Real Estate Surveyor: 7 TYPES OF ESTATE AGENTS IN NIGERIA

Real Estate Surveyor: 7 TYPES OF ESTATE AGENTS IN NIGERIA: In my last post, I wrote on the need for a statutory regulation to be promulgated for estate agency practice in Nigeria.  So today, ...

7 TYPES OF ESTATE AGENTS IN NIGERIA

In my last post, I wrote on the need for a statutory regulation to be promulgated for estate agency practice in Nigeria. 

So today, I will be writing on the seven (7) different types of estate agents in Nigeria, who are carrying out estate agency activities in one way or another in the estate surveying and valuation profession.

Before I go ahead with my explanation on the different types of estate agents in Nigeria, let me quickly explain to you who an estate agent is, as this will help give you a better insight and understanding as to the meaning and concept of estate agency practice.

MEANING OF ESTATE AND ESTATE AGENT

Estate and Agent are two different words coined together to represent a descriptive appellation for the person or business entity carrying out estate agency activities.

Estate is referred to as large piece of land owned by an individual or group of persons. It is also described to mean a piece or large piece of land with different types of buildings/structures been developed on it.

The legal meaning of estate refers to the amount, degree or nature of a person’s interest in land or other property.

An Agent is referred to as the person or business entity authorized and/or instructed to act on behalf of another person – client – in a business transaction with third parties based on an agency relationship they have created.

Estate Agent on the other hand is regarded to mean the person who carries out business activities in estate agency practice and whose duty is to sell, acquire, lease and manage various classes of land and landed properties on behalf of the client in consideration for monetary compensation usually referred to as commission.

Estate agents can specialize in either one or all of the following areas of estate agency practice; sales, lettings, acquisition, property management and valuation, but this will be based on their level of education, qualification and professional training.

The seven (7) types of estate agents in the Nigerian real estate management profession are:

·         Sole/Exclusive Estate Agents

·         Joint Estate Agents

·         Multiple Estate Agents

·         Sub- Estate Agents

·         Contract/Vendor Estate Agents

·         Owner - Estate Agents

·         Quack Estate Agents

SOLE/EXCLUSIVE ESTATE AGENTS: As the name implies, sole or exclusive agents are those types of estate agents that are specifically appointed and given the full mandate by the client to act on his/her behalf.

Sole or exclusive estate agents can/will act on behalf of the client in all matters relating to sales, acquisition, letting and management of land and landed properties based on the instruction or mandate given to them.

This is why you always find/see a single advertisement board of an estate agency firm on a land or landed property either for sale or letting because the estate agency firm and the client to the property has a sole/exclusive agency relationship/agreement between them.

Where a sole or exclusive estate agent successfully carries out the instruction and real estate needs of the client, he/she will be paid a monetary sum – commission – which was agreed upon between them during the creation of the estate agency relationship/agreement as compensation for their services.

Where a sole or exclusive estate agent has been appointed, the client can not employ the services of other estate agents on the same real estate matter which he/she has given his mandate or instruction to the sole or exclusive estate agent to act on his/her behalf except when such sole or exclusive estate agency agreement is terminated between them.

The services of a sole or exclusive estate agent can be sought after by individuals, corporate organizations or government parastatals.

JOINT ESTATE AGENTS: These are estate agents that have been jointly appointed and instructed together by the same client in order for them to act on behalf of the client on a particular real estate business transaction. 

Unlike where sole/exclusive estate agents are given a sole mandate or instruction by the client, joint estate agents as the name implies are jointly given the same mandate and instruction by the client to act on his/her behalf for a monetary compensation – commission – to be shared among the joint estate agents so appointed by the client.

Whenever a joint estate agency agreement/relationship is to be created, the estate agents to be jointly appointed by the client are usually formally introduce to each other so as to spell out the contractual obligations and duties of all parties involved in the estate agency transaction as they are all expected to cooperate together to achieve the goal of the client.

