Property Investors In Nigeria Have Nothing To Fear Anymore

People seeking to invest in property may have nothing to fear anymore as the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has inaugurated an association/body to oversee/regulates the activities of estate agents in the country.

The body, known as the Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria (AEAN), according to NIESV, will correct the poor perception and image of estate agents, and in effect, the profession of estate surveying and valuation.

Over the years, estate agency has been bastardised and turned into an all comers affair where fraudulent activities are perpetuated.

The President, NIESV Mr. Emeka Eleh, said the regulation of the practice of estate agency was long overdue, adding that there was a need to train practitioners in the relevant areas of the profession and equip them with the capacity to serve the consuming public.

He said estate surveying and valuation was a noble profession and as a part of the practice, estate agency must be done with integrity.

“We have always believed that the estate agency practice must be regulated. NIESV is interested in ensuring that in closing real estate deals, people must have the same confidence in the estate agent as they now have in members of NIESV,” Eleh said.

The Chairman, AEAN, Mr. Chudi Ubosi, said Nigerians were becoming conscious of their rights, hence the need to regulate estate agency practice.

He said, “NIESV noticed the incursion of quacks into agency and decided to set up this body because people now see estate agents as fraudsters. Nigerians are demanding more value for their money and if we must satisfy them in the real estate industry, there must be a strict compliance with the codes of ethics of the profession; but unfortunately, we have observed that over the years, the practice of estate agency has been infiltrated by persons not qualified to be in the profession.

 “The implication is that the society is being ripped off and the professionals suffer the bad image. We are viewed as fraudsters and our reputation is at its lowest. The AEAN has thus been set up to check this trend, reverse it and clean up the practice.”

The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Housing, Mr. Jimoh Ajao, urged interim board of the AEAN to work with the Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department to check the activities of quacks in the industry.

Expressing concerns over the seeming absence of regulation in the practice of estate agency, Ajao said it had been left open to dubious activities for a long time and called for immediate action to check the development.

 “It is a source of worry that estate agency practice seems to be open to everyone and dubious persons are taking advantage of this to fleece innocent members of the public. The activities of the fraudsters are so alarming that even the property of the Lagos State Government, which has not been inaugurated, is being marketed,” he said.

Ajao said the association should promote checks and balances as well as support the sector’s contribution to economic growth.

Source: Punch Newspaper