Reducing the Incidence of Unqualified Persons in Real Estate Agency

A professional business entity or an individual that engages in the selling, renting, buying, and advisory services to clients and prospects is an estate agent. In some business climes, real estate agents are called real estate brokers. And estate agency practice comes in different categories – sole estate agents, joint estate agents, multiple estate agents, sub-estate agents, owner estate agents and of course quack estate agents. In some advanced economies of the World like the United States of America, the laws governing the business of estate agency does not give room for some of these agents to practice and earn their own commission as it is in Nigeria today.

The lucrative nature of estate agency and its easy market penetration has given room for persons who have little or no formal training in the business of estate management to gain massive entrance into the estate agency market. These persons are referred to as ‘Quacks’.
The incidence of quacks in the real estate business is more pervasive in less developed economies that have less stringent housing policies and weak institutions that are governing the entire value chain of the real estate industry.

Most unfortunately, the incidence of quacks has given the industry a bad image as a result of the activities of these non-professionals who engage on illicit transactions without following the code of ethics and professionalism as it relates to the industry standards.
On the way forward in addressing the menace of quacks in the industry, the relevant Government Departments, Ministries, and Agencies (MDAs) that are saddled with the responsibility of regulating the industry should professionally up their games to maintain sanity in the industry. The real estate industry and its regulation should be taken serious by the government at all levels.

Also, where there is no market for quacks, the illegal and un-professional activities of quacks will not thrive. In this regard, laws stopping the patronage of quacks should be enacted and its implementation should be well monitored at all levels. Real estate clients and prospects should see more than enough reasons not to patronize the services of quacks. Quackery exists everywhere and it will take the collective efforts of the government, regulators, and the professional bodies in the building industry to tame this ugly trend.

Another way to erode the activities of these quacks is for Estate Surveyors and other professionals in the built environment to live up to expectation on the delivery of their professional services and to also collectively work in unison. Services being rendered by professionals in the real estate industry should be top-notch with a resonating customer service and brand experience with a strong referral spirit to professionals who are best equipped to handle transactions that are outside their scope of practice. When clients enjoy your professional services and notice the visible and hidden differences between you and the quacks, they will have no reason patronizing the quacks any longer.

In reducing the incidence of quacks from the professional point of view, professionals in the real estate industry should review the entry requirements of joining their professional bodies. Without compromising standards, they can also develop entry programmes that will accommodate those who are currently practicing as quacks.

In a nutshell, reducing the incidence of quacks is a collective task that the government, regulators, and the professionals should thinker around to reduce and maintain professionalism in the real estate industry.

ESV Samson Ishaya Idi is a Managing Partner with I. Idi & Partners, a professional firm of Estate Surveyors & Valuers. He is also the Managing Director of Samish Homes and Apartments Limited, a Real Estate Development Company in Abuja.