OREB, Guide to Services - Ottawa Real Estate Board

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Dashboard.oreb.ca
G
Guide to
Board Services
A directory of services offered to
Ottawa Real Estate Board
OREB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613-225-2240
Supra Tech Support . . . . . . 1-877-699-6787
MLXchange Tech Support . 1-888-825-5472
OREA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-866-411-6732
Tech Helpline . . . . . . . . 1-877-573-5610
RECO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-800-245-6910
(for computer hardware/software issues)
Members
®
September 2015
Contents
RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBERSHIP
1
BOARD SERVICES
2
USE OF TRADEMARKS AND LOGOS
12
COMMUNICATIONS
13
SENIOR & MANAGER MEMBER SECTION
15
DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE TO OREB MEMBERS
18
OREB STAFF CONTACT LIST
Please feel free to contact us at 613-225-2240 or via email with any questions you may have.
Office of the CEO
Janice Myers [email protected]
Sine Tait [email protected]
Accounting
Bill Jenkins [email protected]
Donna Gagne [email protected]
Administration
Lisa Ersil [email protected]
Building Superintendent
Butler Boone [email protected]
Marketing & Communications
Dave Holmes [email protected]
Valerie Powell [email protected]
Gonzalo Lazo [email protected]
Membership
Mary-Ann Mayhew [email protected]
MLS® Department
Claire Parrott [email protected]
Michelle Montpetit [email protected]
Commercial Services
& Facilities Management
Lee Freeman [email protected]
Operations
Meghan Pinhey [email protected]
Debby Boisclair [email protected]
Nancy Labonté [email protected]
Maryse Paré [email protected]
Finance & Events
Wilda Brown [email protected]
Reception
Candace Nowlan [email protected]
Mail Room | Board Bags
Kelly Burke [email protected]
Welcome to the Board!
This booklet briefly outlines the various services that the
Board offers to its Members. For more information about
any of these services, we encourage you to contact
the Board Office at 613-225-2240. Our receptionist
can put you through to the staff member best equipped
to answer your questions.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBERSHIP
Membership in the Board has both privileges and responsibilities. Some
of the responsibilities of all OREB Members include:
• Timely payment of your Board account. Late payments can
result in fines and suspension of services.
• Safeguarding your Dashboard user ID and password. Don’t
share them with anyone, not even an assistant or a colleague.
This helps ensure that the MLS® System remains a valuable
asset for Members.
• Using the REALTOR® and MLS® trademarks correctly. CREA
has a trademarks manual available on REALTOR Link® that
clarifies how to do that.
• Keeping listing information accurate and up to date, for example
reporting sales or conditional sales within 24 hours.
• Abiding by OREB’s MLS® Rules and Regulations. Not doing
so can result in a complaint being made about you to the
Professional Standards Committee.
1
BOARD SERVICES
The Board maintains the Ottawa MLS® system, and
Members use MLXchange and Fusion software to access
it. If you have an assistant who you would like to have
access to your account in order to make changes to
your listings, you can contact the Board to obtain access
for them through the Multiple Simultaneous Access
Agreement. Please refer to the policies section of the
MLS®
System
Members’ Handbook on REALTORLink.ca. Arrangements
can also be made for access by secretaries of Managers
and Senior Members. Please refer to the policies section
of the Member Handbook on REALTOR Link®.
Once you enter a listing on MLXchange or Fusion, portions
of the listing data are automatically sent to the Board’s
public-facing website OttawaRealEstate.org as well as
to CREA’s website REALTOR.ca. Whenever you make
changes to listing information on MLXchange or Fusion,
those changes are carried over to the public websites the
next time they are updated, usually by the following day.
MLXchange and Fusion have many features beyond
simply allowing Members to enter and maintain listings.
The Board offers technology training courses on
MLXchange, and more recently on Fusion, if you would
2
like to learn more about these features.
The Single Sign-On Dashboard is your one-stop-shop
for access to the MLS® System and other frequently
Single
Sign-On
Dashboard
used Board Applications and Resources. You will login once to the Dashboard and be able to go to all your
highly utilized services such as MLXchange and Fusion,
WEBForms®, REALTOR Link®, etc., without having to
log-in again to each application separately. Access the
Dashboard at dashboard.oreb.ca.
SafeAccess® is a complete security solution designed
to prevent unauthorized access to the MLS® System,
including password sharing. It uses an intelligent user
SafeAccess®
login monitoring system that can recognize key strokes,
IP addresses, and device identity. SafeAccess® will be
able to identify users that are at higher risk for password
sharing and unauthorized access. This security feature
is built in to the Single Sign-On Dashboard.
