In case you missed TREB President Larry Cerqua on "Ask the Experts" with Newstalk 1010's Iain Grant.

Together they discuss the GTA real estate market and how working with a TREB Member REALTOR helps navigate buying and selling your home!

• Listen here

REALTOR® QUEST 2017, Canada's largest real estate trade show and conference, officially begins tomorrow, Wednesday, May 10, at the Toronto Congress Centre (map), and we want to break down all the Day 1 highlights for you to ensure you don't miss a thing!

Spring Annual Meeting with a Keynote Address by Margaret Trudeau

Come check out our Spring Annual Meeting at 10:00 a.m. in Hall B. The meeting will feature a keynote address from Margaret Trudeau. In her talk, entitled "Changing My Mind," Trudeau will share her formidable life story and message of resilience with the goal of helping to inspire others and to erase the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

The meeting will also feature remarks from Habitat for Humanity GTA, CREA, OREA and RECO. As well, TREB President Larry Cerqua and CEO John DiMichele will be on hand to share updates on your Association. There will also be discussion of proposed TREB By-Law changes.

YPN Partnership: BDC Economic Outlook with Chief Economist Pierre Cléroux

You won't want to miss an Economic Outlook from BDC Chief Economist Pierre Cléroux at 1:30 p.m. in the Cohen Ballroom. Cléroux will review recent economic developments around the world, including the U.S., China, Europe, and Canada, honing in on employment, GDP growth, interest rates, and real estate conditions. He'll also discuss what can be expected over the coming years in the context of Canada and Ontario.

Emerging Technologies for Real Estate & the Real World

Based on the popularity of last year's session, Dan Riskin, of Discovery Canada's Daily Planet, is back to host an Emerging Technologies for Real Estate and the Real World session from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Hall B. This year's lineup will feature advances in 3D Printing, the Internet of Things Connected Home Technology, iOS for Real Estate, and 4D Virtual Experiences.

Networking Reception

One of the best things about REALTOR® QUEST is the networking opportunities it presents, and nowhere is the networking opportunity so great as at our Networking Reception. Join us on Wednesday, May 10 at 4:00 p.m. at Centre Stage to connect with your colleagues in a relaxed atmosphere while listening to the sounds of The Kevan McKenzie Band featuring Michael Dunston.

Over 35 Learning Quest Sessions, 240 Trade Show Exhibitors, an Interactive Innovation Centre, Health Quest & More

Other attractions to check out include over 35 Learning Quest professional development sessions; the Trade Show, which features over 240 industry exhibitors; the Innovation Centre, showcasing the latest technologies that will impact the real estate industry; Health Quest, which will offer a variety of complimentary wellness services including massage and an oxygen bar; and the TREB Pavilion, where you'll find the answers to your questions about TREB tools and services and some fun with The Social Stop Brought to You by TREB'S YPN where you can take an Instagram selfie complete with photo booth props and share it using #RealtorQuest.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a Day 2 Preview and don't forget to check out realtorquest.ca for a full event details.

ADMISSION & MORE INFORMATION

Admission to REALTOR® QUEST 2017 is free for all TREB, BREB, DRAR, and BDAR Members who show proof of membership at the door. No pre-registration is required. All other licensed real estate professionals can register here.

For more information on REALTOR® QUEST 2017, visit realtorquest.ca

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @TREBhome and on Facebook for even more updates on REALTOR® QUEST. We also invite you to join the conversation by using #RealtorQuest. 

REALTOR® QUEST 2017, Canada's largest real estate trade show and conference, officially began today, Wednesday, May 10, at the Toronto Congress Centre (map), and we want to break down all the Day 2 (Thursday, May 11) highlights for you to ensure you don't miss a thing tomorrow!

Commercial Content Including GTA Regional Economic Development Forum

Are you a commercial REALTOR®? Stop by the Waxman Room all day for great commercial content including a GTA Regional Economic Development Forum (8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in the Waxman Room) where, for the first time ever, all five regions serviced by TREB Members will be together on stage at REALTOR® QUEST. Other commercial content includes aState of the Market Overview with Altus Group's Matthew Boukall and TREB's Jason Mercer, a presentation from Metrolinx on Connecting People to Places and a session on Commercial Real Estate Financing with Randal Blackwood.

