Issue #262 April 2011

Pushing for private property rightsPage 3

5 critical marketing elementsPage 18

Turning junk into listingsPage 12

Linda Pinizzotto Sales rep, hockey mom and condo advocatePage 8

wo Ontario politicianshave launched a proposalto get private property

rights included in the Charter ofRights and Freedoms.

Federal MP Scott Reid(Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox andAddington) and MPP RandyHillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennoxand Addington) announced theywill jointly present resolutions inthe House of Commons and theLegislative Assembly of Ontario toamend Canada’s Constitution,embedding property rights withinthe Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Currently Canada’s constitu-tion provides no protection for itscitizens against restricted use oftheir property. The motion, ifpassed, would entrench propertyrights alongside those mentionedin the Canadian Bill of Rights, 1960,including the right to life, liberty,and security of person.

This isn’t the first time that thistype of constitutional amendmenthas been attempted – the last timewas in 2007 – but it is the first timethat anyone has tried an amend-ment using Section 43. Under theterms of the amending formula in

REM APRIL 2011 3

T

Politicians push for private property rightsAlthough the amendment would only affect the province of Ontario, the sponsoring politicians hope theirmotion will inspire others to enact similar property rights across CanadaBy Melanie Epp

Section 43 of the ConstitutionAct, 1982, resolutions for theprovince of Ontario could becomepart of the Constitution ofCanada. Although the amend-ment will only affect the provinceof Ontario, the sponsoring politi-cians hope that their motion willinspire others to enact similarproperty rights across Canada.

“There’s no one thing thatspurred this motion,” says Hillier’slegislative assistant Nick Kadysh,“In Canada there’s been a fairlylong history of property rightsabuses – not always intentional –but there’s very little that the aver-age citizen can do to combat this.”

Without constitutional protec-tion, municipalities have the rightto disregard property owner’s rightswithout the fear of retaliation.They can arbitrarily seize land,impose heritage designations, ordeclare land protected, therebyrestricting its use.

Hillier and Reid, both mem-bers of the Conservative Party, citerecent cases from within their ownjurisdictions of citizens who couldhave benefited from constitutionalprotection.

In 2010, the Jaworski family ofLanark County, Ont., was fined$50,000 for hosting a political andeconomic freedom convention,the Liberty Summer Seminar, on their property. Although the Canadian ConstitutionFoundation announced that thecharges were dropped on February14, 2011, by that time theJaworskis had already incurred sub-stantial legal fees.

Another incident involved awoman from Lanark County whohad wanted to divide her land andsell off a part of it in order to refi-nance her property. She was pro-hibited from doing so because partof her land was home to a protect-ed bird species. When she couldn’traise the money she needed, shelost her land.

Kadysh recalls another story,told to him by Hillier, about a manwho resides near Peterborough,Ont. About 10 years ago he boughta piece of land with a highway onone side and a creek on the other.He planned to build on it as the citydeveloped. When he eventuallywent to put his plan into action, hefound that the Ministry of

Environment had zoned 200 yardsout from the creek bed and that theMinistry of Transportation hadzoned some 200 yards out from thehighway, making his land prettymuch useless.

“He still owns it and he stillpays taxes on it, but he can’t buildon it and he can’t sell it,” saysKadysh, “Who’s going to buy use-less land?”

These restrictions are particu-larly burdensome to those whomake their living off the land, saysReid. He has seen cases where newgovernment regulations haverestricted land use and landownershave been forced to sell their prop-erty at a financial loss. Reid saysthat taxpayers should share in thecost of these new restrictions, andthat they should not be left to theindividual landowner. He wouldlike to see affected landownerscompensated for their financiallosses.

Kadysh agrees, saying thatHillier’s hope was that landownerswould see “just and timely com-pensation.”

Ontarians have responded with“widespread support,” says Reid,

and he says he is “quite optimistic”that private property rights will beprotected in the future. Kadyshsays that support is “overwhelm-ingly positive” and Hillier is “cer-tainly hopeful” about the future ofprivate property rights in Canada.

Although Kadysh doesn’t seethe issue as “headline-grabbingenough,” Reid would like to seeprivate property rights become anelection issue. “The more aware-ness, the more it propels the issue,”Reid says. He doesn’t anticipateany opposition since there’s really“no downside for anyone.”

“This isn’t a partisan issue – it’san issue of fairness and justice,”says Kadysh. “Hillier has long beenan advocate of property rights andhe believes that it’s a pretty greatinjustice that we don’t have them.”

Kadysh says, “I believe that thisis something that Canadians want,overwhelmingly, especially proper-ty owners. And I believe that oneday, and it may not be through ourmotion, but one day Canadianswill get this. So we’re just doingour part to ensure fairness and jus-tice for Ontario and ultimately forall Canadians.” REM

Scott Reid

Randy Hillier

wo new studies by con-struction industry groupssays that housing prices in

the Greater Toronto Area havemore than doubled since 1998,and that the provincial andmunicipal governments havefuelled much of this increasethrough fees, charges and regulato-ry costs that ultimately are borneby new homebuyers.

The two studies conclude thatthese government-imposed costsare “conspiring to make housingunaffordable for a growing numberof families, particularly in theGTA.”

A report prepared for theResidential Construction Councilof Ontario (RESCON), written byresearcher Will Dunning, esti-mates that up to 30 per cent of thecost of new housing in the GTA is

now attributable to direct andindirect government charges.Another study, written by Ryersonprofessor David Amborski for theResidential and CivilConstruction Alliance of Ontario(RCCAO), says that regional andmunicipal development chargesalone now add $30,000 to $50,000to the price of a new home.

The organizations say thatdevelopment costs in the GTAare among the highest in NorthAmerica. For example, develop-ment charges on comparablehousing in other jurisdictions are $23,418 on average in the Greater Vancouver Area;$7,475 in Calgary; and $1,425 inEdmonton.

Similar increases are evident innew high-rise construction, thegroups say. In addition to develop-

ment charges, other government-imposed costs on housing includesales taxes, land transfer taxes,application and processing fees,building permit fees, new homewarranty fees, land dedications,and a multitude of other revenue-generating mechanisms for gov-ernment.

Oakville Mayor Rob Burtontold The Globe and Mail that thecity charges developers the maxi-mum amount allowed underprovincial legislation becausedevelopment fees haven’t coveredthe cost of growth in more than adecade. “Local property taxpayerssubsidize billionaire developerswhose subdivisions make higherprofits by not paying for the hospi-tals, transit and other infrastruc-ture they require,” he told theGlobe.

But the construction groups saythat government-imposed costs onhousing are short-sighted and haveserious negative consequences:

• A lack of affordable housingleads to a lack of an available near-by workforce to attract employers,which in turn works against theplanning objectives to have a bal-ance of jobs and housing within acommunity.

• Development charges areapplied on a per unit basis.Consequently, higher densitydevelopment pays a higher chargeper hectare than low density devel-opment. This works at cross pur-poses to land use policies aimed atintensification.

•Higher prices slow demand,and reduce employment within theconstruction industry and suppli-ers, the groups say. REM

Studies say development charges ‘short-sighted’T

4 REM APRIL 2011

Multiple ListingsDo you have news to share with Canada’s real estate community?Let REM know about it! Email: jim@remonline.com

By Jim Adair, REM Editor

roker Grant Hayes andhis wife, sales rep JayLough-Hayes, recently

opened Peterborough Realty inPeterborough, Ont.

“After reading the OctoberREM about Mike Cartwright’soffice, Main Street Realty inNewmarket, offering a full-servicebrokerage with 100 per cent of thecommissions going to the Realtor,we decided to follow his pattern,”says Lough-Hayes. “Our fee struc-ture is similar – $199/month and$299/deal. No charge on residen-tial leases and double-end deals are

B

Grant Hayes and Jay Lough-Hayes

Donna Harding

Norm Jolliffe

one transaction. Here’s an oppor-tunity for Realtors to keep themoney they work so hard for.”

The couple has more than 25years of combined experience inthe local market.

“We believe the future holdsfor smaller brokerages, more ‘quali-fied’ salespeople and less expensiveoffices fees,” she says. “We were thefirst team in our area to offer a‘move for free, you pack, we drive,you unpack’ service, which most ofour clients take advantage of timeand time again.”

The office is located in the

downtown Cafe District inPeterborough.

■ ■ ■

Rosann Copfer has joined themanagement team at ColdwellBanker Canada as director of mar-keting and product developmentfor Canada.

Copfer was previously seniormarketing manager of new productdevelopment at Canadian Tire,where she was responsible fordeveloping and implementingmarketing initiatives designed togrow targeted markets. In that role,she guided the development ofpilot projects and partnered withBrock University’s Think Tankplus program. Previous rolesinclude marketing manager withStern Advertising, where she wasresponsible for national and local marketing initiatives forMcDonald’s restaurants of WesternNew York and NorthernPennsylvania. In her new role, shewill be based at the Canadiannational office in Burlington, Ont.

■ ■ ■

Exit Realty Corp. Internationalhad a record-breaking turnout for

its 2011 Canadian Sales Rallyrecently in Moncton.

“The champions of this compa-ny are always in the room regard-less of the event. They have amindset for prosperity and clearlyunderstand the value of teaching,training and coaching.” says JoyceParon, president – Canada.

The event included a tradeshow and five speakers who“engaged and empowered every-one,” the company says. Exit CEOand founder Steve Morris closedthe event with a presentationtitled, “An UnstoppableAttitude”.

■ ■ ■

Century 21 Platinum Realty inEdmonton has new owners and ismoving to a new office.

New owners Brad Warkentin,Chapman Im, Patrick S. Au,Duane Springsteel, LynneMacDonald and AnnaTrojandniuz say they plan to main-tain the strong bonds they’ve builtthrough their years as Century 21System members and to create awelcoming and comfortable envi-ronment for their clients.

“We have an idea to bring ouragents back together to have regu-lar meetings and to encouragemore education,” says MacDonald.“We’re upgrading our software andadding new technology to helpserve our clients better.”

Century 21 Platinum Realty isone of the fastest growing realestate companies in Alberta, the

company says. The new office is at7605 104 Ave.

■ ■ ■

The Aventure Realty Networkhas added three brokerages to itsnetwork. Harding Premier Realtyof Halifax, led by broker/ownerDonna Harding has developed areputation as a leader in her mar-ket, the company says. HardingPremier Realty is now focused onthe expansion of a strong indepen-dent brand.

Broker/owner Norm Jolliffe ofLake Country Real Estate inOrillia, Ont. has many years of suc-cessful and far reaching brokeragemanagement experience will fur-ther strengthen the network, thecompany says.

Talbot Realty of Goderich,Ont. has also joined the network.Broker/owner Kevin Talbot andhis team of experienced Realtorshave developed a strong reputationthroughout Goderich and the LakeHuron market, it says. Operatingin non-franchise relationships,Aventure strengthens the inde-pendents’ competitive position,delivers a robust national referralnetwork and puts members into aunique and open peer group, thecompany says.

■ ■ ■

Century 21 ProNorth Realty inSault St. Marie, Ont. has newowners: Joe Ruscio and JamesCaicco. They are long-time resi-dents of Sault St. Marie and havebeen active members of the com-munity. Ruscio is a charteredaccountant and has been involvedwith numerous real estate develop-ments in Southern Ontario.Caicco has 15 years of experiencein the appraisal and real estateindustry and specializes in residen-tial and commercial properties.

■ ■ ■

Century 21 Leading EdgeRealty has expanded to serve thegrowing community of Stouffville,Ont., with a new office at 6393Main St.

“We’re striving to be the num-ber one real estate firm across theGreater Toronto Area,” says TasisGiannoukakis, sales rep and man-ager of the brokerage. “Having apresence in the fast growing com-munity of Stouffville allows us toprovide superior service to bothour agents and the public.”

Continued on page 6

James Caicco

Paul Baron

Kevin Talbot

Paul Purewal

Shane Ruys

William Taylor

Independently Owned and Operated. ® TM, trademarks of Century 21 Real Estate LLC, used under license. ®™ Trademarksof AIR MILES International Trading B.V. Used under license by LoyaltyOne, Inc. and Century 21 Canada Limited Partnership.

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Web tra�c reports for every property website!

6 REM APRIL 2011

PublisherHEINO MOLLS

email: heino@remonline.com

General ManagerJOHN COOPER

email: john@remonline.com

Director, Sales & MarketingDENNIS ROCK

email: dennis@remonline.com

Brand DesignSANDRA GOODER

EditorJIM ADAIR

email: jim@remonline.com

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email: kathy@remonline.com

Art DirectorLIZ MACKIN

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REM complies fully with the Canadian Real Estate Association's Rules for Trademarks (CREA Rule 16.5.3.1)

REALTOR® and REALTORS® are trademarks controlled in Canada by The Canadian Real Estate Association(CREA) and identify licensed real estate practitioners who are members of CREA. MLS® and Multiple ListingService® are trademarks owned by CREA and identify the services rendered by members of CREA.

REM is published 12 times a year. It is an independently owned and operated company and is not affiliated with anyreal estate association, board or company. REM is distributed across Canada by leading real estate boards and by directdelivery in selected areas. Subscriptions are $40.95 per year (including $1.95 GST), payable by personal cheque. Entirecontents copyright 2011 REM. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission fromthe publisher is prohibited. The opinions expressed in REM are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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Multiple ListingsContinued from page 4

With headquarters inScarborough, Century 21Leading Edge Realty has beenoperating for more than 10 years.The company also has offices inToronto, Aurora, Gravenhurst,Markham and Unionville.Owner Paul Baron has been inreal estate since 1984.

■ ■ ■

Paul Purewal has joinedAvison Young’s brokerage opera-tions in Vancouver as an indus-trial sales and leasing associate,focusing on the Fraser Valley,B.C. market. He was mostrecently an industrial sales andleasing broker at MacdonaldCommercial (Fraser Valley, B.C.office).

Purewal began his real estatecareer at Burchell Edwards, thelargest independent real estatecompany in Birmingham,

England. He was then recruitedby Dixons Countrywide,England’s largest corporate-owned real estate firm, wherePurewal won several awards as anegotiator and then as a manag-er. Purewal moved to Vancouverin 2008 to focus on industrialsales and leasing activity in theFraser Valley.

■ ■ ■

Employing a “clients first”attitude, Century 21 LimestoneRealty is now open to assist theresidents of Kingston, Ont. andits surrounding areas.

“Our goal is to continuebuilding an exciting office whereagents with positive attitudeshave the best tools available tosucceed and are treated fairlyand with respect,” says ShaneRuys, co-owner of Century 21Limestone Realty. Co-ownerWilliam Taylor and Ruys haveboth been in real estate for over12 years. REM

WinnipegRealtors and Ontario landlords want action on rentals

discussion paper byWinnipegRealtors aboutManitoba’s acute rental

shortage calls for immediate actionnow to turn around a long pro-tracted shortage of rental housing.Winnipeg’s .8 per cent rentalvacancy rate (the lowest vacancyrate of 34 census metropolitan cen-tres surveyed by Canada Mortgageand Housing Corp. in fall 2010) isa contributing factor in makingWinnipeg’s housing less affordable,says the report. It is also limitinggood housing market choice andflexibility since rental is so scarce.

“There are some areas ofWinnipeg where there is virtuallynothing to rent so invariably anyhouse that becomes available forsale becomes the only choice forsomeone to bid on,” says MelBoisvert, chair of theWinnipegRealtors task force thatproduced the discussion paper.“First-time buyers in particular arefinding it difficult because theentry level market under $200,000is shrinking noticeably due to esca-lating house prices.”

The 7th Annual DemographiaInternational Housing AffordabilitySurvey has for the first timedropped Winnipeg’s ranking fromaffordable to moderately unafford-able. The association says, “Weneed to unclog the impedimentsand barriers to creating more rental

A supply. How can you continue toincrease the number of immigrantswithout a plan to provide themwith accessible and affordableaccommodations?”

The discussion paper raises anumber of issues such as rent regu-lation and also looks at what roleeach level of government can playin helping solve Manitoba’s rentalshortage.

“There is no magic wand orquick fix,” said Boisvert.“Hopefully, some of the solutionswe put forward in the discussionpaper will be considered. Doingmore of the same is not an option.”

Peter Squire, the association’sdirector of public affairs, says thereport received a lot of media cov-erage. The provincial minister ofhousing has contacted the associa-tion and more discussions areplanned about how to address therental shortage in a manner fair toall parties concerned.

■ ■ ■

Rentals are also a hot topic inOntario, where rental propertyowners say “the rent disputeprocess is old and broken.” TheFederation of Rental-housingProviders of Ontario (FRPO) says“owners spend thousands of dollarsproviding free housing to tenantswho have not paid their rent” andare asking the provincial govern-

ment to modernize the rent disputeprocess, bringing it in line with themajority of other Canadianprovinces.

“No other business is requiredto provide goods or services with-out payment, yet landlords must bylaw allow tenants to remain intheir apartments for months withfaint hope of recovering the cost,”says Vince Brescia, FRPO presi-dent and CEO. “This situation ispatently absurd. It places a hugefinancial burden on landlords, par-ticularly small ones who must findways of making up these expensesfrom rents charged to the majorityof tenants who do meet their pay-ments.”

Ontario has approximately 1.3million rental households, repre-senting just 29 per cent of the pop-ulation. If tenants do not pay theirrent on time, landlords in Ontarioare required to go through alengthy dispute-resolution processthat will result in eviction only ifpayment is not made. Last year inOntario, about 4.5 per cent of ten-ants required their landlords to usethis process, says the federation. Itsays about two-thirds of tenantswho fall into arrears do manage tomake the rent payment, clear uptheir debt and retain their occu-pancy.

However, the federation says1.5 per cent of tenants ultimatelyleave without paying their rent. Itsays these people take advantage ofa lengthy process and remain intheir units until it runs its courseand they leave, or are removed.During this time, no rent is paid.

“With a typical monthly rent of$1,000 per month, that is a $3,000subsidy in lost rent alone, exclud-ing legal and application fees asso-

ciated with the non-paymentprocess,” Brescia says. “This is alarge cost for one landlord to incurwith respect to one unit. In thecase of a small landlord, it is devas-tating. This process, includinglegal fees, costs the landlord any-where between $5,200 and$6,500.”