OttawaToGo offers a time-saving, easy-to-use,
OttawaToGo
data-rich mobile app for on-the-go access to listing
data. It gives you the power you have come to
depend on from your desktop, but right from your
iOS and Android devices. It offers an intuitive user
experience, an array of real estate tools, current
listing details and photos, detailed maps, and
much more. Download OttawaToGo in the Apple®
App Store or Google Play™ store by searching
“OttawaPropertyLocator”.
3
The Membership Director (Pay My Bill+) Application
allows you to access your Member account online.
Most importantly, it will allow you to view, print, and
Membership
Director
pay your monthly OREB account online. You will also
be able to manage personal information, add/change
website, email, and social media links, view previous
statements and invoice history for a specific year,
and sign up for auto-debit to your credit card. You
will find the Membership Director on the Dashboard.
www.OttawaRealEstate.org
m.OttawaRealEstate.org
OttawaRealEstate.org is the Board’s public-facing
Board
Website
website. Portions of all OREB Members’ active listings
appear on the site and are searchable by members of
the public. The site contains other useful information
for buyers and sellers, such as the Membership Roster,
a list of upcoming Open Houses, a mobile version of
the website for smartphone users, and links to OREB’s
mobile apps.
The Board can arrange to provide a link between
a Member’s personal website and a “View My
Listings” button which produces a list of all the
View My
Listings
active listings belonging to that Member. Since the
“View My Listings” button links directly to the OREB
website, the information regarding your listings is
automatically updated anytime you make a change
to your listing on the MLS® System. There is an
extra charge for this service. Contact Maryse Paré
4
([email protected]) for further information.
Open
Houses
If you are holding an Open House on one of
your listings, you can input the time and date
information into MLXchange or Fusion, and the
system will automatically pull that information to
the Open Houses page on OttawaRealEstate.org,
which includes Open Houses scheduled in the next
10 days. The list is updated every night.
REALTOR Link® is the Board’s intranet site, and
REALTOR
Link®
it contains many great resources for Members
including current and archived monthly Ottawa
sales statistics and trend reports; links to useful
information about current issues affecting the
organized real estate industry, and an archive
of Membership newsletters. There are also links
to CREA and OREA information pages. You can
access REALTOR Link® through the Dashboard.
5
WEBForms®, is where Members can get up-to-
WEBForms®
date OREA standard real estate forms. RECO
requires that you use the most recent versions of
forms, which are always available on WEBForms®.
(The Board only sells hard copies of the No
Carbon Required forms; an order form can be
found on REALTOR Link®.)
Connect is a joint venture among some of
Ontario’s real estate boards that allows Members
Connect
of participating boards to search and view
the active listings, two years of sales history
for residential listings and four years of sales
history for commercial listings, of all other
participating Boards. There is a link to the Connect
website on the Dashboard.
The Board holds one license to RealTrack, for
use by all Members, from a designated computer
at the Board Office. RealTrack collects, confirms,
RealTrack
and
publishes
information
on
commercial
(ICI) real estate transactions of $500,000 and
over for properties located in Ontario. To book
time on the RealTrack database, please contact
6
the Board Office.
GeoWarehouse® is Ontario’s land registry system.
Members can view 1,000 property reports per calendar
GeoWarehouse® year at no additional charge and additional reports can
be purchased if necessary. Through GeoWarehouse®
Members can also obtain MPAC data.
If you would like your personal business photo to appear
in the Membership Roster on OttawaRealEstate.org,
Personal
Photos
you can do so through MLXchange or Fusion.
MLXchange:
Tools – Images – Member Images – Agent Photo
Fusion:
Tools – Settings – My Images – Add New Image “Agent
Photo”
If you have a listing you want to promote to Members of
Interboard
Listings
another board in Ontario (by having the listing added to
that Board’s MLS® database) you can do so under the
terms of the Interboard Listing Agreement. Contact the
MLS® Department for additional information.
The Board hosts several networking and business
events throughout the year, including the Tribute
Board
Networking
& Business
Events
to Success, the Annual Charity Golf Tournament in
May, the Annual Trade Show in the fall, the Annual
Commercial Summit, the Annual General Meetings of
both the Board and the Commercial Services Division,
and the Christmas Cocktail Reception. These events
are a great way to meet your fellow REALTORS® and
to put a face to some of the people you may regularly
speak with on the telephone.
