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We, as an industry, need to overhaul our training and education standards.
Today you need more training to paint someone’s house than to become licensed to sell it.
This is damaging the reputation of our industry.
Government-approved accreditation courses can be as short as two days. It’s no surprise this leads to under-qualified and potentially incompetent agents being let loose on the market - it’s a financial disaster waiting to happen!
It seems farcical that agents can qualify for accreditation with such little education.
For our industry to survive and thrive, we must review our training, education and accreditation standards.
When houses were once worth around $80,000, an agent’s commission didn’t represent a significant amount of money. Today’s average sale value of $560,000 means the stakes are much higher for buyers, sellers and our industry.
With the rise of digital platforms that take care of the transactional side of our business, we need to offer more rigorous standards of service or risk facing extinction.
These same digital platforms offer clients the opportunity to broadcast complaints of poor service, or sing our praises, which is even more reason for the industry to adapt.
Let’s face it – real estate agents can cop a bad rap and clients will start to question our industry commissions for the value we provide, unless we change the way we operate.
Yet most agencies and governing bodies still approach real estate training and education in the same way.
There are many solutions being put forward, including the introduction of state-based training units that newcomers would need to achieve to qualify as an agent, TAFE courses and even university degrees.
At Coronis, we believe in the partial self-regulation model. We’ve provided quality, ongoing training for our staff for many years now.
On top of the required government courses, our sales force is trained in theory and practice. They are on the job for months before they are allowed to go it alone to list and sell a house.
It’s quite ridiculous that there are agents out there who can qualify for accreditation with such little education. I mean, you wouldn’t give a learner driver the keys to your Ferrari … would you?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Craig Gillies
Craig Gillies is the sales director at Coronis. He is an adviser to some of Brisbane's well-known property developers and a regular commentator on the real estate industry. Every month his team sells on average four times more than the industry benchmark. With offices across Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, which incorporate teams of finance specialists, financial planners and lawyers, Coronis is changing the way people buy, sell and finance property by being the first and best wholly-owned ‘end-to-end’ property-based business.
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