The real estate services industry deserves credit

There is a lot to be said for real estate agents. So I hope the terms “perennially up there near the top of the list of the least trusted and most disliked people on the planet”, “reviled underclass”, or “low-life predators” (Sylvanus, The Sunday Times, November 28) are the result of some very bad experiences ‘Sylvanus’ must have had with some wannabe estate agent. But I seriously doubt it.

I love a good joke, but unfortunately Sylvanus’s piece lacks both originality and good taste. In my 18 years in the real estate services industry I have read (and laughed at) too many jokes on the terms used by estate agents too many times.

It lacks good taste because to say that estate agents “con the unsuspecting buyer into parting with far too much money to get some sort of roof over their head” is an insult to the consumer, not the service provider. This shows Sylvanus has no idea on how well-informed property buyers are, and much credit should be given to real estate agencies and the services that they provide.

We still have a long way to go, and some of us may have given the group as a whole a bad name, leaving the good estate agents having to work extra hard to prove they deserve clients’ business. It is very unfortunate that despite various efforts the real estate services industry is still not regulated.

It’s an industry that attracts hundreds of new agents each year but almost as many agents burn out and become inactive, most in their first years. Why? One reason: lack of preparation. They find selling real estate much more difficult than they bargained for.

Many people spend four to seven years in higher education to become professionals, yet the real estate industry turns out estate agents with just a few weeks of training, if any. Moreover, there is a huge reality gap in what one learns in training and what one really needs to know to make a living.

Nevertheless it is an industry that is definitely moving in the right direction, undergoing substantial changes in recent years.

For the real estate agent, being the middle person connecting the seller and the prospective home buyer, survival in the business depends exclusively on customer satisfaction. The focus has shifted to service, as opposed to sales. Today’s estate agent is much more than a salesperson who points out the lovely features of a property.

On an international level, the real estate agents’ contribution in promoting Malta is impossible to quantify. Besides the internet, estate agents have invested considerable amounts of money, year after year, in fairs, exhibitions and international media to market Malta’s outstanding qualities, attracting tourists and buyers from all over the world.

They have helped immensely in raising awareness of the islands, creating new niches, penetrating difficult markets, attracting foreign capital and encouraging investment.

The economic spin-offs generated by the real estate services industry have a huge impact on employment, construction, home furnishing, retail and services across the board.

Banks, investors, developers and the thousands of buyers and sellers that have used the services of real estate agents appreciate the positive impact they have had on their business, their investments and their lives.

Editor’s note: The Sylvanus column is not meant to be taken seriously.