Latest
Best suburbs
Growing your portfolio
Growing your portfolio
Investor stories
Investor stories
Improving your investment
Improving your investment
Podcasts
Webcasts

Industry body calls for improvement to agent training

By Sasha Karen 07 March 2019 | 1 minute read

The CEO of a real estate body has called on the NSW government to improve the standards for selling agents, who currently only need four days of training to sell property.

The Real Estate Institute of NSW has asked for NSW Fair Training to implement reforms passed by the NSW government to raise the standards of training for real estate agents.

REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin estimated the reasoning behind the delay was due to Fair Training potentially considering that more training would reduce competition.

“Competition is a positive market influence, however it must be competition between well-educated, experienced professionals. Competition alone is not the panacea for all that ails a market,” Mr McKibbin said.

“The current education requirement not only fails to prepare agents to respond to the reasonable expectations of consumers, it fails people wanting a career in real estate practice. Eighty (80) per cent of new entrants leave the industry in the first year.”

In order to address this industry-impacting issues, Mr McKibbin would want to see an appointed commissioner for property services, a position the REINSW has been adamant on in the past.

“The industry, and more importantly consumers, need a regulatory authority that will work in a collegial manner, and support it. The industry’s current relationship with Fair Trading is adversarial, which benefits no one,” Mr McKibbin said.

The expertise of a commissioner for property services is needed rather than NSW Fair Trading, according to the REINSW, surrounds three main issues:

The specific nuances of the property industry may be lost in the 40 other industries handled by NSW Fair Trading;
NSW Fair Trading has allegedly made “poor legislative decisions” in the past, with REINSW giving the example of removing the requirement for auctioneers to have a license in 1993, reversed the decision in 2003, and then recommended removing it again in 2018, as well as amending consumer protection legislation related to trust accounts; and
Real Estate agents require minimal training of less than a week, while property managers have the expectation of inspecting “important property safety devices” with no training, as opposed to trained inspectors.

A statement from the REINSW stated: “Real estate transactions require an experienced and dedicated specialist, not someone who has acquired a certificate with four days of training and no practical industry experience.”

About the author

Sasha Karen

More from this writer

Rental vacancies falling nationwide

How to avoid a bad builder

Teaching financial literacy to your kids

The best investment an investor can make

How should an investor approach an agent?

What a buyer’s agent can offer an investor

Tax deductions you can claim on your investment property

6 MIN READ

Tax deductions you can claim on your investment property

Investment properties (or properties used for income-producing purposes) have unique tax deductions that you can use to ...

1 MIN READ

Can you buy a retirement property using your SMSF?

While it may seem advantageous to purchase a retirement property through an SMSF, SMSF clients need to be very careful t...

1 MIN READ

Roadmap woes: REIV requests federal intervention

The Real Estate Institute of Victoria has condemned the state government’s roadmap out of stage 4 restrictions, citing...

From the web

Recommended by Spike Native Network

Must Read

City buyers swarm NSW South Coast, creating unseen conditions

Why home buyers are now more open to high-priced properties

Must Read

Why home buyers are now more open to high-priced properties

Regional markets clock ‘unbelievably’ tight vacancy rates

Must Read

Regional markets clock ‘unbelievably’ tight vacancy rates

Watch

Smart Property Investment webcast: Why now is the right time to invest in property

Watch

Webcast: How to read the fundamentals of property markets, with Propertyology

Watch

WEBCAST: Brisbane off-the-back of COVID-19

Listen

PROPERTY SHOWCASE: Why education is key in property investing

Listen

INSIDE COMMERCIAL PROPERTY – WITH RETHINK INVESTING: The all-inclusive commercial property playbook

Listen

INVESTING INSIGHTS WITH RIGHT PROPERTY GROUP: Why due diligence is key in a rising market

Right Property Group

INVESTING INSIGHTS WITH RIGHT PROPERTY GROUP: Why due diligence is key in a rising market

