePageMeadowtowneRealty - expands!Georgetown, Acton, Erin,and Port Loring, Ontario

Alex Ocsai

GloriaRiddall

FinnPoulstrup

†Royal LePage is a trademark used under license.

†

280 Guelph Street, 273 Queen Street,Georgetown Market Place Acton, ONGeorgetown, ON L7G 4B1 L7J 1P8905-877-8262 519-853-5155Toll free: 866-865-8262 Toll free: 866-865-8262

120 Main Street, 11527 Hwy 522,Erin, ON Port Loring, ON N0B 1T0 P0H 1Y0519-833-9714 705-757-7000Toll free: 866-865-8262 Toll free: 866-865-8262

324 Guelph Street, 475 Main Street East,Georgetown, ON Milton, ONL7G 4B3 L9T 1R1905-877-8262 905-878-8101Toll free: 866-865-8262 Toll free: 800-514-3316

6948 Financial Drive,Mississauga, ON www.meadowtowne.comL5N 8J4 OR [email protected] [email protected] free: 866-821-3200

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Good WorksGood Worksentury 21 Reynard RealEstate in Kenora, Ont.recently held BoobieNights 5, an evening of

music and entertainment and asilent auction raising $78,000 forthe local hospital foundation andto help fight breast cancer. Thisyear’s event tag line was “Save aRack”.

“It amazes me each year that

we hold this event the generosityand support we receive from oursmall community of 15,000 peo-ple,” says Bill Scribilo, broker ofrecord. “There are some long hec-tic days leading up to the eventthat make you wonder if it is allworthwhile, but when it all comestogether there is no better feelingthan being able to give back to ourcommunity for those that are real-

ly going through some tough daysfighting for their lives against arelentless disease. It really puts ourday-to-day troubles into perspec-tive.”

The event has raised $244,000over the five years.

■ ■ ■

Wayne Jewell, broker of recordat Sutton - Diamond Realty inDorchester, Ont. knows first-handthe struggles of his neighbours. Hesays many local manufacturing jobshave been lost in the area in recentyears, and as a result, one in fivechildren go to school hungry ormalnourished. Just prior to the newschool year, Jewell contributed hisentire $4,000 commission from arecent transaction to a local foodbank.

“We have a great need here,”

C

Re/Max Fort McMurray held its Annual Charity GolfClassic Tournament recently, raising $25,000 for theStollery Hospital Foundation and $25,000 for NorthernLights Health Foundation.

Ralph Shaw and Angela Havey

Geoff Lee startedthe Imani OrphanCare Foundation to help orphanages in Kenya.

The Rocca Sistersand Associates

team at theApplefest Fall Fair.

From left: Wayne Jewell; Mark Irvine, thevendor of home Jewell sold that created thedonated commission funds; Jean Davis of theDorchester Food Bank; and John Mantel ofthe Corner Cupboard Food Bank.

Some Century 21 Reynard Real Estate Boobie Nights volun-teers, from left: Laura Cimperman, Antonio Cianci, EllePeterson, Angela Kuchma, Dustin McLeod, Bill Scribilo, KristieCavanaugh, Donny Booth, Wayne Gauld and Michelle Scribilo.


says Jewell. “I challenge others,including Realtors across the coun-try, to contribute what they can.Too many children are going toschool hungry.”

He gave $2,000 each to theCorner Cupboard Food Bank inAylmer and the Dorchester FoodBank.

■ ■ ■

A cheque presentation wasrecently held at Century 21Heritage Group in Bradford, Ont.to support a local child in need. Acharity golf tournament, foundedby sales rep Luis Moniz in 2011,this year supported Emily Szabo, achild in Bradford WestGwillimbury. Emily has spasticquadriplegic cerebral palsy andfaces challenges in her daily life.All of the proceeds from the tour-nament were donated to assistEmily in acquiring therapies thatshe requires to help her gain andmaintain daily living skills. Thetournament raised $21,667.

After the tournament a localfamily who had a family memberwith similar challenges contactedMoniz and donated their 2005Dodge Caravan Wheelchair van.

Moniz works with co-ordina-tors Cristina Silva and Carlos Silvaand volunteers to organize andexecute the event each year.

■ ■ ■

Barry Lebow, broker at Re/MaxUltimate Realty in Toronto,

recently staged Realtor in the ParkIII to bring together friendship anda fundraiser. “The day was full ofmagic, music and a great barbecuebuffet,” says Lebow.

