IEASA National - News

More training for township estate agents   Article Date :1 Dec 2005 Courses will now be ongoing, says Marks. When the Western Cape branch of the Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa announced their first training course for township-based estate agents there were people who predicted that this would be a one-off exercise with no follow on. The sceptics have, however, been completely routed: this week Vivien Marks, the Institute of Estate Agents' Western Cape General Manager, announced the fifth course to be launched - and she is completely confident that, as before, she will have more applicants than there are spaces for. The new course starts in April next year and will be able to take 25 trainees. To qualify for the course the agent must have been registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board for at least one year and should preferably be running his or her own business. "Should the agent not be registered," said Marks, "we can help - they would have to fill in a form and be interviewed, but if they have the relevant experience we can probably make a plan." Of those who have completed the course so far 70% now run their own businesses. The lectures, many by high profile people in the estate agency world, cover sales and marketing, legal and financial matters, valuations, property development and other aspects of estate agency work. The delegates will be shown how to construct their own business plan. Transport to and from the townships for the courses is provided. The course takes three months, during which time the delegate is expected to attend once a week. Marks said that one of the big draw-cards of the training is the Institute's ability to ensure that all who complete the course are registered with Estate Agency Affairs Board once they have written and passed the Board's entrance examination. "It should be remembered," she said, "that those agents who are not registered but are taking commissions for their work are in fact acting illegally - and it is increasingly likely that attorneys will be reluctant to work with them." Marks said that her aim is to create "a golden layer" of trained professional agents who perform so well that others will aspire to be like them – and come on training courses. "The course is," she said, "now a proven success with huge benefits for those who participate." For further information contact Vivien Marks on 021 531 3180. CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE MAIN NEWS PAGE