Use our newest resources to prepare for the move to the new WEBForms!

With time running out before the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) changes WEBForms permanently, we strongly recommend making use of our help resources to familiarize yourself with the new WEBForms as soon as possible.

CREA has made it clear that the deadline of December 31 will not be extended since their contractual relationship ends with its former supplier on that date.

We appreciate the feedback you’ve shared with us about CREA WEBForms, and we’ve used that feedback to develop new resources to help you learn the new system. This is in addition to the guides, webinars, and course we’ve developed previously. Learn more about our newest resources below.

New resources

We’ve developed a training manual for the new WEBForms. This manual covers every aspect and function of the new system and will help you get going right away.

We’ve also created a directory of the forms available on the new WEBForms. This resource sorts the forms by category and by the organization responsible for the form to help you more efficiently find what you need in the new system.

This guide also explains how to update out-of-date forms in your templates.

WEBForms webinars 

We’ve developed four webinars to help you with this change. They are:

Creating a transaction

Adding clauses to a form

Creating a template

Migrating your transaction kits

WEBForms course

We’ve also developed an in-person course to help you learn the new WEBForms. All members can take the course one time at no cost.

The course will show you how to create transactions, build and manage a personal clause library, and access the most up-to-date forms and contracts.

Seats are available. 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. Click here to access these resources.

Reporting issues

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

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.

Remember, the old version of WEBForms will not be available after the end of December. Please take the time to learn and get comfortable with CREA WEBForms as soon as possible.

President's message: Your Board of Directors approves funding model changes

How do we evolve REBGV’s funding model to meet your future needs? Your Board of Directors has been wrestling with this question throughout the year and discussing it with you at our fall Realtor and Broker meetings.

As leaders, we must ensure that REBGV has long-term financial stability in order to serve REALTORS®’ and Brokers’ ever-changing needs. To help address this issue, your Board of Directors recently approved MLS® and member fee increases of between $8 and $13 a month beginning January 1.

Let me explain why.

Aside from a $10 per month increase to create the advertising campaign in 2018, we’ve maintained the same member dues since 2008. MLS® fees haven’t changed since 2002. By contrast, your Board’s annual expenses have increased 30 per cent since 2008.

What accounts for this increase?

The short answer is that technology is expensive and getting more expensive. We’ve also added more than a dozen new services over the last ten years and inflation has risen 15 per cent in Canada over the same period. A weaker Canadian dollar has also driven up our costs.

We can’t continue to maintain, build, and improve the products and services we provide with the funds we have. We need to invest in the future, and we need your support.

Our funding model must evolve with the times. We’ve spent considerable time analyzing the best ways to do this.

The market has been tough this year. We want to minimize the financial burden on you, keep the increase as low as possible, and spread it fairly across the membership.

The changes we approved will result in our monthly REBGV member dues (which include REBGV dues and technology fees) increasing by $8 a month.

Those of us on the monthly MLS® access fee will see that fee increase $5 per month. Any of us not on the monthly access fee will see a $25 increase in the MLS® end fee, which is paid when we complete a deal on MLS®.

Starting in 2021, we’ll institute an annual cost of living increase based on inflationary trends measured by the Consumer Price Index for Metro Vancouver. This will help our funding model adapt to incremental inflation that occurs over time. It’ll also keep us on a more sustainable footing and help us avoid the more disruptive cycle of introducing larger fee increases after prolonged periods of no change.

New Crown agency to regulate and license real estate in BC

The BC government announced plans this week to make the newly created BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) the single real estate regulator in the province beginning in the spring of 2021.

The BCFSA, which was established as a Crown agency on November 1, 2019, is responsible for regulating mortgage brokers, private pension plans and financial institutions.

Since 2016, the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate (OSRE) and the Real Estate Council of British Columbia (RECBC) have both been responsible for regulating real estate in BC.

Under the new structure, the government will integrate OSRE and RECBC within the BCFSA.

Moving to a single real estate regulator in BC were recommended in the Expert Panel on Money Laundering in BC Real Estate report released in the spring and the Real Estate Regulatory Structure Review (Perrin report) released last year.

The government intends to introduce legislation in November 2020 to make BCFSA responsible for real estate licensing, conduct, investigations and discipline. The new regulatory structure is intended to be in place and operating by spring 2021.

“Bringing real estate regulation within the new BC Financial Services Authority is an important step towards modern, effective and efficient regulation,” said Stanley Hamilton, chair of BCFSA. “This announcement builds on the important work already in progress at the BCFSA and positions consumers to be able to benefit from an unprecedented depth of expertise and experience.”

