Get the most out of AutoProp with these tips and tricks

Earlier this month, we partnered with the Land Title Survey Authority to bring AutoProp to all members as part of your MLS® fees.

AutoProp helps you gather information from multiple sources, like municipal databases, and puts them into reports for your clients.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you perform some of the most common tasks in AutoProp:

Customize your search for comparables

AutoProp can help you find comparables for your CMAs using MLS® data. You can customize these comparable searches and save criteria as search defaults. Setting your defaults will save you time on your next search.

Compare sales data to assessments

Once you’ve created a comparable report, you can find assessment value on the homes in the report using AutoProp’s import PID feature. This allows you to calculate a sales-to-assessed or listed-to-assessed ratio for a number of homes.

Find properties with a potential for rezoning

AutoProp aggregates publicly available municipal data into an easy-to-understand map overlay. This can help you see what properties are zoned for, and what the local area plan or official community plan is for the area.

See development applications in a neighbourhood

It can be difficult to find development applications in certain areas. Many of these applications are online but are posted as PDFs on municipal websites and are hard to search for. AutoProp aggregates these applications into map layers organized into active and inactive applications. Active applications show you all applications under review by a city council, while inactive shows applications that passed or failed.

Here are more resources to help you to take advantage of AutoProp’s features:

• What’s AutoProp? Webinar
• How to use AutoProp Webinar
• AutoProp help centre

Thousands of members offer their feedback in our latest satisfaction survey

How's your Board doing in serving your needs? Nearly 3,400, 24 per cent, of our 14,300 members gave their opinions in our latest member satisfaction survey.

The results indicate that 69 per cent of members are either satisfied or very satisfied with REBGV’s services. This is down 10 per cent from our 2017 survey and is up three per cent compared to our 2012 survey findings.

Of the remaining 31 per cent of responses, eight per cent said they’re neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and five per cent indicated that they’re dissatisfied.

"We're always looking for opportunities to improve our products and services," says Brad Scott, Board CEO. "I'd like to thank the thousands of members who completed the survey. Your feedback gives us a rich data set to help us find new and more effective ways to serve you, our customers."

As is consistent with previous years, the Board services that members agree are the most important are MLS® Services, Advocacy on behalf of REALTORS®, Enforcement of Rules, and Education and Professional Development. 

We also asked you to indicate your satisfaction with these and other core Board services. Here are the top five responses:

1. MLS® Services (82% satisfied, down 2% from 2017)
2. Education and Professional Development program (70% satisfied, down 3% from 2017)
3. Communication from REBGV (71% satisfied, down 1% from 2017)
4. Public Image programs (59% satisfied, down 5% from 2017)
5. Advocating on behalf of REALTORS (57% satisfied, down 4% from 2017)

From these results, we compared the importance you place on a service with your satisfaction to determine the expectation gap.

Expectation gaps decreased in every category compared to the 2017 survey, except in Education and Professional Development. The largest decreases were in Enforcement of Rules, Commercial Services, Communications from REBGV, and REBGV Media Relations.

The largest areas of focus for REBGV are Enforcement of Rules and Advocacy. These are the two categories with expectation gaps above 25 per cent.

The survey also asked members to summarize REBGV in one word. The top three responses were:

1. Professional
2. Good
3. Helpful

The first word that could be construed as negative was ‘expensive’. It ranked fifth.

Members continue to demonstrate more than 75 per cent satisfaction with Board staff. Here’s an overview:

1. Staff courtesy (83% satisfaction)
2. Staff responsiveness (80% satisfaction)
3. Staff knowledge (80% satisfaction)
4. Staff availability (78% satisfaction)

Your survey responses also provided key insights into member demographics. For example, we learned that 50 per cent of members have been in the profession for 10 years or less and 24 per cent have been in the business for 25 years or more.

In terms of education, 82 per cent of members have graduated from either college or university.

When it comes to commissions, the most common response, at 24 per cent, was an annual earning of between $50,000 and $99,999. This is up three per cent from our 2017 survey. At the highest end of the commission scale, 15 per cent reported earning more than $200,000 annually. This is down from 21 per cent of respondents who indicted that they earn this income level in 2017.

Members also offered more than 400 pages of written feedback that provides opportunities for improvement. Our management team and other staff are pouring through these results.

You can read the survey results by clicking here.

We’d again like to thank all members who participated!

New WEBForms coming this summer

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) will introduce a new version of WEBForms this summer. Beginning as early as July, you’ll have the opportunity to use the revamped WEBForms.

The version that you work within today will continue to be available to you until the end of this year.

Any clauses and templates you have in WEBForms today will be imported into the new version of WEBForms under your account. All your current integrations, such as DocuSign for example, will also continue to work in the new WEBForms as they do today.

You’ll also be able to select and export any existing kits you’ve created in the current version of WEBForms to the new WEBForms.

All brokerage forms that were programmed into the current version of WEBForms will be added with no additional cost to brokerages. Any discrepancies should be brought to the attention of CREA Member Support. 