One of the rules of estate agency practice as been established by the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) is that it is prohibitive for professional Estate Surveyors and Valuers who have been appointed joint estate agents in estate agency matter relating to either sales or lease, to hang their separate advertisement boards on the same land or landed property but instead, should use a joint advertisement board on the property bearing the names of their estate firms as well as their contact details. 

Each estate agent in a joint estate agency agreement will be compensated according to the agreement reached upon during the joint agency agreement/contract they signed with the client. 

The services of joint estate agents can also be requested for by individuals, corporate organizations or government parastatals based on their particular real estate demand.

MULTIPLE ESTATE AGENTS: This is where five or more estate agents are instructed and appointed individually and/ or continuously by the client to act on his/her behalf in an estate agency matter relating to land or landed property sales, acquisition and/or lettings until when these needs are met by either any or all of the multiple estate agents been instructed.

Multiple estate agents that have been appointed and instructed by the client will most times not know themselves as the instructions and mandate of the client’s real estate agency need is directed specifically to different estate agents. They may however get to know themselves when their advertisement boards are displayed on the property in question.

Multiple estate agents are usually appointed when the client has a special preference for a particular class of land or landed property within a particular geographical location but which he/she is finding it very difficult to get. 

It is only the particular estate agent that is successful in fulfilling the mandate of the client among the other multiple estate agents that will be compensate at the end of the transaction.

SUB- ESTATE AGENTS: These are estate agents who are appointed by another estate agent to assist them in carrying out and fulfilling the instruction and mandate of the client on a particular real estate transaction. Sub- estate agents don’t usually have the direct instruction or mandate of the client to carry out a particular real estate transaction on his/her behalf, but only act as an assistant or colleague to the sole estate agent who has been given the client’s instruction and mandate. 

The sub-estate agent and the head estate agent will normally agree on a fee-sharing ratio to be apportioned to each other when they are able to successfully carry out the client’s instruction.

CONTRACT/VENDOR ESTATE AGENTS: These are those types of estate agents that are registered real estate contractors/vendors with a particular company or organization in offering their estate agency services. 

Contract/vendor estate agents would need to be registered with the particular company or organization if they are to offer their real estate agency services to them.

It is only those contract/vendor estate agents who are registered with the particular organization or company that are given instructions and mandate to act and carry out a specific real estate transaction on behalf of the client.

The fee to be paid as commission would have been communicated and agreed to between the particular company/organization and the vendor/contract estate agents prior to them acting on the instructions of the client.

Vendor/contract estate agents work in various sectors of the economy such as: financial institutions, telecommunication companies, government parastatals, oil and gas companies, etc

OWNER - ESTATE AGENTS: These are special estate agents that are finding their way into the real estate agency practice of the estate management and valuation profession. 

They are referred to as owners of residential and/or commercial properties to be let out while also acting as estate agents in marketing and finding suitable tenants to the same property. They usually don’t appoint estate agents to act on their behalf on the property to be let out or sale, but rather, they act on their own selves.

Any advertisement board and/or information displayed on the property to be let or sale usually belong to them.

What is usually encountered with these owner-estate agents is that they always demand for estate agency commission/fee from anybody that wants to occupy their property apart from the rental amount which will be paid by the prospective occupants.

QUACK ESTATE AGENTS: This refers to those people who are without any formal training, education or qualification in real estate management and valuation but are carrying out estate agency activities to the general public.

They have no professional expertise and/or skills in the act and science of estate surveying and valuation but have encroached into the profession in one way or another to carry out estate agency activities.

Due to their numerical advantage in the real estate surveying and valuation profession, they are widely consulted by the general public for most of their real estate agency – property sales, acquisition, lettings and management – needs as that is the only major area of their activities and practice in the estate surveying and valuation profession in Nigeria.

ABOUT ME

Adeniyi Akinjiyan is a Higher National Diploma (HND) holder of Estate Management from the prestigious Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos state, Nigeria. He possesses a Professional Practice Certificate in Estate Surveying and Valuation from the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV).