Read the government’s news release.

We’re reaching out to our government contacts to learn more about these changes. We’ll provide more information in the weeks ahead.

The Ethics Guy®: The keystone of successful business is cooperation. Friction impedes progress.

What's cooperation?

It’s when individuals in groups or entities in groups work or act together for their mutual benefit instead of working in competition for a selfish benefit.

Cooperation is a process by which the system components work together to achieve specific goals. Individual components working together create systems and results that are greater than the sum of their parts.

Examples of this include the human body, where cells work together to keep us alive. Other examples include organisms forming food chains and ecosystems, humans forming families, neighbourhoods, communities, cities and nations.

An example closer to home for us is organizations forming sets of rules for members’ benefit.

The value of the MLS® System

The MLS® System is a great example of how cooperation helps everyone. Stop for a minute and consider what your real estate practice would look like without it. Many of us have never worked in a market where the MLS® System isn’t used by the vast majority of REALTORS®. If the MLS® System wasn’t available via a few clicks of your mouse, how would you prepare a comparative market analysis? How would you compare the salability of your listing against other similar listings competing in the same market area? How would you advise your seller or buyer? And how would you find suitable properties for your buyers to view and hopefully buy?

Let’s just say that each of these tasks would become significantly more difficult if you couldn’t rely on your Board’s MLS® System to give you the information to properly advise your clients and the people you work with.

Our MLS® System has been a feature of the real estate business since the 1950s. Countless members’ dues and efforts have been spent during the past 70 years to make the MLS® System the valuable Realtor tool it is today. It could be argued that it’s the single greatest achievement of the real estate profession. Why? Because the MLS® System has brought order to what would otherwise be a chaotic marketplace. Buyers, sellers, governments and, of course, members know that when they access the MLS® System they’re gaining access to the best, most-up-to-date, and accurate property information.

The MLS® System is more than just a database of listings. It’s also a set of rules governing Realtor-to-Realtor conduct, an arbitration protocol dealing with commission disputes, and the Board’s disciplinary process—all which contribute to the value and success of the system.

The essence of the MLS® System is cooperation. By putting your listing on the MLS® System, you’re agreeing to cooperate with other members to make the listing available for showings, ensure the listing information is accurate, facilitate the timely presentation of offers, and pay buyers’ agents what's promised to them when they sell it.

Tips for cooperation

There’s more to member-to-member cooperation than following the Board’s Rules of Cooperation (formerly known as the MLS® Rules). Cooperating with other members means facilitating showings, offers, negotiations, and support services to ensure both buyers and sellers have a successful transaction. Cooperating with parties that have opposing interests can be challenging. Members’ expectations of cooperative behaviour may differ. Sometimes strong personalities create conflict. Sometimes client instructions can be seen by other stakeholders as unreasonable or unfair. Through all this, Realtors, as agents, must keep cool and stay detached to facilitate a successful transaction. At times it’s easier said than done, especially for practitioners who are often paid by way of commission only when a successful transaction is completed.

Ozzie Jurock once said, “Realtors may work for themselves, but they don’t work by themselves. They need each other to get a deal done.” While Realtors compete with each other for business, they must cooperate with each other to do business. For example, sellers’ Realtors need buyers’ Realtors to show and sell their listings. Buyers’ Realtors need an inventory of listings to sell. And both need accurate information to properly advise their clients and the public they serve.

How does poor cooperation between members affect professionalism, ethical practice and the success of your business? What member conduct do you appreciate? Here are some useful tips to for cooperating with other members:

• Ensure timely communication.
• Return phone calls.
• Be on time.
• Provide accurate information on the Data Input form so that buyer agents have a better picture of the listing.
• Add all strata documents in the associated documents tab on Paragon with the listing.
• Be flexible.

