It’s Time.
Move over Real Estate Agent.
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Our industry is at a point of change – one that presents us with the most critical choice we’ve been posed in more than 100 years. As agents we need to position ourselves not as simply Agents but as professionals at the centre of each and every real estate transaction.

We need to offer a wide range of services to our clients, provide creative solutions to complex problems and give sound information and advice about the property and the market. We need to have a reputation for providing a high level of service and behaving ethically and honestly.

It’s time to not just survive but to strive and thrive, it’s time to not just succeed but to exceed, it’s time for the Real Estate Profession.
Everything we do must be about increasing the quality of our service. At REIA, we believe the right decision is clear. We’ve been working closely with the Professional Standards Councils and its agency, the Professional Standards Authority, as well as our industry leaders over the last year to map out our path to being formally recognised as a profession. Our journey will require us all to make positive changes – our attitudes, our behaviours and the way we collectively present ourselves. But by working together we can be the change we want to see.

Welcome to better. Welcome to the Pathway.

The REIA together with its member state Institutes are working on how real estate agents can be formally recognised as a profession. This involves the creation of a formal nationally recognised professional standards schemes as approved by the PSSCA. This involves the 4 critical standards. Ethics, Education, Experience and Examination along with an approved Entity to run the scheme which define the elements that are necessary to qualify as a profession. Over the course of 2018/19, we’ll be focusing on these key standards to explain how the Agent of the future will look like and work.

Professionalism

Society has changed. Expectations have changed. Everything has changed, except the way we deal with the transaction. We need to look at the services we’re providing and the value those services afford to our clients – not just in the short term, but over a much longer period. We need to look beyond the immediate transaction.

As agents, we’re in a unique position to extend and deepen our involvement in all stages of the real estate transaction by building and nurturing relationships with clients that extend beyond the obvious moments of buying, selling and leasing.

We need to position ourselves as professionals at the centre of each and every real estate transaction. We need to offer a wide range of services to our clients, provide creative solutions to complex problems and give sound information and advice about the property and the market. And we need to have a reputation for providing a high level of service and behaving ethically and honestly. Everything we do must be about increasing the quality of our service, rather than attempting to resist the changing environment around us.

Our industry is at a crossroads – one that presents us with the most critical choice we’ve been posed in more than 100 years.

Which road will you take? Will you tread the track of least resistance and continue with the status quo? Or will you boldly set out on the pathway toward professionalism?

At REIA, we believe the right decision is clear. That’s why we’ve been working closely with the Professional Standards Councils and its agency, the Professional Standards Authority, as well as and industry leaders over the last couple of years to map out our path to being formally recognised as a profession.

Our journey will require us all to change – our attitudes, our behaviours and the way we collectively present ourselves. But by working together we can be the change we want to see.

John Cunningham
Chair, REIA Professionalism Committee

The purpose

To raise the bar on ethics and practice standards for the benefit of consumers
To create a robust and transparent consumer protection regime
To transform the customer service experience and exceed expectations
To become more valuable and relevant in a rapidly changing digital world while retaining the critical human element
To set new education standards to meet the skill levels required for our customers’ needs
To address and influence poor regulatory creep caused by negative consumer experiences
To provide professional agents with a readily identifiable consumer “mark” for personal and community credibility

To create an environment where professional agents are recognised as trusted advisors
To hold professional agents accountable to standards of professional conduct
To show agents there is a better, more collaborative way to work – the pathway to be a professional
To create the blueprint for a thriving career as a professional agent
To see Industry Associations guiding professional agents on the way to service innovation and consumer care

The Six Es

REIA, in conjunction with REIA, are working with the Professional Standards Councils (PSC) and its agency, the Professional Standards Authority, to explore how real estate agents can be formally recognised as a profession.

The PSC uses the 6 Es to define the elements that are necessary to qualify as a profession.

The six Es are:

Ethics
Education
Experience
Examination
Entity
Evolution

We believe we needed to add another E: Evolution.

1. Ethics

If you think ethics is just for philosophers and intellectuals, think again. Ethics are at the core of everything we do and shape our behaviours. As our industry travels the pathway to professionalism, we must decide the guiding principles that define our collective behaviours and strive to always act in accordance with them.

2. Education

“Upon the subject of education … I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as people can be engaged in.” So said Abraham Lincoln – and it’s a sentiment we need to wholeheartedly embrace as our industry seeks to evolve into a profession.

3. Experience

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States of America, once said: “Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.” These words uttered in the 1920s ring true today, as the real estate industry works toward the goal of achieving professional recognition.

4. Examination

It’s one thing to say you’re ethical, educated and have relevant experience. It’s another to prove it. Find out how professionals prove they are keeping their promises in the community through examination.

5. Entity

Professional status is something that’s closely monitored and assessed over time by the responsible entity to ensure standards are consistently being met.

6. Evolution

We believe we need to add another E: Evolution.
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change. So said the father of evolution himself, Charles Darwin. At a time when the real estate industry is facing a growing number of challenges, how do we evolve into a profession in order to ensure our survival?

The timeline of Professionalism

September 2017

A stellar line-up of the industry’s most influential and respected agents spoke about the Pathway to Professionalism at REIA’s Future Agent Summit at the Sydney Mint.

Watch the highlights video and hear from attendees here >

July 2017

Over 60 real estate industry leaders gathered together to action plans for professionalisation at REIA’s Property Professional Prelaunch Think Tank.

Watch the speakers here >

March 2017

As REIA continues to push forward in the quest for professional recognition of our industry, the Property Professionals Advisory Group (PPAG) has been formed to examine the underpinning framework we need to put in place to achieve our goal.

November 2016

Agents at the Industry Summit recognized the need to increase professional standards as the way forward.

November 2016

November 2016 Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, Victor Dominello, announced a landmark series of reforms that will have a real and lasting impact on the way agents in NSW are educated.

July 2018

Listen to John Cunningham discuss about ‘The big disruption about to shake up real estate agents’.

He was featured as a guest on the popular property podcast, The Elephant In The Room.

The real estate industry health check

Find out an overall health check of the real estate industry in a series of articles by John Cunningham, Chair of the REIA Professionalism Committee.