JUNE 2015

New Home Page Video Centre Launched

Condominium Act Proposed Changes

New Dashboards Added to TREB Market Stats

2015-2016 TREB Membership Dues – Pay Online

Trainer On Duty

And More

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Table of Contents

New Home Page Video Centre Launched Page 3

New Enhanced Resolution for TREB Listing Images – June 18

Page 3

Condominium Act Proposed Changes Page 4

RECO License Renewal On Or Before July 31

Page 5

2015-2016 TREB Membership Dues – Pay Online

Page 6

Have You Checked Out LEDs Lately? Page 6

What’s In Your REALTOR® Toolkit? Page 7

New Dashboards Added to TREB Market Stats

Page 8

Trainer On Duty Page 9

Upload Your TREB eCard Photo Through Manage My Profile

Page 10

Members for Members – Thank You for Your Service!

Page 10

© Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.

New Home Page Video Centre Launched

TREB has launched a convenient new way for Members to access training videos and education information,

free of charge, from anywhere, at any time.

A strip of featured videos is now located below the news postings on the Stratus home page. Clicking any video leads to the Video Centre where the full library of training videos is arranged by category.

Driven by a goal of delivering education content without cost to Members in the

most widely accessible and convenient format, this initiative was undertaken in response to changes announced in January 2013 to the Real Estate Council of

Ontario’s Continuing Education program.

TREB will continue to offer seminars and workshops, hands-on technology classes, and designation education

at both TREB offices and in facilities around the GTA. The increased focus on video and webinar education will continue.

As new content will be featured regularly, Members are encouraged to check out the video strip often.

We welcome your suggestions for future professional development video content. Click here.

New Enhanced Resolution for TREB Listing Images – June 18 On Thursday, June 18, TREB will increase the default resolution for Listing images when they are loaded into the Stratus sys-tem. This enhancement will increase the default image size to a new larger format of 640 x 480 pixels.

This image upgrade will be effective for all new Listings being loaded into the system. For Listings already existing in the system,

the images will have to be reloaded in or-der to take advan-tage of the enhanced resolution default.

This improvement in image quality will also be evident on REALTOR.ca when the photos are sub-sequently uploaded and viewed there.

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The provincial government has in-troduced legislation to update the Condominium Act. TREB partic-

ipated in public consultations that led to this legislation.

This legislation has not yet been passed. TREB will review the proposed changes and provide input to the government, if necessary, as the legislation proceeds through the approval process.

Details

The provincial government has intro-duced Bill 106, Protecting Condominium Owners Act, 2015, which, if passed, would amend the Condominium Act and the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act and enact the Condominium Manage-ment Services Act to address five key areas of reform:

Dispute Resolution The proposed Act would enable the estab-lishment of a Condominium Authority intended to provide quicker, lower-cost dispute resolution than what is available today. It is also intended to help prevent disputes between condo owners and boards by offering clearer information on condo owners' rights and responsibilities.

The Condo Authority would be estab-lished as a delegated administrative au-thority, an independent, self-funded,

not-for-profit corporation. To fund its services, the Condo Authority would have the power to set its own fees, including a small fee for all condo corporations – about $1 per unit a month, which would be collected from unit owners as a month-ly common expense. The provincial gov-ernment has indicated that setting up a dispute resolution service partly funded through a small fee was one of the top rec-ommendations made by condo owners, residents, developers and other experts during the consultations and review of the Condominium Act.

Consumer Protection for Owners and Buyers The proposed Act is also intended to set extra safeguards to protect condo owners and Buyers and help them make informed decisions. It would:

• Require developers to give condo Buyers a copy of an easy-to-read guide to condominium living at the time of sale

• Provide rules intended to prevent Buyers

from being surprised by unexpected costs after purchasing a newly-built condo

• Enable the government to create regu- lations for standard condominium disclosure statements and other docu- ments, such as declarations

• Amend the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act so that most of the warranty protections available to Buyers of new condos would also apply to certain condo conversion projects.

Financial Management The proposed Act is also intended to strengthen financial management rules for condo corporations to help prevent fraud and mismanagement. For example, it would forbid condo corporations from

Condominium Act Proposed Changes

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finalizing some contracts unless they have fulfilled certain procurement pro-cess requirements.