He is the principal consultant of Aakient Consultants Ltd, a highly progressive and consolidated property and construction project management company, which is committed to providing the highest level of professional services in meeting clients’ real estate needs.

Feel free to contact him at: aakientconsultants@gmail.com

ESTATE AGENCY PRACTICE IN NIGERIA: THE NEED FOR STATUTORY REGULATION

Estate agency practice in the Nigerian context involves carrying out business-like activities in the sales, acquisition and leasing of various classes of land and landed properties by “an estate agent” based on the instructions of “the client”, in consideration for monetary compensation – usually a percentage of the value - known as a “commission”

The person that carries out any act of estate agency activities is referred to as an estate agent while the person whom such act is carried out on his/her behalf is known as the client.

Estate agency practice in Nigeria like other countries of the world contributes massively to housing delivery system as it helps to meet as well as cater for the housing/accommodation needs of people. 

Due to the important roles estate agents play in the housing and accommodation delivery sector of the economy, so many people have become victims of accommodation fraud from the hands of some of these estate agents who go about duping genuine accommodation seekers.

Just of recent (November 18, 2013), there was a wide-spread report of an estate agent been jailed by a Lagos state High Court for 15years imprisonment because of defrauding 100 accommodation seekers on a particular property which was actually leased to him. The said estate agent collected large sums of money from 100 people in order to help them get accommodation on a property which he was actually not given any instruction to do or act likewise by the property owner as he was a tenant.

This is just one of the many numerous and un-accounted cases of accommodation seekers that have been defrauded by some of these people who parade themselves as estate agents in the country. 

The activities of some of these estate agent fraudsters have led to negative perceptions from people about those genuine estate agency practitioners and professionals in the country. 

As a matter of fact, the poor public perception and image of professional Estate Agents and in effect the profession of Estate Surveying and Valuation, is as a result of the activities and incursion of non professionals into the practice of Estate Agency.

Hence the urgent need for a regulatory statute to guide the activities of estate agency in Nigeria and protection of accommodation seekers.

In order to tackle and checkmate the activities of estate agency fraudsters as well as estate agency activities in the state, the Lagos state government in November, 2012 established a regulatory agency known as Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department (LASRETRAD) in the Ministry of Housing to regulate and restore confidence in the activities of Estate Agents in the State.

Among the responsibilities of the agency are to: 

·         Sensitize the public about estate agency and attendant rules, risks and benefits

·         Keep a register of qualified Estate Agency Practitioners who voluntarily register with the Department

·         Ensure protection of citizens from illegal trade practices

·         Prosecute estate agents suspected of having violated the applicable laws

Most importantly, to ensure that estate agency practice is no longer an all-comers’ affair as been generally believed it to be, the Lagos State Government went further in introducing a code of conduct for practitioners, which specifies the rule of practice, and punishment for defaulters.

The document mandates that a registered agent transacting business must have operational business premises or office within the state that will be verified ; maintain a record of his or her business transactions and shall open a separate bank account for that purpose; ensure that a prospective tenant or purchaser takes physical possession of the property paid for within 14 days except otherwise stated in writing and that his principal performs all necessary obligations due to the government under applicable legislation and regulation.

On its own part, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) which is the statutorily established professional body responsible for Estate Surveying and Valuation practice/activities in the country has also formed an association known as Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria (AEAN) for all those people (professionals and non-professionals) practicing estate agency activities in the country. 

The association was purposely set up to in order to streamline activities of estate agents and checks the activities of non-professionals in estate agency practice. 

It was officially launched on October 22, 2013 at Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos state, with the Director General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr Ikem Joseph Odumodu as the special guest of honour.

