Real Estate Agents in the UK - Essay Example

Real e agents in the UK Insert Insert Real e agents handle the marketing of properties on behalf of or they sell property in favor of customers. Therefore, the work of the agent is to act as an intermediary between the buyers and the sellers of a particular property (Ali et al., 2006). They have to have a good knowledge of the market prices and would rely on that to be able to find a suitable and reasonable price for the client. Persons engaging in the activity should find a lot of interest in meeting new persons every time. They should also have an interest in understanding how the market is as regards to the property. The United Kingdom as at present do not license its real estate agents. However, through the devolved government, there has been discussion towards registering these schemes especially those for agents dealing in residential property. United Kingdom wants to be in the suite as other countries in Europe where a majority have their real estate agents licensed by acquiring a minimum qualification. Regarding that, there are various professional organizations in the United Kingdom that are pushing for the inclusion of a minimum level of entry into the field and licensing for the partisan players. Licensing of real estate agents in the United Kingdom comes with lots of benefits as well as challenges (Byrne, Jackson and Lee, 2013). The advantages of licensing the agents include accessibility to MLS. Despite being able to get the same using other means as the use of other agents, having a personal license is a guarantee of landing on it. The latter is very vital since it will enable you to avoid being a victim of circumstances when the person you are using gets into trouble, disappear or just change their mind. MLS also provides accessibility to a lot of data that historical that is vital in acquiring properties for the clients or make the process of running queries simpler. It is a good point for the user to perform data mining (Scott and Scott, 2010). It will guide you as the agent for the present types of buyers, the kinds of houses to center on and to widen your scope of the search. History has it that such individuals experience thriving businesses and a lot of successes which would not have been possible without using the MLS. There is a high probability of the user having control of their deals than ever before. That starts all the way from the sales and purchases they make (St Lawrence, 2004). First, they have the privilege of directly interacting with the agents involved in the listing and have a direct negotiation platform. It also gives them a platform to be in direct contract with inspectors, appraisers, the lenders, and parties partisan in the closing of a transaction and the attorneys involved in the closing of a transaction. They both apply to either making a sale or a purchase of a product. Further, the agents also determine who to show their properties to, their target buyers and the schemes to employ in their marketing. These advantages and more so the manner in which you have full control of every point of the deal make it an enjoyable venture. It outsmarts the headaches experienced along the way. There are other minor details that as a licensed independent agent you get work on and determine how it actually happens other than working for somebody else. For instance, the routine of showcasing your property to the client sounds a very simple thing but has a lot of influence in the long run (White, 2011). That includes how they take the client to the property, the kind of display they ensure is available, and the general environment surrounding the customer is all that matters to have a favorable deal. Others include follow-up missions to get recommendations and feedback from customers especially those you showcased the property to. It is also inclusive of sending materials for marketing to persons around or just circulating flyers to inform people who might have an interest in acquiring new property. Since all spheres of the transaction have to pass through you, you can even ensure that you are at the property early enough to guarantee an excellent viewing of the property and carry forth all the other things. It is also easier to entice the listing agents when operating directly as a licensed independent agent. The agent has to find a reason for working with you (Scofield, 2013). On return, you as the agent has to provide such a platform. For instance, do you provide them with extra benefits so that when they first hear of a deal, they inform you first? That may involve going way into sharing your profits or commission with them so that they organize a variety and many deals for you. In return, you may need to facilitate other staff that they may be doing to speed up the process. For example handling of inspections, facilitation of paperwork, engaging the companies dealing with titles as well as being on working terms with the attorney. Thus, besides their commission, giving them an extra opportunity to make more money like sharing your commissions will psyche them up. Licensed agents who have done so in the past have always been satisfied. It is so because they always get information prior to other agents on new properties getting to the market, updates on changes of prices and give a recommendation on their side of the party. Such advantages are invaluable when competing against other investors. Licensed agencies have higher chances of making extra