It would also give owners more infor-mation about their condo corporations' financial matters and more control over important changes.

Regulations under the Act would also clarify rules related to reserve funds by defining what adequate reserve funds are and how condo corporations can determine if their reserve funds are suf-ficient.

How Condos Are Run The proposed Act is intended to make it easier for condo owners and boards to participate and vote at meetings. For example, condo boards would no longer have to pass a by-law in order to hold a meeting through conference calls or us-ing similar off-site meeting technologies.

The Act would also require condo boards to issue information to owners

on a regular basis on topics such as the corporation's insurance or any legal pro-ceedings. It would also require condo directors to complete training require-ments.

Condo Manager Licensing The proposed act would establish a separate piece of legislation – the Con-dominium Management Services Act. Under this Act, a new delegated admin-istrative authority would regulate condo

managers and management firms by establishing a compulsory licensing sys-tem. Regulations under the Act would set training and education requirements for condo managers and a code of ethics.

More DetailThe above summary of Bill 106 is not intended to be comprehensive. A copy of Bill 106 is available at the Ontario Legislative Assembly web-site. TREB is continuing to review and monitor this legislation.

Note: If your license is due for renewal on or after August 1, 2015, you must complete RECO’s MCE program online (Option 1).

Any excess credits will no longer be carried forward into the new registration cycle.Here is a more detailed look at what RECO is offering with this $44.00 MCE program (as illustrated above in Option 1):

RECO Update Course • Four mandatory modules focusing on regulatory compliance

Elective Courses• Minimum of two to be completed, but you may complete them all (at no extra cost)• Allow at least 1.5 to 2 hours to complete each one. They are self-paced so they may take longer.• Various topics (list as of December 2014) • Business Analysis for Real Estate Professionals • Business Planning • Social Media for Real Estate Professionals • Environmental Site Assessments • RECO Insurance Program: A Partner in Protection • A Guide to Brokerage Inspections

To access RECO’s program, visit MyWeb. For more information, you may contact RECO Education at education@reco.on.ca or 416-207-4800.

RECO License Renewal On Or Before July 31

Mandatory Continuing Education (MCE) Options

OPTION 1

OPTION 2

OPTION 3

RECO Update course(online through

RECO only)

Two Electives(online through

RECO only)

RECO Update course prior to July 31, 2013

(through OREA)

RECO Update course

(online through RECO only)

18 credits from TREB or any other

approved third party CE provider

18 credits from TREB or any other

approved third party CE provider

+

+

+

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June 30, 2015 is the payment due date for your 2015-2016 TREB annual membership dues and fees. Invoices arrived at your Brokerage’s office on May 15, 2015. If you haven’t received your invoice, please log on to Stratus e-Commerce to retrieve it.

Please note the following:

1. Payment of annual dues by June 30 will confirm a Member’s intention to renew his/her membership with TREB.

If payment is not received by June 30, then a Member’s membership is deemed not to have been renewed and mem- bership privileges will cease immedi- ately, without further notice. Accord- ingly, unless reinstating within 12 months, you will not be responsible for the an- nual dues charges for the coming year.

2. A $100 reinstatement fee (plus HST) will apply for any Member reinstating his/her membership after June 30.

Please remember that payment must be received by TREB by June 30, 2015 to

avoid any service interruptions.

The following payment methods are available:• e-Commerce: Invoices may be paid online through Stratus. Click here.

• Cheque: Payable to the Toronto Real Estate Board

Cheque must be received at TREB’s offices by June 30, 2015. (Please include membership number on cheque.)

• INTERAC Online: In order to make INTERAC Online payments, you must have Internet banking enabled with your financial institution. Currently, four Canadian financial institutions – TD Canada Trust, RBC, Scotiabank, and BMO – accept payments as part of the INTERAC Online program.

2015-2016 TREB Membership Dues – Pay Online

Have you checked out LEDs lately? LED or Light Emitting Diode lighting has been around for a

long time but many people have avoided using them due to their high initial purchase price. But that’s all changing as the technology becomes more widely available and much less expensive. LEDs now make perfect sense. If you make the switch to LEDs, the energy savings will be immediately noticeable. A typical 60 watt equivalent LED bulb uses about 80% less electricity than a comparable incandescent bulb.

