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Association UpdateAssociation UpdateAssociation Update The official publication vehicle for the Members of Central Alberta REALTORS® Association

Central Alberta REALTORS® Association

Hands on Matrix™ training will continue to be held through the month

of October.

Contact the Board for more information.

The Holiday season is just around the corner! CARA will be

reintroducing our tradition of a Holiday reception to take

place December 10th at 4:00 pm at the Black Knight Inn.

Stay tuned for more information!

A Thought

The number one benefit of information technology is that it empowers

people to do what they want to do. It lets people be creative. It lets peo-

ple be productive. It lets people learn things they didn’t think they could

learn before, and so in all sense it is all about potential.— Steve Ballmer

Follow &Follow &

Like Us!Like Us!

October 2012October 2012

Apple iPhone5 and iPad Updates

P A G E 2 Updates

Please be aware that The Board of Directors have considered and approved a motion to discontinue the service of Board

loaded listings. In addition any changes that require action by the

CARA Staff must be submitted with the proper paper work. Any

required forms may be found on REALTORlink.ca under Membership

forms.

The Realtor.ca IPad app is

now available from the

app store !

Apple has announced that the new iPhone 5 will be orderable in September. This new phone has a different connector called “Lightning.” The Lightning connector is much smaller than Apple’s previous 30-pin connector. As a result, the current eKEY iPhone Adapter will not plug directly into the new iPhone 5.

Supra will obtain an iPhone 5 and Lightning adapter from Apple as quickly as possible. Please be advised that, until we have tested our application and eKEY adapter with Apple’s products, we cannot confirm that they will operate correctly. Supra customers who wish to run the eKEY application on an iPhone 5 may want to consider delaying their purchase of the iPhone 5 until Supra’s testing is complete.

the Public remarks section of the listings is to be used solely for the description of the property. Therefore public remarks may not feature any call to action, showing instructions or website addresses. For example remarks such as “Call me today, call blank Realty for more information” and “call for your personal tour” or “for additional information visit www.blankrealty.com” are not allowed. People must not appear in your Photos, nor should your For Sale sign. Photos must be uploaded simultaneously with the listing. Please note that the cut-off time to enter your sales at month end is 11:59 pm on the last day of the month. Sales entered after this time shall be included in the next month’s MLS® Statistics.

P A G E 3 Additional Updates

New Version of REALTOR.ca Released The 5.6 version of REALTOR.CA released on September 25th 2012 includes

some exciting new features to enhance the consumer experience. Two of

the most valuable changes are the integration of Walk Score® into

REALTOR.ca, as well as auto-detection for users accessing REATLOR.ca

through mobile devices. This release also includes some backend changes and bug fixes.

Walk Score®

Johnny Cash „walked the line,‟ Dionne Warwick „walked on by,‟ Katrina & The Waves „walked on sunshine.‟ Now, with

the integration of Walk Score® into REALTOR.ca, consumers will be able to assess the walkability of any address so that

they can go „walking after midnight‟, „walk on the wild side‟, „walk this way‟, go „walking in the rain‟…

So, how does Walk Score® work?

Walk Score® helps home and property buyers to find a

walkable place to live or work. Walk Score® is a number between 0 and 100 that

measures the walkability of any address.

Walk Score® Descriptions:

Auto Detect for m.realtor.ca

After the successful launch of m.realtor.ca in June, an auto-detect function will be added to REALTOR.ca 5.6. This ensures that users visiting REALTOR.ca with tablets and

smartphones will be automatically prompted to decide if they prefer to use the mobile site

90–100 Walker’s Paradise Daily errands do not require a car.

70–89 Very Walkable Most errands can be accomplished on foot.

50–69 Somewhat Walkable Some amenities within walking distance.

25–49 Car-Dependent A few amenities within walking distance.

0–24 Car-Dependent Almost all errands require a car.

To date, WEBForms® technology has relied on

having Adobe Reader installed on your computer

desktop. As a result, many REALTORS® have

encountered difficulties using WEBForms® on their

Mac and the Safari browser. Similar difficulties have also been identified with certain versions of

Windows and browsers like Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Safari. This is due to

compatibility issues with the Adobe Reader and

Acrobat plug‐ins.

WEBForms® will be more accessible than ever!

By using the programming language HTML5,

REALTORS® will be able to create transaction kits, edit forms, templates and clauses

using most of the popular browsers, including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome,

Firefox and Safari.

With WEBForms® 4.9, the forms will display faster since the Adobe Reader plug‐in is no

longer required. We will also be able to add more sophisticated functionality to the forms such as a new clause editor, which was not possible in previous versions. In

addition, user interface changes will only be noticeable during the “forms editing”

process; in other words, forms will now open directly in the browser.

