Wednesday, April 6, 2016

ESTATE MGT.: REAL ESTATE SUMMIT 2016

THEME: TOWARDS INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICE: THE EFFECTS OF STANDARDIZATION.
DATE:    6TH APRIL, 2016.
VENUE: ENVIRONMENTAL FACULTY AUDITORIUM.

TOPIC: TOWARDS INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICE THE EFFECT OF STANDARDIZATION
AN APPLICATION TO ESTATE AGENCY

BY:Ms. EGHOVE AJIRI EGWOLOR.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
·         INTRODUCTION
·         DEFINITION (ESTATE AGENCY)
·         ISSUES OF ESTATE AGENCY
·         STANDARDIZATION (DEFINITION)
·         APPLICATION OF STANDARDIZATION TO ATTAIN INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICE
·         EFFECTS
·         CONCLUSION


INTRODUCTION
      Internationally recognized standards have over the years helped the global community have a better service experience.
       Today we look at the resultant effect of these standards, the application to real estate agency the journey towards achieving international best practice.
WHAT IS ESTATE AGENCY?
      Real estate agency was introduced by the British during the colonial era.
      Estate agency grew from the old auctioneers who were cattlemen attracted by the exciting prospects of selling large estates.
      The Estate Agents Act of 1979 was enacted in England.
      In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Malaysian Parliament enacted the legislation known as the Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Act 1981.
ESTATE AGENCY CONUNDRUM.
The Real Estate Agent of the 21st Century should perceive and seize new profit opportunities by creating new product market combinations in real estate practice in the following areas: Real estate marketing, by using pictorial, emailing and web designs /paging advertisement strategies in addition to the traditional strategies; property management portfolio that is driven by database management systems for easy information retrievals; environment-friendly office spaces that maximizes use-efficiency; use of powerful PowerPoint presentations to client-investors; use of powerful PowerPoint presentations to client-investors; transaction closures supported with CCTV, digital photography, and smart storage systems; Cost and value data banks that are updated periodically; real estate education that are supported with modern teaching aids, mentoring, and exposure to international networking; empirical real estate research into contemporary real estate issues; and direct involvement in residential, commercial, and industrial investment in real estate development.
STANDARDIZATION
In most countries today there are increasing expectations from ordinary citizens, business leaders and Civil Society that Organizations will establish and deliver higher standards of ethicality and integrity in Service delivery.
This is to foster good service relationship and increase the trust of people in quality service delivery.
IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE ETHIC STANDARD
Specific strategies which should be considered include:
Ø  effective laws which require estate agencies to give reasons for their official decisions, (for example: a Freedom of Information law);
Ø  Management approaches which encourage all estate agents to deal positively with corruption and unethical practice when they encounter it.
AN APPLICATION TO ESTATE AGENCY
      ‘whistleblower’ protection law to protect appropriate 'public interest disclosures’ of wrongdoing Estate Agents;
      ethics audits to identify risks to the integrity of the most important processes (for example financial management, tendering, recruitment and promotion, dismissal and discipline);
      New Human Resource Management strategies (which link, for example, ethical performance with entry and advancement, and ethical ‘under-performance’ with disciplinary processes), merit based promotion and recruitment, antidiscrimination protections;
      Training and development in the content and rationale of Ethics Codes, the application of ethical management principles, the proper use of official power, and the requirements of professional responsibility, and effective external and internal complaint and redress procedures.
TOWARDS INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICE
Most modern Civil Service Ethics laws, and Codes of Ethics for civil servants and public officials, endorse the following minimum set of principles:
Ø   Serving the public interest
Ø   Transparency
Ø   Integrity
Ø   legitimacy
Ø   Fairness
Ø   Responsiveness
Ø   Efficiency and Effectiveness.
Ø  Estate agent Discipline and management practices must be objective, fair, and reasonable.
Ø  Managers are expected to be trained to able to deal with such matters as providing adverse assessments on performance, enforcing required work processes, requiring punctuality, and dealing with employee grievances, effectively and fairly, to ensure that the efficiency of the workplace is not compromised unnecessarily.
CONCLUSION
Nigeria lags behind countries like Ghana, Thailand and New Zealand in ease of registering property.
       In Ghana it requires just five procedures, 34 days and 1.3 percent of a property’s value to register any property.
      In New Zealand, property could be registered online in two days at a cost of 0.1 percent of the property’s value;
      Thailand, where registering property requires just one step, less than a day and 1 percent of property value. It requires 13 procedures, an average of 80days and about 29% of the property value.
 Nigeria is one of the world’s most difficult places to register property.
There must be uniform format for engagement of services to secure a purchaser, or tenant; to secure a property for purchase or leasing. Flyers and inspection forms need to be standardized with explanatory notes attached to each of the forms. Registered Estate Surveyors and Valuers (RSVs) should become registered estate agents automatically. All estate agency firms should be registered by the Board as sole proprietorship, partnerships, or body corporate.
In the case of body corporate, all the directors must be registered estate agents in accordance with standards to be set by ESVARBON under a newly amended law. ESVARBON should forge alliances with the real estate organizations, and other countries identified to have solved the problems of real estate quackery.

Download pdf here

#RESUMMIT 2016

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