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PropertyGuru was invited to be part of the Public Perception & Expectations of Real Estate Agents seminar held on 27 Jan 2010 at the Civil Service College. Opened by Mrs. Grace Quah, the Director of Ngee Ann Polytechnic's Building & Environment Division, and supported by the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies Ltd (SAEA Ltd), the aim was to understand consumer's views of the real estate industry and services provided, particularly on property agents, based on the results of a recent survey.

The survey was initiated in the middle of last year as unhappiness was increasing about the unscrupulous practices of a minority of agents, following a couple of high-profile cases. The project was led by Mr. Nicholas Mak, a real estate veteran and former head of research at Knight Frank, who's now a property lecturer at Ngee Ann, and conducted by his students. The survey polled 1,014 respondents from various age groups, educational and professional backgrounds.

Whilst 65 percent of those surveyed were mostly satisfied with agent services, 77 percent complained of having encountered 'bad service' of some sort. The two most common complaints were a failure to get a good price (38%) and wrong advice given (30%). Respondents also indicated that they preferred agents with at least two years of experience.

Amongst their wish-list was the creation of a new scheme by the government to certify agents, imposing heavy penalties on fraudulent agents, programmes to educate the public to minimize fraud and malpractise and the introduction of new laws to regulate agents.

With so much negative feedback, it's no wonder then that Dr. Tan Tee Khoon, CEO of SAEA is determined to effect changes in the real estate agency profession. He believes the time is ripe to push ahead with what he calls “the accreditation agenda”.

At the event, he touched on 4 key areas he hopes will be accomplished. Called the 4Cs, they include:

Competence. All agents must attain a certified and sufficient standard of knowledge. This can be accomplished through a mandatory examination for both unqualified existing and potential estate agents, who must pass it in order to be accredited.

Conduct. A professional code of conduct which will encourage agents to exhibit professional behaviour. In order to enforce it, demerit points and / or fine may be imposed on both the agent and the agency.   

Control. Apart from the normative contractual accountability through the Associate Agreement, agents should be held accountable by the law. A new accreditation body set-up by the government could enforce this.

Complaints. SAEA usually lets its accredited agencies and agents/salespersons resolve the problems with the consumers first. However, SAEA and other professional real estate bodies will continue to offer mediation services for disputes between agents and consumers. At the same time, it helps that the government is considering setting up an independent tribunal in future which will specialize in real estate disputes.

The event also included a “lively panel discussion” and a Q & A session involving Mr. Mak, Dr. Tan, Mr. Raymond Fernandez, co-president of SISV and Dr. Keow Yeong Ming, senior manager, Building & Environment Division at Ngee Ann. Some of the views raised included:

•    The fact that regulatory announcements had been expected in early January from the Ministry of National Development (MND), but this has been delayed.

•    Regulating the industry will reduce the number of agents significantly, particularly part-time agents. This is because many of them won’t want to do exams, or have their details made public in case their bosses see they are ‘moonlighting’.

•    Even though regulations and professional indemnity insurance will reduce issues and improve services, there would still be no ability for consumers to recover losses due to fraudulent activities.

We can only wait and see what policies the government puts in place to improve industry standards, which is expected anytime soon by the MND. In the meantime, the onus is on agents to set a professional benchmark.  

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Nicholas Mak
Property Lecturer, Ngee Ann Polytechnic
Email: mnc2@np.edu.sg
Tel: 6460 6650

Dr. Tan Tee Khoon
Chief Executive Officer, SAEA Ltd
Email: teekhoon.tan@saea.org.sg
Mobile: 9474 6138

Mrs. Grace Quah in the midst of her opening address

Packed seminar area

Dr. Tan Tee Khoon addressing the crowd during the panel discussion
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