Energy savings aside, LED tech-nology offers many advantages. For example, LEDs generate very little heat so they can be used much closer to an object. Their lack of heat

output can also be a significant advan-tage when considering air conditioning requirements. Another great advantage is that LEDs are instantly at full bright-ness when switched on and most are fully dimmable. They are available in a wide variety of types and colours and some can even change colour to match their environment. Maybe the best part is their very long life span. A typical LED is de-

signed to last 20 years or more.

But one of the re-ally cool things about LEDs is the new smart technology that is emerging in this field.

Smart LEDs can be con-nected to your wireless network and controlled

remotely from your smartphone, tablet or computer. You can program them to come on and off at a certain time, dim gently as you fall asleep, or turn off a few minutes after you leave the house. Each smart bulb can be programmed independently for the ul-timate lived-in look while you’re on vaca-tion. Smart bulbs cost significantly more than a standard LED but might be just the thing for you techies out there.

If you have not considered LEDs before, now might be a good time to take a look. Coupon incentives are frequently avail-able at the Ontario Power Authority web-site saveonenergy.ca/consumer/programs or for more information, check out the website of your local electrical utility.

Have You Checked Out LEDs Lately?

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After midnight on June 30, 2015, you will no longer be able to pay this invoice online. You will receive the following message if you try to access the invoice: “The payment due date for this invoice has passed and it is no longer available for online payment. To reinstate your TREB membership, please contact the Membership Department at 416-443-8148.”

In March of this year, CREA and TREB conducted a survey to gauge Member satisfaction with their campaigns

and services. One of the questions asked was about whether Members know about Connect and whether they use this ser-vice. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said that they knew about Connect. Of those that use Connect, 63.4% consider it to be an important business tool.

Searching Non-TREB Listings Made Easier with Connect’s Unified Search

In some areas, there are listings from mul-tiple Boards and Associations. Finding all suitable properties can be a daunting task when searching by a single Board or Association, one by one. The Unified Search uses a map-driven interface which draws in listing information from all Boards and presents that information in a single screen, in a unified format.

This new tool is available to all Boards and Associations that are participating in Connect. The avail-able information will be updated multiple times each day.

The Unified Search is available from the Connect interface. At the top of the

screen, click Unified Search. A new Browser tab will open.

On the Unified Search screen, the search is narrowed by selecting one of the follow-ing Property Types:

• Residential • Condominium • Lease • Farm

Additionally, select any combination of the following criteria:

• MLS#: enter one MLS# only.

• Price Range: adjust by dragging the minimum and/or maximum sliders to achieve the desired price range.

• Status: select Active and/or Sold.

• Location: enter the name of the Municipality or Address or Postal Code to narrow your search area.

Clicking the Search button will call up the Results Screen, which consists of a map with markers for each property that matches the criteria. These properties are listed by the participating Boards and Associations. You can drag the map and zoom in or out to modify the search area.

At the top of the map are controls to

switch between the default Map View or Grid View, which displays basic listing in-formation in a one-line report format.

Viewing Details in Map View

• Click on a marker.

• In the pop-up description, click More Information.

The information available in the detailed report varies from one Board to another.

Reports can be viewed in a REALTOR® Report or Client Report format. Indi-vidual listings can be emailed or printed, using the corresponding button at the top right of the screen.

Viewing Results in Grid View

• Click the View button to the right of a property to view its details.

• Using the check boxes, select one or more listings to Email or Print.

To return to the Connect main page, close the current Browser tab.

To learn more about searching in Connect, click here.

What’s In Your REALTOR® Toolkit?Are You Using Connect?

• Land• Multi-Family• Commercial

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New Dashboards Added to TREB Market Stats

You can access TREB Market Stats from two locations:

1. The Stratus home page.

2. The Stratus Info Centre.

The TREB Market Stats Home Screen is where you initially access your chosen dash-boards by clicking on tiles. The TREB Community Stats and Rental Market Stats tiles are below the original Market Watch Tables and Historic Housing Stats tiles that have been available since mid-2014.