Among the goals of the association are to: 

·         Sanitize the real estate sector of the Nigerian economy

·         Develop the Estate Agency into a respectable professional practice in Nigeria

·         Maintain a database of Estate Agents in Nigeria

·         Train and re-train Estate Agency Personnel

·         Ensure a high standard of professional ethics by members

·         Reduce to barest minimum, incidents of fraud in property transactions

·         Cooperate with governments and government agencies. 

The newly formed association will be working together with the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) as well as partner with the Lagos state government and Federal government to develop a template for regulation of estate agency practice in the state and Nigeria as a whole.

 

While the Lagos state government has established an agency to regulate and monitor the activities of estate agents and agency practice in the state, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) on its own part has set up a dependent association (Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria) in terms of provision of training and study materials for all those people carrying out estate agency activities as well as those wanting to become estate agents in the way and manner to be successful in the operation and practice of estate agency in the country.

The categories as specifically highlighted by the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) for membership into the Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria (AEAN) are: 

·         Certified Estate Agents (CEA) made up of professional Estate Surveyors and Valuers;

·         Registered Agents made up of professionals from other fields

·         Estate Brokers for people with minimum qualification of secondary school certificate.

CEA are strictly reserved for members of the NIESV, while other practicing agents and professionals can become members under any of other categories.

The Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria (AEAN) through its parental association; The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) is working towards setting parameters for training, minimum qualification requirements and ultimately present a bill to the National Assembly for government’s recognition and charter for the association.

When estate agency practice is statutorily recognized and established in Nigeria, it will go a long way in helping to curb the activities of accommodation frauds which people have been subjected to. 

The association well duly backed by a government statute will help guide the activities of those practicing estate agency services in the country as they will be statutorily mandated to work and carry out their estate agency services based on the rules and regulations as stipulated by the government

In the words of Ed Hatch: “In many places in the United States, you have to be licensed to sell houses. The National Association of Realtors oversees the behaviour of all estate agents. So, there is a code of ethics. When someone does something that is a bit shady, he risks losing his license.

If you are a client and you have a relationship with a licensed agent, you will understand that there is a legal responsibility to that relationship which the client cannot share with more than one person. As soon as this country creates the expectation that estate agents need to be licensed, as soon as that happens, it becomes a legal issue, and you have got the law involved.

Once the practice becomes sophisticated, it needs more oversight and when you create the oversight, you also have to create the licensure and the licensee and also the law; and when the law is involved, the problems in the practice will go away”

ABOUT ME

I am a Higher National Diploma (HND) holder of Estate Management from the prestigious Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos state, Nigeria. I also possess a Professional Practice Certificate in Estate Surveying and Valuation from the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV).

I am the principal consultant of Aakient Consultants Ltd, a highly progressive and consolidated property and construction project management company, which is committed to providing the highest level of professionalism and services in meeting clients’ real estate needs.

Feel free to contact me at: aakientconsultants@gmail.com

ROLES OF ESTATE SURVEYORS AND VALUERS IN THE SOCIETY

The estate surveyor and valuer trained in the art and science of estate management to direct and supervise an interest in landed properties with the sole aim of obtaining optimum returns for the owners of such properties has an important role to play in the wellbeing of people and overall development of the society at large.

As members of the three (3) arms of government have various roles they play and perform in attaining better wellbeing and living standards for the people, so also does the Estate Surveyors and Valuers, whose roles and duties in the society cannot be overlooked or ignored.

For the benefits of those that might be wondering the roles Estate Surveyors and Valuers actually play in the society, I have identified and explained some of these roles below: 

·         Maintenance of public infrastructures/assets

·         Act as land economists for infrastructural development schemes

·         Custodian of land and landed properties

·         Land dispute arbitrators

·         Professional property consultation and expertise

·         Act as Educators and instructors

·         Employers of labour

Maintenance of Public Infrastructures/Assets:

Wikipedia defined infrastructure as “the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. It also defined it in military parlance to mean buildings and permanent installations necessary for the support, redeployment, and operation of military forces”.

Public infrastructures/assets are important terms used in judging a country or region’s development status because they are physical components of interrelated systems providing commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions.