FRPO is asking the provincialgovernment to:

• reduce the initial removalnotification period from the cur-rent 14 days to five days

• require hearings to take placein five days instead of the current29 days

• eliminate the 11-day delay to

file for removal with the sheriffonce the Landlord and TenantBoard approves termination

• allow private bailiffs toenforce the eviction instead ofwaiting six to eight weeks for thesheriff to do it. REM

Vince Brescia

A photo caption on the story Does beinga sales rep mean you’re a chauffeur? in theMarch issue of REM incorrectly identifiedRyan Hodge of Re/Max Centre City Realtyin London, Ont. We apologize for the error.

Hear what top sales representatives are saying about

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1According to 2010 REAL Trends 500 report among brokers with greater than 500 closed sales and the REAL Trends Canadian 200 (Ranked by Closed Sales Volume for 2009). Prudential numbers do not include HomeServices of America.

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8 REM APRIL 2011

Sales rep Linda Pinizzotto of Sutton Group Quantum

Realty in Mississauga is the first to admit it. She loves selling real estate and she’s good at it, but she doesn’t live and breathe real estate 24-7. The key to a successful career, she says, is balance.

There isn’t a time in her 32-year real estate career that Pinizzotto hasn’t been doing something other than helping clients buy and sell homes. The top-producing sales rep is a hockey mom to three sons, was a hockey scout at the University of Wisconsin and was Canada’s first female hockey general manager with the Stoney Creek Junior B Hockey Association in 1997.

“I was nominated for the Ron Sanderson Community Service Award in Mississauga for being a successful Realtor while contributing to the community,” says the energetic 55-year-old.

She has been political action chair at the Mississauga Real Estate Board for two years, second vice-president in 2009 and 2010, and a director for the last five years.

Being involved in so many activities benefits her real estate career because it makes her knowledgeable and forces her to use her time productively, she

says. “Clients like that.”

Pinizzotto also has a good real estate team. “Think of all the things Donald Trump is involved in. He’s able to do that because he has good people around him. I have good people around me.”

Her daughter-in-law, sales rep Andrea Pinizzotto, is one of her three assistants. “I also have a fantastic data base of clients. My business is 95-per-cent referrals,” says Pinizzotto, who has won several Sutton Group Chairman and Platinum awards. The Chairman Award is a top designation for Sutton Group sales reps who earn over $200,000 in commission.

The Mississauga resident is also on the boards of two downtown Toronto condos. She and her husband of six years, Derrick Thomas, live in a condo and her sons all own condos.

With the vested interest in condos and her expertise and knowledge about them, her newest project seems a logical choice. Pinizzotto founded and is chair and president of the Condo Owners Association (COA), which was registered as a non-profit organization in March 2010.

In April 2009, Trinity-Spadina MPP Rosario Marchese

had a meeting of condo owners in his riding. More than 60 people attended and Pinizzotto was elected their first president. It wasn’t long before she realized that the best way to be heard was strength in numbers – by forming an association, she hopes to give a unified voice to the province’s million-plus condo owners, more than 60,000 of which live in downtown Toronto. And their numbers are growing rapidly.

“Builders love to build condos and cities love them because the tax base is 300 times that of a residential property,” Pinizzotto says.

An example of an issue COA is actively tackling is the province’s Harmonized Sales Tax, which has added a large chunk to condo budgets. If a building had a $1.2-million annual budget, which isn’t unreasonable, about $300,000 of that would go to hydro, says Pinizzotto. Because hydro is not exempt from HST, condo buildings have faced huge increases, she says. “Unfortunately COA wasn’t secured in time to comment on the HST. We would have been a voice to be reckoned with.”

COA has 14,000 members and chapters throughout the province, and is continuing to gather momentum as Pinizzotto works tirelessly to spread the word, meeting with MPPs and other political types. “We have the support of Ontario’s NDP leader Andrea Horwath, who came on board last year,” she says.

At a recent seminar in Parkdale-High Park, MPP Cheri DiNova introduced COA to the community and Pinizzotto has also discussed COA with provincial Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and MPP Michael Prue. “We have

a meeting with Minister of Consumer Services Minister John Gerretsen in March,” she says, adding many MPPs are now coming forward, saying there is a need for COA because the government needs to be educated about condominiums.

Recently, a social event was planned at a donated restaurant/night club venue in downtown Toronto. Over free drinks and hors d’oeuvres, condo owners were to learn about COA and have a chance to meet other condo owners. A second event is planned for another downtown Toronto venue. “It’s becoming a chain reaction” as local businesses see the value in helping local condo owners, says Pinizzotto, whose husband is a COA director.

COA gives condo owners an avenue to express concerns and have those concerns addressed, she says. It will also provide discounts and events.

For Realtors, it provides a level of comfort. If a Realtor sees a building is a registered member of COA, it means their clients are buying into a building that is

interested in dealing with issues and problems, she says. “It’s important to sell clients into a good building,” says Pinizzotto. “If you don’t, you don’t get return business and your clients will be angry with you.”

Future COA plans include educational seminars for Realtors because buyers rely on agents to know what is going on, she says.

Life continues to be busy for Pinizzotto. In addition to COA and her other real estate duties, she continues to cheer on her sons. Her youngest, Steve, 26, plays with the Washington Capitals’ American Hockey League team, the Hershey Bears. Oldest son Jason, 31, plays for the Schwenningen Wild Wings in the GBun league in Germany (that’s the sweater that Linda Pinnizzotto is wearing on this month’s REM cover). Marc, 28, also played hockey in Germany but decided on another career – he is a Toronto police officer.

COA membership is $10 per condo owner per year or $1 per unit owner per corporation.

For information, visit www.coaontario.com REM

Sales rep, hockey mom, condo advocateMississauga’s Linda Pinizzotto is a top-producing sales rep who has also found the time to be a hands-on hockey mom, a real estate board volunteer and now the president of a new provincial condominium association. By Connie Adair

Linda Pinizzotto. (Photo by Marko Shark)

Linda Pinizzotto, right, outside Queen’s Park, the Ontario Legislature, with NDP leader Andrea Horwath and MPP Rosario Marchese.

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10 REM APRIL 2011

am responding to an articleby Bob Aaron regardingSeller Property Information

Statements (REM, March).His take on this is wrong. I have

been a broker for the past 30 yearsand have been using these formssince their inception. I contendthat they have saved more litiga-tion than they have created. Infact, since my firm has been usingthem, our incidents have beenreduced to none. Mr. Aaron isplaying on so few court decisionsthat it is crazy to even mention

them. He sites 49 reported courtdecisions since 1993! Big deal.

Can you imagine how manyconcerns have not made the courtsbecause of these forms? Let’s face it,49 out of literally hundreds of thou-sands of transactions….actuallythe SPIS helps the transaction becompleted in a positive way. Thefact that there are so few courtcases is proof that these forms areworking for everyone.

- Gene Bystryk Gene Bystryk Real Estate Ltd.

Simcoe Ont. REM

I

luxury penthouse condo-minium in Calgary’sdowntown Eau Claire

area recently sold for $4.1 million– the highest MLS sale price for acondo in Calgary.

The listing agent, HeatherWaddell of Royal LePageFoothills, had sold the selleranother penthouse about fiveyears earlier and had stayed intouch. Waddell says the biggestchallenge with high-end proper-ties is always to get the propertymarketed in a professional man-ner. “We began by having theproperty professionally pho-tographed,” says Waddell. “Thephotographs were posted to theMLXChange, as well as our ownwebsite and luxury homes web-sites.” She also advertised inDream Homes of Canada and theOilfield News, publications thatfocus on high-end readership.

Lori Russell, also an agentwith Royal LePage Foothills, ulti-mately found the buyer for theEau Claire condo. She was work-ing with clients who had firstcontacted her regarding anotherlisting. “That original listing wasnot a fit for them, but I was notdeterred,” says Russell. “I contin-ued to maintain contact withthem, sending along properties Ithought would interest them.”

Russell says that the biggest

challenge in the Eau Claire trans-action came in keeping herclients focused on what theywere looking for. To do that, sheasked plenty of questions and lis-tened carefully to their answers.“From this, I discovered thatwhat we had been looking at wasnot at all what they wanted,” shesays.

Russell advises other Realtorsto hang on to those leads.“Follow up regularly and listen towhat your clients have to say.They just want to know that theyare important to you,” she says.

The record Eau Claire saletook place nine months follow-ing the original listing. Waddellsays a nine-month listing periodis common for a sale of thisnature since the buyer pool issmaller.

Ted Zaharko, broker/owner ofRoyal LePage Foothills, says,“The confidence the buyershowed in the residential andcondominium market is veryencouraging and confirms what Ibelieve is the beginning of a turn-around for this marketplace.”

Zaharko says that new listingsare garnering attention from buy-ers and the activity in all areas ofthe Calgary market is improving.“A sale of this magnitude is sig-nificant in the Calgary econo-my,” he says. REM

Record $4.1 millioncondo sale in Calgary

A

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12 REM APRIL 2011

obert Bell enjoys socialmedia. Check onFacebook and there he is,

sitting at a table laid out for a yardsale. Behind him is a rather weath-er-worn tent. More on the tentlater.

Facebook, for Bell, is justanother tool for getting his nameknown. Spreading his name hasbeen an important part of his realestate strategy for all of the 25 yearshe has been in the business.There’s a connection here betweenFacebook, the yard sale and realestate.

Bell’s involvement withantiques and collectibles beganbefore his move into real estate. “Iput myself through university part-ly by buying and selling antiques,”he says. It was a field that he hadalways had an interest in, and hissuccess stayed with him after grad-uation. “It was more collectiblesthan priceless artifacts,” he says.The interest stayed with him andwas demonstrated by his love ofyard sales. Either visiting them orholding his own. Yard sale junkieswill understand the regular huntfor that priceless treasure or just for

Turning junk into listingsSocial media is great, but for face-to-face encounters with potential clients, Robert Bell set up a collectiblesbooth at a local flea market By Brian Slemming

something that is bought becausethe price is so low that it cannot beleft on the table.

“Strangely enough, it was ayard sale that brought me into realestate. I had a sale in my gardenand two brokers stopped by, sepa-rately, and talked to me. They bothsaid I should be in real estate.” Hethought about it, and he was realis-tic enough to understand that yardsales and collectibles were unlikelyto amount to a permanent career,“so I joined Century 21 and later Iwent to Frank Real Estate.” In theearly 2000s he joined his currentbrokerage, Guide Realty inOshawa.

“I’m really into technology.Internet, Twitter, Facebook, it allhelps, but in real estate you have tohave personal contact. The tech-nology is good, but it lacks real-time, face-to-face opportunities,”he says.

Last summer Bell decided toproduce a Facebook diary. “Somefriends were going camping. I did-n’t want to join them but campingsounded good and it was some-thing I could do at home. I alsoknew I needed something that

would attract people to my page soI took an old tent that belonged tomy parents, set it up in the garden,and lived in it for the next sixmonths. I moved back into thehouse last Boxing Day.”

It was a Canadian Tire 1970pup tent that “really had seen bet-ter days. The roof leaked a bit andif it rained really hard I sneakedback indoors to sleep.”

As a single man, Bell says hehad no opposition to his six-monthcamping expedition. “I think if Iwas married it may have been moredifficult.” Bell issued a regular diaryon the Internet and also postedreports on a tree in the garden. Itbecame quite a local attraction inOshawa.

“It was all a lot of fun, but real-ly I needed to do something thatgave me an opportunity to meetand talk to people.” It was time tothink back to university days, tobuying and selling. “I thoughtabout a kiosk in a shopping mall,but most spaces were taken andselling was not permitted anyway.It wasn’t the best environment.Then I thought about the Courticeflea market.” The market is held in

a small community about 10 mileseast of Oshawa. It operates year-round on Saturdays and Sundays.It was there that REM stumbledacross Bell and his flea market stall.

“I wasn’t really there to sell andmake profit, I was there to meetand talk to people. I had a pile ofjunk at home and that’s what I sell,low value stuff at very low prices. Irecently sold a teapot for 10 cents.”

While the table is filled with

odd cups, saucers, old books andused kitchen implements, the wallsof the booth are festooned withGuide Realty signs. A pile of Bell’scards are placed around and whenpeople stop to look at the goods,Bell engages them in conversation.When his own supply of cheap‘junk’ grew short, fellow staffershad their own home clear-outs andreplenished his supply. “I’m verypleased with the reaction. Peoplelove to stop and some buy but theyall enjoy talking.”

Bell has another incentive toget listings – he offers two hours offree labour to anyone who listswith him. “It’s something I thoughtabout when giving suggestions tovendors. We tell them that thisneeds tidying up or that needs adab of paint and then usually leavethem to it. So I thought, why nothelp?” So he printed up some“Bonus Certificates” for labour thathe has at his flea market booth.The certificate suggests help tidy-ing up, fixing curtain rods, takingout the trash and similar small jobs.The certificate clearly states that itis only valid to clients who havelisted with him.

That disclaimer didn’t faze thewoman who visited his stall, didn’tbuy anything, didn’t list with him,but wanted to take a handful offree labour certificates. Bell laughswhen he tells the story, but whoknows – if it brings him face-to-face with potential clients and itleads to listings, he may just moveinto free labour. REM

Robert Bell (right) in his flea market stall with fellow Guide Realty salesrep James Cowan.

R

t can be difficult letting go. Butsuccessful business ownersknow that making appropriate

plans to turn the company over to asuccessor at the right time is justprudent management.

“Some company owners onlythink about succession planningwhen they’re fed up and ready tosell,” says chartered accountant PaulG. Stringer, managing partner ofDurward Jones Barkwell &Company in Grimsby, Ont. “Ittakes preparation to manage achangeover properly. Start thinkingabout introducing a new owner atleast three to five years before you

intend to retire or sell.” Michael B. Epstein, partner,

advisory services withPricewaterhouseCoopers inToronto recommends that ownerspull together a group of experiencedadvisors or consultants to help themplan to transition both the manage-ment and ownership of their busi-nesses. “Create a picture of yourideal successor – a job descriptionfor a new CEO,” he says. “It willhelp you focus on the actual skill setthat’s needed, and open the door tooutside candidates.”

Epstein and Stringer agree thatfamily businesses present a special

set of challenges when it comes tosuccession planning.

“At some stage, the heads offamily-owned companies mustbegin to ‘professionalize’ the busi-ness,” says Epstein. “They need tohonestly discuss where family mem-bers stand with respect to businessownership succession, and what fac-tors they’re using to decide whoshould take over the company.”

There are other issues. “Family-owned companies can often involveand support four or five familymembers and their families,”Stringer says. “It can get thorny ifnot everyone contributes equally, orif someone who wants the top job isperforming poorly or even damag-ing the business.”

From client experience, Stringeris able to say that one of the mostdifficult transitions can be fromfather to son. “A father knows all of

his son’s weaker attributes,” he says,“and can set the bar very, very high.It’s often more difficult to let a sonstep in to the business than an out-sider.

“Chartered accountants must beexperts in matters other than justbusiness,” Stringer says. “We look atthe business, but also the personal,family side.”

“Owners can never forget thatthey’re in business to sell their busi-ness,” says Epstein. “The single,largest item on an owner’s personalnet worth statement is their invest-ment in shares of the private com-pany. When you’re selling the busi-ness you’ve spent a lifetime workingon, there’s a lot of money – and a lotof yourself – at stake.”

Written by the Institute ofChartered Accountants of Ontario.

REM

Succession planning

Personal FinancesI

14 REM APRIL 2011

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Realtors asked to support humanrights museum

hrough member dona-tions, WinnipegRealtorshave raised more than

$225,000 in support of theCanadian Museum for HumanRights (CMHR). Now they’recalling on Realtors from coast tocoast to contribute and “give ourbrand the attention it deserves,”says WinnipegRealtors campaignchair Sheldon Zamick. This “is agolden opportunity to put theRealtor brand on the museum.”

The CMHR, Canada’s firstnational museum in more than 40years, is being constructed inWinnipeg. It will house the storiesof human rights struggles and tri-umphs; serve as a national andinternational place for humanrights learning, dialogue, debateand action; and will house aresource centre featuring lessonsfrom the past, according to themuseum. “The museum willchange the world by enhancingpeople’s understanding of humanrights,” it says.

Permanent recognition withinthe museum will acknowledgecumulative capital contributionsof $10,000 or more. Long-termnaming opportunities are alsoavailable for contributions of $1-million or more. All donors willbe recognized on the Friends ofthe CMHR website and in publi-cations throughout the campaign.

“The more money we raise,the more prominence and visibil-ity for our Realtor ‘R’ in the muse-um. Our brand will be exposed tohundreds of thousands ofCanadians and other peoplearound the world including futureleaders. With your assistance andparticipation, there will be noother group more recognizablethan Realtors,” Zamick says in aone-page information piece creat-ed to garner national Realtorinterest. It was included in a kitgiven to delegates at the 2011Banff Western Connection con-ference.

“The museum speaks toRealtors in a number of important

T ways. Canada’s ability to attractforeign investments and newimmigrants rests on its reputationof upholding the rule of law.Canada’s highly regarded brand isbased on being an inclusive andopen country known for respect-ing human rights and being toler-ant of people from all walks of lifeand faiths,” Zamick writes. “As anindustry which has embracedquality of life principles, includingpreservation and protection ofproperty rights, human rights is afundamental prerequisite torespecting property rights. Thisunique museum will educateCanadians on the importance ofthe Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights – a milestone docu-ment that not only establishesbasic principles at the very heartof the human rights movement,but also recognizes propertyrights.”

The CMHR also hopes toshape the attitudes and actions ofgenerations to come.

The museum, which features aglass tower, was designed by archi-tect Antoine Predock, winner ofan International ArchitecturalDesign Competition.

Construction of the $310-mil-lion project began in 2009 and itis scheduled to open in 2013.

The museum’s location inWinnipeg is “significant givenWinnipeg’s rich history of humanrights progress (women’s rights,labour rights, French languagerights). Equally significant is themuseum’s site at the junction ofthe Red and Assiniboine rivers,now known simply as The Forks.It is where early First Nationspeople assembled to settle dis-putes through peaceful negotia-tion,” museum information says.

Realtors, real estate boards andassociations across the country arebeing asked to start campaigns intheir own communities. ContactSheldon Zamick at 204-291-8403or szamick@sutton.com to find outhow. Or visit www.beginswithy-ou.net to make a donation. REM

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16 REM APRIL 2011

he dreaded GooberCall....just the thoughtof it makes me squirm

like a child waiting in the den-tist’s office. Some of you may beasking, “What the heck is agoober call?”