7
COMMERCIAL
Services Division
O T TAWA R E A L E S TAT E B O A R D
The Board has a Commercial Services Division
(CSD) for those Members who practice commercial
real estate. There is no additional cost to join the
CSD but membership criteria must be met, including:
Commercial
Services
Division
completion of commercial real estate education
courses; sales, leasing, appraisal, development
or property management experience; and an
endorsement by a Manager or Senior Member.
CSD services include commercial e-newsletters,
promotion through targeted advertising, breakfast
and lunch information sessions with guest speakers,
commercial courses with MCE credits, a separate
commercial roster on the Board’s website, access
to RealTrack, and an Annual Commercial Summit.
The Board has a computer lab available for Members
to rent to conduct technology courses. The lab has
Computer
Training
Lab
11 student computer stations and an instructor station
with a computer and a projector. The software on each
computer includes Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft
Excel,
Outlook,
PowerPoint,
Publisher
and Word. No other software may
be loaded on the computers.
8
The Board
offers Bluetooth® iBoxes to all
of its Members. These iBoxes (aka iBox BT)
Electronic
Lockboxes
can be opened with either an ActiveKEY or an
eKEY, which you can choose upon registration.
The iBox is equipped with both Bluetooth®
and infrared technologies. Many smartphones
work
directly
with
the
iBox
BT
using
Bluetooth® and do not require any additional
hardware. The iBox BT stores activity data every
time it is opened, and allows you to track activity
with real-time information. You will always know
who has entered the property, and when. It also
has a large key container to hold multiple house
keys and gate cards, and its shackle releases in
one step for easy placement on properties. For
more information, see the iBox Basics document
included in your registration package.
9
REALTORS
Care®
Foundation
The Ontario REALTORS Care® Foundation collects
funds raised by real estate Boards and Associations
across Ontario, and provides grants to shelter-based
organizations located in the communities where the funds
were raised. The Ottawa Real Estate Board fundraises
for the Foundation through a charitable golf tournament
held every spring; by collecting one dollar per member
per month via Membership dues; and through a discount
partnership with local RONA stores, which provides a
yearly donation to the Foundation.
The Board offers a service called bulk electronic mail
to assist members in promoting their MLS® listings and
Agent Open Houses to other Board members. The service
costs $50 plus applicable taxes per flyer/sheet (subject
to change).Members can e-mail their flyer in PDF format
Bulk
Electronic
Mail
to the Design/Multimedia depart. ([email protected]).
Design services are also available. Please consult staff
for pricing information, turnaround time, and policies for
bulk electronic mail.
The bulk electronic mail broadcast is sent to Members
every Tuesday. The flyer file must be provided to the
Board no later than 8:30 a.m. Monday to be sent out
on Tuesday. The link to the flyers will remain active for
10
seven days.
Depending on where you do most of your business,
Subscribing
to another
Board/
Association
you may wish to have access to all the MLS® data
of another Board or Association, not just that data
available to you through Connect. In those instances
you may be able to become a subscriber member of
their MLS® System.
REALTOR® Halls A & B at the Board office can be
rented by members when space is available. The
Meeting
Facilities &
Audio Visual
Equipment
rates per hall are $250 + applicable taxes for a half
day (3 hours) and $450 + applicable taxes for a full
day (9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) which includes 50 cups
of coffee (additional cups $0.75 cup). Rates are
subject to change. No evenings or weekends. The
rooms are not available for meals or social functions.
Other restrictions may apply. Both halls have LCD
projectors and screens available.
Auto-debit
Service
Monthly OREB fees can be paid by signing up for
auto-debt, either to a Visa or Mastercard, or to a bank
account. Sign-up forms are available on REALTOR
Link® under Member and Finance Forms.
The Board’s Professional Standards Committee deals
Professional
Standards
with complaints brought against members involving
alleged violations of the MLS® Rules and the Board’s
By-law. The Discipline Committee determines what
penalties are levied against members who are found
to have breached the Rules or the By-law, or the
REALTOR® Code.
11
USE OF TRADEMARKS AND LOGOS
COMMERCIAL
Services Division
O T TAWA R E A L E S TAT E B O A R D
The terms MLS®, REALTOR® and Multiple Listing Service® are
trademarks that are owned by the Canadian Real Estate Association,
and there are very specific rules about how they must be used. As
members of CREA, all OREB members do have the right to use
these trademarks, but they must be used correctly. The sanctions
for infringement can be substantial and may include the loss of the
member’s right to use any of CREA’s trademarks. CREA has created a
comprehensive trademark toolkit that is available on REALTOR Link®.
