Understanding the safety protocols for REALTORS® and the latest public health orders

Last week, Dr. Bonnie Henry announced a two-week extension to the social restrictions originally put into place in the Lower Mainland on November 7. These restrictions have also been expanded to all of BC. Masks are now also required in all indoor retail and public spaces.

This order restricts social gatherings in homes, suspends certain group indoor physical activities, and asks people to avoid non-essential travel. It also asks businesses to update their COVID-19 plans and to avoid sending staff back to work in-person at offices where possible.

Click here for more details on the restrictions.

The latest orders don’t impact visits to a home for business purposes. REALTORS® have been designated an essential service in this pandemic. You continue to have the ability to conduct a showing of a home so long as you and your clients wear masks and strictly follow the safety protocols established for our profession to date.

Here are the most up to date safety protocols:

• Guidelines for showings
• Guidelines for offices and Managing Brokers

The real estate boards and regulatory bodies in our province continue to urge Realtors not to hold open houses at this time.

Watch a recording of our virtual safety protocol update with WorkSafeBC and Council

We held a virtual discussion about the safety protocols on November 23. The session featured representatives from both WorkSafeBC and the Real Estate Council of BC. Our guests discussed:  

• What’s new from the Provincial Health Office relating to real estate services. 
• WorkSafeBC’s recent revisions to the real estate protocols. 
• Different scenarios Realtors may encounter and how to handle them. 

Watch a recording of the event below.

The Board Development Committee answers your questions

Throughout the year, the Board Development Committee (BDC) works to identify, evaluate, and recommend candidates for our Board of Director election.

To answer your most common questions about the process they follow and the work they do on your behalf, we've created a three-part video series featuring our BDC members. We encourage you to invest the time to learn more about this important work.

Watch the first video in this series where BDC members offer further insights into their work.

Review our elections resources

Ahead of the 2021 Board of Directors election, take the time to learn about the Board Development Committee and the recommendation process here. The BDC’s work is also visualized above (click on the image to expand).

Last call for donations to our REALTORS Care® Blanket Charity Drive!

The REALTORS Care Blanket Charity Drive closes at the end of the day on Monday, November 30. Donate now to help us raise money for our long-time Blanket Drive charities!

The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on the most vulnerable people in our communities. Many charities aren’t accepting donations of clothing or blankets for safety reasons, and live fundraising events aren’t happening. These factors make it exceptionally difficult for charities to help the people who need it most.

Financial support will directly help the homeless and working poor residents in our communities.

“The Blanket Drive reminds our recipients that people care about them and they’re not forgotten. They feel lost and like they don’t matter, but when someone gives them something, even a pair of socks, it’s incredibly meaningful for them,” said Mary Campbell, development coordinator for the Lookout Housing and Health Society. “Your support will help provide these basic necessities in these challenging times.”

Give and get

When you give to the REALTORS Care Blanket Charity Drive, you’ll earn rewards based on the amount of your donation. For example, a donation from $50 to $99 will get you one REALTORS Care facemask, a social media profile frame, and a unique digital badge you can use on your websites and social media channels to share your charitable spirit.

Here are the reward tiers:

Final push for our friendly Fraser Valley challenge!

There’s just two days left in our campaign and we’re engaged in a friendly competition with our colleagues at the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. Right now, Fraser Valley members have raised nearly $12,000 compared to our nearly $11,000. Help put REBGV over the top and donate today!

Pass the hat and spread the word

Share our video featuring Blanket Drive volunteers passing the hat to raise awareness of this year's campaign!

Shooting the messenger

Diplomacy, manners, and civility often soften hard truths. Imagine what our world would look like without diplomacy and courtesy. Our good friends south of the border probably have a better grasp of this than anyone, given the past four years. Some would say the only things separating us from the animal kingdom is our civilized behaviour, except it doesn’t seem to me that animals depart from their code. It’s us.

There’s a reason why humanity has developed a system of civilized behaviour over the millennia. It keeps us from tearing one another apart. When civility dies, uncivilized behaviour takes over. But this column isn’t about that. It’s about disclosure. It’s also about truth, kindness, diplomacy, and civility—specifically as these relate to imparting information to others that may be hard for them to hear or could result in difficult consequences for us.

Hard-to-hear information can be softened with a kind word and a good side order of empathy. In times long past, messengers were sometimes killed for delivering information a recipient didn’t like. This doesn’t happen now, but often messengers can bear the brunt of hostility and emotion from someone who doesn’t like what they’ve heard. For this reason, our society (and profession) has developed codes of civility and conduct to make things better. These appeal to our finer impulses, not the baser ones.

No one ever wants to get an earful. And knowing that can make us reluctant to deliver potentially bad news to others. Sometimes the news is personal, as in the personal comments such as “I don’t love you anymore,” “You should go to the gym a bit more,” and “This new mouthwash is really great, I have an extra bottle, would you like it?”

Not being an expert in matters of the heart, I’m happy not to have to poke the personal stuff with a stick. But sometimes the news to be delivered is of a professional nature, as in the disclosure of information to a client or an unrepresented party. You may wonder, “Will this information mess up my deal?” or “Will the telling of it make me the recipient of unwanted abuse?”

We know in our heart and mind bad news has to be delivered. But this doesn’t make the delivery of it any easier.

Let’s cover the what, when, why, and where of disclosures.

