Boosting investor’s confidence in real estate

Sir: Overtime, it has been generally accepted that the practice of Estate Agency in Nigeria has been largely unregulated and become an all comers’ affair. Apart from members of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, a number of those who engage in the practice of Estate Agency don’t have the basic training and lack the certification to transact the business.

Practitioners involve in the business of buying, selling or leasing of interests in real estate, which could be land and building, are known as estate agents. Regrettably, there are some local associations of estate agents who don’t have the requisite structure, knowledge and experience like NIESV members who recently came up with a platform to enable Nigerians engage with professional Estate Surveyors and Valuers practising estate agency nationwide to provide services especially in sales, letting and leasing of all types of properties.

The faculty of estate agency and marketing of the institution promotes the platform and professional members registered with the association are allowed to come up with listings of various properties such as, hospitality and leisure, retail, commercial and residential. This became necessary in view of the negative public perception of the estate agents arising from the conducts of quacks perpetuating fraud and all types of sharp practices in the industry.

The way to go therefore is to assist the public to identify the professionals in the sector who by their training have acquired the knowledge, competence, skill, capacity and experience to deliver on services, thereby enhancing client satisfaction. The faculty believes that stakeholders in the sector will soon begin to experience relief from sharp practices by unscrupulous elements masquerading as estate agents as the platform called, “NIESV MLS website” launched last year at the instance of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers in collaboration with Property24 has been successfully launched.

Only recently the institution through the faculty commenced advert placements in The Guardian advertising the website to the general public to guarantee sellers and homeowners maximum exposure to properties of interest and ensure that transactions are done in transparent and open space.

The advantages of the platforms also include among others, that properties are sold in record time, buyers are connected directly to the estate agents without recourse to pay agency fees if buying and engaging directly with the Estate Agents who are registered on the platform.

Locating properties in which to invest definitely involve substantial commitment in the identification of suitable listings and opportunities for investors to obtain properties at highly negotiable prices in line with the open market realities.

For the practitioners, it affords them the opportunities to have access to information toward the realisation of age-long desire for a databank.

With Nigeria now the largest economy in Africa and a population of about 195,000 million coupled with the determination of government to promote the ease of doing business, it is expected that there would be increase in activities of various stakeholders, local and international in the real estate sector. The nation is already witnessing increase in such activities as could be seen in the new high rise properties adorning major street especially in Victoria Island and Ikoyi axis of Lagos.

Also, retail and commercial activities are spreading to other city centres and there is therefore the need to boost confidence in all areas within the sector by providing excellent/expertise services by various professionals to the public.
Sam Eboigbe, the managing partner, Sam Eboigbe & Co, wrote from Lagos.