Professionalising estate agency practice in Nigeria (2)

From the foregoing, it can be said that the professional agent must not only have the necessary training and competence to discharge his duties but must also exhibit a high level of diligence and respect/compliance to laid-down standards and ethics of the business.

According to Wayne (2014), professionalism in real estate agency practice is: a combination of appearance and attitude (or presenting oneself “professionally”) and excellent client service; understanding and following the important fiduciary duties imposed on real estate licensees (including placing clients’ interest ahead of those of the licensees). Fiduciary duties impose the highest standard of care and real estate agents must be committed to scrupulously fulfilling those obligations; being organized, disciplined, prepared, trustworthy and responsive; being civil, kind, ethical and responsive (including communicating with clients and parties on the other side) in business dealings; delivering consistently first-rate work and results; following the lawful instructions of clients; and having the education, knowledge and experience necessary to achieve the result the clients wants.

In summary, the duties of a professional estate agent are: (a.) carry out the lawful instructions of the principal – bearing in mind that we owe fiduciary duties to him (principal); (b.) must show good faith and full disclosure, i.e., disclose all information relevant to the transaction (value, desirability, etc); (c.) must exhibit a high level of competence expected of an average person in that profession; (d.) and duties of obedience, loyalty and confidentiality to the principal.

On the other hand, the principal will owe the agent the duties of:

(a) remuneration – payment of the agreed fee or commission; and (b) indemnification – indemnifies the agent as regards any liabilities arising from the execution of his lawful instructions.

Professionalising the practice of estate agency               

As earlier explained in this paper, housing is an essential component in the socio-economic development of any country, which explains why governments all over the world pay enormous attention to it. The scenario is even more pronounced in Nigeria with a housing deficit put at about 17 million units.

Real estate agents along with other stakeholders in the housing sector, therefore, have a huge role to play in the sector. The present “all comers” approach in estate agency sector is certainly not good for reasons already adduced hence the need to professionalise the sector. To achieve professionalism in the sector, the right approach will be to work towards ensuring that: (a.) estate agents are appropriately trained and certified to practice; (b.) establish standardized prequalification and registration protocols for prospective estate agents; (c.) keep a register of all qualified and certified estate agents; (d.) enforce compliance to a code of ethics and practice through sanctions; (e.) institute and implement mandatory training programmes for practitioners; (f.) institute appropriate professional indemnity insurance programmes for members to ensure the protection of members of the public; (g.) set remuneration due to agents whether as single agents or cooperating agents; (h.) generally regulate the practice of estate agency; (i.) develop and project the practice of estate agency as a respectable brand that will continuously earn the trust of members of the public through quality service delivery of its members; and (j.) protect and defend the interest of practitioners.

To achieve the above strategies for professionalising estate agency practice in Nigeria, there is the need for a national body that will champion the establishment of training, certification and regulatory protocols for practitioners of estate agency. The body will be similar to other professional bodies like NBA, ICAN, NIA, NIESV, etc and will have the role of developing and protecting the practice as well as ensuring that the interest of the general public and the practitioners are protected.

It is in this wise that one must commend the NIESV for establishing the Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria (AEAN). This association must now take all necessary steps to establish prequalification procedures, certification and regulatory procedures to ensure that practitioners have the necessary training, competence and diligence to deliver quality real estate agency services to the public. AEAN must now also work towards developing the practice of estate agency as a respected profession with positive public perception much in the same way as the National Association of Estate Agents in Britain.

Benefits of professionalising estate agency practice

Professionalising estate agency in Nigeria will benefit not just the consuming public but also the practitioners. While the public will benefit through improved or quality agency services from reliable and well-referenced estate agents, the practitioners will benefit through proper regulation of the practice, which will ensure that only qualified and certified persons practice the trade and that the practitioners are appropriately trained, equipped and remunerated.

The government and its agencies will also benefit in that the practitioners of the trade will be brought under one umbrella, which will make easier the regulatory work of such government agencies like the EFCC in its fight against money laundering.

Conclusion

The need to professionalise the practice of estate agency cannot be overemphasized. As the wave of globalization continues to blow and foreign firms and corporations keep coming in, there is the urgent need for us to fine-tune our practices and procedures to be in line with international best practice. It may seem like a very difficult task but it can certainly be done and the time to do it is now. The practice of estate agency is a professional discipline and our agents must have the right training, qualification and certification to hold their heads high as worthy ambassadors of a profession that has a huge impact on the life of the average Nigerian.

EMEKA D. ELEH