We Realtors have ALL expe-rienced the goober call on manyoccasions, some more often thanothers. A goober call, my fellowRealtors, is when a seller callsand asks you things like, ”Hey,why isn’t my house selling?”,“How come I haven’t receivedany feedback on that last show-ing?” or – God forbid – “Justwhat the heck are you doing forall those commission dollars I’mpaying you?”

Actually, a goober call isalmost every call the sellermakes to you. The reason I saythat is because most of the timethe call doesn’t start out as agoober call, but turns out likethat. Don’t get me wrong; I don’tmean that I think the seller is agoober, I just think that the con-versation is a goober call, andhonestly, the goober is usuallythe sales rep if they get that kindof call. Why am I dissing mypeeps, my colleagues, my ownsales reps? Simple: if you get agoober call, it’s usually your fault.These types of calls can be pre-vented with a little effort andstrategic planning.

“Terry, how can we avoidgoober calls?” I’m glad youasked! The first way to preventgoober calls is to ALWAYS do alisting presentation using properpresentation software (like

Eliminating the‘goober call’

PowerPoint). Yes, I saidALWAYS. A good listing presen-tation is invaluable to you. First,it should set out all the parame-ters with regards to marketingefforts, advertising, communica-tion and feedback systems andhow your client will use your sys-tems. You must explain yourprocesses, commissions and anyother ancillary services you mayoffer. The key is to never over-promise and under-deliver. If yousay you’ll communicate feedbackfrom every showing, you’d betterdarn well do it.

Another strategy I use in mybusiness is to send the sellers a“stats update” letter every twoweeks. This letter should explainto them the current market con-ditions, what comparable homeshave recently sold or been listed,and how many web hits MLSand your website have generat-ed. By giving the seller this infor-mation BEFORE they ask for itor even want it, you eliminatethe goober call.

On opposite weeks to thestats update letter, send a mar-keting update letter and includePDFs of any ad or marketingpiece. Let them know where andwhen their home will be exposedto the market. Also, send themall the listing and selling docu-ments via email so they have theability to answer their own ques-tions before they call you andthe conversation turns into agoober call.

This approach has helped megreatly in my business. I’ve sold100 homes every year for thepast 12 years with NO buyers’agent, only an admin person.And I did it working only theodd weeknight and hardly everon weekends. That, my fellowRealtors, is what happens whenyou eliminate the goober call.

Terry LeClair is the CEO andfounder of RealtySites PLUS, a suitof software and online tools that werebuilt by Realtors for Realtors.www.Real tySi tesPLUS.com.

REM

By Terry LeClair

T

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ere’s some informationabout an American caseinvolving lawyers in a

potential E & O case. I’m writingabout it because of the recentchanges to CREA’s rules and thedebate about offering “partial” ver-sus “complete” real estate servicesto a client. If you are drawing sucha contract with a client, make sureyou specify what you are NOT pro-

viding as well as the limited servicesyou are retained to do.

A trustee sued a law firm for$500 million in a legal malpracticeaction on the basis that the law firmdid not catch the fraud of a CEO.

The law firm won a dismissalbased on their retainer letter thatstated that only a special committeeof a corporation was retaining thelaw firm to assist in the investiga-tion of the corporation.

The lawyer’s letter identifiedthe “client” that was being repre-sented, the law firms’ undertakingand that no other individual orentity including the companyshareholders, directors, officers oremployees were clients. The firmstated it was to assist the specialcommittee to investigate facts andcircumstances of the resignation ofthree members of the finance staff

of the company. The law firm found no evidence

of fraud in the transactionsreviewed and the three resigna-tions. The lawyers did recommendto the committee that remedialsteps be taken to strengthen thecompany’s management structure.

The court held the trustee (forthe creditors) were not clients, norwas there any implied attorney-client relationship.

Remember, set out clearly whatyou intend to do and for whom. Youshould also indicate that you arenot retained to do any other ser-vices.

■ ■ ■

As an example of the principlethat the plaintiff (person who sues)has the burden of proof (to provenegligence), I refer to a horrendous

injury case. The matter is cited toremind Realtors that their liabilityrests, in part, on their “causing” thedamages (just like any other profes-sional that is sued).

The plaintiff’s wife rode on theback of a motorcycle driven by herhusband. The bike capsized andflipped. The wife was thrown offand sustained a severe brain injury.

In the action against the hus-band (to collect on his insurancepolicy), the plaintiff failed to provethat the bike would not haveflipped “but for” her husband’s neg-ligence. Causation was thereforenot proved in court.

■ ■ ■

In another case, Property X wasbetween M’s property and the lake.D purchased the property. The pre-vious owners of the property had

permitted M to cross the land with-out accusing M of being a trespass-er. M asserted she had an easementby prescription (passage of time).

The court held that M’s proper-ty did not have an easement overthe property in question. M did notgain any ownership right in theland, but only had authority toenter onto it, which was a “person-al” licence. The court found that Malways knew the land was owned bythe neighbours. She did not needan easement to enjoy her own landover property owned by others.

Donald Lapowich, Q.C. is a part-ner at the law firm of Koskie, Minskyin Toronto, where he practices civil lit-igation, with a particular emphasis onreal estate litigation and mediation,acting for builders, real estate agentsand lawyers. REM

18 REM APRIL 2011

arketing is at the foun-dation of every success-ful real estate business

and can help transform a strugglingsales rep into a Mega Agent. But tohave that marketing work for youlike it should, you need five criticalelements:

1. You need systems in place.Without a system and a plan forhow you will nurture your leadsfrom the initial phone call into therepeat client cycle, you are not tak-ing full advantage of your market-ing – and you are also not realizinghow easy it can be to have anexcellent marketing plan that reg-ularly drives sales. Mega successfulsales reps have a clear understand-ing of what to do when – fromsending a thank-you card two daysafter meeting a prospect, to addingclients to their social media profiles24 hours after they received theiremail address, to perfecting the artof post-sale follow up that will

By Ingrid Menninga

M

5 critical marketing elementsdevelop a repeat and referral busi-ness. When you are trying to growyour business, you must be “lockedand loaded” with your professionalmarketing materials ready and yoursystems in place, and then executeaccording to plan.

2. You must know who yourtarget market is. If you do nothave a clear definition of your tar-get market, how will they knowwho you are? Think “everyone” is atarget market? Think again. Youwill never be able to be all thingsto all people, and your services andstyle is not the best fit for everyone.You must have a clear definition ofyour target market in order to bethe clear choice for these types ofpeople – be it corporate employeeswho buy downtown condos,investors, or young families look-ing to move to the suburbs.

Everything from your knowl-edge base and technology choicesto your font choice, your logo andtagline, should be confirming thenotion that you are the best choicefor your target market. This willallow you to excel in this category.Worried that you will get less busi-ness overall? Your sales will likelyincrease in other categories too.When you are really successful inone area, people believe you can besuccessful in other areas too, so

they are likely to hire you as theiragent even if they are not an exactfit for your target market.

3. You must differentiateyourself from the competition.There are a lot of sales reps outthere, and if you are not separatingyourself and defining what makesyou different you will get lost in thebackground. You must exploit yournatural skills and abilities, use theassets of your personality to sepa-rate yourself and give your clients achance to see more to you than just“real estate” written on your busi-ness card. Are you a great negotia-tor, a former accountant, a sportsenthusiast, or actively involved inyour community? These are greatstarting points to help differentiateyourself.

4. You must know yourstrengths and weaknesses and beprepared to outsource everythingyou are not excellent at. Unlessyou are a professional copywriter,web designer, admin assistant,accountant, graphic artist and pho-tographer all wrapped into one, inaddition to being a sales rep, youare doing many things not verywell. You should only be doingthings that you can do at a profes-sional level and outsource every-thing else. If you want to take yourbusiness to the next level, you

must present yourself as someonewho is already at that next level. Ifyou are out shooting photos of yourproperties on your digital cameraand trying to create your ownbrochures, while also answeringyour phone, faxing in offers, anddoing the staging for your property,you are subliminally telling yourclients one of two things – that youare not that busy, or that you donot make enough money to hire aprofessional.

Neither of those choices pre-sents you well. While the DIY ver-sion is tempting – and seems like itwill save you lots of money – it isvery likely that it’s costing you a lotof business, which means it’s cost-ing you a lot of money. Doingeverything yourself does not buildclient’s confidence in your servicesand does not present you as suc-cessful. Do what you are good at,focus on those skills, hone them,refine them and be the best at that.For everything else that you arenot a master of, get a professionalin that category to do it for you.

5. You should assess, refreshand re-launch about every fiveyears. Every smart business personlooks at what they are doing,what’s working, what’s not andwhat’s missing to get maximumresults. If you are using the exact

same tools you used five years ago,and are re-using all the same mate-rials, chances are you are gettingstale and your marketing dollarsare not delivering the ROI (returnon investment) they should.

New looks, fonts, styles andtechnologies are released every day,and many agents incorporate theseinto their marketing strategies.After you’ve been adding newthings to your marketing tool box,your branding will start to unraveland eventually you will haveinconsistent messages and differentlooks and colours and your tightbranding that you started out withwill be a mish-mash. That’s whyyou need to assess, refresh and re-launch to tighten your message andcollect all the loose ends you’vedeveloped over five years into onecohesive campaign. Having a con-sistent look and feel presents you asa serious and organized profession-al, and increases your brand recog-nition and familiarity – all of whichis good for business.

Ingrid Menninga is a director at Jolt Marketing (www.jolt-marketing.com) where she works withreal estate and mortgage agents andorganizations to develop their brandingand execute highly successful marketingcampaigns. REM

LEGAL ISSUES

By Donald H. Lapowich

Spell it out in the contract

H

File Name: Key Partners_ad_0709Size: 11-3/8” x 12-1/2”Colours: CMYK, 485Publication: Real Estate MagazineMaterial Deadline: ?Insertion Date: ?

® Registered trademarks of The Bank of Nova Scotia.* Scotiabank will make best efforts to offer business services and tools based on availability and they are subject

to change. Scotiabank does not guarantee a pre-determined number of referrals to pre-qualified applicants, power-of-sale leads or advertising space will be provided to any partner. For more information, contact a Scotiabank Mortgage Specialist.

Scotiabank Key Partners® Program – Building our business together.

Partner with Scotiabank and enjoy a variety of personal, professional and business rewards. Valuable benefits of the program* include:

• ClieNT iNTRoduCTioNS – We will introduce you to active clients looking to buy or sell a home

• AdveRTiSiNg iMPACT – Your Scotiabank Mortgage Specialist will help you advertise your services. Ask them about newsletters, flyers, personal website designs, banners, signs and other solutions

• CoNveNieNT FiNANCiNg – We will work with you to arrange your customer’s financing in a timely fashion and at a location convenient for them

• RewARdS – Your business is important to us and we reward you with valuable benefits, such as covering costs for website development, real estate courses, industry/association fees, or assist you with sending a thank you housewarming gift to a client.

To find out more about the Key Partners Program or to enroll today, visit scotiabankkeypartners.com,or email us at keypartnersinfo@scotiabank.com

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t. Catharines real estatesalesperson Barb Sukkau isthe new president of the

Ontario Real Estate Association(OREA). Active in the real estateprofession for 16 years, Sukkau iswith Royal LePage Niagara RealEstate Centre. She is a past-presi-dent of the Niagara Association ofRealtors, where she served as chairof the education, finance and com-munication committees and as amember of the public relations,membership and MLS and tech-nology committees. She has servedOREA since 2006 as a member onseveral committees and as chair ofthe education, finance, communi-cation and government relationscommittees. Most recently,Sukkau served as chair of the elec-tronic signatures task force and as amember of the legal resource com-mittee, the Ontario Commercial

22 REM APRIL 2011

S Council, the executive committeeand the awards task force.

Ronald Abraham of King Citywill serve as president-elect.OREA directors-at-large are: PhilDorner of Belle River, CostaPoulopoulos of London andCassandra Agnew Walker ofRichmond Hill. Azizali KanjeeKhoja of Oakville will serve ascommercial director and GerryWeir of London will serve as thedirector representing the provin-cial association to CREA.

William Johnston of theToronto Real Estate Board willserve as substantial membershipdirector. Dorothy Mason remainson board as past-president.Provincial directors representingdifferent geographic areas are: forEastern Ontario, Patricia Verge ofOttawa; for Central Ontario, TomLebour of Mississauga and

Maureen O’Neill of Toronto; forNorthern Ontario, Richard Lerouxof Timmins; for Southern Ontario,Mike Cusano of Stoney Creek; forNortheastern Ontario, MikeDouglas of Barrie; and for WesternOntario, Anna Vozza of Windsor.

■ ■ ■

The Greater Moncton RealEstate Board has been rebrandedwith a new operating name andlogo. The association will nowoperate as Greater MonctonRealtors du Grand Moncton.

The membership approved thelogo and operating name change ata December meeting, and it wasrecently approved by the New

Brunswick Real Estate Associationand by CREA. The board office isworking through the administra-tive process of updating signageand getting the brand out into thepublic eye.

President Chris Constantinesays the name change and logodepicts the Board of Directors’vision. “The association reallywanted to portray the uniquenessof our serviceable geographic areaby including three vibrant commu-nities that make up the GreaterMoncton area in our logo, whilecelebrating our bilingual cultureand professional Realtor trade-mark,” he says. “We feel this hascome through with the bilingual

name and the logo that incorpo-rates the trademark, Dieppe CityHall, Riverview Library clocktower and familiar elements of theMoncton downtown skyline.”

In other news, the association’smembers contributed $108,300 toworthy causes in 2010. The PRCommittee helped organize sever-al events including the SecondAnnual RealtorsCare GolfTournament; The GreaterMoncton Dragon Boat Festival;Canadian Cancer Society DaffodilDelivery; Realtors serving break-fast for the Breakfast for Learninginitiatives; and the Annual SueStultz’s turkey drive that purchased

Continued on page 24

Barb Sukkau Kerry Rakuson

Sukh SidhuThe 2011 VIREB Board of Directors

The Moncton association’s new logo

Gael MacLeod Junaid Malik Cheryl Schindel

The 2011 Lethbridge and DistrictAssociation of Realtors Board of Directorswas recently installed. Standing, from left:David Agema, Stan Mills (past-president),Rick Braden (president), Bryce Evans,Margaret Van (EO), Dale Stuckey. Seated:Cathy Maxwell, Fran Soroka, JohnBekkering (president-elect) and Liz Toles.

George Cwiklewski

Richard ParkerGreater Moncton Realtors du Grand Moncton PR Committee chair JanKeirstead presents pins to, from left, Roberta Hayes, NancyMacpherson, Logan Keirstead and executive officer Faye Anderson.

Presenting the VIU endowment, fromleft: VIREB past-president Cliff

Moberg; president Jim Stewart; VIUpresident Ralph Nilson; REFBC’s

Eileen Smith; and VIU chair of theBoard of Governors Mike Brown.

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24 REM APRIL 2011

Boards and AssociationsContinued from page 22

101 turkeys for MonctonHeadStart.

Donations were provided tomany organizations including theOpen Hands Food Bank, theMoncton Food Bank, KaringKitchen, Ray of Hope NeedyKitchen, Mobile One SoupKitchen, Youth Quest andHarvest House.

In December, the followingRealtors were recognized for theirefforts and awarded a RealtorsCarepin: Ken Carroll, NancyMacpherson, Logan Keirstead,Alice Breau, Roberta Hayes andBrian Keirstead.

■ ■ ■

Greater Moncton Realtors duGrand Moncton also has a newEO, welcoming Kerry Rakuson.Former EO Faye Anderson retiredafter a 34-year career.

Rakuson has more than 15years of experience in businessincluding four years working inWestern Canada at the KootneyReal Estate Board. In B.C. she rana successful consulting businessfocused on associations, working

with local, provincial and nationalreal estate boards and Chambers ofCommerce.

■ ■ ■

After 20 years as executivedirector of the Alberta Real EstateFoundation (AREF), GaelMacLeod left the foundation at theend of 2010. She was elected alder-man for the City of Calgary inOctober.

Richard Parker has beennamed interim executive director.He served as governor of the foun-dation from 2008 to 2010 as anappointment by the Real EstateCouncil of Alberta (RECA). He isbest known as a planning consul-tant with over 40 years of experi-ence and for serving on RECAfrom 2004 to 2010.

Junaid Malik was named byRECA to the foundation’s Boardof Governors. He is an active vol-unteer with the Calgary ImmigrantAid Society as an employmentcoach and he also volunteers withthe Calgary Real Estate Board’sEducation Task Force. Malik is anassociate broker with Re/MaxHouse of Real Estate Calgary.

Cheryl Schindel, broker/ownerof the Century 21 Grande Prairie

Realty office in Grande Prairie,Alta. is a council member forRECA and has been appointed tothe Board of Governors of AREF.

■ ■ ■

Members of the Fraser ValleyReal Estate Board elected a newteam of officers and directors at anannual general meeting held inFebruary. Officers serving for thecoming 2011/2012 term:

President: Sukh Sidhu,Re/Max Little Oak Realty,Abbotsford; president-elect: ScottOlson, Macdonald RealtyOlympic, Surrey; vice-president:Ron Todson, Re/Max Little OakRealty, Abbotsford.

Directors: Stephen Gammer,Macdonald Commercial RealEstate Services, Surrey; IshaqIsmail, Century 21 Coastal Realty,Surrey; Jorda Maisey, HomeLifeBenchmark Realty, Langley;Mohamed Mansour, Sutton Group- Medallion Realty, Surrey; SharonWayman, Sutton Group - PremierRealty, Surrey; Ray Werger, RoyalLePage Coronation Park, Surrey.

Also serving on the Board ofDirectors, elected prior to theAGM: Ralph Visser, Century 21Ace Agencies, Abbotsford (chair,

Brokers Council); Charles Wiebe,Landmark Realty, Abbotsford(chair, Commercial ExecutiveCouncil). Past-president DeannaHorn, Re/Max Treeland Realty,Langley, serves as an ex-officiomember of the directorate.

■ ■ ■

The Okanagan Mainline RealEstate Board (OMREB) electedGeorge Cwiklewski of Kelowna aspresident for the 2011-2012 term.Cwiklewski has been a member ofOMREB since 1994 and hasserved as a director for the past fiveyears. He replaces outgoing presi-dent Brenda Moshansky ofPeachland who stays on as past-president.

“This is a challenging andexciting time to become presi-dent,” Cwiklewski says. “I am veryproud to represent the professionalRealtors of the Okanagan,Shuswap and Revelstoke areas,and of the board’s role in furtheringprofessionalism through continu-ing education. I fully support themany initiatives undertaken by ourmembers to help attain a higherquality of life in all our communi-ties.”

