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New agent courses in the works for marketing foreign property

Real estate salespersons can soon look forward to new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses focusing on overseas property.

Speaking to PropertyGuru, SAEA Ltd (formerly known as Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies Ltd) CEO Dennis Tay revealed that SAEA and other industry bodies have submitted proposals to the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) to offer core CPD courses on marketing foreign properties.

CEA requires all training providers conducting core CPD activities to obtain prior approval from the council.

The syllabus of the proposed course will be based on the practice guidelines released by CEA in March this year. The "Practice Guidelines for Estate Agents and Salespersons Marketing Foreign Properties" provides details on the preparatory activities required before the estate agents market foreign properties. Through the course, property salespersons can learn more about the guidelines and what is expected of them before they start selling foreign properties.

Aside from merely reading the guidelines, attending the course will equip them with a better understanding of foreign transactions and they will benefit from the learning experience. Tay noted that the trainers selected to conduct such courses must be able to share some case studies (which are not included in the practice guideline) to illustrate real life examples to the participants.

He said, "They must be impartial, have no conflict of interest and be prepared to share case studies of the good and the bad so that everybody can learn." Ideally, trainers must also have visited the place and be familiar with the rules and regulations of the country.

Tay believes that more can be done to improve the professionalism of salespersons when it comes to selling overseas projects. Beyond the CPD courses, he hopes there would a formalised certification for marketing such property, similar to the Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) in the US.

An examinable certificate accreditation as such would provide salespersons with more in-depth knowledge and give buyers a greater sense of assurance. The curriculum could also be country-specific and cover important things that salespersons should be aware of in certain countries.

Besides the guidelines from the government and learning opportunities from industry bodies, the onus is also on the salesperson to be thoroughly informed about the political and social landscape of the country in addition to the economic environment, interest rates and currency fluctuation of the market.

Harold Tan, a CPD trainer at SAEA, said, "The rules, regulations, titles, government intervention and other macro and micro environment will affect property value and investments in foreign properties. Investors need the knowledge and expertise of the salespersons to help them navigate the complex property environment overseas as they are not there to monitor the situations and changes in the environment."

Currently most salespersons attend in-house trainings and briefings before proceeding to sell but the introduction of the core CPD module would further formalise the skills needed and offer consistency across the industry. Tan said that as property investment involves high capital outlay, some standards need to be established through courses and certification so that the practitioners are qualified to carry out their duties properly.

Singapore has seen a healthy interest in overseas property, especially in the Iskandar region across the causeway. Responding to queries from PropertyGuru, CEA indicated that there has been no significant increase in the number of complaints involving agents selling foreign properties so far.

Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg

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