cash than those who are not (Patron and Roskelley, 2007). Intermediate agents demand commissions on the worth of the property during purchase and sell that could span to up to eight percent of the property’s value. Therefore, as an investor being licensed is a wise thing that will enable you to avoid agent’s commission and brokerage fee. In the long run, the benefits of having a license are way more than the hustle you will take to achieve it. Having a license, however, has limitations. The first may be acquiring the license. It is a tedious process that involves using a lot of money and spending lots of time studying to accomplish the course and take the examinations (Lee, 2009). You then need to work under a broker for achieving the license to gain experience on how the business works. The latter involves additional costing and duties coming your way. In some cases, there may need to pursue some other credits as far as certification goes to continue being relevant and to maintain the license. The other challenge is having to pay brokers and the continuous classes you have to attend. There is also a monthly fee you have to incur alongside the payment made for every sale or purchase. It is also tasking to handle a lot of paperwork. You are tasked with writing individual offers and submission of forms to agent brokers, to MLS and attorneys (Cho, Hwang and Satchell, 2010). Despite this annoying encounter you have to go through, it comes with a territory for you. Depending on the transaction you can make, the amount of paperwork also increases thus there is not definite number of hours you will spend on the paperwork. However, if you are pissed off by this, you can engage some professionals who specialize in doing this paperwork for a particular fee. The licensed real estate also need to make this known to both the sellers and buyers of the property. That is to facilitate you being held responsible when you take advantage of sellers or buyers in any way. Other investors do not look at this as a positivity and instead opt not to acquire licenses claiming that they may impact their businesses negatively (Byrne, Jackson and Lee, 2013). The scenario, however, has mixed reactions. Some investors claim a lot of trusts and increased confidence when they realize that they are dealing with somebody who has a lot of insight in the field and have gone further to get a license. On the contrary, those not wishing to get the licenses claim privacy and reduced charges on the side of their clients as an excuse. They say that their customers prefer them compared to those investors with licenses since they are always cheaper compared to their partners. Conclusion The paper has vividly explained who a real estate agent is and their nature of work. The concentration has been on how real estate agents carry out their duties in the United Kingdom. Currently, these agents are not licensed despite many of the parts in Europe requiring a license to be able to practice. Regarding that, there are many bodies especially the professional ones that are pushing for licensing and the players to have a minimum required to enter into the business. Either way, licensing of these estate agents have their good side and the bad side. I however, feel that the benefits of permitting the officers have far more benefits for themselves and the nation as a whole. They can take charge of their deals, make more cash, entice the actors involved in listing and have accessibility to MLS. Clients on the other part can build their confidence in the persons serving them as well as put their investments in trusted hands. The nation is also able to track agents who cone clients of their investment so as to prosecute them before the law and make them pay. However, it does not lack challenges like a lot of paperwork and following a tedious process to acquire the license. References Ali, Z., McGreal, S., Adair, A. and Webb, J. (2006). Corporate real estate strategy in the UK and Malaysia. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 8(4), pp.168-177. Byrne, P., Jackson, C. and Lee, S. (2013). Bias or rationality? The case of UK commercial real estate investment. J of Eur Real Est Research, 6(1), pp.6-33. Cho, Y., Hwang, S. and Satchell, S. (2010). The Optimal Mortgage Loan Portfolio in UK Regional Residential Real Estate. The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 45(3), pp.645-677. Lee, S. (2009). Is the UK real estate market converging with the rest of Europe?. J of Eur Real Est Research, 2(1), pp.18-32. Patron, H. and Roskelley, K. (2007). The Effect of Reputation and Competition on the Advice of Real Estate Agents. J Real Estate Finance Econ, 37(4), pp.387-399. Scofield, D. (2013). Time to completion liquidity in UK commercial real estate investment: 2000‐2008. J of Eur Real Est Research, 6(1), pp.34-47. Scott, J. and Scott, J. (2010). Should Real Estate Investors Get a Real Estate License?. [online] The BiggerPockets Blog. Available at: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2010/02/24/should-you-get-your-real-estate-license-investors/ [Accessed 24 May 2015]. St Lawrence, S. (2004). Review of the UK corporate real estate market concerning the availability of environmentally and socially responsible office buildings. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 6(2), pp.149-161. White, A. (2011). A review of UK public sector real estate asset management. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 13(1), pp.6-15. Read More