He started the event threesummers ago, inviting a group ofreal estate professionals who hadconnected on Facebook but hadnever met in person. Held at EarlBales Park in North York, the firstyear had 40 to 50 people.

This year’s event introduced acharitable twist, with funds raisedfor the Baycrest Hospital forAlzheimer’s research. It attractedmore than 200 people, with someflying in from other provinces.

■ ■ ■

Broker of record Ralph Shaw ofCentury 21 Explorer Realty inCarlton Place, along with brokerAngela Havey of the firm’sArnprior office, recently rappelleddown the outside face of the 20-storey Morguard Building inOttawa to raise funds for EasterSeals. It was the fourth time Shawhas taken part in the Drop Zoneevent, and the third time forHavey.

Drop Zone participants musthave at least $1,500 in sponsorshipmoney pledged before they cantake part.

“If you ever go to CampMerrywood (a camp betweenSmiths Falls and Perth operated bythe Easter Seal Society) you willsee how important this (fundrais-

er) is,” Shaw told the CarletonPlace Almonte Canadian Gazette.

■ ■ ■

Avison Young held its inaugur-al Global Day of Giving earlier thismonth in all of the company’s 60offices in Canada, the U.S. andEurope. Each office chose its owncommunity volunteer project inconsultation with the charity thatwill receive the assistance.

“While Avison Young officesalready contribute to many chari-table organizations throughout theyear, setting aside a day for all1,600 professionals to volunteertheir time will broaden and greatlystrengthen our philanthropicefforts as a company,” says MarkRose, chair and CEO. Staff activi-ties ranged from completing smallconstruction projects for organiza-tions such as Habitat for Humanityand the YWCA to riverside clean-up efforts.

The company plans to make itan annual event.

■ ■ ■

KitingforKids, in which kiteboarders cross from VancouverIsland - Nanaimo to Davis Bay andback to Nanaimo, was recentlyheld to raise funds for the B.C.Children’s Hospital. The goal wasto raise $20,000.

The group is headed byParksville sales rep kite boarderKen Droog of Re/Max First Realty.“We are really pleased with the

response this year and have somevery talented kite boarders fromaround Vancouver Island and themainland joining us…We areexcited with our progress and theexcellent support shown by theB.C. kite community and theVancouver Island business com-munity.”

■ ■ ■

For the third consecutive year,the Rocca Sisters & Associates ofRoyal LePage Burloak were pre-senting sponsors of the Museum ofBurlington (Ont.) Applefest FallFair. Admission to the fair was freecourtesy of Cathy and TanyaRocca and the team.

Families were treated togames, exhibits and crafts includ-ing pony rides, a hay maze, fair-style games, scarecrow making,live entertainment, artisandemonstrations and tours throughhistoric Ireland House. All pro-

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ceeds raised from the event will gotowards the Museum ofBurlington’s educational programsand preservation of the historiccollection.

■ ■ ■

Geoff Lee of DominionLending Centres Drake EntrustMortgage Services, recently par-ticipated in the annual 2014Hockey Marathon of Hope – aPaul Henderson sponsored eventwhere more than $74,000 wasraised for various charities, includ-ing Lee’s own initiative, the ImaniOrphan Care Foundation.

Lee was then able to see thesefunds put to work as he took a two-week trip to Kenya. The portion ofthe funds raised by the HockeyMarathon of Hope for Imani ishelping with education, surgeriesfor children in need, and care anddevelopment of the orphanages inKenya. REM

Luis Moniz, left, alongwith co-ordinatorsCristina Silva andCarlos Silva, presentsthe cheque to EmilySzabo and her family.

THE PUBLISHER’SPAGE

By Heino Molls

here are some good argu-ments for meeting peopleface to face. I’m sure you

know them all: when you speak tosomeone in person you get a fargreater sense of what they are allabout through their body language,eye movements and gestures. Youalso have a better opportunity tomake your point to the people youmeet with because it is harder forsomeone to end a discussion per-son to person than it is over thetelephone.

