AEAN, NAR move to strengthen partnership, promote global best practices
AFTERthe bilateral partnership agreement between Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria ( AEAN), an affiliate of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers ( NIESV) and United States- based National Association of Realtors ( NAR), both parties have moved to promote global best practices in the country.
The partnership is expected to introduce AEAN members to global affiliations of over 100 other broker associations, which enables members to transact referral businesses with the majority of these global associations. NAR is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.4 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. It has 107 global network partners in 87 countries.
With the bilateral partnerships, NAR’S members can conduct business around the world with trusted professionals who hold themselves to a strict code of ethics. The implementation and diffusion of leading practices and strategies into global markets, including basic advocacy, licensing standardisation and property platforms, strengthening and increasing transparency within individual markets, benefitting both realtors and consumers across the globe.
AEAN National Publicity Secretary, Adeniyi Tinubu, who spoke to the media last week, lamented that over the years, estate surveyors and valuers have noticed the bastardisation of an aspect of their profession, particularly estate agency, which has turned into an all- comers affair.
“The poor public perception and image of real estate brokerage as it affects the profession of estate surveying and valuation is as a result of the activities and incursion of non- professionals into the practice of real estate brokerage. The institution in a bid to reverse this trend set up AEAN,” he said.
He called for legislation to ensure uniformity in real estate brokerage, as lack of regulation has fostered haphazard practices such as overpricing of housing units, letting of substandard structures and houses amongst others by unqualified agents.
He said: “Many of these do not just affect the professionals who have painstakingly gathered industry knowledge and expertise on real estate brokerage but most importantly it affects the common man who is at the receiving end of these substandard practices.”
While expressing readiness of the association to work with the government to fashion out new policies on real estate brokerage, Tinubu noted that the bilateral agreement with NAR is geared at creating an enabling environment for real estate investment and laying the foundation for sustainable development in the real estate sector in the country.
Tinubu, who doubles as the Chairman, Conference Planning Committee, announced that this year’s AEAN conference to be held in Lagos, themed: “Building enduring partnerships for a better future”, would include highly specialised training in the Certified International Property Specialist ( CIPS) designation.
This designation allows Nigerians to become certified international property specialists and gives them access to an international market, international buyers and an opportunity to assist clients overseas to make smart real estate investments all over the world.
Tinubu said the training will equip people who partake in it with the right tools, knowledge, research and network, as well as give professionals automatic membership of the NAR. According to him, the Proptech session will be exposing the intricacies of how technology should be applied in real estate in a manner that encourages sustainability practices, as well as growth and development in the sector.
It will also provide opportunities to make pitches to foreign venture capitalists to encourage home grown innovation and bolster Nigeria’s local content in the real estate sector.
AEAN National Secretary, Osagie Odiase, explained that in different climes, agency practice is a profession, but in Nigeria there is no control and regulation, which prompted the establishment of the association.
He said that all would- be agents go through certification and abide by a code of ethics, adding that members who default in rules guiding the profession face the disciplinary committee and may be deregistered, if found guilty.