Commercial licensing debate continues
There is a certain level of risk associated with any property investment, but there are a number of pundits who argue that deregulating commercial licensing and industrial real estate will be detrimental to the industry.
The motion, put forth by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), was particularly criticised by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) and the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA).
REIV chief executive officer Enzo Raimondo says consumer confidence will be significantly eroded if the proposal to remove educational, probity and commercial licensing requirements of commercial real estate agents is passed.
“The vast majority of consumers who deal with commercial estate agents rightly expect to engage a professional with the appropriate educational qualifications,” he said.
“Commercial estate agents hold significant amounts of client monies in their trust accounts subject to finalisation of a sales or leasing transaction, before being distributed to their client.”
Putting your hard earned money on the line involves a certain level of trust, and many real estate agencies believe that investors will not take a chance on people that are not properly qualified.
Chairman of the REIWA’s Commercial Network Victor Sankey fears removing the regulations would make way for unqualified individuals to operate without the necessary knowledge of real estate consumer protection laws.
“This push seems to be based on the mythology that most commercial transactions in property are multimillion dollar deals done by experienced legal firms on behalf of the big retail chains, but this isn’t so,” he said.
REIA president Pamela Bennett agrees, stating that the complexity of commercial transactions demands a certain level of expertise and deregulation of commercial licensing could cause havoc during settlement periods.
Comments
Got something to say? Post a comment...
You must be logged in to post a comment.
There are two trains of thought here: total deregulation so that any unqualified clown can sell or manage commercial/industrial assets. This is the case for construction where only home builders are required to hold a licence (in NSW) or maintain the status quo ie licence required for every participant (nanny state).
In reality you find that more & more commercial property execs are degree qualified and trained in land economy in order to have a good grounding in the metrics which are so vital for comm property. However you can still land that sales role by having little more than a 3 day certificate of registration & the gift of the gab.