OREB permits Members to use a version of its logo that contains the
word “Member.” This logo is available for download on REALTOR
Link® under Member Resources.
Full CSD Members can obtain an electronic version of the CSD/
Member logo by contacting the CSD Department.
12
COMMUNICATIONS
MemNews, our newly bi-weekly electronic Board
newsletter, is sent out every second Wednesday to
all Members who have provided OREB with their
email address. It contains articles about issues
relevant to your business and the industry, as well
as reminders about Board services and events, and
a list of upcoming education courses.
The News & Information box on the Dashboard (righthand side) is used by your Board to communicate
important news and information with you on a regular
basis.
Senior Members and Managers receive a quarterly
e-newsletter, and Commercial Services Division
members receive a quarterly e-newsletter.
OREB maintains a public presence on Facebook
and Twitter. The OREB Facebook Group is a
private group for Members only. Contact Valerie at
[email protected] to join today.
13
The Board’s Government and Community Relations
Committee is responsible for tracking issues that affect
the real estate industry at all three levels of government:
Lobbying
municipal, provincial, and federal. They lobby City Hall
on local issues such as electronic signatures, and work
with OREA and CREA to lobby on issues that affect
REALTORS® in Ontario and across Canada.
Promotion
of Members
The Board promotes its Members to the public
in various ways through a REALTOR® value
campaign every year. Some regular promotion of
Members includes participation in CREA’s radio coop campaign; billboards; digital marketing; monthly
ads in the Ottawa Real Estate Book, among others.
The Board’s commercial roster is promoted in
media outlets such as BOMA Commercial Space
Directory, the Ottawa Business Journal, and the
Real Estate Forum Magazine.
14
SENIOR & MANAGER MEMBER SECTION
If you are a Senior Member (Principal broker) or Manager
Member of the Ottawa Real Estate Board, here is some
information that pertains specifically to you.
The Board holds four Senior and Manager
Member Information Sessions per calendar
Information
Sessions
year, and brings in guest speakers to address
current issues of interest to you. There is a
small fee for attendance. Flyers are sent out in
advance of these events and a notice appears
in The Realty Leader newsletter.
Arbitration
In the rare event that Senior Members are unable
to resolve a commission dispute between their
brokerages, the Board provides arbitration services
to help resolve the dispute. Contact the Chief
Executive Officer for more information.
15
Statistical
& Brokerage
Data
You have the ability to download statistics specific
to your brokerage and salespeople. A link to
Broker Statistics can be found on the Dashboard.
Please refer to the policies section of the Member
Handbook on REALTOR Link®
When a Senior Member closes his/her firm, ceases to
be a Member of the Board, or is no longer registered
with RECO, that Brokerage’s MLS® listing agreements
are no longer valid and the listings will be reported as
Removal or
Modification
of MLS®
Listings
cancelled by the Board.
There are some circumstances under which it may be
necessary for a Senior Member to obtain new listing
agreements for listings already on the MLS® System
or to modify listings. The Board has procedures
in place to assist the Senior Member. Complete
information may be found in the Policies section of the
Member Handbook available on REALTOR Link®.
16
The Directors may, at their discretion, grant an exemption
to any Member from payment of monthly fees and dues
Partial
Exemption
from Board
Fees & Dues
where, in the opinion of the Directors, such exemption is
justified. Examples include a member suffering from a
long term illness, recovering from an accident, or unable to
work while on pregnancy leave. Complete information may
be found in the Policies section of the Member Handbook
available on REALTOR Link®.
Through a process called RETS, the Board can make
available the MLS® listings of a Senior Member on a
RETS
password protected FTP site. The Senior Member is then
able to make the information available for the purposes of
populating websites of his/her choice. Contact the Chief
Executive Officer’s Office for direct inquiries.
Through agreements with two third party vendors of
Member &
Brokerage
Information
front office software (LoneWolf and Emphasys), Senior
Members can be provided with selected member and
brokerage information to assist with appointment making
processes. Contact the Chief Executive Officer’s Office
for direct inquiries.
Senior and Manager Members receive a quarterly
electronic newsletter, calls The Realty Leader which
Newsletter
contains information about issues specific to their
roles as managers or brokers. If you have ideas for
articles please contact the Communications Officer at
the Board Office.