Right Property Group

INVESTING INSIGHTS WITH RIGHT PROPERTY GROUP: Looking back to look forward

Right Property Group

INVESTING INSIGHTS WITH RIGHT PROPERTY GROUP: Recognising opportunity in an uncertain market

mortgage calculators

Having your finances in order is essential to any successful investment. Use our calculators below to help plan your investment strategy and maximise your investment potential.

top suburbs

12 MONTH GROWTH

array(10) { [0]=> object(stdClass)#15187 (4) { ["postcode"]=> string(4) "3885" ["suburb"]=> string(7) "Bruthen" ["median_twelve_month_growth_percent"]=> string(15) "49.770642201835" ["link"]=> string(22) "/data/vic/3885/bruthen" } [1]=> object(stdClass)#15190 (4) { ["postcode"]=> string(4) "4551" ["suburb"]=> string(12) "Moffat Beach" ["median_twelve_month_growth_percent"]=> string(15) "48.888888888889" ["link"]=> string(27) "/data/qld/4551/moffat beach" } [2]=> object(stdClass)#15177 (4) { ["postcode"]=> string(4) "3550" ["suburb"]=> string(10) "Flora Hill" ["median_twelve_month_growth_percent"]=> string(15) "48.678414096916" ["link"]=> string(25) "/data/vic/3550/flora hill" } [3]=> object(stdClass)#15114 (4) { ["postcode"]=> string(4) "5084" ["suburb"]=> string(7) "Kilburn" ["median_twelve_month_growth_percent"]=> string(15) "47.058823529412" ["link"]=> string(21) "/data/sa/5084/kilburn" } [4]=> object(stdClass)#15198 (4) { ["postcode"]=> string(4) "4415" ["suburb"]=> string(5) "Miles" ["median_twelve_month_growth_percent"]=> string(15) "46.153846153846" ["link"]=> string(20) "/data/qld/4415/miles" } [5]=> object(stdClass)#15869 (4) { ["postcode"]=> string(4) "6714" ["suburb"]=> string(10) "Pegs Creek" ["median_twelve_month_growth_percent"]=> string(15) "46.153846153846" ["link"]=> string(24) "/data/wa/6714/pegs creek" } [6]=> object(stdClass)#15111 (4) { ["postcode"]=> string(4) "2000" ["suburb"]=> string(9) "the Rocks" ["median_twelve_month_growth_percent"]=> string(15) "46.103896103896" ["link"]=> string(24) "/data/nsw/2000/the rocks" } [7]=> object(stdClass)#15181 (4) { ["postcode"]=> string(4) "7304" ["suburb"]=> string(10) "Mole Creek" ["median_twelve_month_growth_percent"]=> string(15) "45.833333333333" ["link"]=> string(25) "/data/tas/7304/mole creek" } [8]=> object(stdClass)#15095 (4) { ["postcode"]=> string(4) "4357" ["suburb"]=> string(10) "Millmerran" ["median_twelve_month_growth_percent"]=> string(15) "45.714285714286" ["link"]=> string(25) "/data/qld/4357/millmerran" } [9]=> object(stdClass)#15186 (4) { ["postcode"]=> string(4) "4567" ["suburb"]=> string(14) "Sunshine Beach" ["median_twelve_month_growth_percent"]=> string(15) "45.632798573975" ["link"]=> string(29) "/data/qld/4567/sunshine beach" } }

Bruthen

49.77%
Moffat Beach

48.89%
Flora Hill

48.68%
Kilburn

47.06%
Miles

46.15%
Pegs Creek

46.15%
the Rocks

46.1%
Mole Creek

45.83%
Millmerran

45.71%
Sunshine Beach

45.63%

latest hotspot

Research

After bearing the brunt of the impact of COVID-19 last year, the Victo...

Research

Despite a turbulent 2020, Adelaide’s property market remained largel...

Property Market Update Report

Website Notifications

Get notifications in real-time for staying up to date with content that matters to you.