Emerging Technologies for Real Estate and the Real World

Based on the popularity of last year's session, Dan Riskin, of Discovery Canada's Daily Planet, is back to host an Emerging Technologies for Real Estate and the Real World session from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Hall B. This year's lineup will feature advances in 3D Printing, the Internet of Things Connected Home Technology, iOS for Real Estate, and 4D Virtual Experiences.

My Favourite App!

Head to Centre Stage from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. to see Marc Saltzman lend his expertise as host of REALTOR® QUEST's newest hit feature, an interactive exploration of the latest and greatest mobile apps and devices for REALTORS®.

Women in Real Estate Panel

Taking place in Hall B from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. and hosted by Sangita Patel, ET Canada Reporter and Host of Home to Win, the Women in Real Estate Panel will discuss what it means to be a woman in today's real estate industry including how to address gender equality issues in the workplace, developing female talent, creating support systems and mentorship opportunities for women in Brokerages, and promoting the safety of female REALTORS®.

Lessons from the Den

In this talk, one of Canada's most high profile business women distills a lifetime of experience to reveal everything you need to know – and do – to start, to run, and to grow a great business. Arlene Dickinson will share her Lessons from the Den from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Hall B.

Over 35 Learning Quest Sessions, 240 Trade Show Exhibitors, an Interactive Innovation Centre, Health Quest & More

Other attractions to check out include over 35 Learning Quest professional development sessions; the Trade Show, which features over 240 industry exhibitors; the Innovation Centre, showcasing the latest technologies that will impact the real estate industry; Health Quest, which will offer a variety of complimentary wellness services including massage and an oxygen bar; and the TREB Pavilion, where you'll find the answers to your questions about TREB tools and services and some fun with The Social Stop Brought to You by TREB'S YPN where you can take an Instagram selfie complete with photo booth props and share it using #RealtorQuest.

ADMISSION & MORE INFORMATION

Admission to REALTOR® QUEST 2017 is free for all TREB, BREB, DRAR, and BDAR Members who show proof of membership at the door. No pre-registration is required. All other licensed real estate professionals can register here.

For more information on REALTOR® QUEST 2017, visit realtorquest.ca

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @TREBhome and on Facebook for even more updates on REALTOR® QUEST. We also invite you to join the conversation by using #RealtorQuest. 

Wednesday, May 17, 2017 Is National Real Estate Day, a day for all Canadians to celebrate home ownership.

Tune in to Breakfast Television on May 12 at 6:20 a.m. to see the celebration kick off with TREB President Larry Cerqua.

Breakfast Television and the Toronto Real Estate Board are celebrating National Real Estate Day by awarding one lucky winner with a home improvement gift card worth $3,000 to help with their home ownership dreams.

Or, join the conversation online using the hashtag #iheartrealestate on Facebook and Twitter @TREBhome for your chance to win more home and garden prizes.

For more information, visit: TREBhome.com/NRED

TREB President Larry Cerqua joined Breakfast Television Toronto's Kevin Frankish this morning to talk about National Real Estate Day celebrations taking place on May 17, 2017, and the GTA market.

• Watch interview

Kitec plumbing is a type of pipe that is vulnerable to premature failure, and REALTORS® should be aware of this product, which may damage a home and result in costly repairs.

The existence of Kitec plumbing can also expose REALTORS® to liability, since Salespeople are required to take reasonable steps to discover and disclose material facts about a property, according to the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO).

Kitec plumbing was commonly used in homes built between 1995 and 2007, and otherwise for general plumbing repairs or renovations. The Kitec system was sold under a number of different brand names and in a variety of colours, and it consists of pipes and fittings. In 2005, it was recalled because the pipes and fittings were found to have a tendency to corrode quickly and can fail entirely, which can lead to flooding.

To continue reading this article, click here.

On May 10 and 11, TREB hosted REALTOR® QUEST 2017, Canada's largest real estate trade show and conference. This year, nearly 8,000 attendees took part over the two days. Read on for a full recap of this year's event.

Spring Annual Meeting
This year's Spring Annual Meeting was packed (1,400 in attendance), and the lineup did not disappoint. From an inspiring keynote address by former first lady Margaret Trudeau to an update by TREB President Larry Cerqua and CEO John DiMichele, there was something for everyone.

Additionally, there was discussion of proposed changes to TREB's By-Laws, a presentation on TREB's contributions to the Ontario REALTORS Care® Foundation which included video remarks from Habitat for Humanity GTA CEO Ene Underwood, and industry updates from OREA, CREA and RECO.