There are also reasons why per-sonal meetings are not as impor-tant as they once were. We live ina new world where people need tograsp the idea you are speaking of

See you at the show

T


Trade Showsand ConferencesTrade Showsand Conferences

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

Barrie & District Association of Realtors 2nd Annual Education Day and Trade ShowThursday, Oct. 30Holiday Inn, Barrie, Ont.Bonnie Hunter – [email protected]

Ottawa Real Estate Board Trade ShowThursday, Oct. [email protected]

REBarCamp WestendThursday, Oct. 30Mississauga Living Arts CentreMississauga, Ont.Tickets at EventbriteVirginia Munden - [email protected]

National Association of RealtorsRealtors Conference & ExpoNov. 7 - 10New Orleanswww.realtor.org/convention.nsf/Durham Region Association of RealtorsRealtor ConnectThursday, Nov. 13Deer Creek Golf & Banquet FacilityAjax, Ont.www.realtorconnect.wordpress.com

Realtors Association of Grey BruceOwen Sound Trade ShowTuesday, Nov. 18Harry Lumley Bayshore CommunityCentre, Owen Sound, Ont.Marilyn Newbigging - [email protected]

Mississauga Real Estate BoardHome & Trade ShowWednesday, Nov. 19Mississauga Grand Banquet & ConventionCentre, Mississauga, Ont.Gay Napper – [email protected]

International Council of ShoppingCenters NOI+ Asset ManagementConferenceNov. 20-21, ChicagoRetailGreen ConferenceDec. 2-3, Phoenixwww.icsc.org

CAAMP 2014 Mortgage ForumNov. 23 - 25Palais des congrès, Montrealwww.caamp.org

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

quickly. The best way to do that iseither over the phone, sometimeswith accompanying charts andillustrations that you can send overthe Internet to that person’s com-puter. Even if you are just chattingon the phone, you can easily seeeach other by using Skype andother technologies and make yourpoints complete with gestures andeye rolling.

The one place where travelexpenses and time spent are stilltruly justified is at a real estate con-ference or trade show. A confer-ence is a place where you can meetpeople from your own communityface to face. Not just one or twopeople but many through thecourse of just one morning or after-noon. Issues can be discussed, com-mon problems can be thoughtthrough and regulations can bedebated. Professional enhance-ments are taught at conferences.Motivation is available to thosewho need encouragement and newdevelopments can be learned fromgood teachers and guides, who areoften the very authors of thoseadvances.

By attending just a couple oftrade shows per year you will seenew products and services that willmake your job easier and make youmore productive than you aretoday, guaranteed. If you walkthrough any real estate trade showin Canada, either at your localboard or at a national conferenceand you do not find at least oneidea that will make you more effi-cient or more successful, then youweren’t paying enough attentionto what's being offered.

Stop and talk. Start with,“What is this? How is this going tohelp me?” If you don’t have fiveminutes to hear the answer tothose questions at a trade showbooth, then you shouldn’t havecome because you are missing thepoint of the whole show. You wast-ed your time and money.

Trade shows and conferencesare the life blood of a real estatecareer. Just by going you are mak-ing a statement to yourself that youare not going to be one of thosepeople who waits for others to tellthem what’s new or how thingshave changed. You will be the per-son who knows. You will be theperson who tells others about theleading edge rather than the per-son who is told about it.

Would you like to meet some-one who does more business thanyou in a non-competitive setting?You can do so at an industry tradeshow and conference. Here is theplace to have a casual conversationwith people who are making moremoney than you because this is theplace they go to find out how tomake more money themselves.This is the place where people arewilling to share their knowledgefreely and casually. This is whereyou can share your sales methodswith peers who will give you hon-est thoughts and evaluations.

A real estate trade show andconference is electric with newideas, new ways, new styles, newservices and new products that willhelp you work brighter, faster, effi-ciently and professionally.

I know people who refuse to goto trade shows yet will easily spendhundreds of dollars on dinner andlearn nothing but the price of beef.Which kind of person are you?

Heino Molls is publisher of [email protected] REM

& YOU Tuesday, Nov 18th, 2014

Mississauga Convention Centre75 Derry Road West, Mississauga, ON, L5W 1G3

www.BestAgent.caComplimentary Event

[email protected]

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GuestRegistration

Each o� ce is independently owned and operated.

Learn what’s happening in the market and how RE/MAX is generating business for you! Come out and network with the best!

Keeping Your CommissionTony Joe, Sales RepresentativeRE/MAX Camosun

What Are You Gonna Do? Leigh Brown, Broker/OwnerRE/MAX Executive Realty

Power NegotiationTamara & Shannon Stone, RE/MAXKelowna, Stone Sisters Group

november 2014

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