What: When it comes to an agency relationship, we’re a pipeline, not a filter. Clients, not us, get to decide what’s important to know. That means clients are entitled to know everything we know. For unrepresented parties the bar isn’t set so high. For example, our fiduciary duty of disclosure doesn’t apply to those who aren’t clients. Council has overridden this by requiring, under Council Rule 5-13, that physical defects not easily discovered on reasonable inspection, if known by the seller, must be disclosed in writing to clients as well as unrepresented parties.

When: Information helps clients make informed decisions so, obviously, the stuff we know must be conveyed to those we deal with before they make their decision. It’s not much help to them if you tell them later. But even this shouldn’t deter you from disclosing information to clients when you learn of it, even if they’ve already made a decision. There’s also the question of whether you ought to have known something, but that’s a subject for another column.

Why: Our REALTOR® Code, the Real Estate Services Act, Council’s Rules, and the common law of agency all support the idea that everyone is entitled to hear what they need to know so they can make the best decision. Agency or unrepresented relationships can make a difference of course, but the old adage “when in doubt, disclose” is good to keep in mind. Remember, Council says disclosures must be made “promptly” and “in any event, before a contract is entered into.”

Where: Just like apps, there’s usually a form for that. Council’s forms are often mandated; for example, the Disclosure of Interest in Trade and Disclosure of Representation in Trading Services forms. Other forms we have access to are not mandated by the regulator, but it’s a good idea to use them so we can document the disclosures we’ve made.

Delivering good news is fun, for example, “congratulations, the sellers just accepted your counter-offer.” Delivering bad news takes finesse, a thick skin, and fortitude. Hey, no one (except those on the outside) said our job was easy. We know how hard it can be to deliver the information needed so our clients and those we deal with have what they need to make the best decision.

So, buck up your courage and deliver that news. All of it. But do it with compassion if that’s called for. It’s not about us, it’s about them, so let’s try to put aside our feelings in the face of occasional blow-back. It’s the right thing to do, and even though you may occasionally be upset that someone has unloaded on you, it’s not a reason for avoiding telling them news they’re entitled to hear.

Top Tip: Reporting solds

Our Rules of Cooperation include rules allowing sellers the discretion to ask you to do something other than what the rules specify. These are the rules saying, “Unless otherwise instructed by the seller in writing.” But the rest of the rules don’t allow sellers to otherwise instruct (for example, reporting a sale to the MLS® Department when a deal is unconditional or subjects have been removed). Rule 5.01 (c) – Reporting Sales says, “An important part of the inherent value of the MLS® System is the transaction data accumulated for sales of listed properties. It is the responsibility of all members to ensure, regardless of their business model, that property sales information for properties listed on the MLS® System be reported to the Board.” For example, sellers’ instructions not to report the sale of their property if accepted by the member, would put the member in breach of this rule. Here’s a tip: If your seller may have reason not to want others to know the property has been sold (or listed) then don’t post the listing on MLS®. (The alternative is an exclusive listing.)

BC election results, the Land Owner Transparency Act, and road tolls proposed in Vancouver

BC election results 

All the votes have now been tabulated. Find out who’s representing you as your riding’s provincial MLA.

Read more.

Land Owner Transparency Act in force November 30

BC's new Land Owner Transparency Act comes into force on November 30 and will affect how your clients register their property title.

Read more.

Road tolls proposed for Vancouver’s metro core area 

Vancouver City Council has approved its Climate Emergency Action Plan which includes bringing in road tolls for the metro core area. Business, industry, and commuters are understandably concerned. Watch for notice of public consultations.

Read more.

Understanding the cost of in-person versus online PDP education

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, your Board was quick to shift our entire PDP course catalogue to online webinars. Since then, we’ve delivered 277 online courses to 13,930 members.

In a recent survey, 86 per cent of members said they want REBGV to continue to host live webinar courses after the pandemic. Benefits cited included:

• No travel time and parking hassles.
• Learning from the comfort of home.
• High-quality online course materials.

At our recent fall member meeting, some asked why the price of registering for online PDP courses remains the same as in-person course fees prior to the pandemic?

We’ve developed the following overview that we hope provides greater context and insight into this topic:

While, intuitively, it may seem that the cost of delivering courses online should be less than in-person, it’s important to understand that many of the costs required to produce high-quality education are fixed regardless of the delivery format.

This is why most universities also charge the same for online and in-person courses.

For example, course and material development costs are the same regardless of whether a course is delivered in-person or online. The same is true of education staff and instructor costs. Although printing costs are eliminated and members don’t travel to our office for an online course, the cost to license hosting platforms, like Zoom, and the technical support needs of course participants are unique to online course delivery.

Class size is another key factor. To ensure an optimal experience for course attendees and instructors, we’ve reduced the number of members who can participate in an online course. For example, our in-person courses had a maximum capacity of 70 whereas our online courses have a maximum capacity of 55. In most cases we limit class size to 50.

These reduced class sizes mean that we receive less in the way of fees for every course we offer and we must host more online courses to accommodate all members’ education needs. This makes it more difficult for REBGV to recover its education delivery costs.

Our not-for-profit status means that we cannot profit from education courses under Canada Revenue Agency rules. We strictly follow these rules and only seek to recover the costs to develop, administer and deliver professional development for you. This is true whether we host online or in-person courses.

Today, the course fees we receive don’t, in fact, cover our fully allocated education costs.

We’re always on the lookout for ways to keep your education costs down. We’ve begun licensing some of the courses we’ve developed to other boards in BC and we’re searching for a tenant to assume the lease at our Schoolhouse Training Facility to recover on-going costs associated with our lease.

If you have comments, questions or suggestions, please email us at education@rebgv.org.