President's message: A “no cash” policy will send the right signal

Your Board of Directors will vote on a regulation in September to prohibit members from accepting cash in a transaction.

This prohibition would take effect in the fall. Click here to read the proposed regulation.

This change would allow us to follow through on one of the recommendations we made with industry partners this spring to help safeguard the real estate sector from money laundering.

In April, we worked with the BC Real Estate Association, the Appraisal Institute of Canada – BC Association, BC Notaries Association, and the Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association – British Columbia to submit recommendations to the provincial and federal governments on how to strengthen anti-money laundering measures in our province.

This was a proactive move ahead of the provincial government releasing two reports dealing with money laundering in real estate. Click here to read our recommendations.

I know there’s frustration about how the public conversation about money laundering and real estate has gone. We know that REALTORS® by and large don’t handle cash and that media coverage has too often distorted Realtors’ role in a transaction.

We must, however, recognize that public concern about this issue is real. Through our actions, we have an opportunity to demonstrate Realtors’ commitment to helping solve societal problems and building healthier and stronger communities.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

We all care about the communities we serve, and we share a desire to make real estate a more professional calling. This can’t be done with one or two sweeping initiatives. It’ll be an accumulation of actions over time. It’s about finding opportunities, large and small, to nurture a culture of professionalism.

To help in this pursuit, we’re hosting a professionalism symposium in the fall with a group of between 50 and 75 Realtors who are in the first half of their careers. This group will take a holistic view of our profession and explore what measures are necessary to raise the bar of professionalism long term.

Culture shifts don’t happen overnight. In our Board’s 100^th year in business, we want to set the course for the next generation.

With your support, we want to build a legacy of professionalism today that guides our profession into the future.

The move to a no cash policy will be an important, small step in the right direction.

If you have thoughts or feedback on this proposed change, write me at president@rebgv.org.

More AutoProp resources you can use

Since we launched AutoProp in May, over 5,200 members have registered for it. It’s available to you as part of your MLS® fees.

AutoProp is a powerful tool that helps you retrieve, export, and visualize real estate data from multiple sources and create reports for your clients. Watch this short video that explains what AutoProp is and what it does.

Here are some other short videos that show you how to perform common tasks in AutoProp:

How to search for Paragon comparables	Setting up report defaults
How to pull a title on a property	Setting up an LTSA Enterprise account

You’ll find more videos, guides, and documents on AutoProp’s website to help you get the most out of this new member service. Check it out today!

Five things to know about the new WEBForms

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) will introduce a new version of WEBForms on July 18. Here are five things you should know about the new WEBForms.

The new WEBForms will run in beta until the end of the year

You can start using the beta version CREA WEBForms on July 18. As with any beta version, you may discover some bugs – be sure to report them to CREA by emailing support@crea.ca. CREA will continue to fine tune the new WEBForms throughout the year.

The version of WEBForms that you use today (WEBForms Legacy) will be available to you until the end of the year.

All your materials will transfer to the new WEBForms

Your existing templates, clauses, kits and forms will automatically transfer to the new WEBForms under your account on July 18. If you create new kits, clauses, or templates in WEBForms Legacy after July 18, you’ll have to transfer them to the new WEBForms yourself.

Brokerage forms will also transfer to the new WEBForms

All brokerage forms that were programmed into WEBForms Legacy will be added with no additional cost on July 18. Any discrepancies should be brought to the attention of CREA Member Support at support@crea.ca.

You’ll get everything you get now and more, but the look and feel will be different

The new WEBForms was designed to deliver the functionality of WEBForms Legacy while offering new enhancements. New features include unlimited cloud storage for all your kits and forms, a customizable client management dashboard to help you stay organized and the ability to create tasks and checklists to help you stay on track when sharing tasks.

You can see how it looks right now

CREA has created resources you can look at now to get a feel for the new WEBForms and how to use it. This video gives you an overview, and you can find other videos, webinars, and guides here.

Questions? Contact the Help Desk at 604-730-3020.

The Ethics Guy®: Heartburn for lunch

It’s lunchtime and your Ethics Guy® is hard at work at his desk, sandwich in hand, reading the electronic paper.

This time, it’s the CBC. I don’t usually click on the CBC website for fear of giving myself indigestion, but to keep the lunch hour exciting, I thought I’d see what our national broadcaster had to say today.

My word, I am so glad I clicked on ”Climate Change, It's a Problem for Society." I now have indigestion and a topic for my column. Talk about mixed feelings. Maybe it’s not indigestion—it’s more like I’m now at a higher risk of a stroke. It’s a good article. You’ll want to consider it when acting for clients. Its conclusions are inescapable. And it’s very matter of fact, including the comments from major Canadian property insurers—not known for their hysteria.

Climate change should make us look at the properties we list and sell in a new light. For example, that superbly kept waterfront property with the magnificent view. Or the nice little house with a large drainage ditch or culvert up the street. How about the new log house built amidst the forest? Or maybe the property a mile from the lake, with little elevation change between the beach and its backyard.

I recently wrote about invasive plants, but the potential for new, or more severe, property risks caused by climate change are a lot more serious than giant hogweed. The hogweed can be dealt with using Chernobyl-style insecticides. How do you deal with 100 square kilometers of burned-out forest that once housed your client? Or, how would you deal with a risk that might result in your client needing scuba gear or a zodiac to get to the front door?