Cwiklewski has been a Realtor

for 17 years and with MacdonaldRealty since 1996. A resident ofKelowna for more than 40 years,he has been recognized for out-standing community service andcontribution to the well-being ofthe city, particularly through hiscultural efforts and support of thearts. He was the recipient ofOMREB’s first Realtors CareAward for the Central Okanaganin 2006. He was a finalist for theMan of the Year and awarded theHonour in the Arts for the City ofKelowna’s Civic and CommunityAwards in 2008.

Rob Shaw of Royal LePageDowntown Realty in Vernon wasinstalled as the vice-president ofthe Board of Directors. Othermembers of the board are JohnAdolf, Prudential KelownaProperties; Francis Braam, RoyalLePage Kelowna; Kent Jorgenson,Re/Max Kelowna; Scott Mayne,Points West Realty Group,Kelowna; Barret Watson, ColdwellBanker Horizon, Kelowna; DarcyGriffiths, Re/Max Vernon; RorieHolton, Royal LePage DowntownRealty, Vernon; Steve Lewis,Shirley Real Estate, Salmon Arm;and Karen Singbeil, Re/Max atMara Lake, Sicamous. REM

Brian NaphtaliJohn McLennan Jocelyne Clark Dave Longpre Daphne Shepherd

Michael Cain Afshin Devani Brad Marsh

John EvansHeather MalinTrevor Bolin Wayne Piper

RE/MAX Action Chetwynd Realty, Chetwynd, BC RE/MAX Vision Realty, Evansburg, AB

RE/MAX Real EstateAdvocates, Chestermere, AB

Richard PetersenDoug Petersen

Marjorie & Doug McKay

RE/MAX West Real Estate Sundre, AB

Cliff MacRae

RE/MAX Coast Mountains Prince Rupert, BC

RE/MAX Select Realty, Vancouver, BCRE/MAX Shoreline Realty, Outlook, SK

RE/MAX La Ronge Properties La Ronge, SK

RE/MAX Encore RealtyTeulon, MB

RE/MAX Commercial Solutions, Vernon, BCRE/MAX Properties, Calgary, AB

arm areas have been oneof the most worked fieldsof real estate.

Everyone has taken a plow tothat fertile ground in hopes ofbeing rewarded with a crop ofcold hard cash. I was no differ-ent, except like everything else Idid, I tried my best to do it dif-ferently. After all, if everyoneelse is doing the same thing, thatsea of sameness gives you a gold-en opportunity to stand out andit doesn’t take a lot of effort toreally throw your own skill setinto relief.

26 REM APRIL 2011

F

STOP SELLINGHOUSES & STARTMAKING MONEY

By Debbie Hanlon

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for Your Chance

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Taxes and shipping extraSale ends April 30, 2011

1 SIDED 2 SIDED

Funny farm: Develop your systemIf you’ve been following what

I’ve been saying in thesecolumns, you know by now thatwhat you’re selling is yourselfand your farm area is no differ-ent. Look around at what othersales reps are doing: sending outflyers, door knocking and keep-ing in contact with the peoplewho live in their farm area. Youcan do all that, but to reallystand out you need to do more.Where other agents stop – well,that’s your starting point andthat’s where you begin to sepa-rate yourself from them. Mostagents are not consistent andbeing consistent is one of the keyelements to growing a successfulfarm area.

As with everything else I didin real estate I had a system thatmade everything easier, moreproductive and more profitable.My system covered the basics butadded a few personal wrinklesthat made the people who livedthere feel special and made me

look like a super star. Now, I’vealways believed that any game,including real estate, is won byinches and it doesn’t take awhole lot to gain those inches.All you have to do is a littleresearch and then apply thatresearch.

I sent out a marketing pieceat the end of each month, whichcoincided with when most list-ings would expire, with informa-tion on homes that had sold ornot sold. What this did wasensure the neighbourhood knewthat I was the expert in theirmarket and kept me in that ever-so-coveted top of mind aware-ness position. Top of mindawareness is where you want tobe when a client is considering achange.

A creative and simple thing Idid that generated a buzz amongthe neighbourhood was myBeautiful Home of the Monthaward. I’d select a house, show apicture of it and give it the title

of most Beautiful Home of theMonth. I remember one ladytelling me how she checkedevery month to see which houseit was. That small, easy to dotask helps you own that farmarea. It’s not like another agentcan come along with the “MoreBeautiful Home of The Month”award.

Another feel-good event Idid was, once a year I held a fleamarket in my farm area anddonated the money raised to aschool, club or park in the area.Of course I arranged to pick upall the items residents donated,which again reintroduced me tothem in a very positive way.You’d be amazed at how recep-tive people are to helping theirown community and how happythey are with you for making ithappen.

There are dozens of other lit-tle things I did to make that farmarea my own and its residents myfuture clients. None of them

were expensive or time consum-ing thanks to the farm area sys-tem I had in place. Like every-thing in real estate, it wasn’thard. What they did collectivelywas get people calling me insteadof me calling them.

There is much more to myfarm area system but space doesnot allow a full explanation. Itworked for me and it will workfor you. At least 25 per cent ofmy business came from my farmarea. If you use a system, it willensure that when it comes to afarm area, you’ll be outstandingin your field.

Debbie Hanlon is the presidentand founder of Hanlon Realty. She isa three-time top 50 CEO winnerand was named one of the top 100female entrepreneurs in Canada.She is currently an elected city officialin St. John’s, Nfld. and is availablefor motivational and training semi-nars. Email debbie@hanlonreal-tynl.com. REM

2010 Top Winners!Award

Top 10Individual

by Commission

Barry CohenRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

#1

#3 Peter Kwan

RE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.Markham

Vesna KolencRE/MAX Premier Inc.

Woodbridge

#5 #6Zia Abbas

RE/MAX Vision Realty Inc.Toronto

Frank LeoRE/MAX West Realty Inc.

Toronto

#4Peter Hogeterp

RE/MAX Del Mar Realty Inc.Stoney Creek

#9 #10Audrey AzadRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Bill ThomRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

#8#7

David BatoriRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Sharon SoltanianRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

#2

Award Top 10Team

by Commission

Christopher InvidiataRE/MAX Aboutowne Realty Corp.

Oakville

#1

Melanie WrightRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Sam McDadiRE/MAX Performance Realty Inc.

Mississauga

#5 #6 Dan Plowman

RE/MAX Rouge River Realty Ltd.Whitby

Al SinclairRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

#4 Rick DeClute

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.Toronto

Leslie BenczikRE/MAX All-Stars Realty Inc.

Markham

Steven KuulaRE/MAX Crown Realty (1989) Inc.

Sudbury

Kelly DaCostaRE/MAX Real Estate Centre Inc.

Cambridge

Drew WoolcottRE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.

Burlington

#2 #3

#7 #8 #9 #10

Proud Entrepreneurs

Frank PolzlerChairman and Co-Founder

Pamela Alexander CEO

Michael Polzler Regional Director, EVP

Walter Schneider President and Co-Founder

Frank Polzler and Walter Schneider founded RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada, which has become the largest RE/MAX region in the world. They have instilled their vision and entrepreneurial spirit into the entire organization. RE/MAX is a privately owned company run by realtors dedicating themselves to providing the best possible environment for top producers.

Award ClubDiamond

Best of the Best!

Zia AbbasRE/MAX Vision Realty Inc.

Toronto

David BatoriRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Leslie BenczikRE/MAX All-Stars Realty Inc.

Markham

Barry CohenRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Peter KwanRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Markham

Sam McDadiRE/MAX Performance Realty Inc.

Mississauga

Jay BrijpaulRE/MAX West Realty Inc

Toronto

Hersh LitvackRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Thornhill

Melanie WrightRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Jason YuRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Markham

Al CosentinoRE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.

Hamilton

Peter HogeterpRE/MAX Del Mar Realty Inc.

Stoney Creek

Sylvia HoughtonRE/MAX Classic Properties Inc.

Unionville

Christopher InvidiataRE/MAX Aboutowne Realty Corp.

Oakville

Bev JonesRE/MAX Professionals Inc.

Toronto

Vesna KolencRE/MAX Excellence Realty Inc.

Woodbridge

Kevin LaroseRE/MAX Realty Enterprises Inc.

Mississauga

Frank LeoRE/MAX West Realty Inc.

Toronto

Paul OulahenRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Robert PettigrewRE/MAX Professionals Inc.

Etobicoke

Dan PlowmanRE/MAX Rouge River Realty Ltd.

Whitby

Rick DeCluteRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Audrey AzadRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Mark RichardsRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Susan CowenRE/MAX York Group Realty Inc.

Aurora

Robert GolfiRE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.

Hamilton

Marian NealRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Kelly DaCostaRE/MAX Real Estate Centre Inc.

Cambridge

AJ LambaRE/MAX Active Realty Inc.

Mississauga

Marg MorrenRE/MAX Garden City Realty Inc.

Burlington

Cliff RegoRE/MAX Real Estate Centre Inc.

Cambridge

Chris RichieRE/MAX In The Hills Inc.

Caledon

Angelo ToscanoRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Drew WoolcottRE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.

Burlington

Reinhold SchickedanzRE/MAXAll-Stars Realty Inc.

Ballantrae

Al SinclairRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Sharon SoltanianRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Bill ThomRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Mary RoyRE/MAX First Realty Ltd.

Ajax

Faisal SusiwalaRE/MAX Twin City Realty Inc.

Cambridge

Joy VerdeRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Lindsay WrightRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

2010 Top Winners!AwardChairman’s

Club

Rudy ArciRE/MAX 2000 Realty Inc.

Toronto

Lino ArciRE/MAX 2000 Realty Inc.

Toronto

Cynthia AvisRE/MAX Aboutowne Realty Corp.

Oakville

Jag AujlaRE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc.

Brampton

Kash AujlaRE/MAX Champions Realty Inc.

Brampton

Sundeep BahlRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Cindy AlarieRE/MAX Chay Realty Inc.

Angus

Nader AkhbariRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Dominique AllardRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Sylvia AmanteRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Natalie BelovicRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Bijan BaratiRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Dawna BorgRE/MAX Premier Inc.

Vaughan

Daniela BurcaRE/MAX Twin City Realty Inc.

Waterloo

Claudio CerritoRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Gary BettsRE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc.

Mississauga

Brigid ChanRE/MAX Performance Realty Inc.

Mississauga

Steve BaileyRE/MAX Real Estate Centre Inc.

Cambridge

Marion CarconeRE/MAX York Group Realty Inc.

Aurora

Craig ButcherRE/MAX Chay Realty Inc.

Tottenham

Randy CohenRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Thomas CookRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Ray CochraneRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Dennis ChanRE/MAX Goldenway Realty Inc.

Richmond Hill

Tony ChanRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Markham

Raheel ChaudhryRE/MAX Active Realty Inc.

Mississauga

Haze ChenRE/MAX Goldenway Realty Inc.

Toronto

Susan ChellRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Louis ChengRE/MAX Goldenway Realty Inc.

Richmond Hil

Niels ChristensenRE/MAX Professionals Inc.

Etobicoke

Angie CormpilasRE/MAX Real Estate Centre Inc.

Georgetown

John CreppinRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Tasi FarquharRE/MAX Professionals Inc.

Etobicoke

Timothy DillonRE/MAX Sarnia Realty Inc.

Sarnia

Kevin EllisRE/MAX Georgian Bay Realty Ltd.

Midland

Adam FarrRE/MAX Rouge River Realty Ltd.

Whitby

Eva FarynaRE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc.

Mississauga

Maurice De LaereRE/MAX Tri-County Realty Inc.

Tillsonburg

Cintia De SouzaRE/MAX Central Corp.

Toronto

Richard DuggalRE/MAX 2000 Realty Inc.

Toronto

Jack FitzgeraldRE/MAX Twin City Realty Inc.

Waterloo

Gabriela FiumaraRE/MAX Condos Plus Corp.

Toronto

Joette FieldingRE/MAX Aboutowne Realty Corp.

Oakville

Lynn FeeRE/MAX Garden City Realty Inc.

Grimsby

Brenda Brennan FeltonRE/MAX Sarnia Realty Inc.

Sarnia

Rod FrankRE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.

Hamilton

Sheila GatienRE/MAX Cornwall Realty Inc.

Cornwall

Emily GillanRE/MAX Garden City Realty Inc.

St. Catharines

Joanne GoneauRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Stephen GreenbergRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Jerry HammondRE/MAX Ultimate Realty Inc.

Toronto

Greg HamreRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Steve HamreRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Holly HendersonRE/MAX Realty Concepts Corp.

Kingston

Armin GrigaitisRE/MAX Baywatch Ltd.

Honey Harbour

Jerry HendriksRE/MAX Garden City Realty Inc.

St. Catharines

Gregory HoRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Michael HopeRE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc.

Mississauga

Rosalee JacksonRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Bonnie JensenRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Richmond

Wayne KahnRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Liam KealeyRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Sandy KennedyRE/MAX Realty Services Inc.

Brampton

Zello JovanovicRE/MAX Professionals Inc.

Toronto

Jila KatiraeeRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Shahid KhawajaRE/MAX Performance Realty Inc.

Mississauga

Margaret KiersnowskiRE/MAX West Realty Inc.

Toronto

Roger KilgourRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Brian KondoRE/MAX Quality One Ltd.

Ajax

Tatiana KonkinaRE/MAX Unique Inc.

Toronto

Best of the Best!AwardChairman’s

Club

Mike KrauseRE/MAX Real Estate Centre Inc.

Georgetown

Robert KrollRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Steven KuulaRE/MAX Crown Realty (1989) Inc.

Sudbury

Jason LaframboiseRE/MAX Preferred Realty Ltd.

Amherstburg

Tony LaiRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Tracey LoganRE/MAX West Realty Inc.

Toronto

Lupe LedesmaRE/MAX 2000 Realty Inc.

Toronto

Monica NagpalRE/MAX Vision Realty Inc.

Toronto

Hossein MostafaviRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Dianna MandzukRE/MAX Jazz Inc.

Oshawa

Sarah LogueRE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.

Burlington

Pawanjit MalhiRE/MAX Realty Services Inc.

Brampton

Mark MaurerRE/MAX Solid Gold Realty (II) Ltd.

Waterloo

Arif MurjiRE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc.

Mississauga

Paul McDonaldRE/MAX York Group Realty Inc.

Aurora

Ambrose MoranRE/MAX Country Classics Ltd.

Apsley

Ian MorrisonRE/MAX All-Stars Realty Inc.

Stouffville

Cindy RickettsRE/MAX Ability Real Estate Ltd.

Oshawa

Julie TeskeyRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Shirley McDowellRE/MAX Eastern Realty Inc.

Peterborough

Dennis MehravarRE/MAX Twin City Realty Inc.

Kitchener

Jay MillerRE/MAX Omega Realty (1988) Ltd.

Newmarket

Tony MenchellaRE/MAX West Realty Inc.

Toronto

Arlene MilburyRE/MAX Classic Properties Inc.

Unionville

Jina NamRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Anna OstapykRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Ray OttenRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Rajiv RajpalRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Markham

Toni ReyesRE/MAX Performance Realty Inc.

Mississauga

Zoi OuzasRE/MAX Garden City Realty Inc.

Grimsby

Jan OystrickRE/MAX Crown Realty (1989) Inc.

Sudbury

Raymond PaceRE/MAX Aboutowne Realty Corp.

Oakville

Peter PapousekRE/MAX Professionals Inc.

Mississauga

Luisa PiccirilliRE/MAX West Realty Inc.

Toronto

Scott PriorRE/MAX Real Estate Centre Inc.

Milton

Colleen PickettRE/MAX Aboutowne Realty Corp.

Oakville

Tony PullaRE/MAX Lakeshore Realty Inc.

Cobourg

Rocco RacioppoRE/MAX Omega Realty (1988) Ltd.

Newmarket

Rob SandersonRE/MAX Advantage Realty Ltd.

London

Ruby SanghaRE/MAX Excel Realty Inc.

Markham

Stuart SankeyRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Joe SaraceniRE/MAX West Realty Inc.

Toronto

Adam SchickedanzRE/MAX All-Stars Realty Inc.

Ballantrae

Goran TodorovicRE/MAX Preferred Realty Ltd.

Windsor

Teresa TsuiRE/MAX Goldenway Realty Inc.

Toronto

Aldo UdovicicRE/MAX West Realty Inc.

Toronto

Omid ValinasabRE/MAX Crossroads Realty Inc.

Toronto

Mary Ann SchiralliRE/MAX Aboutowne Realty Corp.

Oakville

Rachel SharabiRE/MAX Platinum Ltd.

Toronto

Yuan Richard ShiRE/MAX Crossroads Realty Inc

Toronto

Anne ShaddockRE/MAX First Realty Ltd.

Whitby

Samuel ShingRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Harry SiuRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Markham

Karen SolowayRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

Monica ThaparRE/MAX Diamond Realty Inc.

Etobicoke

Anna TurnerRE/MAX Metro-City Realty Ltd.

Ottawa

Gary VanderburgRE/MAX Sarnia Realty Inc.

Sarnia

Bob VeeversRE/MAX Garden City Realty Inc.

Waterdown

Maria VieiraRE/MAX West Realty Inc.

Toronto

William WallaceRE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Toronto

Alison WalshRE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.

Burlington

Ted Ward-GriffinRE/MAX Twin City Realty Inc.

Brantford

Andrew WilliamsRE/MAX Realty Services Inc.

Brampton

Adam WolmanRE/MAX Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto

32 REM APRIL 2011

It was time for a lifestyle change. Colleen and Raideep

Lal wanted to escape their high-pressure Toronto jobs, so they began to search for a new place to live. They spent two years examining their options, choosing points on a map based on climate. The Caribbean, Fiji and Tahiti are just a few of the warm climes they investigated. “We looked at our wants and needs, and looked at crime, taxation, political stability, medical care and education.”

They also wanted to integrate into the local culture, not live in an insular expat community. So after living and working in Toronto for 20 years, Winnipeg-born Colleen and Raideep moved to a semi-abandoned coffee farm in Boquete in north western Panama.

Boquete is known inter-nationally for its coffee, says Colleen, who prior to moving says she had never even seen a coffee plant. The farm is now one of the area’s top-producing properties.

“My husband and I loved the farm but weren’t ready to retire and just farm coffee,” she says.

