LSTAR e-Bulletin - April 2024 | London St. Thomas Association of REALTORS

Welcome to a more streamlined e-Bulletin. In respect for our Members' valuable time, we are trying out a new format. Please let us know what you think by sending an email to communications [at] LSTAR.ca (communications[at]LSTAR[dot]ca). And stay tuned for more exciting changes in future issues!

IN THIS ISSUE

Registration for LSTAR Special Meeting on May 13 and Assigning Proxies
LSTAR Active Listings Going Live in the PropTx MLS® System
Board of Directors Approves Amendments to LSTAR Governance Manual
Register Now for Our Upcoming Webinars
Customize Your PropTx Experience With Micro-Learning Tutorials
LSTAR's Annual Slo-Pitch Tournament is Coming!
Membership Updates
Home Prices Continue To Rise in March
LSTAR Offices Closed for Victoria Day

Registration for LSTAR Special Meeting on May 13 and Assigning Proxies

LSTAR’s Board of Directors has called a special meeting on the decision and transition to the PropTx MLS® ecosystem on Monday, May 13, from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm at the RBC Centre. Registration is open. If you are unable to attend and would like to assign another Member to carry your vote (serving as a proxyholder), you may do so by filling out a proxy form and emailing it to LSTAR’s CEO Bill Madder.

In consideration of this meeting, and in order to serve our Members as efficiently as possible, the offices of LSTAR will be closed the morning of Monday, May 13th, from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm.

Registration, call for agenda items, proxy form and other general information are all available here.

LSTAR Active Listings Going Live in the PropTx MLS® System

PropTx has officially started importing active listings from the ITSO MLS® System. Keep in mind, it will take time for all listings to import over, approximately one in every five seconds.

Click Here for Important Key Items That You Need to Know

Listing Management: Members will need to manage their listings on the PropTx MLS® System. Members are also encouraged to enter all future listings on the PropTx MLS® System going forward.
Thoroughly Check your Listings: These listings will show as active on REALTOR.ca and in the PropTx MLS® System. Therefore it’s imperative that you check your listing for accuracy and completeness and make the necessary edits.
Duplicate Listings: Despite efforts to minimize duplications, this may still occur due to minor address changes and data mapping. Members should cross-check listings on the PropTx MLS® System and report any duplicates to mls [at] lstar.ca (mls[at]lstar[dot]ca) for deletion.
Mandatory Fields and Information: Some mandatory fields may be filled with "unknown" or left blank. Members are responsible for completing/editing these fields; for example, Hold Over Days, Assessment Year, and Tax Year.
Remarks: Since Offer Remarks and Showing Remarks currently don’t exist in the PropTx System, these will need to manually be added to Brokerage Remarks.
Room Limitations and Image Selection: PropTx currently allows only 12 rooms to be inputted. For listings with more than 12 rooms, adjustments may be necessary. Similarly, only 40 images will be pulled from the ITSO MLS® System; members can edit the listing to select preferred images.
Co-Operating Brokerage Commission Remarks: Co-operating brokerage commission is limited to 40 characters. If remarks exceed this limit, members should continue them in the Brokerage Remarks section for full transparency.
Commercial Listings: Commercial listings may require additional information, best efforts have been made to keep the number of edits to a minimum.
Documents: Up to 8 documents can be included on a PropTx listings with 5 MB size per attachment. Please review your listing to ensure that all required documentation is there.
Picklist Counts: If picklist fields such as “Exterior” are over the allotted count, they will be shortened. Review your listings to ensure the most important features are highlighted.
Second Listing Agent: Missing Agent contact number will backfill with the Brokerage number.

With this change, members can enhance the visibility and marketability of their properties on REALTOR.ca and within the PropTx MLS® System, increasing the chances of attracting potential buyers and securing successful transactions.

Watch this brief video to learn how to edit your listings in PropTx:

Board of Directors Approves Amendments to LSTAR Governance Manual

In 2022-23, LSTAR worked with governance experts to review and update LSTAR’s By-Laws and General Policies. The updated By-Laws were approved by the membership at LSTAR’s annual general meeting in 2023 and in the fall, the Board of Directors approved the updated General Policies and repackaged them into a Governance Manual. Both documents were shared with Members and posted on LSTAR’s website.

Since then, a series of changes in the industry and at LSTAR has necessitated further changes to bring the policies in the Governance Manual in line with best and current practices. The Governance Committee and Board of Directors reviewed the changes to the Governance Manual at their respective meetings and the Board approved the changes at their Board meeting on April 26. Please see LSTAR’s latest version of its Governance Manual posted on the Governance page on the Member Hub (revisions are noted page 2).

Register Now for Our Upcoming Webinars

Next week LSTAR’s spring webinar series picks up momentum with three member-driven sessions intended to ensure you are complying with Canada’s Anti-Span Legislation (CASL) and provide more advanced training on REALM™ - so you can make the most of this new tool:

Save your seat by clicking on the webinar titles above. If you missed a webinar and you’d like to view the recording, check out our library of Webinar Recordings on the Member Hub.