CREA hired Lone Wolf Technologies to develop the new WEBForms platform. Lone Wolf is a North American leader in residential real estate technology, with almost three decades of experience dedicated to the real estate market.  

CREA has created videos, guides, and other training like webinars to help you learn how to use WEBForms. Click here to visit this resource page.

You can also watch this short video to get a feel for the new WEBForms.

This new version of WEBForms contains the existing features of the current WEBForms, plus unlimited cloud storage for your forms and kits, a customizable client management dashboard, and the ability to create tasks and checklists to help you stay on track when sharing tasks.

We’ll share more about the move to the new WEBForms, and launch dates, in the coming weeks.

The Ethics Guy®: Disclosing invasive species

Japanese Knotweed. Giant Hogweed. Tansy Ragwort. Yellow Archangel. Oxeye Daisy.

All of these are invasive species, and you need to be aware of them.

Honestly. I’m not making this up. Depending on how one interprets Council’s Material Latent Defect Rule, invasive plant species may be an issue for your listings.

Japanese Knotweed has been identified an invasive species by the Invasive Species Council of BC. Knotweed can take over a garden, possibly breaking up concrete and causing damage. It’s perhaps not in the same category as that creature erupting from the astronaut’s chest in Alien, but still, it’s something to consider when acting for buyers and sellers. In fact, Council mentions invasive species under “Acting for Buyers,” referencing the Invasive Species Council of BC and the Invasive Species Toolkit for Local Government.

If I encountered Japanese Knotweed or similar weeds growing on a property I was listing or showing, I hope I’d err on the side of caution, treating the weeds as a material latent defect, and that would trigger a written disclosure requirement.

The general advice we’ve all been getting over the years—when in doubt, disclose—is relevant. But how do you know? Are you obliged to go into the garden to check for such invasive plants? Do you even think to do so, particularly when you’re likely looking for any material latent defects inside the home? I certainly never did, and I suspect not many would.

Nonetheless, it’s possible you could be tagged with a complaint to Council or a claim in court if an invasive plant species were discovered by the buyer after the closing. These plants can be difficult to eradicate, sometimes requiring agent orange–level pesticides or complete removal of the plant by someone in a Hazmat-type suit who digs down past the roots, and that can be expensive.

If it costs money to remove an invasive plant, there’s a good chance you’ll be presented with a bill, claim, or argument that you ought to have checked, ought to have known, and therefore ought to pay. And, maybe, therefore, paying to get the problem solved would be a good option (with appropriate releases and legal advice obtained in advance, of course).

Some would argue that an invasive plant is similar to mould, a rotten deck, or an underground storage tank. If its presence isn’t easily discovered and the seller knows about it, the seller has the obligation to tell you. And, once you know—assuming it constitutes a material latent defect—you should disclose that defect in writing “promptly,” or in any event, before a contract is entered into.

Who needs the grief? Disclose.

But just how do you determine whether or not that giant Triffid plant in the backyard is invasive? I don’t know about you, but I can’t tell one plant from another. Sometimes I’ll ask my wife if the plant I just pulled out is a weed or a flower. (Note to self: Ask that question before pulling the plant out.) Are there basic steps you can take to risk-manage the situation?

The first and most basic step is to ask your seller whether they’re aware of invasive plant species growing on the property when listing the place. Note the answer in your file. If they say yes, make a note about that Tansy Ragwort or other pesky plant in the Comments section of the Property Disclosure Statement.

The next step, I should think, would be to contact an expert to advise about removing the invasive plant. Getting this done before listing or selling the place is best, if possible. Of course, this step assumes that you can locate such an invasive plant inspector. Are they out there? Who knows? I couldn’t find any, so if you know where to look, please let me know.

Alternatively, you can visit the Invasive Species Council of BC’s website and educate yourself. Trust me, you’ll learn more than you ever wanted to know about invasive plants. The website also lists webinars and provides fact sheets packed with useful information, including the Knotweed Fact sheet. If you’re an insomniac, you could soldier through this June 2018 Council webinar, Invasive Species e-Learning for Real Estate and Landscape Architects.

And please note, there are also unwanted invasive bugs and other species that may show up—it’s not just the relatives who may visit this summer and probably overstay their welcome!

If this subject is something you want to learn more about, please drop me a line at kspencer@rebgv.org  (about the invasive plants, not the relatives!).

Money laundering in real estate – a report and an inquiry, and running out of industrial and agricultural land

Money laundering report

The Ministry of Finance expert panel on money laundering in real estate outlined how money laundering and the proceeds of organized crime have increased home prices. Here’s a summary of the panel’s findings.

Read more.

Public inquiry into money laundering begins

Following the release of the reports on money laundering, the province launched an official inquiry.

Read more.

Running out of industrial and agricultural land

Metro Vancouver is running out of both industrial and agricultural land. Here’s a summary of the issue and potential solutions.

Read more.