If we encounter poor cooperation, how do we best deal with it? Here are some tips:

• Think about the other member and what may be leading to the behaviour you’re experiencing. Could the behaviour stem from a lawful client instruction? Or is the other member just plain ornery?
• Remember who your client is. It’s about the client, not us. They expect us to facilitate their goal by working cooperatively with others, even if that means sometimes doing things we may not consider to be our job.
• Do a self-audit of how you did after an interaction/transaction. What could you have done better? Be as self-aware as possible and make every effort to understand how your behaviour or actions are perceived by others.
• Manage others’ expectations by not over promising and under delivering. What does your outgoing voicemail message say regarding when a caller can expect to receive a return call? If it’s been a while since you listened to your message, maybe it’s time to polish up the script.
• Complete non-compulsory Data Input Form fields to help other members better understand what you’re selling. Make it easy for them to sell your listing before another member’s listing. The Associated Documents tab in Paragon is a very useful place to put other informative/important documents. Your buyer-agent colleagues will appreciate this.
• Make it easy for other members to view, show, and present their offers. Setting up mutually convenient showing times requires flexibility and cooperation.
• Communicate effectively. Be helpful and non-confrontational.
• Serve your clients needs by cooperating and working with others.

Rules of Cooperation

The Rules of Cooperation are a common set of standards and rules governing members’ interactions with each other as they work to bring buyers and sellers together. Three BC real estate boards have adopted these rules: Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board, Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, and the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. They are, in effect, our “rules of engagement” and describe the kind of behaviour you should expect from your colleagues.

While the REALTOR® Code of Ethics generally deals with how Realtors should treat their clients and potential clients, the Rules of Cooperation deal with:

• how Realtors are expected to deal with each other;
• the standards associated with listings and sales posted to the MLS® System;
• advertising standards; and
• rules regarding commissions, key boxes, access cards and the use of MLS® data.

Cooperation can sometimes mean giving something up, leaving things unsaid, and doing more than you’re required to do for someone else. In our business, good cooperation between members is a common interest because cooperation is the currency of real estate transactions. Sometimes it’s hard to be cooperative because of the circumstances or because of conflict. But when cooperation takes place, it can make such a huge difference to a deal, your business success, and our collective reputation.

REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive starts next week!

The 25th REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive kicks off this Monday, November 18. Help support the Blanket Drive in this milestone year. Here’s how you can get involved!

Collect donations

Work with your network to collect blankets and warm clothing. Your donations are kept in the community where they are collected and given to charities that distribute them directly to those in need. We’re looking for:

• gently used or new blankets or sleeping bags
• warm clothing, coats
• hats, gloves, scarves
• new socks and underwear

You can drop off your donations across the Lower Mainland – click here to find an office near you.

Spread the word

Post or share this article from the Vancouver Sun that includes the details about this year’s 25th annual REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive and the history behind it.

"This is a program that we can all be proud of. For decades, Lower Mainland REALTORS® have helped provide warmth to hundreds of thousands of people in need," says Ashley Smith, Board president. "Let's all do what we can to make this year the largest ever for donations!"

Help us spread the word! Find shareable content and other Blanket Drive information and images on our social media accounts:

• Blanket Drive Facebook page
• REBGV Twitter
• REBGV Instagram
• www.blanketdrive.ca

Be sure to use the hashtags #blanketdrive25 and #realtorscare.

ICYMI: REBGV elections FAQ

As we prepare for our Board of Directors election 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 and the candidate recommendation process.

This article provides answers to some of the most common questions members have asked about our election process in recent years.

About the Board Development Committee

Who is the Board Development Committee?

The Board Development Committee (BDC) is comprised of members of the REBGV. The current BDC members are:

• Randy Ryalls (Chair), Royal LePage Sterling Realty
• Jack Bernard, Rennie Marketing Systems
• Lynn Dequanne, RE/MAX Central
• Roland Kym, Keller Williams VanCentral
• Carsten Love, Coldwell Banker Love Realty
• Tina Mak, Coldwell Banker Westburn
• Michael Uy, Oakwyn Realty
• Doug Williams, RE/MAX Crest Realty (Van)
• Phil Moore, Re/Max Central and REBGV past-president

REBGV CEO Brad Scott and COO Eileen Day support the committee throughout the year.

Who recommends candidates?

The Board Development Committee recommends candidates for the REBGV election. Their mandate is to guide a year-round process to ensure there are candidates with the necessary competence, character and commitment to choose from in each election.

Who selects the BDC?

The Board of Directors identifies and appoints members to the BDC. With the exception of the past-president’s position on the committee to assist the BDC in their understanding of governance at REBGV, the Board of Directors does not participate in selecting, meeting, interviewing or recommending potential election candidates. The past-president does not participate in the recommendation process.

How it works

How does the recommendation process work?

The Board Development Committee (BDC) meets with the Officers to assess what skills and experience the Board of Directors’ believes it needs in the coming year. This information helps the BDC in its year-round work to identify potential candidates to run in REBGV’s election.