The physical state and conditions of public infrastructures/assets in Nigeria is nothing to write home about or befitting to us - a nation – as giant of Africa. I’m very sure most of you know the state in which the country’s public infrastructures/assets are in today presently.

It must be sadly said at this juncture that public infrastructures/assets in Nigeria has been in serious decay and deteriorating state over the years due largely in part to mismanagement and inadequate or poor maintenance, which has left some of these infrastructures/assets in dismal state of repairs and abandonment.

Estate Surveyors and Valuers trained in the art and science of estate management has important and inevitable roles to play in the management and maintenance of the nation’s public infrastructures – land and buildings, plant and machinery, furniture and fixtures – based on their professional expertise, training, qualification, years of working experience and the knowledge they possess in all matters relating to land and landed properties. 

Some of the roles Estate Surveyors and Valuers will/can perform in the course of managing public infrastructures/assets in Nigeria are:

·     Formulate a well detailed planned preventive maintenance policy to the government for managing public infrastructures/assets

·         Help to identify and establish the operative life span and renewal of the component parts that makes up such public infrastructures/assets

·       Carry out continuous renovation and remedial works on some of the infrastructures’ component parts that require minor or early repairs before they affect other parts of such assets/facilities

·    Continuously act in the capacity of a facility/asset manager of public infrastructures/assets on behalf of government for the overall beneficial interest of the government, citizens and nation as a whole

Act As Land Economists For Infrastructural Development Schemes: One of the major determinants of a country’s development rate, standard of living and social wellbeing is massive investment in infrastructural development schemes by the government and private sector. Land economics for infrastructural development schemes focuses on the allocation of land in a particular region within a state/country for residential, commercial or other uses.

In the provision of infrastructural development schemes, Estate Surveyors and Valuers have important roles to play because they act and serve as land economists through their education and training in the concept, theory and principles of land economics – rural and urban – to give expert opinion and advise on the various locations within a region where different types of land uses – residential, commercial, agricultural, etc – can/should be developed based on the  needs of the populace, as well as other urban and non-urban land issues.

The roles expected of Estate Surveyors and Valuers as land economists in relation to infrastructural development schemes are:

·         Analyze organization of activities in a region

·         Establish factors that determines prices of land in a region

·         Examine intra-location choices of firms and households

·         Formulate policy for various land-use control

·       Identify all the various urban and non-urban issues inherent in carrying out infrastructural development schemes in a particular region

·         Assist in formulating a region’s development master plan

Custodian of Land And Landed Properties: Trained in the art and science of estate management to deal with all matters relating to the maintenance and management of land and landed properties within a country for the overall beneficial interest of the citizenry, Estate Surveyors and Valuers should be engaged always because their level of expertise and training spreads across various aspects of real estate discipline.

Estate Surveyors and Valuers while acting as custodians of land and landed properties performs the role of ensuring that those classes of land and landed properties been entrusted onto them are continuously properly managed and maintained in order to improve their aesthetic value, monetary value and lifespan, as well as achieve the expected optimum returns which are in varying forms for the owners of such land and landed properties. 

Some of the roles expected of Estate Surveyors and Valuers while acting as custodians of land and landed properties in the society include:

·         Management and maintenance of land and landed properties for the owners

·         Advise on the highest and best use of any land and landed properties

·         Act in the overall beneficial interest of owners of land and landed properties

·         Help to formulate a master plan for infrastructural development projects in the society

·         Determine the monetary value and worth of land and landed properties

Land Dispute Arbitrator: Right from the creation of man, the issues of land and property disputes in various forms have been rampant among people of different backgrounds and ethnicity.

Different categories of land and landed properties’ disputes ranging from land alienation, rightful ownership claims, compensation for land/property acquired compulsorily by government, tenant – landlord issues, etc are continuously been presented and determined in various law courts of the land. Some and if not most of these land disputes have been dragging for a long time without any positive outcome.

