Realtors say transactions taking too long
ROSE HALL, St James — Longer than expected wait times for the completion of real estate deals is something that president of the Realtors Association of Jamaica (RAJ) Newton Johnson wants addressed.
“When I started in real estate, when you said 30 days for a cash sale — that was the norm — and 30 days was 30 days. For a regular mortgage sale, it would have been 90 days,” he said.
“Now that has moved. For the regular cash sale now, 90 days is the norm — which is crazy — and for the mortgage sale, 120, 180 days,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
He was speaking on the sidelines of International Real Estate Conference and Expo 2024 now under way at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James.
“If you look in North America, when they say the closing date is six weeks from now, six weeks from now when you come with your pen, you sign, you get your cheque and the transaction is completed,” said Johnson.
He explained that the delays plaguing local transactions are largely due to steps transactions have to follow to get the sign-off from public and private sector entities.
“There are too many bottlenecks and we need to get that straightened out,” the RAJ president said.
“Sometimes, in terms of in the mortgage sale, the prospective mortgagee would be told they need this and when they go back they are told they need to bring X,Y and Z and you were only told X,” he lamented. He said the Tax Administration of Jamaica (TAJ) and the National Land Agency (NLA) are among the State agencies that have partly contributed to the delays. He pointed out that the RAJ has long called for the NLA to utilise digital titling “because it would tremendously reduce the amount of time” transactions take to be completed.
In the meantime, Johnson said realtors have been trying to find other solutions to the bottlenecks now experienced when doing business.
“We have a programme coming for mortgage companies where we will be promoting the mortgage company who closes a mortgage in
the shortest time period,” he revealed.
The RAJ has also taken the issue to the highest office of government.
“We had the discussion with Prime Minister Andrew Holness and he has promised us some things, we’re still waiting but I know they are working on it,” he said.
There are still groups that they intend to meet with as well.
“We have not met with the [Jamaica] Bar Association but we are looking to meet with all the stakeholders to see what is it that we as an association can do to reduce that time,” he said.
“Once we can get that straightened out, the foreign investors will come here with a more ease of mind in terms of buying a piece of property,” Johnson said.
He pointed to the impact that promptly getting payment into the hands of realtors will have on the overall economy.
“Once they are paid, you get that multiplier effect in terms of what resonates straight through the economy,” said Johnson.
“At the end of the day, we are not salaried people, we depend on the commission,” he pointed out.