The BDC calls out to all members for nominations, via REBGV communication vehicles, word-of-mouth, and members who step forward to express an interest in REBGV governance. Those who decide to run are asked to:

1. Complete an enhanced nomination form;
2. Submit a resume;
3. Complete a skills profile;
4. Attend an orientation;
5. Meet with a BDC interview panel;
6. Provide references; and
7. Be accountable to a Code of Conduct during elections.

After reviewing each candidate’s qualifications, conducting interviews, and checking references, the BDC makes recommendations. The names of the recommended candidates are published on the election platform.

Are all candidates, including incumbents, subject to the same process?

Yes. All candidates are subject the same process regardless of whether they’re an incumbent director or not.

What criteria does the BDC use to recommend candidates?

The BDC bases its decisions on a variety of factors.

They’re seeking candidates with the skills, knowledge and experience that will strengthen and diversify the talent around the Board of Directors’ table. They also evaluate candidates based on their competencies, character, and commitment.

The BDC looks for competencies relating to business experience, strategic thinking, organizational skills, and the ability to work with other people. Examples of competence might include experience running a business and managing people, previous work experience in a legal, accounting, or technology field, or experience with regulatory bodies.

Character may be difficult to judge but is fundamentally important to a high-functioning and effective Board of Directors. The BDC evaluates a candidate’s core values for strengths such as courage, integrity, humility,  patience and ability to collaborate.

For commitment, the BDC evaluates a candidate’s track record of following through with her or his responsibilities. In the interview stage, the BDC asks about personal and professional aspirations and assesses each candidate’s preparation and depth of knowledge on leadership, governance, and strategic issues facing REBGV.

How are candidate interviews conducted?

The BDC holds candidate interviews at the REBGV office. Each candidate is provided with the interview questions ahead of time, along with background reading materials like REBGV’s strategic plan.

While it’s a formal interview, the candidates’ responses will guide the flow of the conversation. For example, a candidate may be asked to elaborate on his or her experience, training or observations.

Are candidates asked the same questions in the interview?

For the most part, candidates are asked the same questions in their interviews. A candidate’s experiences, however, may lead to questions that help the BDC better understand that candidate’s knowledge. For example, a candidate may have served on another Board of Directors and be questioned about that experience. A candidate will not be asked about such governance experience if they have no such background.

Can you publish the results of the evaluations or show how the candidates scored in their interviews?

No. Just as the results of job interviews aren’t made public, the evaluations of the candidates are not published for privacy reasons.

Should members just vote for the ‘recommended’ candidates?

Members should vote for the candidates they believe are best qualified to serve on REBGV’s Board of Directors. Because it’s not practical for all members to know every candidate, the BDC conducts a rigorous, skills-based assessment of each candidate and makes recommendations for members’ voting consideration.

Why does the Board recommend candidates?

This is leading practice in good governance today. The organizations we admire for their governance processes take similar approaches to vetting director candidates.

Good governance doesn’t happen by accident. The recommendation process is intended to ensure that there are always highly qualified candidates running in every election.

With an organization representing of over 14,000 members, it’s not expected that every member will know or have the time to research every candidate and his or her qualifications.

Do other organizations recommend candidates?

Yes, other member-driven organizations like Vancity and Mountain Equipment Co-op take similar approaches to vetting director candidates. It’s considered a best practice in governance today.

Fairness

Does being recommended give a candidate an unfair advantage?

The recommendation process isn’t about providing unfair advantages. It’s about identifying candidates who are capable of leading REBGV in the best interest of all members.

This is a purposeful process intended to identify the most qualified candidates. This approach encourages candidates to be prepared and it helps members make informed votes.

REBGV’s Governance Committee designed this process after several years of research into the leading governance practices that organizations across all sectors use today.

Is the recommendation process undemocratic?

Ours is not a government election whereby constituents choose a person to specifically represent them in a political environment. The process undertaken by the BDC is not political; it’s a process designed to help members know which candidates have the competence, character and commitment necessary to lead a large professional organization like REBGV.

I think member X is an experienced and qualified candidate. Why wasn’t that person recommended?

Experience and qualifications aren’t the only factors. Temperament, track record, emotional intelligence, comments from references, and other variables are all considered.

The BDC also receives information about competencies needed at the Board of Directors’ table. The BDC looks for candidates with those skills.

Does the BDC play favourites?

No. All candidates go through the same evaluation process.

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