To curb and minimize the time taken to determine and give judgements on some of these land disputes, government has set up civil mediation centers acting as an alternative to dispute resolutions, mandated to handle and cater for cases relating to various land and property disputes in a non-judicial manner through the appointment of an arbitrator.

The roles Estate Surveyors and Valuers perform in the society when appointed as land and property disputes’ arbitrators by the aggrieved parties are:

·         Act as intermediary between the aggrieved parties to the land and property dispute

·         Act as a neutral umpire without taking sides to any of the aggrieved parties to the land and property disputes

·         Form member of a land dispute tribunal to determine arbitration cases relating to land and property disputes

·         Proffer professional and expert opinion on compensation valuation cases as well as all matters relating to land and landed property disputes

Professional Property Consultation And Expertise: As medical practitioners cannot perform the roles and duties of legal practitioners, so also are the various roles and duties of Estate Surveyors and Valuers in the society can’t be performed professionally as expected of them by non-real estate professionals, except the professional Estate Surveyors and Valuers themselves.

It is the sole role of Estate Surveyors and Valuers to offer professional expertise, advise, services and opinions to people of different classes in the society based on their individual real estate needs and wants. 

The various roles Estate Surveyors and Valuers play in the society on all matters relating to issues of land and landed properties has made them to be very relevant in the development of a nation’s economy and social wellbeing of the total populace. This is so because there is no person or institution that will not require the professional services of Estate Surveyors and Valuers for various individual purposes and needs.

Some of the roles performed by Estate Surveyors and Valuers as professional property consultants and experts which make them to be very relevant in the development of a society as whole are:

·         Advise on various types of real estate investments that can be embarked upon

·         Management and maintenance of both public and private real estate facilities and assets

·         Provide an opinion of value for all land and landed properties, plant and machinery, furniture and fixtures on property valuation matters

·         Serve as property managers to clients’ properties

·         Serve as professional estate agents to clients on matters relating to land and landed property sales, acquisition and lease 

Act As Educators and Instructors: This is another role Estate Surveyors and Valuers performs in the society for the betterment and training of those aspiring to become future Estate Surveyors and Valuers, or those that wants to gain an understanding and knowledge about the concepts and principles of estate management as a discipline.

Estate Surveyors and Valuers act as teachers and trainers in various capacities either in private practice, public sector or institutions of higher learning where they continuously perform the role of educating people about the nitty-gritty of real estate management as a profession and course of study. They are able to do and achieve this task based on their level of experiences, skills, training and technical know-how in all matters relating to land and landed properties.

It is the training and education given by Estate Surveyors and Valuers to prospective and future real estate professionals/practitioners that will equip such people to also become vast in knowledge, understanding, practical skills and experiences in performing exceptionally well in any capacity they find themselves as real estate professionals in the society.

Employers of Labour: Estate Surveyors and Valuers who have set up their own private real estate firms are directly performing the role of employers of labour in the society as they create jobs in this regard by employing different kinds of people to work in various departments within their firms.

While performing this important role as employers of labour, Estate Surveyors and Valuers are helping government to curb the issue unemployment which is very rampant in the society through the creation of paid employment opportunities to the citizens that desire to work in real estate and surveying firms.

With the statements I have written above to buttress my point on the roles Estate Surveyors and Valuers play in the society, you will agree with me that the professional services and expertise of Estate Surveyors and Valuers can and should not be under-estimated or ignored towards achieving economic development and social wellbeing of the populace.

ABOUT ME

I am a Higher National Diploma (HND) holder of Estate Management from the prestigious Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos state, Nigeria. I also possess a Professional Practice Certificate in Estate Surveying and Valuation from the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV).

I am the principal consultant of Aakient Consultants Ltd, a highly progressive and consolidated property and construction project management company, which is committed to providing the highest level of professionalism and services in meeting clients’ real estate needs.

Feel free to contact me at: aakientconsultants@gmail.com