Will “Certified Practicing” label help real estate agents shake stigma?
In a bid to drive professionalism and to raise the public perception of real estate agents, a new professional body, the ‘Certified Practicing Real Estate Agents’ or CPREA, has been created, announced founding chairman Geoff Baldwin.
Baldwin said that two constantly discussed topics among real estate professionals across the country are the public perception of the industry, and the seeming lack of will to develop a national industry owned real estate website.
“We all like to think of ourselves as being members of a “profession” and there is absolutely no logical reason why we can’t continually lift our actual and perceived standards along with our public perception. These will not be achieved however, unless a completely different and far reaching approach is introduced and adopted by the majority of Australian agents,” he said.
CPREA is the result of the last 18 months’ worth of work to correct the above challenges, and also looks to provide consistency across the country.“We are also currently forming a national CPREA steering committee that will provide ongoing representation for each state and territory and we invite interested agents to contact us to discuss,” he said.
“A very significant investment has been made in getting this project to the point of launch however its ongoing growth and success will rely on progressive real estate people coming on board as members.”
Speaking to Property Observer, he said that one of his biggest frustrations over his 28 year career in real estate has been the public perception of real estate agents. During his time within the industry, he said that the standard has improved enormously.
“We’re giving agents the opportunity to show that and an opportunity to be recognised for the training we do. We’re looking at recognising that and allowing agents to shine if they want to,” Baldwin said.
Part of the approach is to assist agents from entry level, by providing an associate level option, to bring them in and help them to continuously improve as they continue their career.
Since the announcement on Tuesday, he said that the response has been amazing, particularly with Registered Training Organisations wanting to be involved.
Members will be reviewed every year to ensure they have kept up to date with training, if they have not achieved the necessary points then they will not retain membership.
Similarly, those with significant blemishes on their record may not be able to achieve membership in the first place, with Baldwin saying he has no qualms about restricting those that are not credible within the industry.
“We’ve made people meet certain standards, it’s a fine line,” he said. “It’s based on their experience, credibility, and [their desire] to improve their standing in the community.”
If there are any doubts, he says, they will not hesitate to withhold membership.
It predominantly recognises experience and educational efforts and accomplishments of agents, salespeople, property managers and others involved in the industry.
To obtain membership, a level of training will need to be achieved to maintain the status and to become a member. Initial accreditation will be based on current qualifications and experience, and they will then be allowed to use the CPREA letter after their name.
A national real estate website, offered free to CPREA members in the first twelve months and then prompting a monthly subscription fee, will be levied. It will progress to total ownership by industry participants, with no controlling shareholding.
“We understand of course that there are a myriad of new sites claiming to be the answer to our Industry’s online challenges however the critical key is that this site will be world class and it will be owned by our members.”
The site, www.roomeo.com.au, has been registered and trademarked, with an expectation that it will launch in ‘beta’ in April, and to the public in early May.
Baldwin sees this as a step towards creating a national representative body for the industry, saying that there are around 0.02% of real estate transactions that actually ever receive complaints against them.
Do you think this is going to assist in bringing up the standards and reputation of the industry?