17
DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE TO OREB MEMBERS
Certain Ottawa businesses and companies offer special discounts and
rates to OREB members. Here is a current list:
The Canadian Automobile Association has made some changes to the
original CAA Membership Group offer available to OREB Members
and their eligible family Members. CAA now has lower pricing, and
has extended the lower prices to renewing CAA Members. CAA
Memberships cover the member in any vehicle as a passenger or driver,
on or off the job, anywhere across North America, 24/7. For more details
on the CAA discount program, call Kimberly Baker at 1-800-267-8713,
ext. 6394, or cell 613-293-8493, or by e-mail: [email protected].
Business
Discounts
Greco Lean & Fit has a special promotion for OREB members.
Sign up for 20 or 40 personal training sessions and receive a 15
or 20 per cent discount. This will give you access to their legendary
Lean & Fit classes. For more details on the program, please contact
Danny Nesrallah at 613-825-5326.
Jiffy Photo & Print is pleased to offer special pricing for OREB
members on all services. Specializing in printing feature sheets,
listed/sold flyers, brochures, business cards and more. They
offer special camera packages, portrait and home photography,
photofinishing services, promotional items and more. For more
information contact Jiffy Photo & Print at 613-831-2121, email at
[email protected] or online at www.jiffyonline.com.
18
Mini Storage Ottawa is offering a discount to OREB members and
their clients – 50% off the first three months of storage for new
customers of Mini Storage Ottawa. Members would receive a $50
dining gift card for every two new referrals. Mini Storage Ottawa is
locally owned and operated with over 800 units in the City. For further
details please contact Vickey Apperley at 613-739-7696 or e-mail
[email protected].
Rogers offers special cellular phone programs to OREB members.
Each plan differs based on usage times. For the most current
rates contact Cameron Graham at 613-238-7533 (office),
613-240-5844 (cell) or [email protected].
Business
Discounts
For all your photography needs including home interiors, headshots and portfolios for business cards or brochures, weddings,
family portraits and much more. Business portfolios (head-shots)
available on location for as low as $75 (min. 4 agents). For more
information contact [email protected] or 613-291-0787.
www.scottphotography.ca.
(continued)
Staples Canada is pleased to announce that OREB members
are now members of their Business Discount Plan for 10 Copy
and Print locations in the Ottawa area. This plan is set up so
that the more members that use their services, the larger the
discount available to everyone. This discount applies to printing
done at any Staples Copy and Print location. Please contact your
closest Staples location for more details.
Telus offers special phone and smartphone combo plans to OREB
Members. For the most current rates and plans, please contact Matt
Plosenski at 613-223-7079; email [email protected].
19
Business
Discounts
(continued)
The YMCA-YWCA has extended special membership pricing
to OREB members under the Y Active Employer corporate
wellness program. Members and their families are offered
access to six Y facilities across the National Capital Region at
advantageous corporate rates. Please indicate your interest
in this program by sending an email to yactiveemployer@
nationalcapitalregionymca-ywca.ca. If you are currently a
member of the YMCA-YWCA they will gladly switch your
membership to a Corporate Membership.
Import Auto Leasing
Auto
Leasing
Other
Discounts
Import offers all makes and models, new or used. Since
1984 they have been servicing clients by offering vehicles
of their choice and tailoring a leasing program that fits
your personal needs. All OREB members can expect
to receive fleet pricing and Imports corporate discount.
Contact Crystal Green at 613-722-7535.
As Members of the Ontario and Canadian Real
Estate Associations, OREB members are entitled to
other discounts negotiated by those organizations
on behalf of their members.Visit www.orea.com &
REALTOR Link® for details on other member savings
programs.
Through the Ontario Real Estate Association and The
Canadian Real Estate Association, OREB members
can join extended health and dental care plans, as well
as home, auto, office, and life insurance.
20
Albert at Bay Suite Hotel
435 Albert Street (at Bay St.)
Ottawa, ON K1R 7X4
Phone: 613-238-8858 / 800-267-6644
Aristocrat Suite Hotel
Hotels
131 Cooper Street
Ottawa, ON K2P 0E7
Phone: 613-236-7500
Best Western Victoria Park Suites
377 O’Connor Street (at Gladstone Ave.)
Ottawa, ON K2P 2M2
Phone: 613- 567-7275 / 800-465-7275
21
Access all your important Board Applications
and resources from the Dashboard!
Dashboard.oreb.ca
G
Guide to
Board Services
A directory of services offered to
Ottawa Real Estate Board
OREB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613-225-2240
Supra Tech Support . . . . . . 1-877-699-6787
MLXchange Tech Support . 1-888-825-5472
OREA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-866-411-6732
Tech Helpline . . . . . . . . 1-877-573-5610
RECO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-800-245-6910
(for computer hardware/software issues)
Members
®
September 2015