President's Message

Relationships are the most important thing that REALTORS® have. In our day-to-day business, it's the relationships we have with our clients, the relationships we have with our colleagues, and the relationships we have in our community. That's what real estate really is – a community of relationships.

Over the past few years, CREA's elected and professional leadership has made a point of working hard to re-establish that there is a strong relationship between the association and its members, that we are a community, and that it's important for us to touch base on a meaningful level.

In addition to all the communications, advocacy and education initiatives that CREA operates, our regular Open Houses, of which we held 20 across Canada in 2015, are perhaps the best way for us to stay relevant in the minds of our members, and for their concerns and issues to remain relevant in our planning and decision making.

As I attended all these Open Houses and met both with REALTORS® and with the directors of local Boards and Associations, I was struck by how easy it was to provide new perspective to members, to listen to their concerns, and to address misperceptions about how CREA operates.

It's kind of natural that this would happen. We have incredible REALTORS® all across this country. And between working hard every day to earn a living and to give back to their communities, they don't always have the time to understand how CREA operates or what it offers. So when they come to an Open House, they're learning things that they don't know because they're busy doing their jobs.

Two consistent subjects that I heard about again and again were the approach we've been taking with our national consumer advertising campaign and REALTOR.ca.

On the national campaign front, it's easy for everyone to have an opinion about any particular advertisement – it's all really just a matter of personal taste, and not everyone's personal taste runs to the humorous sort of approach we've been taking in our advertising. But when I get the chance to share our research results with people who come out to the Open Houses, research that shows our national campaign is effective, it really helps them understand why we've taken the approach we have.

Who knew when we launched REALTOR.ca nearly 20 years ago that it would attract millions of visitors each year? The internet means that more property information is available to consumers than ever before. So the world has changed immensely and today, it's not about the data, it's about the ability to interpret the data and about REALTORS® becoming the trusted advisors who help their clients properly understand the data.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't give a tip of my hat to the incredible professional staff we have here at CREA. Yes, it is a volunteer-led organization and we have some of the most committed volunteers heading up local, provincial and national boards and associations across the country. But we also have incredible staff working hard every day to support those volunteers, and our Open Houses gives our membership the chance to meet some of those staff.