As chance would have it, they had the opportunity to purchase another farm (the

first of five they would end up buying), about 15 minutes from their coffee farm.

“We looked at options, crazy ideas in terms of having goats and making goat cheese to vineyards but the market was changing drastically,” she says. “Boquete was the top second-home destination, but there wasn’t much to do here. My husband was a golfer and he met with a golf course architect who toured (the properties) and thought (a golf course community) was a solid choice.”

And that’s how Cielo Paraiso Residences was born. The development’s master plan includes estate home sites, duplex villas, golf condominiums and private residence club villas built around an 18-hole championship golf course.

“We took a different approach – rather than planning homes and then the golf course, we did it the other way around. We wanted to work with the natural conditions and landscape and ensure a Panamanian highland experience for the golfer, and create a destination golf course,” Colleen says.

The course was designed to preserve indigenous flora and wildlife habitat and to appeal to

golfers of all skill levels. Cielo Paraiso is 1,010 meters above sea level and offers golfers views of Boquete’s natural landmarks, from the Baru Volcano to the Jaramillo and Talamanca mountain ranges to the Pacific Ocean.

“Our goal with Cielo Paraiso was to create a course that blended seamlessly into the unique topography of the land,” says course architect J. Michael Poellot in a news release. “I sincerely believe that we have created one of the most visually stunning courses in all of Central/South America.”

Eight holes of the course opened in February (the rest is slated to open this August), marking the completion of the first phase of the 580-acre exclusive residential resort development.

Cielo Paraiso is a project of Toronto-based Gladstone Development, which has invested more than $20-million to develop Phase One. Thirty-four properties have sold, 11 homes have been built and a dozen are under construction.

Building sites ranging from three-quarters of an acre to more than two acres and with golf

course and natural landscape views start at $150,000.

In Phase One, homes are required to have a minimum of 2,500 square feet, but “most homes are coming in between 4,000 and 5,000 square feet. The difference is that square footage in Canada is enclosed. In Boquete it includes terraces and garages,” Colleen says.

“I come home at the end of the day and open the doors to the terrace. I spend more time outside than inside, unless I’m cooking,” she says. “Outdoor living spaces are more luxurious than indoor spaces because everyone spends their time out there.”

Floor plans of the homes in the development reflect that difference. “Every single home built has at least one outdoor terrace and an outdoor fireplace. Several have pizza ovens.”

Cielo Paraiso is “pretty much divided into thirds, one third-residential development, one-third golf and hotel and one-third is staying as a natural reserve,” says Colleen. “We were fortunate to get the property. We’re using reclaimed pasture land for residential so there’s been no clear cutting.”

Recently, Phase 2 was intro-duced, offering approximately 1,800-square-foot completed and finished duplexes for $250,000.

The environment is a top priority. “We source international products, such as erosion mats and hydro mulch. We’re quite progressive in terms of how we do things and recommended architects have an energy-efficient way of doing things.”

As well, organic options for fertilizers are being investigated for the golf course and “we recycle as much as possible on

the property,” she says.

Forbes magazine, USA Today and CBS Marketwatch have named Panama one of top second-home destinations in the world. Favourable tax benefits, value driven real estate, U.S. currency and its culture are among the drawing cards.

“We’re not building a development. We’re building a community, and a community includes all ages. (We want) to have kids playing tennis, a junior program for golf and flesh it out that way. The community has never been sold as a second home or retirement community. We’re seeing interest from Generation X, Y and Z,” says Colleen. “All Gen X needs is a laptop and a Blackberry and we can go anywhere and the price point is achievable.”

Just as when she and Raideep were looking for their new place to live, crime, medical care and education are important to buyers. The restricted access community has two private hospitals nearby and an international school recently opened.

Sadly, Riadeep Lal passed away last June. Colleen has taken over the project and Raideep’s brother, Sandeep Lal, is acting as consultant. Sandeep is proprietor of Metro Label, Canada’s largest label manufacturing company.

Cielo Paraiso Residences is co-operating with sales reps. Its website (www.boqueterealestate.com) is the best source for information, offering “everything agents need to make a presentation,” Colleen says. Three videos that talk about Panama, Boquete and its amenities (golf, walking trails, four clay tennis courts) and real estate will soon be added to the site. REM

Developer shares her dream Boquete lifestyleCanadians develop Panama paradise with estate home sites, duplex villas, golf condominiums and private residence club villas built around an 18-hole championship golf course. By Connie Adair

Developers Raideep and Colleen Lal. Sadly, Raideep died last June. Colleen has taken over the project with the help of Raideep’s brother, Sandeep Lal, proprietor of Metro Label, Canada’s largest label manufacturing company. Building sites rang-ing from three-quarters of an acre to more than two acres, and with golf course and natural landscape views start at $150,000.

hen assisting clientsthis spring, considerrecommending a com-

pletely new take on the traditionaltar-and-shingle roof -- cool andgreen roofs.

These surfaces are what somecity planners consider the lasturban frontier of unused space.

Anyone who’s been on arooftop in summer knows there’s amass of heat emanating from itssurface, especially in urban areaswhere other materials such as con-crete assist in heat retention. On ahot summer’s day, the rooftop tem-perature of a black surface couldclimb to nearly 90 C, compared to50 C on a white roof.

Warmer temperatures shortenyour roof’s lifespan and hike tem-peratures inside the building orhouse. These warm surfaces con-tribute to the build up of heat indense urban areas and that leads toa surplus of problems, includingincreasing summertime peak ener-gy demand, air conditioning costs,air pollution, greenhouse gas emis-sions, heat-related illness and mor-tality. Cool roofs go a long waytoward reducing these issues.

Cool roofs use materials thatreflect solar energy and reduce thetransfer of heat to interior spaces.As a result, the roof stays coolerand so does the house. Coolerhomes mean fewer burdens onenergy air conditioning systems.Using less energy to cool yourhouse is a win-win for your clients’pocketbook and the environment.

Two characteristics determinethe coolness of a roof. The first iscalled solar reflectance (alsoknown as albedo) and it is the per-centage of solar energy reflected bya surface. The other is thermalemittance. It is the percentage ofenergy a material can radiate.

For residential buildings, coolroof materials include clay tiles,metal coatings and composite shin-

34 REM APRIL 2011

W

GREEN REAL ESTATE

By Elden Freeman

Roofs:the lasturbanfrontier gles. There’s no need to worry anymore about cool roofs standing outlike a sore thumb because of theirwhite colour. They come in a wholerange of colours and can’t be visual-ly distinguished from standardroofs. They cost about 20 centsmore per square foot than tradition-al roof shingles. You could alsochoose to install white or lighter-coloured shingles and the cost ofthe roof will be the same as con-ventional asphalt shingles. For flator low-grade roofs, membranes aretypically used and they cost aboutthe same as a conventional roof.

Green roofs are a little differentbut carry similar benefits. They userooftop vegetation to lower tem-peratures. The environmental ben-efits of eco-roofs are numerous.Green roofs help reduce urbanheat and associated energy use,which is a particular concern asglobal temperatures rise. Greenroofs also help manage storm waterrunoff, enhance biodiversity andimprove air quality.

In January 2010, Torontobecame the first North Americancity to require green roofs on newresidential, commercial and insti-tutional developments over a cer-tain size. The city is offering grantsto help owners retrofit existingbuildings with cool or green roofs.Other communities are likely tak-ing note.

As real estate professionals,boning up on information that willhelp your clients save energy costsand the planet makes good busi-ness sense. Cool roofs are cool inmore ways than one.

Elden Freeman B.A., M.E.S,broker is the founder and executivedirector of the non-profit NationalAssociation of Green Agents andBrokers (NAGAB). Freeman sayshe believes that Realtors acrossCanada can play an important role in educating their clients on increasing energy efficiency andreducing greenhouse gas emissions.(877)524-9494; www.nagab.org;elden@nagab.org. REM

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ccording to the TDCanada Trust BoomerBuyers Report, when

Canadian boomers make theirnext move they will be looking todownsize to smaller homes. Four-in-five Canadian boomers saytheir next move will be to a small-er home, either to save money (46per cent) or to enjoy more luxuri-ous features (34 per cent).

When it comes to equity intheir homes, this may surprise you.Only 44 per cent have paid offtheir entire mortgage. Of thoseboomers who have a mortgage,one-third have paid off more than

36 REM APRIL 2011

A

THE SENIOR AGENT

By Barry Lebow

56% of Baby Boomers still havea mortgage60 per cent, but one-quarter havepaid off less than 25 per cent oftheir mortgage.

The desire for a detached, sin-gle-family home dominates as thefirst choice of 61 per cent of thosesurveyed. Condos come in at 24per cent. Sixty-one per cent ofboomers want a backyard and gar-den and 57 per cent balk at havingto pay condo fees. On a personalnote, I wonder if a question shouldhave been included about havingthe rules and a board of directorsdictate lifestyle.

Eighty-four per cent of thosewho want a condo are looking forless maintenance, while 54 percent want the gated communityand security aspect. Forty-sevenper cent said they wanted a gymand pool, but seasoned Realtorsknow that most gyms do not getthe use of 47 per cent of the resi-dents in a complex.

Forty-nine per cent of boomersjust do not want to move, with 61

per cent giving the reason thatmoving is too stressful. Forty-threeper cent said that their presenthouse is just the right size for themand 28 per cent responded thatthey liked to have an extra roomfor guests. For Realtors, this meansthese boomers will not move bychoice but by circumstance, suchas failing health or death or finan-cial problems.

Cottage country is in demand,with nine per cent of boomerscurrently owning a vacation prop-erty and an additional 12 per centwanting to buy one to retire to.Ninety-nine per cent of thosewho wanted to buy vacation prop-erty cited location as their num-ber one criteria. While 98 percent were concerned about price,95 per cent wanted low mainte-nance and 92 per cent wantedroom for visitors. The high per-centage of those wanting lowmaintenance indicates a strongfuture for cottage country town-

house and condominium growthversus the traditional detachedcottage.

Due to the depressed realestate market in the UnitedStates, one-third of boomers arethinking of buying a Sunbeltproperty and 12 per cent wereactively looking at the time of thesurvey.

The TD Canada Trust report isonline and has dissected Canadainto regions with different resultsfor each area. Any Realtor whowants to understand where themarket is heading in coming yearswants to understand the mindsetof the baby boomers and wants toget a grip on their own real estatepractice should review the surveycarefully. I was so impressed withthe data and the quality of thereports that they have been incor-porated into the teaching of theAccredited Senior Agent designa-tion program.

The TD Canada Trust Boomer

Buyers Report results were collect-ed through a custom online surveyof 1,000 completed surveys col-lected between Sept. 30 and Oct.9, 2010. All participants wereborn between 1946 and 1964. Formore information visit www.smr-mediaroom.ca/BoomerBuyers.

Barry Lebow, a long time colum-nist for REM, returns to the fold aftera hiatus of almost two years due topersonal and business reasons. Barrystarted as a Realtor in 1968. He is anappraiser, arbitrator and educator.Today, he specializes in being anexpert witness in stigma and agencymatters but is most active as founder& CEO of the Accredited SeniorAgent professional designation pro-gram for Realtors that now has 700members and continues to grow. Along-time writer, author and speaker,Barry is considered one of Canada’smost dynamic real estate facilitators.416-784-9806; Email barry@these-nioragent.com REM

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38 REM APRIL 2011

t’s spring, and I always advisemy team to start the seasonby taking a look at their mar-

keting material to determine whathas worked and what hasn’t. Thisis an ideal time to freshen it upand try some new ideas.

As I was reviewing some of thetypical marketing material, itbecame obvious to me that thesame words were used by justabout every agent to describethemselves, using terms like “com-mitted to excellence,” “superiorservice” and “top 10 agent (insome category or another)”. It’stime to stop speaking like every-one else and avoid using fluffwords. Let’s get down to brasstacks.

Here are the four things I’madvising my team to do this yearwhen it comes to improving theirmarketing material:

1) Start telling potentialclients what’s in it for them. It’sgreat that you received awards, butwhat does that mean for yourclients? For instance, instead of“Super Service Award Winner 10years in a row”, say, “Service – Youcan expect that I’ll do things foryou like I did for the Jones’. Theywanted a three-bed, two-bathhome in a certain neighbourhood.Unfortunately, there weren’t anyfor sale. So, I sent letters to eachhomeowner that met their criteriaasking if they’d be willing to sell.Six months later, the Jones familywas in their new home, in thatneighbourhood, in a house thatwas never formally on the market.Service like that garnered me the

Time to updateyour marketingplan

By Kelly O’Ryan

I

Super Service Award for 10 yearsin a row.”

Each one of you has stories thatillustrate how you’ve gone aboveand beyond to help the client, sotell people about them. Don’t letconsumers wonder what gettingthe Super Service Award means.

2) Put your Facebook URLanywhere you have your website.If you have business cards, includeyour Facebook URL right underyour website. It’s a simple tip, butone that will allow people to findyou easily, connect with you andallow you to market to them overand over. This will also showprospects that you’ve incorporatedsocial media into your business.

3) Call to action. I knowyou’ve all heard this before, but doyou have a call to action in yourmarketing material? Have youasked your prospects to contactyou – and do they know why theyshould? It can be as easy as saying,“If you’re not sure whether now isthe time to buy or sell, contact metoday. I will help determine thebest route for you. There are manyoptions available that you may beunaware of. Contact me today andlet’s talk.”

4) You are marketing you.Don’t forget your photo. I knowthat for a while it wasn’t in vogueto put your photo on marketingmaterials, but I still highly recom-mend it. You want people to knowwhat you do because you wantthem to come to you when they’reready to buy or sell. You might notknow when they are in market, soby making your photo and yourselfavailable to them, and puttingyourself out there, you haveincreased the chances that some-one will contact you. Don’t forgetthis piece in your marketing.

I’m vowing to make sure wefollow these tips in our marketingthis year; what are your marketingresolutions?

Kelly O’Ryan is office manager atColdwell Banker ResidentialBrokerage in Lexington and Bedford,Maine. REM

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What Is a Short Sale, and Is It Right for Me?

Now that the holidays are over, your thoughts may be shifting back to your housing situation, including a 2010 move. The real estate market is still front-page news in many cities, with numerous mentions of “short sales.” What are short sales, and how might they apply to you?

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Advance CommissionCompany purchasesReal Estate Financial

Advance CommissionCompany of Canada in Kentville,N.S. has purchased Real EstateFinancial from Brookfield RealEstate Services Manager Limited.

“We have enjoyed a period ofgrowth in recent years and we’rehappy to be able to continue thetrend,” says Paul Burden, ACCfounder and president. “Services toour current client base and REF’scustomers will not be interruptedor affected negatively. The transi-tion will be seamless and we antic-ipate being able to provide moreand better service to all our cus-

tomers as we continue to grow.”Burden founded ACC more

than 15 years ago. The companyprovides monetary advances andfinancial services to the real estateand mortgage broker industries.Qualified applicants are eligible forup to 100 per cent commissionupon broker approval.

ACC operates across Canada,including in Quebec under thename Avance Accéllérée duQuébec, and says it is the onlycompany in Canada to offer com-mission advances to mortgage bro-kers as well as real estate brokersand sales reps. Its customer baseincludes clients from RoyalLePage, Sutton Group and

What’s

New

What’s

New

Coldwell Banker, and it has pre-ferred vendor status with Century21 Canada, GMAC, HomeLife,Centum Mortgage Corporationand Dominion Lending Centres.

Century 21 partnerswith Geek Squad

Best Buy Canada recentlyannounced a new partnershipbetween Geek Squad andCentury 21 Canada. Canadianswho purchase a new homethrough Century 21 will beoffered one of three Geek Squadservices for free to help them setup the technology in their newhome.

They can have a home the-atre consultation, where theGeek Squad will come into thehome and provide installationrecommendations to help themchoose the right products tomeet the needs of the room andoptimize the space. Or the con-sumer may choose to get a basichome theatre setup or a standardwireless network setup.

Geek Squad says its strategicpartnership with Century 21Canada “provides an opportuni-ty for more Canadians to experi-ence how Geek Squad can con-nect their home and their worldto make the most out of theirtechnology.”

Re/Max Rouge Riverto use SentriLock’selectronic lockboxes

Re/Max Rouge River Realtyof Toronto is switching to theSentriLock Realtor LockboxSystem for use on its clients’properties. Sales reps fromRe/Max Rouge River will be ableto monitor showing activity viaonline reporting of each individ-ual who accesses a property witha SentriLock lockbox installed.

“The increased securityadvantages offered with the

SentriLock lockboxes are unpar-alleled and we are excited to bethe first and only company with-in the Toronto Real Estate Boardto offer this sophisticated lock-box technology to our Realtorsand clients,” says David Pearce,president and owner of Re/MaxRouge River Realty. The broker-age is a family-run business withoffices in East Toronto,Pickering, Ajax and Whitby.

SentriLock’s lockbox requireseither a user-specific access cardonly available to real estate pro-fessionals or a unique access codethat changes daily. This ensuresthat the identity of the visitor isrecorded, along with the dateand time that the lockbox wasaccessed.

“By utilizing this technology,we are giving our clients addedassurance that we are seriousabout providing the best servicepossible and we are giving ourRealtors the best tools availableto deliver outstanding service,”says Pearce.

Sales rep offers free Frogbox boxes for clients

Sales rep Jim Bowie of RoyalLePage Signature Realty inToronto is offering his buyer andseller clients the free use ofFrogbox Eco Friendly movingboxes and select supplies.

“Frogbox Toronto offers a con-venient, affordable and eco-friendly alternative to cardboardmoving boxes.” says Bowie. “I amthrilled to be able to offer thisvalue-add to my buyer and sellerclients at no charge to them.”

Frogbox plastic moving boxesare dropped off to the client’shome, where they are packed bythe client. “Frogboxes are mucheasier to handle than cardboard.They stack perfectly, protect yourvaluables, are waterproof and

Continued on page 42

The Frogbox system offers an eco-friendly alternative to cardboardmoving boxes.

Paul Burden

don’t know why I’m sabo-taging myself.”

I hear this statementevery day from clients.

This sentiment is extremely com-mon among both seasoned andnew entrepreneurs. I hear manyexamples of self-sabotage in mycoaching practice and many pleasfor help to reverse self-sabotage.Let’s look at some problems andsome solutions.

The first example of self-sabo-tage that comes to mind is carryingaround the belief, “I am not goodenough”. It is a common self-limit-ing belief because it doesn’t allowyou to shine.