Whatever you think about climate change, I think we should start looking at the properties we list and sell, seeing them through a climate change lens to consider the new risks a current or new owner of a property might face.

It comes down to money. When a property floods, burns up, or is washed away, there’s a lot of money at stake. The affected party may or may not have the money handy to remediate the property. In either case, their first call is likely to their insurance broker. If they’re covered, great. But if they’re not, the finger pointing begins. We can get dragged in (one more thing to worry about). Then, sometimes, the lawyers get called. Or maybe Council.

“So what?” you’re thinking. “It’s a sad tale but it isn’t my problem.” Or is it?

It doesn’t take much more than a few taps on a keyboard to find the REALTOR® who sold the property. At some point your buyer’s lawyer might try to argue that it would’ve been reasonable, climate change and all, for you to have pointed out that the property is near a river, lake, culvert, drainage ditch, or forest.

And with the daily diet of climate change news coming from the media, did the penny not drop suggesting that a reasonable agent might want to remind the buyer that water damage costs money and climate change may bring us a lot more water? Or, the opposite—with everything so tinder-dry, the entire area has the potential to burn to rubble, with not a fire hydrant in sight. Maybe the lawyer would be successful with this argument, and maybe they wouldn’t. Who needs the heartburn?

Consider our new environment and the risks it may bring to the property your clients want to buy. Is the property in an unprotected fire district? Is it in an area prone to flooding? This includes properties with giant boulevard trees that have roots stopping up the storm sewers, causing regular basement floods.

The CBC article mentions some properties could, in the future, be uninsurable at worst or much more expensive to insure at best. Jeesh—two options none of us find very attractive. And neither will the buyers.

In summary read the article, and then take an inventory of the areas in which you sell. Consider new risks that might be brought about by climate change and manage accordingly, making sure to disclose the potential risks in writing to your client. It’s up to them to decide what to do with this information.

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Congratulations to Wolf Klein, Royal Lepage, North Vancouver. Arnold Shuchat, Sutton West Coast Realty is sending you a bouquet.

Here’s what he told us:

“I wouldn't give another guy a 'bouquet,' but I have to commend Wolf Klein who fessed up at the first instance in the middle of a deal when he discovered a problem, got on the strata corporation immediately to find a solution, kept his cool in the heat of it all, and gave me the confidence with his professionalism to work through the issues with him in a manner that allowed us both to protect our own clients' interests and see the deal through. He must have read Dr. Seuss earlier on in life, as we all should have: "Say what you mean; mean what you say..." Folks ... inspire confidence; it does wonders when trying to work together and make deals stick! Kudos to you Wolf; Looking forward to the next one!”

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Thank you

For 13 years, our wizard of publishing, Patrice Watson, has made my Ethics Guy® column look great. During this time, she’s put up with a multitude of last-minute tweaks by yours truly, the control freak. And she’s done it with a smile. We’re saying goodbye to Patrice at the end of the month because she’s retiring. I, along with everyone else—staff, directors, members, will miss her. Thank you, Patrice—you’ve done a stellar job!

Interest-free loans for first time buyers, False Creek South leases

CMHC launches new first-time home buyer incentive

Beginning in September, the federal government will offer first-time buyers interest-free loans for down payments. There are conditions and buyers must repay any amount borrowed.

Read more.

False Creek South leases – what REALTORS® need to know

REALTORS® representing clients buying or selling leased property in False Creek South need to understand the complexities involved. Here’s a summary from Greg Hamilton of the City of Vancouver.

Read more.

The new PDP: Frequently asked questions

Together with the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA), the real estate boards around the province have developed a new framework for the professional development program (PDP) that’ll take effect on January 1, 2020.

What's changing?

Under the new framework, you’d 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.

What is self-directed learning?

The concept of self-directed learning is intended to give you more flexibility and choice in your professional education. It's used in other professions like accounting.

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

What about Legal Update and other courses I need to take to re-license with Council?

Education needed to re-license with the Real Estate Council of BC (RECBC), such as Legal Update, will no longer be PDP accredited under this model. This is due, in large part, to RECBC’s recent moves to separate its relicensing education program (REP) from PDP.

Council will likely continue to require you to take Legal Update as well as other courses within in your two-year licensing cycle.

If I’m in the middle of my licensing cycle on January 1, 2020, what will happen to my credits?

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.

How can I learn more about these changes?

BCREA hosted the webinar below to go over these changes in more detail. 

If you have questions about this webinar, email us at education@rebgv.org.

We’ll communicate more about the changing PDP model in the weeks and months ahead.

Meet your Board Development Committee

The REBGV Board Development Committee recently met to review the committee’s processes and timelines, and to begin the work of reaching out to members interested in serving on the REBGV Board of Directors next year.

(L-R) Michael Uy, Oakwyn Realty; Randy Ryalls (Chair), Royal LePage Sterling Realty; Doug Williams, RE/MAX Crest Realty; Jack Bernard, Rennie Marketing Systems; Roland Kym, Keller Williams VanCentral; Lynn Dequanne, RE/MAX Central; Carsten Love, Coldwell Banker Love Realty. Missing: Tina Mak, Coldwell Banker Westburn Realty