Are you ready? The old WEBForms going away January 2

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is permanently shutting down the old version of WEBForms on January 2.

All transaction kits in the old system, both current and completed, will no longer be accessible to you after this date. Until then, you can access the old WEBForms by clicking the Legacy Version icon in the top right-hand corner of the page. Remember: this option will be available only until January 2.

December 16 is another key date to remember. That’s when the old WEBForms will go into read-only mode. You won’t be able to create any new transactions in the old platform after this date. You'll, however, still be able to complete existing transactions, view old transactions, and transfer transactions in a read-only format to the new WEBForms until January 2.

Please take the time to learn the new WEBForms as soon as possible.

Help resources

We’ve developed a number of resources to help you with this change. 

Eight steps to working with WEBForms

• Accessing CREA WEBForms 2019 (PDF | Video)
• Navigating CREA WEBForms 2019 (PDF | Video)
• Creating templates in CREA WEBForms 2019 (PDF | Video)
• Creating transactions from templates in CREA WEBForms 2019 (PDF | Video)
• Working with clauses in CREA WEBForms 2019 (PDF | Video)
• Customizing CREA WEBForms 2019 (PDF | Video)
• Standalone forms in CREA WEBForms 2019 (PDF | Video)
• Migrating your transaction kits to CREA WEBForms 2019 (PDF | Video)

WEBForms webinars

• Creating a Transaction
• Adding Clauses to a Form
• Creating a Template
• Migrating Your Transaction Kits

WEBForms manuals

• Read our step-by-step training manual to learn how to use the new system.
• Find forms by category and by the organization responsible in our directory of the forms. 
• Learn how to update out-of-date forms in your templates by reading this guide.

WEBForms course

• Register for a date and time that works for you.

Other resources

• Our Transition Guide has everything you need to move from the old WEBForms to the new system.
• CREA’s resource page has more information, guides, and how-to videos to help you learn the new system.

Extended Help Desk hours

We’re extending our Help Desk hours in January to help you make this change. Our team will be available:

• Weekdays: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Weekends: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

You can contact our Help Desk at 604-730-3020 or support@rebgv.org.

CREA's Help Desk is available:

• Weekdays: 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Weekends: 5 a.m. to 7 p.m.

You can contact CREA's Help Desk at 1-888-237-7945 or support@crea.ca. 

Reporting issues

Since the launch of the new WEBForms, members have identified a few bugs and other issues with the system.

While this is a CREA initiative, our focus is on getting you the information and resources you need to minimize the impact of this change. We’re documenting every bug and issue you send us and sharing that feedback with both CREA and Lone Wolf, the company that created the new WEBForms platform.

Please continue to report issues you encounter to both CREA (support@crea.ca) and our Help Desk (support@rebgv.org). You can also call our Help Desk with other WEBForms questions at 604-730-3020.

New video: The Board Development Committee answers your questions

The Board of Directors election is coming up at the beginning of 2020. We want to make sure you have all the information you need before you vote, including details about the Board Development Committee (BDC) and the candidate recommendation process.

Earlier this year, we reached out to you to find out what questions you had about the BDC and the recommendation process. In the video below, the BDC answers your questions.

AutoProp’s Enterprise service now available to all REBGV members

As an REBGV member, you now have access to AutoProp’s highest service level, called Enterprise, at no additional cost.

In May, we partnered with the Land Title and Survey Authority (LTSA) to provide you with AutoProp’s second-highest service level, called Medallion, at no cost to you. Since then, more than 8,000 members have registered for an account. 

Last month, we reached another agreement with LTSA to allow all members to upgrade to the Enterprise level. If you already have an account, it will automatically upgrade to the Enterprise level.

All members have access to AutoProp, which lets you aggregate information from several data sources and create reports for your clients—just go to www.autoprop.ca and log in using your MLS® username and password. Alternatively, you can access AutoProp from Paragon using the REBGV Quick Links menu or by clicking the AutoProp chiclet on a listing or full REALTOR® report.

AutoProp Enterprise contains all of the functionality of AutoProp Medallion, with additional features. “AutoProp Enterprise is a valuable addition to the suite of services that we provide you. You now have access to even more robust data sources and tools that’ll help you better serve your clients,” REBGV CEO Brad Scott said.

Enterprise features include:

Neighbourhood Expert

Also known as Contours of Access, this feature displays the amenities around a property that your client is interested in and estimates travel distances to those amenities.  

Learn more about Neighbourhood Expert.

Presenter Pro

Also known as iBOMB, this presentation tool lets you design CMAs and other reports to showcase the property details that matter most to your clients. 

Learn more about Presenter Pro. 

Commercial Pro

This feature allows you to aggregate information from several different commercial listing services and databases in a single search. It integrates with other popular commercial services like REALNET. 

Learn more about Commercial Pro. 

To learn more about AutoProp, watch this short video. You can also learn how to perform common tasks in AutoProp by watching a series of videos we’ve developing in conjunction with the LTSA. Access them in the video library.

Other training resources, including videos, guides, and more are available on AutoProp’s website.

Office Assistants and Unlicensed Assistants

We’ve now extended AutoProp to both Office Assistants and Unlicensed Assistants. Both can access AutoProp from the website using their MLS® login credentials.

The Ethics Guy®: Like us, our MLS® system has a reputation

Everything has a reputation and a brand. All of us have a natural tendency to form opinions about the people we meet, the services we use, and the companies whose products we buy.

Others’ opinions of us may be formed based on the sum total of the work and service we’ve provided to them over the years, or they may be based on our most recent interaction. The opinions we hold about everything in life establish our place in relation to everyone and everything we encounter.

Have you ever “clicked” with someone you’ve just met? What made this happen? Having common interests and/or a similar sense of humour could explain why we sometimes instinctively like others – colleagues, clients, and potential clients. There is, of course, a flip side. Sometimes we don’t click with another person and the reasons for this can be many.