Featured Presentations & Learning Quest
With over 35 Learning Quest Professional Development sessions, plus an ABR® Designation Course, and several featured presentations, this year's REALTOR® QUEST definitely put the focus on helping you achieve professional excellence in real estate.

Some of this year's highlights included Featured Presentations by Arlene Dickinson, who shared her Lessons from the Den – this was a standing room only event, with 1,200 in attendance; a Women in Real Estate panelhosted by ET Canada's Sangita Patel; and two Emerging Technologies for Real Estate and the Real World sessions hosted by Daily Planet's Dan Riskin.

Trade Show
This year's trade show featured over 240 industry exhibitors and was bustling with activity over the two days. In addition, attendees could check out the Innovation Centre, which featured some of the latest technologies to impact real estate, including 4D virtual reality experience chambers, 3D printing, iOS for Business and a TELUS® Connected Playground.

Health Quest allowed Members a respite from the hustle and bustle of the Trade Show, with access to free massage therapy, an oxygen bar, and more! Attendees could also stock up on the products they needed at the REALTOR® STORE, and could head over to the TREB Pavilion where they could find the answers to their questions about TREB tools and services.

Centre Stage & Prizes 
Centre Stage was bustling with activity as well. Day One concluded with a fun networking reception punctuated by the soulful sounds of the Kevan McKenzie Band featuring Michael Dunston. On Day Two, Marc Saltzman hosted a My Favourite App session.

In addition to all the fun and games, Centre Stage was also the site of our daily prize draws. Congratulations go out to Jagtar Singh Heer of New Ventures Realty and Stuart Clapham of Royal LePage Signature Realty, the winners of our daily draw for a free 2017/2018 TREB Membership. Additionally, congratulations to Claudio Castro of Sutton Group – Security Real Estate Inc. for winning this year's grand prize, a Samsung 60" 6200 Series Full HD Smart LED TV.

REALTOR® QUEST 2017 was an event to remember, and TREB would like to thank all who attended. We hope to see many of you at our 2018 trade show and conference!

On May 17, we email broadcast May's edition of the monthly, electronic Across The Board Member newsletter to all TREB Members. This issue features:

• The Toronto Real Estate Board 2017/2018 Board of Directors Election
• Celebrate National Real Estate Day with the Toronto Real Estate Board
• 2017/2018 TREB Membership Dues e-Invoice
• Provincial Government Announces Housing Plan Including Non-Resident Speculation Tax
• Close to 8,000 in Attendance at REALTOR® QUEST 2017
• Kitec Plumbing Can Cause Problems
• Spring Build Days – Habitat for Humanity GTA
• The Educated Professional
• Professionalism in Real Estate: Courtesy
• What's In Your REALTOR® Toolkit? Two Ways to Advertise Open Houses

If you can’t find the email link to Across The Board in your Inbox, or you’ve accidentally deleted it, you may click here to open the newsletter.

If the link to open Across The Board doesn’t work on your computer, there is an alternate method to read the newsletter. To access Across The Board from within TorontoMLS/New Stratus:

1. Log into TorontoMLS/New Stratus.
2. Click Your Resource Centre near the top of the home page. The Your Resource Centre page appears in a separate window.
   
3. Click Across The Board Newsletter. The current edition of the newsletter appears.
   
4. To print or download the current issue, select Click here to download current issue in PDF. To read a previous issue, select CLICK HERE FOR ARCHIVES, then select the issue you want to read.
   
   

To print Across The Board:

1. Follow the steps above to open the PDF version of the newsletter.
2. Click File, then Print.

In case you missed TREB President Larry Cerqua's latest appearance on "Ask the Experts" with Newstalk 1010's Iain Grant. Together they discuss the GTA real estate market and how working with a TREB Member REALTOR® helps navigate buying and selling your home! 

• Listen here 

In case you missed Newstalk 1010's "Ask the Experts" live from REALTOR® QUEST! Listen as Iain Grant, along with TREB President Larry Cerqua, CEO John DiMichele and Director of Market Analysis Jason Mercer discuss North America's largest real estate trade show and conference, TREB's annual market outlook report, and current GTA real estate market conditions! 

• Listen here

Your 2017/2018 TREB Annual membership dues e-Invoice notice was sent directly to your email on Monday, May 15, 2017.

A link is provided for you to view and pay your invoice online. Click on the link and you will be directed to TREB's safe and secure e-Commerce website. You will need your TREB Membership Number, PIN, and Authenticator Password to sign on.

