IEASA National - News

Institute advises consumers to use member services   Article Date :19 Sep 2005 IEA Pietermaritzburg News by Arnold Nel Property sellers and buyers can circumvent the increasing chances of dealing with unqualified or poorly trained estate agents simply by using the services of a registered member of the Institute of Estate Agents (IEASA), says Arnold Nel, regional chairman of the Institute of Estate Agents Pietermaritzburg. Discussing the industry’s overtrading of estate agents on the back of the country’s largest ever property boom, Nel noted in a Pietermaritzburg interview this week, that the first duty of every buyer or seller in the current market was to ensure the quality and professional status of an agent before engaging their services. The industry had been swamped with new arrivals from both the public and private service in the wake of extensive black empowerment policies, some are of excellent ability and sincere in creating a new career whilst others are using the industry as a temporary work bolt-hole. Because of the substantial numbers of recruits the industry had, in some instances, been unable to supply the necessary training and the agents had been hurried into practice by their agencies before being fully trained. Another factor was that principals could not fully support the volume of untrained agents with the result that many were acting independently and injudiciously. For this reason, he believed that sellers and landlords should choose estate agents who are members of IEASA, which is the industry's professional body. '' As a professional property industry organisation,'' says Nel, '' we maintain the highest possible standards of training and ethical conduct that go far beyond the minimum standards enforced by the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB), which is the industry's regulating authority. “We keep our members up to date with the ever-increasing legal and technical demands placed on them and operate within a strict code of ethical practice to which they must adhere. All this is designed to offer as much protection as possible to the public.'' Nel advises sellers and landlords to decide in advance what services they want, and to make sure, before granting the mandate, that the estate agent has the necessary training and resources to provide them. ''Today's estate agents needs to be far more than a salesperson,'' says Nel. ''He or she need to have in-depth knowledge on marketing, property law, contract law, the intricacies of home loan finance, and to keep the interest of the client in mind at all times. The IEASA provides its members with effective training courses, legal updates, and other resources to enable them to provide the best possible service.'' The IEASA was founded in 1937 to promote professional standards in the estate agency industry. Over the years it has introduced many training courses, established a strict code of ethics, and fought for industry interests. Membership is voluntary. CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE MAIN NEWS PAGE