THE Estate Agents Council of Zimbabwe secretary general Benias Gweme (BG) says the deeds office is no longer transparent due to the increase in bogus sellers and estate agents. He also feels the Law Society should intervene on allegations of unfaithful lawyers and discipline their members. He speaks to businessdigest chief business reporter Paul Nyakazeya (PN) about the real estate business.
PN: What is required for one to be a qualified estate agent and how many have been successfully registered with the Estate Agent Council of Zimbabwe this year?BG: One has to write the Estate Agent Council exams. Only those with three years experience in real estate are allowed. After they pass they should obtain a Compensation Fund Certificate and Certificate of registration of the Estate Agents Council. This year we have so far registered 140 estate agents, but it is an ongoing project. Once an estate agent meets the said requirement it will be registered.
PN: How many estate agents were registered with you by December 31 last year and how many where struck off the register?BG: Last year we had 210 registered estate agents. A total of 15 were struck off for various reasons which include failing to meet the said earlier requirements and improper and unprofessional conduct. This year we closed down five in Kadoma.
PN: Do you have the capacity to monitor all the estate agents and how do you monitor those you would have closed to ensure that they do not open once you leave?BG: We do have the capacity. We however rely mostly on members of the public. I advise them to continue advising the Estate Council if they feel that an estate agent is not transparent in the way they conduct their business. Once we close an estate agent we advise the nearest police stations who will ensure that the law is properly followed.
PN: What is the role of an Estate Agent?BG: It is supposed to be faithful when selling a house, collecting rent on behalf of the landlord, maintain the house and do proper valuation of the property.
PN: Do you think valuations of most properties on the market are accurate?BG: Most houses on the market are overvalued. Only those that are priced right do not stay long on the market when being sold. It is interesting to note that the prices of properties advertised in papers are not what they are finally sold for. They will be far less.
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PN: What percentage do Estate Agents get from selling a property or managing it?BG: There are scale fees, for selling a house it is 15% of the total value of the property. For managing a residential property they get 15% of the monthly rental and 10% for commercial properties.
PN: Most estate agents are accused of not properly maintaining properties they manage, advising landlord of realistic rentals depending on the area and condition of the property and ensuring that bills are paid,but are quick to ask for rentals. What do you say to this?BG: It has always been a difficult and contentious issue. Estate Agents have a check list which after inspecting the property should advise the landlord before a tenant moves in or out. It is difficult sometimes to monitor payments of bills because tenants receive them. But when a new tenant moves in, they should be advised of the outstanding bills.
PN: There is an increase in the number of middlemen in real estate as evidenced by the number of alleged bogus adverts in the media. Are you aware of this?BG: They are indeed increasing but it is difficult to monitor. The values of those small adverts in the media are unrealistically low to lure clients who in most cases get a raw deal. I feel it is important for media houses to ask for certificates to show that whoever is advertising is a genuine estate agent,or request a list of all legal estate agents. If they fail to produce a certificate they should not be allowed to advertise. But because there is money involved media houses might not be co-operative. Even when one says they are selling a house, advertising reps should ask for an original copy of title deeds.
PN: But there are allegations that the Deeds Office is not transparent these days, documents are being sneaked out making it difficult to control corruption or detect genuine documents and transactionsBG: It is true the Deeds Office is not transparent and it is very worrying. One wonders how documents are taken out. We have had cases of lawyers who approve certain documents only to say the papers do not look authentic when the deal is about to be concluded. The Law Society should intervene on allegations of unfaithful lawyers and discipline its members.
PN: Most rentals are said to be rather unjustifiably high. Are there standard rentals depending on the area? I know there are some properties whose designs and facilities are classified as not being fit for certain areas.BG: A lot of people are complaining about rentals, some which I would say are not justified. For commercial properties you find that most tenants have left; look at Westgate, High-Glen or Chitungwiza complex. As the Estate Agents Council we do not dictate rentals but the market does. There are no standard rentals for any given area. That idea was once mooted but died a natural death due to break down of communication with the Rent Board. Being a government board the communication was not effective.
PN: How would you describe the property market?BG: I would say the market is picking up;there are a lot of activities, mostly cash transactions though. Residential stands below US$10 000 are now difficult to find. People are buying. But going forward with more people accessing mortgages and loans from their employers there will be more activity on the market. Potential homeowners and sellers should however be very careful when dealing with property transactions because the numbers of unfaithful lawyers and bogus sellers have been increasing.