We recommend that you add trebinvoice@trebnet.com and webmaster@trebnet.com to your safe sender's list or email contact list to prevent it from being blocked as spam.

The payment due date is Friday, June 30, 2017.

Please note the following:

• 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 membership privileges will cease immediately, without further notice. Accordingly, unless reinstating within 12 months, you will not be responsible for the annual dues charges for the coming year.

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

The following payment methods are available:

• e-Commerce: Invoices may be paid online through Stratus. 

• Cheque: Payable to the Toronto Real Estate Board
            Cheque must be received at TREB's offices by Friday, June 30, 2017.
            (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.

Please remember that payment must be received by TREB by Friday, June 30, 2017 to avoid any service interruptions.

The Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® (BDAR) and the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) have recently entered into an MLS® services partnership; therefore, Stratus will now serve as BDAR's MLS® provider.

New listings in the Simcoe area, which previously would have been assigned an X prefix, will instead have MLS®numbers with an S prefix. Also of important note is the fact that, since the BDAR listings will now be accessible directly through Stratus, the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® option in Connect has been removed.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has asked that TREB forward this information to our Members:

Earlier this week, DocuSign confirmed that one of their systems was temporarily accessed by hackers, and that email addresses were stolen.

DocuSign also confirmed "no names, physical addresses, passwords, social security numbers, credit card data or other information was accessed. No content or any customer documents sent through DocuSign's eSignature system was accessed; and DocuSign's core eSignature service, envelopes and customer documents and data remain secure."

DocuSign has 200 million users in 118 countries, and has not yet confirmed how many emails were stolen.

As a result, phishing emails are being sent to these stolen addresses, and it seems they look like they were sent via DocuSign. These emails are designed to incite users to click on malicious links or to download infected documents which can install malware into users' computers.

Legitimate DocuSign emails come from @docusign.com or @docusign.net email addresses.

DocuSign is asking users to forward any suspicious related emails to spam@docusign.com, and then delete them from their computers. Emails may appear suspicious because:

• You don't recognize the sender;
• You weren't expecting a document to sign;
• They contain misspellings (like "docusgn.com" without an 'i' or @docus.com);
• They contain an attachment, or direct you to a link that starts with anything other than https://www.docusign.com or https://www.docusign.net.

Emails with the following subject lines have already been identified as malicious:

• "Completed: [domain name] – Wire transfer for recipient-name Document Ready for Signature";
• "Completed [domain name/email address] – Accounting Invoice [Number] Document Ready for Signature";
• "Legal acknowledgement for <person> Document is Ready for Signature" sent from dse@dousign.com

There may be more emails like these examples out there, or new ones being sent. It is expected that these phishing emails will keep on being circulated for some time to come.

For more information and regular updates please visit: https://trust.docusign.com/en-us/

Are you looking for a chance to share your feedback on TREB's role, tools and services? Next week, you can have your say by filling out a short survey (10 questions in all).

Your feedback will allow us to achieve a better sense of how Members feel about TREB's role, existing TREB services, and where you think we could provide additional assistance in the future.

Possibly the best part? Sharing your feedback could put $50 in your pocket. Just select the option to be entered into a draw for a chance to win a $50 Visa gift card upon completion of the survey.

You'll find a link to the survey in your inbox and on Stratus next week!

The Emmy nominated "Property Brothers" is now casting in York Region and North York for their next season in the fall of 2017. If you have clients who plan on buying and renovating a fixer-upper, this opportunity may be of interest to them.

Potential candidates must:

• Be fun, interesting, and opinionated people who want to renovate a fixer-upper
• Be living in the GTA and be moving to or moving within North York or York Region
• Have a minimum renovation budget of $100,000
• Have financing in place, ready to spend
• Be flexible and available for up to 10 days of filming, staggered over 7 weeks

Benefits to being on the show:

• Homeowners receive $20,000+ value towards their renovation
• All renovations will be completed in 7 weeks
• All budgets include not only construction of 3-4 rooms, but also furnishings, appliances and all the bells and whistles in each fully designed space
• Expert design and construction help from Jonathan Scott and his team

Anyone interested can apply directly on the casting website: https://propertybrothers.castingcrane.com 

Toronto Real Estate Board has received a notice from the City of Toronto regarding the status of heritage trees in the city. This information may be useful to you and your clients if you encounter these assets in the course of your business.

• Click here to review the full memo