Instead of shining, you playedsmall, held off and tried to be invis-ible. Of course this is a prescriptionfor failure. If you don’t think ofyourself as good enough, you willproject a lack of self-confidence.Your prospective clients pick up onthis and are not attracted to workwith you. This then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. As you seeyourself losing transactions, youtell yourself, “I must not be goodenough.”

What is the solution to thisform of self-sabotage? The firstthing is to find out why your beliefsystem wants you to think of your-self as “not good.” Dig down a littledeeper and find out the origin ofthat belief. In one case, my clientlearned as a child that her job wasto help others, to be a caretaker.She was conditioned to think thatshe needed to be in the back-ground, helping others shine butnot herself.

When she became aware ofwhere that self-sabotaging beliefcame from, she then had the powerof choice. Now she can choose tokeep on thinking she is not goodenough or she can work on lettingthat belief go and replace it withsome updated empowered beliefs.

My client decided to install

REM APRIL 2011 41

“IBy Dr. Maya Bailey

How to stop sabotaging yourselfnew, updated, empowered beliefssuch as: “I am more than goodenough” and, “I allow others totake care of themselves and I amonly responsible for myself”.

Another example of self-sabo-tage is getting involved in interac-tions with your clients that are notwin/win. The reason so many peo-ple do this is because they have themistaken idea that if they arealways nice and always accommo-date their clients, they will suc-ceed.

Nothing could be further fromthe truth. If you frequently get intointeractions where it is lose/win, inother words you lose and the otherperson wins, then you won’t suc-ceed. It takes too big a toll on you.You will be embroiled in stress.You’ll be exhausted and in manycases your health will suffer. Youwill also begin to feel very resentful.

Your motto should be “it’seither win/win” or no deal. That isstraight from Steven Covey, authorof The Seven Habits of HighlyEffective People.

If you are working with a rea-sonable client, you say, “I only dointeractions that are win-win. Forthis to be a win for me we wouldneed to make this adjustment.What would it take for this to be awin for you?”

If you can’t come up with a winfor both people, then pull out andput your energies elsewhere. If theclient is not a reasonable person, itprobably won’t do any good tohave that discussion and you needto find a way to get out.

Why did we get in the habit oflose/win? It always starts with thebeliefs you carry on a subconsciouslevel. You think you’re not goodenough or if you think you have toplease people, then you will tendto take on interactions that are notwin/win.

Change your beliefs and youchange your reality. The irony isgetting your client’s approval isn’tthat helpful. They won’t respectyou if they can walk all over you.Win their respect by always com-mitting to win/win.

Another example of a self-sab-otaging strategy is to focus on whatyou don’t want. How do you knowyou are doing that? Look for thefollowing signs:

1. You are feeling stressed andfrustrated.

2. You are focusing on circum-stances outside of you, like theeconomy or the marketplace.

3. You are focused on scarcity,not abundance.

If you are feeling anything lessthan hopeful and optimistic, mostlikely you’re fretting about the lackof transactions, the lack of clientsand the lack of money in yourbank account until your conscious-ness is saturated with feelings oflack and scarcity.

Since our beliefs create ourreality, if you’re focusing on scarci-ty, what are you going to attract?More scarcity. Every time you startfeeling bad about what you don’thave in your life, your energy iscontracting and becoming nega-tive. That is not attractive to morebusiness, in fact it repels business.

What is the solution? It is athree-step process:

1. Notice the focus on lack andsay stop to interrupt your thoughtpattern.

2. Take a deep breath.3. Put in positive new thoughts

like, money comes to me easily andeffortlessly and I do work I love andI’m richly rewarded.

After that, take a few minutesto write down what you do want.Write down how much money youwant in the bank, the number oftransactions you want in a monthand so forth. Take a moment tonote how good it feels to havewhat you want.

A common belief that causessuccess minded professionals to getburned out is the subconsciousbelief that to be successful, youhave to work long hard hours,struggle and sacrifice. We usuallyabsorb that idea at a very youngage from our parents. Most of ourparents did not have the conceptof working smarter, not harder.

What do you do if you noticethat you’re sabotaging yourself inthis way?

The first step is to be aware thatyou are carrying this belief. Thenrecognize that it’s only a belief, nota fact, and a belief can be changed.Remember your beliefs create yourreality. If you believe that you haveto work hard, then you will. If youbelieve you have to work smart,then you will.

To make the paradigm shift,keep in mind this quote from MarkAllen: “In an easy and relaxedmanner and in a healthy and posi-tive way, I create total financialsuccess, for the highest good of all.”

Let that idea be your mantra,and remember to breathe deeply,throughout the day remindingyourself to relax and work smarter,not harder.

The bottom line is to identifyyour self-limiting beliefs and whyyou put them there in the firstplace. Release them and replace

them with empowered beliefs thatyou can install immediately.

Dr. Maya Bailey, author of Lawof Attraction for Entrepreneurs,integrates 20 years of experience as apsychologist and 12 years as a busi-ness coach with her expertise in theLaw of Attraction. Her powerfulwork creates a success formula forprofessionals ready to double andtriple their incomes. To apply for a“Get Clients Now” complimentarycoaching session, visit www.coach-maya.com. REM

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What is the solution to this formof self-sabotage? The first thing is to find out why your belief system wants you to think of

yourself as “not good.” Dig downa little deeper and find out the

origin of that belief.

42 REM APRIL 2011

What’s NewContinued from page 40

have ergonomic handles,” thecompany says. After the move iscompleted and the boxes areunpacked, Frogbox picks them up.

Frogbox founder DougBurgoyne has attracted investorssuch as Jim Treliving, co-owner ofBoston Pizza, and Brett Wilson ofCanoe Financial investment.Treliving and Wilson came onboard when Burgoyne pitched theconcept on the TV programDragons’ Den.

Frogbox also donates one percent of gross revenues to frog habi-tat restoration and DucksUnlimited. Frogs are the mostthreatened vertebrate group onEarth, with nearly one-third of theworld’s 6,468 amphibian species indanger, the company says. “Attheir current rate, frogs are disap-pearing faster than dinosaurs did,”it says. Bowie has also pledged tomatch the one per cent donationdollar-for-dollar on gross revenuesgenerated by his clients throughthis alliance.

Frogbox service is available inVancouver and Toronto now, andthe company says franchise oppor-tunities are available. For

more information, visit www.frog-box.com.

Faltour’s paperlessdocument systemapproved in Quebec

Faltour Inc.’s Real EstateElectronic Document Manage-ment system (EDM) has beenaccredited by the Organisme d’au-toréglementation du courtageimmobilier du Québec (OACIQ).

“This accreditation marks animportant new stage for Faltourand confirms the quality and reli-ability of our technology. Oursolution enables real estate agen-cies to improve client service,while benefiting from significantefficiency gains in managing theirown businesses,” says JeanSébastien Dufault, Faltour’s presi-dent and CEO.

Faltour’s EDM system allowsfor the elimination of tedious man-ual data processing and establishesan electronic information archive.In this way, real estate agenciesbenefit from significant efficiencygains in their daily operations andenjoy much more user-friendly andefficient data management, thecompany says. “The paperlessoffice made possible by the imple-

mentation of Faltour’s EDM sys-tem will also contribute to envi-ronmental protection,” saysFaltour.

“We believe our product,which is already available inEnglish, will receive a positivereception elsewhere in Canada.Over the short term, we intend toprogressively extend our marketingto other parts of Canada, whichoffer excellent commercial poten-tial for the company,” says Dufault.In Quebec, Faltour already has sev-eral real estate agencies among itsclientele.

Rent Jungleexpands to Canada

Rent Jungle has expanded itshousing search engine for use inCanada, allowing apartmenthunters to search using fetchingand indexing technologies previ-ously unveiled in 2010 for the U.Smarket. “Canadian users canexpect the largest aggregation oflistings and a map-based apartmentsearch function, and can soonexpect rental statistic data for citiesand neighbourhoods,” says thecompany in a news release.

The apartment and rentalhousing industry has been slow to

develop new technologies, makingthis true apartment search engineexclusive and unique to its class, itsays. It says it has the most com-plete collection of currently avail-able rental housing listings, captur-ing more than 80 per cent of allonline listings.

Rent Jungle allows users tosearch for specific keywords includ-ing bedroom and bathroom count,amenities, price and location. Thesearch engine’s rental statistics alsogrant a view into current rentaltrends based on market pricingnationally, by city and by individ-ual neighbourhoods. Rent Jungle’ssearching technology can be usedas a rental comparison tool allow-ing users to compare neighbour-hood rental trends to best matchtheir housing and budget needs – afunction new to the rental andhousing industry, the company says.

For information: www.rentjun-gle.com.

Homes and rentalsapps now availablein Canada

A suite of iPhone and iPadapplications called CompleteHomes and Complete Rentals,previously launched in the U.S. is

now available in Canada. Already ranked among the top

10 most downloaded business appsin the iTunes App Store, the suiteis compatible with the iPhone,iPad and iPod Touch. For 99 cents,Canadians have access to morethan two million home and rentallistings across Canada.

“Complete Homes andComplete Rentals empowers con-sumers to make quick informeddecisions while mobile not onlyabout their potential home butabout the neighbourhood,” saysDaniel Burrus, technology fore-caster, business strategist andfounder of Visionary Apps, whodeveloped the apps. “Users arekeen to take advantage of smart-phone and tablet technology, soboth apps incorporate tools thataccess a variety of features such asGPS technology to provide cus-tomers a better perspective aboutpotential homes and their sur-roundings regardless of currentlocation.”

The apps provide customsearch options that allow a user toquickly narrow a search by price,number of beds and number of baths. For information:www.visionaryapps.com. REM

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By Dan St. Yves

ife coaching” is a phraseyou’re likely familiarwith or it might even be

a service you employ in your ownlife. Wikipedia, my frequent sourceof indisputable reference informa-tion here in this column, defineslife coaching as “a future-focusedpractice with the aim of helping

Life coaching for freeclients determine and achieve per-sonal goals.” There are now manylife coaches available in most citiesand a variety of fee schedules forwhich they will impart their wis-dom to clients. Well, I say whyspend your hard-earned money toget motivated when pop music hasbeen offering practical advice freefor decades? In my ongoing effortsto offer marginal advice, I present“that Dan guy’s life coaching advicethrough popular song titles.”

Exhibit A: Petula Clark’s1960s pop hit Don’t Sleep In TheSubway. Is there really any morepractical advice you can expectthan something like that obvious

pearl of wisdom? For Pete’s sake,don’t sleep in subways, pendingdemolition sites or anywhere clos-er than the 300-foot marker flag ona golf course driving range.

Exhibit B: Ah, the masterfulsong writing pens employed by theteam of Lennon and McCartneyfor The Beatles – With A Little HelpFrom My Friends, Here Comes TheSun, I Am The Walrus (?) – why,they’re a veritable HallmarkCards/Chicken Soup For The Soultreasure trove of motivational andinspirational catch-phrases! If youreally want to inspire yourself, behappy just knowing that you arenot a walrus.

Exhibit C: In the 1970s, 38Special enjoyed success with HoldOn Loosely. That’s a great way tosay, “don’t worry, be happy.”Hakuna Matata. “Don’t sweat thesmall stuff.” Unless the small stuffis an army of carpenter ants chew-ing through your living room hard-wood. Really, the only situationwhere I wouldn’t advise you to“hold on loosely” is if you were arodeo rider, or a trapeze artist.

Exhibit D: Also in the ’70s,Abba offered us Take A Chance OnMe and The Winner Takes It All. Ifyou’re currently unemployed, thefirst song should be your personalmantra for prospective employers.

The second song is really truthfulwith respect to a Hollywoodcelebrity’s divorce attorney.

Just enough space left for a fewquickies: Glee Cast/Journey – Don’tStop Believing (Amen) Taylor Swift– Fearless (Empower yourself, girl-friend!) Snap – I’ve Got The Power(especially handy if you’re a hydro-electric employee)

Note: This column is notmeant to imply actual or evenremotely useable advice…consulta professional life coach beforeadopting any new discipline.

Humour columnist and authorDan St. Yves was licensed with RoyalLePage Kelowna for 11 years. Checkout his website at www.nonsenseand-stuff.com, or contact him atThatDanGuy@shaw.ca. REM

“L

REM APRIL 2011 45

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lipping through designmagazines, it’s easy for ahome seller to be swayed by

all the ads for kitchen and bathcompanies. There are endlessbrands that vie for consumers’attention with shrine-like marblepowder rooms and sleek, steelkitchens. Many sellers get temptedto renovate their kitchens andbaths with these high-end looks, inan attempt to focus the wanderingeyes of buyers who have lots ofoptions in almost any market. Butdoing so costs tens of thousands ofdollars.

Currently, according to theAppraisal Institute of Canada,consumers who do a kitchen andbath remodel can recoup 75 to 100per cent of their investment. (see

By Dan Steward

Kitchen and bath tips for sellersHow to refresh the kitchen and bath without raiding the bank accountthe calculator at http://compo-nent.aicanada.ca/e/resourcecen-ter_renova.cfm) While getting theentire initial investment back ispossible, the risk could be costly:home sellers who are at that 75 percent end and spent $40,000 on aremodel are out $10,000 – plusplenty of stress. And, if you, astheir agent, didn’t caution themagainst such a reno, they mightbecome nonplussed.

To avoid that situation andkeep your relationship with yourclient in tip-top shape, here aresome tips for you to impart to yourbuyers on how to redo the kitchenor bath without breaking the bank.In the kitchen:

DON’T put in pricey profes-sional-grade cook’s appliances. Youmay choose a tricked-out, $10,000Wolf stove, but the buyer may be aloyalist to Viking. Or, even worse,the potential buyer might be atake-out addict.

DO service the appliances youhave, so that they work perfectly. If

you have seriously outdated appli-ances that can be replaced for$1,000 or less (like swapping abeat-up old fridge for a basic newone), that’s a good idea. Similarly,if there are any appliances that youlack, which most buyers consideressential, it makes sense to buy one(like a dishwasher – you can get anice model for under $1,000).

DON’T replace your cabinetryentirely – even if it’s a little outdat-ed. It’s just too subjective – youmight think sleek whiteScandinavian cabinets are the wayto go, but you’ll be in a bind if yourpotential buyer prefers dark wood.

DO invest in cabinet refacing ifyour cabinets are extremely outdat-ed. Many refacing companies willgive your cabinets a fresh façade forwell under $2,000 and it’s a goodinvestment in creating a positiveimpression of the room withoutdoing a pricey knock-down.

DON’T go granite crazy. Ormarble. Or etched-Murano-glass-accented tile. Spending thousands

on a new countertop and back-splash is downright dangerousbecause there are so many differ-ent options these days, it’s impossi-ble to find one that will pleasemost people.

DO hire a professional cleaningcompany to come in and makewhat you have sparkle. While thiswon’t magically make your tilelook magazine-spread-worthy, itwill certainly make it look a lotbetter, as discolouration from ageoften makes tile look even worse.

In the bathroom:DON’T do expensive

tub/shower repairs or replace-ments. Just like with the big-ticketkitchen fixes, this is a matter oftaste. If you put in a round jettedtub, what if the buyer wantssquare? Do you really think thatevery potential buyer will be keenon a colour-changing lighting sys-tem in the shower?

DO replace dated bath andshower fixtures; this can be donegenerally quite inexpensively. For

instance, if you have a piddly oldshowerhead, replacing it with alarge, rainwater-style model willlend a subtle spa-like quality with-out costing a lot.

DON’T opt for huge built-ins.A lot of remodelers emphasize theintrinsically relaxing qualities ofhaving all your toiletries, towelsand even reading material beauti-fully organized in one big unitmade of high-end wood, marbleand chrome. It’s beautiful, but it’salso a risky choice and a matter oftaste.

DO: Freshen up a focal point:the vanity area. Invest in a big mir-ror and put bright lights over it. Afew hundred dollars spent on anice faucet is well worth it, as, likethe showerhead, it’s a basic – andupdating the basics, in most homesand markets, is a smart way to go.

Dan Steward is president of PillarTo Post Professional HomeInspections. www.pillartopost.com

REM

F

magine stepping out of yourfront door, enjoying a five-minute drive to the airport, a

leisurely stroll through security, aplush leather WestJet seat for anhour, followed by OMG, what’sthat white stuff? Such is the cul-ture shock of a B.C. resident leav-ing Comox en route to Calgary forthe Banff Western Connection2011.

The praise I have for the bestlittle conference in NorthAmerica comes with a disclaimer– for the past two bi-annual con-ferences I have been the MC andreceived compensation. That said,you don’t need to rely solely on mefor references. The Internet was all“aTwitter” over the conferencewith hash tags and conferenceannouncements a key ingredientof the communication network.Hell, there was even a Tweetup.

Relax – I haven’t gone allnerdy on you. In fact until I read itin the announcements I thought ahash tag was how west coast

46 REM APRIL 2011

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METES & BOUNDS

By Marty Douglas

What we learned in BanffRealtors sorted their pipes. Butyou have to admit, one of thechallenges we face in today’sincreasingly digital world is keep-ing up with the lingo.

Here’s some stuff – I won’t sayI learned it, but I was powerfullyconfused for a day or so.

Alan Deutschman, author ofChange or Die, The Second Comingof Steve Jobs and Walk the Walkspoke about leadership, citing thefew companies that actually knowwho their customers are – and putthem first. He reminded us youcan’t attain a vision withoutrelentless hard work. You can’t justread The Secret or Think and GrowRich. Reminds me of Jim Rohn’stake on ‘an apple a day keeps thedoctor away’ – “Some things youhave to do everyday. Eating sevenapples on Saturday night insteadof one a day just isn’t going to getthe job done.”

Bill Harrington, my favouritelawyer, spoke about legal risk man-agement. His personal motto is,“Life without lawyers is a life notworth living.” And his offeredopinion of directors came from thepresident of U.S. Steel: “Directorsare like parsley on fish – decora-tive but fundamentally useless.”There was a burst of laughteramong the 300 or so directors inthe room, then a pause, then amutter.

David Baxter, my favouritedemographer and urban futurist,

spoke on leadership’s role inresponding to change but alsogained applause for his assertion ofthe importance of the agencyagreement. “Without it, there isno real estate business. Everythingelse wraps around that core.” Tothose who fear the online mar-keters, “Real estate will alwayshave a personal element; womenwill always want to try on thedress.”