The release will be performed in two stages

Stage 1: installing the new code. In the evening of September 25, 2012, maintenance will be performed to install the new code which will create a short-term “hybrid” version

of WEBForms®. Members will continue to access older forms using Adobe Reader/

Acrobat, but new forms will be created in HTML.

Stage 2 – full go-live. All forms will be converted to HTML format and released in

“Provincial” stages. For the many REALTORS® across Canada, a provincial

announcement will be made prior to the forms being updated.

***VERY IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ ***

It is important that REALTORS® do not remove or delete their current

installation of Adobe Reader/Acrobat until such time as forms for their respective province have been fully converted, and retrieval of any older forms

and Transaction Kits requiring Adobe Reader are no longer needed.

Stay tuned for more information on how WEBForms® version 4.9 will also

assist REALTORS® with mobile technology and e‐signatures!

P A G E 4 Additional Updates

WEBForms version 4.9 - Mac friendly!

Marco Belchoir—Lime Green Realty

August 1st—September 30th P A G E 5 Membership Activity

Melissa Mackenzie— Maxwell Real

Estate Solutions to True North Realty

Dave Burrington—Residential One Real

Estate to Royal LePage Tamarack Trail

Realty

Karen Cross—Residential One Real Estate

to Royal LePage Tamarack Trail Realty

Derek Macdonald—One Percent Realty

to Realty Executives Red Deer

Joan Banres—Coldwell Banker Ontrack

Realty to Century 21 Global Real Estate

Jill Fulton—Residential One Real Estate

to Discovery Real Estate

Jennifer Flint—Royal LePage Rose

County Realty

Debbie Campbell—Royal LePage

Tamarack Trail Realty

Barbara Lubbers—Real Estate

Professionals

Ginny Jennings—ReMax Real Estate

Central Alberta

Tammy Syslak—Weber Real Estate

Mary Saunders—John Low Agencies

Gordon Smith—Century 21 Alta West

Melesa Starcheski—Cenury 21 Advantage

The Real Estate Council of

Alberta (RECA) is this year’s recipient of the

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation

(CLEAR) Regulatory Excellence Award. CLEAR has

singled out RECA’s Education Code of Conduct for

Learners as an example of outstanding

contribution to the enhancement of occupational

or professional regulation.

RECA’s Education Services Team developed the

Education Code of Conduct to better foster a

professional mindset within learners. It is a

principles-based document outlining how

professionals taking pre-licensing and re-licensing

education with RECA are expected to conduct

themselves.

“Council believes this Code is a significant step

towards developing an even stronger complement

of competent, ethical and experienced industry

professionals and demonstrating to consumers the

tremendous value provided by Alberta’s real estate

industry professionals,” says Joseph Fernandez,

RECA Registrar, who led the development of the

new Code.

CLEAR is an international resource for stakeholders

in professional regulation, and it serves and

supports the international regulatory community

and its vital contribution to public protection. This

particular award celebrates exceptional leadership,

vision, creativity, results and outcomes that are

above and beyond the regular functions of the job

or expectations, and beyond what is normally

achieved.

Congratulations

RECA

RECA Wins Regulatory Excellence Award

Alberta’s rural landscape is changing. Ownership of small acreages, hobby farms and recreational properties is growing, and property owners are searching for information on how to manage their properties in a way that protect their investment and the environment.

The Alberta Real Estate Foundation has recently partnered with the Land Stewardship Centre of Canada to produce the Green Acreages Guide and Primer. The primer contains valuable information designed for Realtors® to give to acreage and recreational clients.

The Green Acreages Guide and Primer is available for download from http://aref.ab.ca/docs/resources/lsc_primer_interactive_final

The Green Acreages Guide and Primer is available for free. Please contact the Land Stewardship Centre directly to obtain copies for your brokerage. Copies are also available at the Board.

The Green Acreages Guide Workbook is available for purchase $29.95 directly from the Land Stewardship Centre.

Employee Morgan Scott Spotlight Position: Reception

Length of service with CARA:

Three months

Hometown: Red Deer

Favorite part of working at CARA:

The people I work with

Hobbies:

I enjoy hiking, snowboarding, painting,

camping, quading, and boating.

Favorite vacation:

Costa Rica

Favorite food:

Anything involving pasta

Favorite types of music:

R&B and Country

Favorite author:

Suzanne Collins

Three words to describe me:

Creative, social, enthusiastic

Something I would like CARA Members to know about me:

I am very hands on and believe that if there’s a way I can do it myself it will be done.

If I were stranded on a desert island, three things I would like to have with me would be

my bed, my family and matches.