Click on the Rental Market Stats tile on the TREB Market Stats Home Screen. The dashboard will open displaying key quarterly rental market statistics for con-dominium apartments, including the number of units listed, the number of units rented, and average rent.

You can filter the statistics further by geography (TREB Area or Municipality) and bedroom type (one-bedroom, two-bedroom, etc.). Once you have applied your desired filters, press the Update button.

Two new dashboards have been added to the TREB Market Stats tool:

The TREB Market Stats tool is a HTML5 application, which means that it can be accessed on all devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, using up-to-date Internet browsers.

• TREB Community Stats, which will allow you to access community-level sales and listings data on a quarterly basis, similar to that found in TREB’s Community Housing Market Reports;

• Rental Market Stats, which will allow you to access quarterly rental market data similar to that found in TREB’s Rental Market Report, including condominium apartment units listed and rented, along with average rents.

How to Access TREB Market Stats

Opening the New Dashboards from the TREB Market Stats Home Screen

Using the Rental Market Stats Dashboard

Click to open TREB Market Stats.

Click to open new TREB Market Stats

dashboards.

Historic quarterly rental apartment statistics.

Filter by Geography and Bedroom Type.

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You can export information from all dashboards within TREB Market Stats. Simply click the Export link in the top right corner of the dashboard. You will see a new menu. Within the menu, choose your desired file type (PDF, PNG or Excel), and click the arrow to download the file.

Using the TREB Community Stats Dashboard

Exporting to PDF, PNG and Excel Files

Click on the TREB Commu-nity Stats tile on the TREB Market Stats Home Screen. A map will open prompting you to click the TREB Area you are interested in: Halton, Peel, Toronto, York, Durham or south Simcoe County.

When you select your area, the dashboard will open displaying statistics for all municipalities and com-munities within your chosen area (in this example, York Region). You will then be able to apply additional filters to the dashboard by changing the year/quar-ter combination, drilling down further by geography (e.g., Markham and its constituent communities), and choosing a particular home type (e.g., Detached). When you are happy with your filter changes, click the Update button.Select a TREB Area, for

example, York Region.

Filter by Quarter/Year, Geography and Home Type.

Columns display TREB's geographic hierarchy, including

Area, Municipality and Community.

Do You Need Stratus One-on-One Help?

• Are you confused by the New Search with

its two criteria forms?

• Have you figured out how to add your contacts into Stratus?

• Are you having difficulty searching

certain types of properties?

• Are you struggling to figure out how to do some of the things you have always done now that Old Stratus is retired?

Members may stop by TREB or our York Office on any Friday morning between 9:00 A.M. and noon. A TREB Technol-ogy Learning Specialist will be in the computer lab to assist you with Stratus.

You can bring your own laptop or use one of the lab computers.

No registration is required. We will han-dle Member drop-ins on a first-come, first-served basis.

When: Friday mornings 9am – 12pmWhere: TREB Offices

1400 Don Mills Road, Toronto and 45 Millard Avenue West, Newmarket.

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Suggestions & FeedbackIf you have content suggestions for Across The Board or comments about this publication, feel free to email us at acrosstheboard@trebnet.com

GET SOCIAL WITH TREB

Members for Members – Thank You for Your Service!

As a Member-driven Association, TREB relies on the input of committed professionals volunteering to serve on focus groups, committees, and task forces. Across The Board will continue to

showcase TREB Members serving on our committees.

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS COMMITTEE

L to R: Jinfeng Jiang; Cailey Clow; Graham Rowlands; Sandra Rinomato, Chair; Branden Kameka.

The convenience of being able to upload your TREB eCard photo is now offered through the Manage My Profile interface. Simply log in and click the new Upload eCard Photo link under the Profile tab.

Click Upload New or Replace Photo.

Click Choose File, navigate to the photo you wish to use, and select it.

Click Upload File.

You can repeat this procedure whenever you wish to update your photo.

If you have any questions, please call the TREB Help Desk at 416-443-8111.

Upload Your TREB eCard Photo Through

Manage My Profile

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Toronto Real Estate Board © 2015

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TREB eCardTREB eCardStatus as of June 3, 2015

SMITH, JOANSalespersonTREB Membership#: 1234567RECO Registration#: 9999999123 REALTY LTD.Brokerage

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