Benjamin Tal of CIBC WorldMarkets spoke of the likely atti-tude of money in the next 12months. “Money isn’t looking foran adventure,” he said, as he fore-cast movement to dividend payingstocks and – wait for it – realestate.

Then came the latest versionsof Internet gurus led by the danc-ing Nicole Nicolay, who shockedrecent converts to electronic mailby saying email is now traditionalmarketing. In other words, bronzeage technology. Pretty soon wordslike Hootsuite, Hootlet and LocalTweets were being scratched ontomy analogue paper tablet.

A panel of Canadian Realtorusers emerged: Richard Silver(Torontoism.com), Kelley Skar(kelleyskar.com) and Teri Conrad(Redbarngroup.ca) – all successfulbloggers with great web presence.Doug Devitre, another successfulRealtor, spoke about marketingwith video and creating a YouTubechannel.

Then we got serious. Sherry Chris, the CEO of

Better Homes & Gardens RealEstate, killed off the only market-ing plan of Realtors in the city ofNanaimo by announcing “the endof the bus bench real estate agentwho thinks he or she is No. 1.”

Stephen Jagger was next with awheelbarrow load of websites forreal estate sales teams.Ubertor.com for your virtual assis-tant, outsourcingthingsdone.comfor, among other things, handwrit-ten client cards, Yammer for aninternal Twitter. And there wasmore to come. But at five we need-ed a drink and so headed to theTweetup in the Riverview Lounge.

Jagger made a return visit thenext morning and he brought a pal– Shane Gibson, the co-author oftheir book Sociable.

Twazzup, Backtweets, TwitterSearch rolled into Meetup andFoursquare. Having just sufferedthe shock of the death of the busbench Realtor, we were thenwarned not to push our listing onsocial media – huh? “No one caresabout your listing until it’s timefor them to care – so just talkabout interesting things.” Thenfor those of us still blasé abouttechnology, the newly electedmayor of Calgary, NaheedNenshi, spoke to us from his officevia Skype on the big screens of theconference centre. How big? Sobig that every time he gestured

with his hands, the front rowsducked. Did you know Calgarysnowploughs have GPS so citizenscan see their progress and routes?No need to shovel your drivewaytwice!

The final speaker before theserious drinking started was Dr.Nick Bontis of McMasterUniversity, a leading expert onintellectual capital. He rocked theroom with humour and insight,suggesting information is changingso fast that fourth-year universitystudents should demand a refundof the first year tuition. “Thescarcest resource you possess isyour attention span.”

And that was that. Three daysin Banff, temperatures from plusseven to minus 24, incrediblefood, drink and entertainment anda wealth of new knowledge. Thenext Western Connection is in2013 – you ought to be there!

You can follow Marty on Twitter41yrsrealestate or on LinkedIn. You’lleven find him on Facebook. He is amanaging broker for Coast RealtyGroup with offices on VancouverIsland and the Sunshine Coast ofB.C. He is a past chair of the RealEstate Errors and OmissionsCorporation of B.C, the Real EstateCouncil of B.C., the B.C. RealEstate Association and an HonoraryMember of the Vancouver Island RealEstate Board. mdouglas@coastreal-ty.com; 1-800-715-3999 REM

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elvin Neufeld, managingbroker of Sutton -Premier Realty in Surrey

is the Fraser Valley Real EstateBoard’s (FVREB) 2011 JohnArmeneau Professional of theYear.

The award recognizes a mem-ber who demonstrates profession-al excellence, integrity, dedica-tion to fellow colleagues, clientsand the community, as well asdevotion to organized real estate.Neufeld received the board’s high-est honour at its Annual GeneralMeeting recently.

Deanna Horn, board president,colleague and long-time friend ofNeufeld, made the announcement.“Kelvin has mentored so many ofus over the years including me andafter 25 years in real estate stillenjoys teaching and training over

100 Realtors every week. Now,that’s dedication to your profes-sion,” she says.

Neufeld has volunteered onbehalf of the board since 1995,including serving as president,and is currently chair of FVREB’sIllegal Drug Operations TaskForce, a group working towardsimproving public safety by mak-ing it easier to find informationabout a property’s drug history.

“Kelvin’s philosophy is one oflife-long learning, dedication tothe industry and setting high stan-dards both professionally and per-sonally. He believes in balanceand the importance of family andgiving back to your community,”says Horn.

Real estate runs in the Neufeldfamily. His octogenarian father,Ab Neufeld, still practices and is

an associate broker at RoyalLePage – Wolstencroft in Langley.

■ ■ ■

Jenny Kotulak had no idea shewas even nominated for theOntario Real Estate Association’s(OREA) 2010 VolunteerismAward. But her colleagues in theaudience knew – the group fromthe Oakville, Milton and DistrictReal Estate Board (OMDREB)had nominated her for it.

The award was presented at the OREA 2011 LeadershipConference. The IndividualMember Volunteerism Award rec-ognizes outstanding achievementin recruiting, recognizing and/ortraining board/association volun-teers.

Until a move earlier this yeartook her to the Huron-Perth RealEstate Board, Kotulak was a star atOMDREB. A Realtor for morethan 20 years, she joined theOMDREB Board of Directors in2004. She became its president in2007 as well as chair of theNominating Committee. Shortlyafter she assumed the NominatingCommittee chair, she and her colleagues transformed it into the Leadership Development

Committee, effectively moving itfrom a group that became involvedjust prior to each election to acommittee charged with develop-ing future board leaders. It was thisachievement that led to her nomi-nation for the OREA Volunteer ofthe Year Award.

OMDREB president JackMcCrudden says, “Leading byexample, Jenny transformed theway the board recruits and retainsvolunteers. Her passion in revital-izing the former NominatingCommittee into the LeadershipDevelopment Committee gavemany of us the inspiration weneeded to stand for election our-selves. I can even say I sit here aspresident today thanks to the spir-it Jenny infused in all of us.”

■ ■ ■

Exit Realty Corp. Internationalhonoured three of its franchiseesrecently at the franchisee andExecutive Management Sessionheld during the 2011 CanadianSales Rally. The award forExceptional Vision andPerseverance was presented toJamie Higby, franchisee of ExitRealty 1st Call, in Elmsdale, N.S.He recently expanded his business

into new office space, whichincludes a mall kiosk.

An award for Personal Growthwas presented to Valerie Connell,Franchisee of Exit Realty Townand Country in the AnnapolisValley, N.S. Connell and her part-ner Kim Connell continue to growthe brokerage and are in theprocess of acquiring and movinginto new, larger office locations.

Dave Grace, franchisee of ExitRealty Professionals in Halifax waspresented with the Resilience andFortitude Award. Grace recentlymoved his office into one of themost prominent locations in thearea and has more than 2,800square feet of office space.

■ ■ ■

Landmark Realty inAbbotsford and Louise McKnightof Bay Realty in White Rockreceived the Fraser Valley RealEstate Board’s (FVREB) highestrecognition for community service,the 2010 Realtors Make GoodNeighbours award.

Of almost 3,000 Realtors in theFraser Valley, McKnight is the onlyindividual award recipient for 2010and Landmark Realty is the onlycorporate recipient in a possible

K

Kelvin Neufeld receives his award fromFVREB president Deanna Horn.

Jamie Higby Valerie Connell Dave Grace Subhadra Ghose

Jenny Kotulak (centre) poses with her OREAVolunteerism Award with, from left, Aziz Kanjee; JackMcCrudden (president, OMDREB); Marta Sponder(EO,OMDREB); Michele Gaboury; Tom Au Yeung; andHeather Tilley.

REM APRIL 2011 49

field of over 100 real estate offices.The award was accepted by man-aging brokers Bob Johnston andJim McCaughan.

Landmark Realty’s supportivepresence in the community is visi-ble on multiple levels – from ama-teur sport to food drives to provid-ing transportation for communitygroups. The brokerage, whichmanages over 110 Realtors and hasserved Abbotsford for 20 years,sponsors the Abbotsford MinorBaseball Association and theAbbotsford Police Challenge Run;events such as Christmas inAugust, the November Challengeand a Christmas Light Tour, all insupport of the Abbotsford FoodBank; and it offers its 25-seat pas-senger bus to non-profit groups,which last year included theOlympic Torch Relay.

McKnight, a Realtor of threeyears, is the founder, co-ordinatorand mentor to a group of youngteenage women who call them-selves the “Angel Wings”, orga-nized after one of the members losther mother to breast cancer. Thegroup raises money for breast can-cer research through fund-raisingactivities including its main annu-

al event co-chaired by McKnight,called She Has Hope. McKnightestablished and chairs the annualGreat Pumpkin Walk to benefitthe Peace Arch Hospital, whereshe is also a foundation boardmember. In addition, she is anactive member of the StudentPlanning Council and the currentpast-president of the PAC at ElginPark High School in South Surrey.

■ ■ ■

Subhadra Ghose of Re/Max ofNanaimo, B.C. was named Realtorof the Year by the VancouverIsland Real Estate Board at its 60thanniversary celebrations recently.

The board’s Realtor CareAward recipients are Joanne Millar- Royal LePage Advance Realty,Campbell River; Harmony Dyck -Royal LePage Comox Valley,Courtenay; Rob Grey - Re/Max ofNanaimo; and Kevin Clayton -Coast Realty Group, Parksville.

■ ■ ■

Recognized for her exemplaryvolunteer efforts on a local level,Shirley Froese from Royal LePageKelowna is the 2010 recipient ofthe Realtors Care Award for the

Central Okanagan Zone of theOkanagan Mainline Real EstateBoard (OMREB).

“Shirley Froese is very worthyof this award and is being hon-oured for her exceptional ongoingvolunteer efforts. Over the years,she has given countless hours ofher time to make Kelowna a betterplace to live, work and play,” saidOMREB past-president BrendaMoshansky at the board’s AGM.

Every Christmas, Froese orga-nizes a Christmas tree in the RoyalLePage Kelowna office, completewith ornaments indicating thosewomen and children who are inneed at the local KelownaWomen’s Shelter, along withhomemade chocolate Santas, thesize of a small statue. In return for a$25 gift or monetary donation, thedonor receives a homemadechocolate. This year alone, she hadto make over 216 chocolate Santasfor the donations.

Froese also made it clearthroughout her office that if any-one was strapped for time, she’d behappy to do their shopping forthem as long as they handed over$25. This annual event has beenongoing for years and it takes a

moving van to transport the gifts tothe shelter. Froese has also raised$12,000 for diabetes research fromher peers for a marathon she did inIceland.

■ ■ ■

Doug Folsetter of Re/MaxEscarpment Realty in Hamilton,Ont. was selected as the RealEstate Staging Association’s(RESA) 2011 Realtor of the Year.Folsetter’s award was presented atthe 2011 International HomeStaging Conference in Las Vegas.

“I’m both honoured and hum-bled that my efforts have been rec-ognized. I thank Karen Hubert atCenter State Design for nominat-ing me,” says Folsetter.

RESA recognized staging pro-fessionals in chapter, state andregional leadership positions.

■ ■ ■

Century 21 Diamond Realty ofHumbolt, Sask. was awarded theMark of Excellence - SmallBusiness of the Year Award by theHumbolt & District Chamber ofCommerce.

Cheryl Torwalt, co-owner ofCentury 21 Diamond Realty, says:

“We are so thankful to all ourclients, friends and family for alltheir support. Our company strivesto provide our clients with firstclass service, through honesty,integrity and professionalism.”

Cheryl and Dan Torwalt start-ed the company in 2008, offeringreal estate services in residential,commercial, farm/ranch, lease andcondominium properties in theHumboldt district and its sur-rounding areas.

■ ■ ■

Ed Milani was presented withthe 11th Michele Montour Awardrecently by Sutton Group – Selectbroker/owner Bruce Sworik. Thebrokerage honours one of its salesreps every year with the award,named after a colleague who diedof cancer in 2000.

The brokerage says Milani isnever without a word of encourage-ment for others and sets high stan-dards for himself and then surpassesthem. “Like many of us, he faceschallenges, but this amazing indi-vidual continues to find thestrength and determination to notmake do, but to excel,” says the bro-kerage in a news release. REM

Shirley Froese

Left: VIREB’s Realtor Care Award Recipients,from left: Rob Grey, Kevin Clayton, HarmonyDyck and Joanne Millar.

The team at Century 21 Diamond Realty receivesits award.

Doug Folsetter

Left: FVREB’s Our Realtors Make GoodNeighbours award winners, from left: BobJohnston and Jim McCaughan, accepting forLandmark Realty, Abbotsford (office award) andLouise McKnight, Bay Realty, White Rock, accept-ing the individual award. Ed Milani (left) with Bruce Sworik.

50 REM APRIL 2011

Binswanger Hectare Commercial Realty We are seeking professional Real Estate Sales Representatives throughout Ontario to handle large industrial assignments for dispositions, acquisitions and leasing. Binswanger Hectare has been in business in Mississauga since 1978, and now with our global presence has a need to hire Sales Representatives. Must have commercial / industrial experience and ability to work autonomously with full broker support from our staff. Areas required: Ottawa, Kingston, London, Windsor, Kitchener, Barrie, Thunder Bay.

Please call Dan Bates 905-624-4455 ext. 218

or send resume to: dbates@binswangerhectare.com

www.binswangerhectare.com

olar energy generation isquickly becoming a main-stream business. It con-

tributes to sustainability and canbe done profitably with appropri-ate incentives. Installing a solarphotovoltaic (solar PV) system onyour roof may improve the build-ing’s LEED score or generate signif-icant income. The financial side ofsolar PV projects has been a hottopic lately, while risks and theirmitigation are commonly neglect-ed. In this article we shall discussthe technical risks.

The current life expectancy ofa solar PV system is 25 to 30 years.Two major questions must be con-sidered prior to asking for quotes: Isthe roof suitable for a solar PVinstallation? How do you want tobe involved in this solar project?

A good roof should have:• Sufficient space: Roof space

Installing a solar PV systemInstalling a solar PV system on your building’s roof can be ‘green’ and profitable, but the project requires careful planning and awareness of the risksBy Vladimir Naoumov

is often used up for air handlingunits, gas pipes and other equip-ment. Future building upgradesthat require roof space should alsobe carefully considered. As a ballpark number, a 100 kW systemwould require about 20,000 sq. ft.of unobstructed space on a flat roofor half of that on a tilted one.

• No shading: Even a smallshade will cause significant loss ofelectricity production.

• New or due for re-roofing:The cost of installation is up to aquarter of the project cost.Temporarily removing the systemfor re-roofing or repairs will costdearly. An ideal roof has enoughlife left to outlive the solar system,or is old enough to be replacedprior to installation.

• Structural stability: Installinga solar system adds load to the roof.The installation will contribute to

dead load, wind load and snowaccumulation.

• Grid capacity: If the system isto be connected to the grid, thelocal distribution company shouldbe consulted to ensure smoothintegration. “Feasibility level” roofassessment is often offered by solardevelopers free of charge, but thereis a price to pay. When accepting afree assessment you commit tomaking your decision based oninformation provided by a sales-man.

Now you must consider howyou want to be involved in the pro-ject. There are three commonoptions on which a variety of prac-tical solutions are based:

• Lease your roof. In this caseanother company designs, builds,owns and operates the systemwhile paying you rent. Althoughmost risks would lie with the newtenant, responsibility for roof con-dition through the project life, aswell as for other uses of the roof,stays with the owner. No invest-ment is required, but financial gainis also low.

In some cases solar projects canbe structured in ways that thedeveloper finances re-roofing inlieu of lease payments.

• Own a system designed andbuilt by another company. In addi-tion to roof-related risks, the ownerwill be exposed to the energy pro-duction and system malfunctionrisks. This option requires substan-tial investment, but can offer sav-ings from using electricity or rev-enues by selling it to the grid.

• Design, build and own thesystem. Additional profit comesfrom margins on equipment pro-curement, design and installation.This option may interest owners ofa big portfolio of roofs. It offers thehighest profits with highest risks.

Whichever option you choose,installation may affect your abilityto access the roof for many years.To allow for work to be done onthe roof carrying a solar system, beit roof repair or installation ofHVAC equipment, the propertyowner should plan in several areas:

• System design: Some systems

are easier to relocate than others.Some systems allow roof accesseven in the under-panel area.

• Legal: If you lease the roof,ensure that your contract allowsyou access to the areas of the roofyou may need.

• Organizational: Who willtemporarily relocate solar equip-ment?

• Financial: Who will pay forequipment relocation and coverlost energy sale revenues?

Solar installation may alsoaffect the roof warranty due todamage of the membrane duringinstallation, additional wear andtear resulting from unforeseen traf-fic on the roof, or from excessive

loads on the roof structure due tosystem weight, wind load or snowaccumulation. This risk can bemitigated through adequate systemdesign, contracting and co-opera-tion with your current roofer.

If the property owner choosesto own a PV system fully or partial-ly, energy production equals rev-enue. Several factors will affectprofitability:

• System design: The design isa balance between the highest out-put and actual roof location, struc-ture and condition, as well asbetween different panel, rackingand inverter technologies.

• Components: Although pan-els are becoming a commodity, oneshould look at their bankability,efficiency vs. cost and track record

in other projects. The same goesfor inverters. Racking should betuned to roof location and struc-ture.

• Proper installation: Apartfrom the concerns about your roofduring the installation period, oneshould be wary that the system isinstalled as designed and withoutdamage to the cabling or the pan-els themselves.

• Monitoring: A monitoringsystem allows you to keep track ofenergy production and helps iden-tify problems as soon as they arise.

• Maintenance: A mainte-nance schedule is a must, as someelectrical components should beregularly inspected. The ownershould expect to replace a centralinverter in about 10 years, whilemicro inverters will need replace-ment much more often due to theirlarge number and shorter lifeexpectancy.

Even if the property ownerchooses to lease the roof, systemdesign and quality of componentsstill matter: along with possible

damage to the roof structure andmembrane, inadequate design maycause excessive maintenance traf-fic on the roof and even the inabil-ity of solar tenant to pay the lease.

The cheapest system, or themost advanced one, by no meansensures the best ROI. An unbiasedprofessional analysis of availableoptions and risks, as well as carefulproject planning and implementa-tion, provides for a profitableworry-free solar project.

Vladimir Naoumov B.A.Sci,LEED GA, is a project manager withGreenQ Partners, a consulting firmthat specializes in helping landlords setup rooftop solar PV projects to maxi-mize their ROI and lower project risks.Email: vnaoumov@greenq.ca REM

A solar PV system, installed on a flat or tilted roof, converts

solar light into electricity. Theenergy can be sold to the grid (in Ontario) or used in-houseand contribute towards LEEDcredits (in other provinces).