Customize Your PropTx Experience With Micro-Learning Tutorials

With over 2,000 Members now active on the PropTx ecosystem, you are encouraged to customize your MLS® experience, so you can work smarter, not harder. LSTAR’s trainers have developed several short 2-5 minute tech tutorials to help you do just that, whether you want to manage your own listings or your brokerage’s listings, create custom searches, or combine listings in BrokerBay, there is a micro-learning tutorial for you!

Check out our micro-video catalogue on the Member Hub.

LSTAR's Annual Slo-Pitch Tournament is Coming!

Our annual Slo-Pitch Tournament is coming up soon and it's going to be one of the hottest events of the year!

On June 14th, 2024, head to Slo-Pitch City in Dorchester to show off your skills on the field, while building relationships and team spirit. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, this tournament is the perfect way to kick off the summer!

Be sure to check out more LSTAR Events here!

Membership Updates

Membership Count

As of April 22, 2024, LSTAR has 2,328 Members.

Click here to see all of our newest Members!

New Members

Michael McDowell – London Living Real Estate LTD.
Nathan Joshi – Streetcity Realty
Aleen Kelledjian – Sutton Group – Select Realty
Alex Abraham – Century 21 First Canadian Corp
Cindy Walters – Streetcity Realty
Dwayne Bulthuis – Royal Lepage Triland Realty
Harman Malhotra – Shrine Realty Brokerage
Zeena Aziz – Oak and Key Real Estate
Rich Pestowka – Re/Max Centre City Realty
Gary Rajput – Gold Empire Realty
Paul Ilic – Bay Street Group
Jitin Sahni – EXP Realty
Cameron Cohen – The Realty Firm
William Cattle – Royal Lepage Triland Relaty
Julian Ortiz-Agredo – EXP Realty
Rachel Vernon – Exit Realty Community
Lisa Ross – Royal Lepage Triland Ingersoll
Jay Friesen – Gale Group Realty Brokerage
Daiken Edwards – Certainli Realty
Brandon Joshi – Streetcity Realty
Angela De Araujo Viana – Coldwell Banker Beaver Realty
Dia Farzana – Shrine Realty Brokerage
Matthew Fierling – Flux Realty
Katrina Ryumin – Streetcity Realty
Ranvir Singh – Supermax Realty
Gurlal Kang – Supermax Realty
Sean Ryan – Blue Coast Realty
Kultar Dhaliwal – Gold Empire Realty

Transferred Members

Kristen Clowry – Now with Real Broker Ontario
Rosa Klassen – Now with Coldwell Banker Star Real Estate
Lisette Roberts – Now with Coldwell Banker Star Real Estate
Jimmy Sondhi – Now with Real Broker Ontario
Anna Volekaert – Now with Coldwell Banker Star Real Estate
Tim Wakely – Now with Coldwell Banker Star Real Estate
Angela Westerik – Now with EXP Realty
Shawn Westerik – Now with EXP Realty
Nicole Martin – Now with The Realty Firm
Erin Huang – Now with Royal Lepage Triland
Lynn Kongkham – Now with Royal Lepage Triland
Kelley McIntyre – Now with Royal Lepage Triland
Jeff Nethercott – Now with Royal Lepage Triland
Brian Traboulay – Now with Royal Lepage Triland
Callista Tryon – Now with Royal Lepage Triland
Gabriela Adzija – Now with Royal Lepage Triland
Rosy Loewith – Now with Initia Real Estate
Terri Lynn MacKay – Now with Initia Real Estate
Amelia Chen – Now with Nexahome Realty
Rebecca Blake – Now with The Realty Firm
Wayne Devries – Now with Colliers Southwestern Ontario
Jodie Baker – Now with Prime Real Estate Brokerage
Jon Baker – Now with Prime Real Estate Brokerage
Dania Parker-Smith – Now with Real Broker Ontario
Kerry Clark – Now with Re/Max Sarnia Realty
Sandi Cardoso – Now with Team Glasser Real Estate

New Offices

Gale Group Realty
PB: Jennifer Gale
Flux Realty
PB: Matthew Fierlin
Supermax Realty
PB: Jimmy Singh
Blue Coast Realty
PB: Sean Ryan
Nexahome Realty
PB: Amelia Chen

Office Closures

Lew Lint
PB: Lew Lint

Retired Members

Lew Lint – Lew Lint
Joanne Warren – Century 21 First Canadian

For any and all questions regarding your LSTAR Membership, please contact our Membership department at Membership [at] LSTAR.ca (Membership[at]LSTAR[dot]ca).

Home Prices Continue To Rise in March

LSTAR's MLS® System recorded 636 homes sold in March, 11.3% less than in March 2023. The number of newly listed properties surged from 1,024 in February to 1,233 in March, marking an 11.8% increase over a year ago. Overall, housing supply increased slightly in our region - from 2.7 months of inventory in February to 2.9 months in March.

READ MORE HERE