Our judgments about colleagues, clients, and others in general, and the entities we deal with, can sometimes be made in an instant. Making a quick judgment about someone or something can be good. For example, if you encounter someone who appears to be a threat, your innate defensive system kicks into action in the blink of an eye, preparing you to deal with that threat. And while our natural defensive systems have helped us to evaluate and survive threats through the ages, these systems can work against us. If you’re facing a sabre-toothed tiger, it’s best to evaluate the danger and set about protecting yourself. Quickly. But when you’re dealing with the humdrum of everyday life, your instant defence system may react too quickly, without enough information. Take “radioactive” posts about a person on social media, for example. Is it possible some of those posts were based on a too-quick judgment, without a lot of thought beforehand? A person’s reputation can be lost in an instant in such cases.

Other times our opinions form over time, after several meetings or interactions. So, too, can reputations be lost incrementally over time. We note each bad interaction or negative experience in our internal ledger, no matter how small. Eventually, we reach a tipping point.

The same can be true of the reputation of businesses and other entities—like our beloved MLS® system . Like us, it has a reputation, which needs to be protected. I’d say our MLS® system is considered to be a respected source of data by pretty much everyone. We, our clients, governments, and a multitude of other entities all rely on the accuracy of its data to make important decisions, evaluate markets, and advise others. It would be a profound loss to us if our MLS® System were to lose its good reputation. A reputation lost can be very difficult to redeem as we’ve learned over the past few years.

Is that reputation in danger?

Consider this: MLS® system’s reputation is built on the accuracy and completeness of its data. Knowing that, why would we do anything to make that data less valuable?

For example, having benefited from the MLS® system’s data to establish a market value and then exposing a property to other members and all their buyers, why would we delete all but one photo from a listing  and strip out public and REALTOR® remarks just before reporting the sale? Doing this denies other members the benefit of using this information to learn about a property that’s just been sold. Pictures and comments can help us to distinguish properties that may otherwise appear similar. If all members stripped out pictures, comments and other non-required fields of information from every listing once sold, what would be the sad result? Preparing a CMA would be more difficult and advising a client about market trends would be much more challenging.

And would the MLS® system’s reputation suffer? You bet it would, and we'd all be the poorer for it, as would our clients and those we serve. Our system is based on mutual cooperation, as these example statements illustrate:

• “Show my listing and if you sell it, I will pay you.”
• “By putting my listing on the MLS® system, I’m agreeing to make it available to you for a showing and I accept the responsibility of ensuring the listing information is accurate.”
• “Yes, we’re competitors, but the common marketplace of listings and property information we’ve created together benefits us collectively and enables our clients to realize their dreams.”

So why does this hollowing out of a listing just before it is reported as sold sometimes happen? The reasons I’ve heard are, in my opinion, inconsistent with the reason we developed the MLS® system. One argument I’ve heard, for example, is that the information removed was “sensitive” or “private.” It doesn’t appear to have been sensitive or private before it was sold, so why would it suddenly become sensitive or private after subjects are removed? You might also ask how it is reasonable to benefit from using the MLS® system but then to do something to make the system of less benefit to others.

Lost data takes away the nuance and context needed to understand what a market is up to. A sanitized listing, one devoid of meaningful pictures and/or comments, is a pale imitation of what it once was, leaving our valuable database of information to become less valuable as a result.

Let’s ensure this priceless asset of ours, the MLS® system, remains the most complete source of real estate data anywhere by making every listing’s information as complete as possible, before and after the sale of the property.

Holiday greetings to all

We wish you all the very best of the holiday season and hope your new year wishes will come true. Our market is showing signs of life—good luck in 2020!

Our 25th annual Blanket Drive exceeds target, helps keep 40,000 people warm

More than 40,000 Lower Mainland residents will receive blankets and warm clothing this winter thanks to donations collected during the 25th annual REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive!

A challenge was set to collect enough blankets and warm clothes to help 35,000 people in need this year, and we did it thanks to donations from you, your clients, and the public!

“While the market has been quieter this year, that didn’t stop you from making this our most successful Blanket Drive since 2010,” said Ashley Smith, Board president. “Thank you to the volunteers and real estate offices that make this happen each year. Because of you, the Blanket Drive continues to thrive and help those in need.”

All donations remain in the community in which they were collected. More than 70 Lower Mainland charities received donations from the Blanket Drive this year.

The program is the largest and longest running blanket drive in British Columbia. Since it began in 1995, it has helped more than 425,000 people in our communities keep warm and dry during the winter months.

Go to www.blanketdrive.ca for more information. For photos from this year’s campaign, visit www.facebook.com/BlanketDrive.

PDP changes take effect in January

In just three weeks, the framework for the professional development program (PDP) will change.

Make sure to familiarize yourself with these changes before the new year. To help you, we’ve developed this FAQ.

What’s changing?

Under the new framework, you’ll be required to complete 18 professional development hours in your two-year licensing cycle rather than 18 PDP credits.

You’ll complete 12 of these hours through PDP-accredited courses. The remaining six hours will be accumulated through either additional PDP-accredited courses or through self-directed development hours.

To help ensure a smooth transition, any PDP credits you’ve earned as of December 31, 2019, will be directly converted to accredited hours under the new framework.

What’s self-directed learning?

Self-directed learning gives you more flexibility and choice in your professional education. It’s an approach used in many other professions.

Some self-directed learning possibilities include in-brokerage learning, conferences, or professional learning outside organized real estate. This means you’ll get credit for some of the learning you already do.

Watch this video to learn more.

PDP 2020 resources

Get more details on these PDP changes on this website.

Questions? Email us at education@rebgv.org.