S

REM APRIL 2011 51

ARE YOU A PART OF CANADA’S LARGEST REAL ESTATE CONFERENCE & TRADE SHOW?

WEB: www.realtor-quest.ca EMAIL: realtorquest@trebnet.com TEL: 416.443.8136

MAY 4 & 5, 2011TORONTO CONGRESS CENTRE

LEARNING QUEST FEATURED SPEAKERS:DOUG DEVITRE: "Marketing with Video" & "Why Blog? – Panel Discussion"

NASEEF KHAN: "Commercial Demographics, Research and Financial Models on TorontoMLS"

JOEL BURSLEM: "Real Estate Marketing on the Web: How to Keep Up!"

HEALTH & WELLNESS FAIR The Toronto Real Estate Board and its insurance partner, TREB Member Benefits, are pleased to announce the return of the Health and Wellness Fair.

TRADE SHOW FEATURES OVER 200 EXHIBITORS!

DOUG DEVITRE NASEEF KHAN JOEL BURSLEM

NEW THIS YEAR!Golf Swing Analysis& Oxygen Bar

1. The purpose of a businessplan is to seek financing or toattract investors. If you’re a realestate practitioner (REP) and youneed money, your banker will like-ly only consider the loan againsthard assets – such as a line of cred-it against your home or assets. Asfor investors, suffice to say theremight be fewer REPs if our signifi-cant others weren’t so supportive.In either situation, a formal busi-ness plan has no bearing onfinancing your business.

2. You’ve likely never seenanother business plan. If you have,please send a copy to me. In the 25plus years I have been in the busi-ness, I have never seen a true REPbusiness plan, complete with actu-

By Ronn James

8 reasons you don’t need a business planaries in the final pages aimed atattracting “angel” or publicinvestor dollars.

3. You don’t have the rightrecipe to make one. A businessplan consists of multiple layers ofdiagnostics around a couple ofsimple principles. They are: Howam I going to make money?

How much money will I make?How much will it cost me to makethis money? What happens if Idon’t make money?

Further, you need to considerthe investor perspective: Whenwill I get my money back? Howmuch ROI (return on investment)will I see? How much risk is there?What competition exists for thisidea/ business? Could I run it with-out you? This assumes that you areself-financing this sales venture.Consider the questions as thougha stranger was asking YOU toinvest in THEM.

4. Valuation. In order to put adollar figure on your business, youneed to have a valuation. If thesales we generate are x, our costs

are y and our salaries are z, thenprofits = what? Without a clearconcise understanding of sales rev-enue, costs and projected share-holder loans/dividends, this isnearly impossible to do.

5. You can’t sell your business.Aside from all of the reasons men-tioned above, consider this: Yourteam leader, Sir Sells-A-Lot,wants to retire, quit or changeindustries. Can you take the reinsand drive the same sales volume(or better) than Sir himself? If youanswered yes, would your financialprofessionals (lawyer and accoun-tant) likely agree? In a profession-al service business as saturated asours, one in which you alone areyour brand, it’s not uncommon forthe client list and the goodwill toeventually dry up.

6. One in 1,000 business plansmight be funded by third-partyinvestors. Even if you did have arevolutionary idea in real estate,why is your practice going to standout against 999 others? Whatmagic formula have you developed

that will make you (and possiblyyour investors) more money? Canyou charge more for your service?Can you recover your losses ondeals that don’t end in a cash sale?Can you operate on the leanestexpenses in the business? If so,then maybe you’ve got something.

The only way you can mone-tize it is if you sell the recipe.Think Kentucky Fried Chicken.The Colonel didn’t make and sellthe chicken; he just sold the recipefor pennies on every piece sold.Smart! He also asked 1,009 peopleto buy this idea before someonedid.

7. You own a job. How can yousell someone your job? Especially ifthey can’t hold a candle to yourskill level doing that job. The busi-ness plan doesn’t automaticallyallow someone to step in and takeover, even if they were willing topay dearly for your business.

8. A plan by any other nameis….an action plan? Perhaps it is agoals sheet or a journal of success.Absolutely. Have one of these.

The exercise of recording and doc-umenting what is working andwhat is not will be far more usefulto you than spending the six weeksor so it takes to write, re-write,review and test a business plan. Asuccess journal is, by far, more use-ful, experiential and enjoyable toread.

And there it is folks. A practi-cal, pragmatic and realistic way oflooking at your business. With alittle fine-tuning who knows?Someone may actually be interest-ed in your “recipe”.

With a track record that spans 27years, Realtor Ronn James says hisambition is to educate the public andRealtors alike. He has landed appear-ances on Breakfast Television,CityLine, Real Life and a host ofradio shows. James has also been aregular contributor to New Homes and Condos For SaleMagazine, Toronto Sun andCanadian Homeplanner. Website:RealEstateCommissionMatters.ca,phone 289-242-9050. REM

52 REM APRIL 2011

Good WorksGood Worksrudential Real Estate andRelocation Services affili-ates across Canada have

raised more than $137,000 for TheSunshine Kids foundation. Theleading fund-raising brokerageswere Prudential Grand ValleyRealty, Cambridge, Ont.;Prudential Property Specialists,Halifax; Prudential Sussex Realty,Vancouver; Prudential RonanRealty, Tottenham, Ont.;Prudential Achievers Realty,Pickering Village, Ajax, Ont.;Prudential Town Centre Realty,Oakville, Ont.; and PrudentialSelect Real Estate, Bolton, Ont.

The Sunshine Kids Foundationis a national non-profit organiza-tion dedicated to serving childrenwith cancer. It has been putting

smiles on children’s faces and help-ing them celebrate life for over 20years.

■ ■ ■

When Wayne Campbell wasdiagnosed with small cell lung can-cer, he was given a one in 10chance for survival. With excep-tional health care, a change inlifestyle and a positive attitude, heovercame the disease. Fifteenyears later, he is still a vibrant,active broker at Sutton Group -Select Realty in Ingersoll, Ont. In2003, he had the opportunity togive back by co-chairing theCanadian Cancer Society’s Relayfor Life event and continued in therole for four years. The 2011Ingersoll Relay for Life takes place

on June 24 at the Ingersoll DistrictCollegiate Institute. This marksCampbell’s ninth year of volun-teering and the nine-year fundrais-ing total should surpass an impor-tant milestone.

Campbell stopped smoking onthe day of his cancer diagnosis.Although the habit left him withheart problems and diabetes, hesays, “These problems don’t hindermy work or my communityinvolvement. They forced me toslow down at the golf course, how-ever.

“The Ingersoll Relay for Lifehas raised $976,000 since 2003 andI expect we’ll exceed $1 millionthis year,” says Campbell. “Wehave had as many as 1,200 volun-teers, participants, survivors andonlookers at events in the past. Iparticipate in the all-night relay asa survivor and work at the silentauction table each year. Proceedsfund research that has broughtmany actual cures for various typesof cancer and will cure many morein the future.”

■ ■ ■

Re/Max affiliates raised

P

Wayne Campbell Dan Grantham

Renald Guindon Kasia Kadzielska

Chris Townsend (left) and Al Suleman

Re/Max Charlottetown collected more than $40,000 worth offood for the local food bank.

Kempston & Werth Realty has donated $12,000 to local food banks, combining the efforts ofthe brokerage’s three offices in Listowel, Palmerston and Wingham, Ont. The brokerage makesa donation to a food bank with every sale. In the photo, back row from left: Clare Hood, BryanNichol, Brady Werth, Adam Bushell, Meaghan Graham. Front row: Bruce Kempston (bro-ker/owner), David Werth (owner), a Listowel Food Bank representative, Amy Beierling,Rhonda Ernest, Jennifer Richardson and Greg Brunk.

REM APRIL 2011 53

$62,487 during the MiracleMakers Luncheon in support ofChildren’s Miracle Network andits member hospitals during theRe/Max of Western Canada 28thAnnual Conference recently inVancouver.

Associates and business part-ners participated in a host offundraising events including ahockey tournament and live andsilent auctions for items such asTiffany & Company jewelry, a cus-tom stained-glass masterpiece,sports memorabilia and vacationpackages. Re/Max sales associatesalso contribute a portion of theirincome throughout the year andhost local fundraisers such as golftournaments, head shaves andbowl-a-thons. These combinedefforts have enabled Re/Max affili-ates to donate more than $3.7 mil-lion for CMN’s 14 member hospi-tals across Canada in 2010, withWestern Canadian affiliates lead-ing the way by contributing $1.37million to this total.

■ ■ ■

Sales reps Renald Guindon andDan Grantham of Sutton GroupPreferred Realty in London, Ont.

have donated more than $8,400 to local charities, including Youth Opportunities Unlimited,Women’s Community House,London Humane Society, LondonFood Bank, Boys and Girls Cluband many more. Guidon andGrantham have a donation pro-gram that sees them make a chari-table donation each time theymake a sale. The charity is chosenby the client. “It’s a win, win, winsituation,” says Grantham. “Thecharity gets the money, our clientschoose the cause and we feel gooddoing our part.”

Over the last nine years sincetheir donation program began,Guindon and Grantham havedonated more than $91,000.

■ ■ ■

Re/Max Charlottetown Realtyrecently held a food drive at bothCharlottetown Superstores. Theagents passed out bags in the hopethat shoppers would donate a fooditem. The event was an over-whelming success, collecting morethan $40,000 worth of food for thelocal food bank, the brokerage says.

In appreciation, Re/MaxCharlottetown Realty held a free

skate with the Rockets, the city’smajor junior league hockey team.

■ ■ ■

Chris Townsend and AlSuleman from Sutton Group -West Coast Realty in Coquitlam,B.C. were among many real estatepeople who joined the recent anti-bullying movement. Supporters ofall ages wore pink for Pink Shirt -Anti-Bullying Day. Townshendgot involved after hearing discus-sions on CKNW radio about bully-ing in schools, workplaces, homesand on the Internet. As a father ofgirls ages 13 and 15, he wanted toset a good example. He also hopesthat this issue will not affect theirlives as it has his.

“I have been bullied, as haseveryone in varying degrees,whether it is physical or verbal,acute or chronic,” he says. “It is stillbullying and it makes people sadand scared. Pink Shirt - Anti-Bullying Day raises awareness thatbullying occurs regularly andshould not be tolerated. All ittakes is a little involvement to ini-tiate prevention.”

The ‘pink movement’ got itsstart in Nova Scotia in 2007.

When two Grade 12 studentsheard that a younger male studentwas threatened for wearing a pinkshirt, they purchased 50 pink topsat a discount store, then sent amessage to their schoolmates. Thenext day, they handed out the topsand the school made its firstprotest against bullying.

■ ■ ■

Recently an evening of dinnerand dancing was planned to pro-vide the gift of hope to a womanwho has spent more than half ofher life fighting a progressivelydebilitating disease. DorotaDabrowska - Paciorek was only18-years-old when she was diag-nosed with Multiple Sclerosis.She has spent most of the pastdecade in a wheelchair. KasiaKadzielska, a sales rep with SuttonGroup - West Coast Realty inCoquitlam helped promote theurgent fundraiser.

“It is so hard to imagine whatshe goes through each day,” saysKadzielska. “Somehow, Dorotaendures the discomfort, tiredness,sleepless nights and lack of mobili-ty that this illness has inflictedupon her. On her worst days, she

requires hospitalization, when herweak and vulnerable body nolonger has the strength to fight offinfections on its own.”

Dabrowska - Paciorek has beenapproved for medical treatment inPoland and plans to travel therethis summer. These plans aredependent on the outcome of thefundraising efforts. The fundraiserincluded dinner, dancing and theopportunity to bid on a range ofsilent auction items.

Anyone who wishes to con-tribute is invited to donate througha Vancity account established inDabrowska – Paciorek’s name:Account# 2048817 Branch #52.

■ ■ ■

Two Canadian Century 21offices were among the topCentury 21 fund-raising officesin North America. AcrossCanada and the U.S., brokersand agents raised more than $1.8million in 2010 on behalf ofEaster Seals.

Century 21 Conexus Realty inRegina ranked #2 in NorthAmerica and Century 21 B. J.Roth Realty in Barrie, Ont. rankedsixth. REM

54 REM APRIL 2011

New Brunswick Real EstateAssociation AGM &ConferenceMarch 29 – 31Delta Beausejour HotelMoncton, N.B.Erika Smith – esmith@nbrea.ca

CREA Leadership SummitSunday, April 3Westin Hotel, OttawaAnik Aube - aaube@crea.ca

Association of SaskatchewanRealtors SymposiumApril 13 – 14Delta Regina, Reginawww.saskatchewanrealestate.com

Muskoka & HaliburtonAssociation of RealtorsTrade ShowWednesday, April 20Huntsville, Ont.Ann Riehl - (705) 788-1504,ext. 29

London St. Thomas Associationof Realtors Trade ShowTuesday, April 26London Convention CentreLondonJenny True – jenny@lstar.ca

Toronto Real Estate BoardRealtor QuestMay 4 – 5Toronto Congress CentreTorontowww.realtor-quest.ca

Kitchener-Waterloo Associationof Realtors Realtor Xpo 2.0 Thursday, May 12Bingemans, KitchenerMedina Moseley –medinam@kwreb.on.cawww.kwar.ca/XPO

Trade Showsand ConferencesTrade Showsand Conferences

For complete listings, visit www.remonline.comTo add a listing to this calendar, email jim@remonline.com

2011 HomeLife InternationalConference and Awards May 12 - Broker DayMay 13 - Gala Awards Day withTrade ShowMetro Toronto ConventionCentre, Torontowww.homelife.ca

Century 21 CanadianConference Supplier ExpoSept. 23 – 24Shaw Conference CentreEdmontoncorporate@century21.ca

Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board Technology & Trade ShowWednesday, Oct. 19Blue Mountain ConferenceCentreCollingwood, Ont.exhibitor@gtrebTNT.com

CREA MTC TechnologyForumMonday, Oct. 24Hilton TorontoTorontoAnik Aube - aaube@crea.ca

Realtors Association of GreyBruce Owen Sound TradeShowWednesday, Nov. 2Harry Lumley BayshoreCommunity CentreOwen SoundMarilyn Newbigging –MarilynN@ragbos.com

Compiled with the assistance ofBob Campbell at Colour TechMarketing, www.colourtech.com

THE PUBLISHER’SPAGE

By Heino Molls

here are all manner of signsthat are posted on proper-ties all the time.

Prime examples are commer-cial buildings. Signs declare thename of architects and planners.There are signs that state who isdoing construction work at a site,even the name of demolition com-panies when old buildings aretaken down prior to a rebuild.Many signs say the name of thecompany or bank that providedthe financing on a project or acomplex.

These kinds of signs are notexclusive to major commercialbuildings. There are signs on houselawns in residential areas too. It isnot uncommon to see architect’snames on signs for major renova-tions and rebuilds. There are signsletting the neighbourhood knowthat interior design is taking placeinside. There are signs that declarethe name of roofers, painters,paving companies, new bathroominstallations and just about every-thing else related to all structures.

Of all the signs that are on aproperty a Realtor’s sign provokesthe most thought and attention. ARealtor’s sign is the most importantsign of all them because it showseveryone that everything is start-ing now. It’s the best sign a proper-ty could have.

A Realtor’s sign is a marker forimagination and a place wheredreams begin. It is a beacon ofthings to come. Anyone who looksdown a residential street will see aneighbourhood. But anyone wholooks at a property on the samestreet with a real estate sign imag-ines what it would be like if theylived in the neighbourhood.

It makes me crazy that aRealtor’s sign is not marketed andvigorously promoted by the indus-try in commercials, videos andeven brochures for what it is; a

The real estatesign is wheredreams beginsymbol of possibilities to come.From a condo to a mansion to amobile home, this sign means thepotential fulfillment of a dream. Idon’t care who you are, if you canthink, if you can dream, then yourimagination starts as soon as yousee a Realtor’s sign. It’s automatic.

The public should be educatedthat when a Realtor’s sign appearsat the front of a property it meansthe work of a professional is under-way. Planning has been done. Hardfacts have been laid out for thisproperty to go on the market.Research has been conducted,reviews have been thoroughly car-ried out, mechanicals have beeninspected, an accredited stagingcompany may have been consult-ed, value has been assessed and a

price has been carefully decided. This is not just some willy nilly

shot at sellin’ the place by someguy that’s a friend of a friend whosays he knows real estate. This is aproperty offered for sale with aprice that truly reflects the marketbecause it is backed by the exper-tise of a recognized licensed profes-sional Realtor. There is a plan inplace here that ensures integrity tothe seller and dignity to the buyer.

We should say out loud whateverybody already knows! ARealtor’s sign means what couldbe. A Realtor’s sign is a declarationthat a licensed real estate profes-sional has come to facilitate ahome transition. A Realtor’s signout front validates your dreams. ARealtor’s sign says this place is wor-thy of your imagination because itcould actually be yours. A Realtor’s

sign tells you that you can beginreal and meaningful projections inyour mind.

A Realtor’s sign on a property isalways alone. There may be workdone to get a place ready for sale,but no other sign is placed once aRealtor’s work begins, nor is thereany other sign on the propertyuntil a Realtor’s work has beencompleted. The architects, thedesigners, construction contractorsand renovation crews all muststand by and wait until a Realtorhas enabled the process.

That’s why a Realtor sign is soimportant. That sign has to becared for, straight, clean andupright. It must reflect the greatimportance it stands for. Nothingsaddens me more than a haggard

sign askew, nailed on a fence postin some forlorn location. Do itright, get a good sign. Get a greatsign! Make it magnificent!

I have always believed that realestate companies and franchisecompanies greatly enhance a realestate representative’s ability toserve customers with tools andbrand awareness that an individualRealtor simply cannot provide.The value of belonging to a goodcompany or franchise is irrefutable.

Beyond that, a Realtor’s sign isthe standard bearer of professionalmarketing. It is in many ways thesignature of the trade. I wish it wasrecognized and publicized for whatit truly represents.

Heino Molls is publisher of REM. Email heino@remon-line.com REM

T

Of all the signs that are on a property a Realtor’s sign

provokes the most thought and attention.

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YOUR RETIREMENT PLANDon’t dream about retiring, plan for it NOW!! Unlikeother real estate salespeople, you own your owncorporation. You can retire early, with our 5-10year plan.

TM

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