Real estate agents and negotiators encouraged to elevate buyers’ trust

PETALING JAYA (March 25): While a large segment of property buyers now rely on online platforms, a trusted real estate agent or real estate negotiator (REN) is often consulted prior to purchase.

The Star quotes Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) president Eric Lim as saying: “Real estate transaction is a big-ticket item, so the buyer is very careful. It is necessary to keep this conventional way as the human touch is still very important, which is why all real estate agents and RENs need to be ethical and not interrupt the trust bridge between buyers and agents.” 

Maintaining that trust and confidence should be a priority, as should efforts to elevate and improve their services.

“We should consider a mechanism to rate the level of services provided by our RENs,” he said at the Malaysian Annual Real Estate Convention (Marec) Summit 2019.

Education and training to achieve that the elevation of services and professionalism was key, he said. “For this reason, MIEA has been working hard to provide training and education to members and practitioners.”

He also touched on the slow property market, and the overhang issues.

“The prospect is rather challenging. It affects all sectors, including real estate. There is the issue of property overhang. Unfortunately, a large portion of the overhang derives from the affordable range which should not have happened in the first place.

“We applaud the government’s initiative to address this problem. This includes the various incentives and stamp duty exemption given to the targeted group comprising B40 and M40 particularly for first home buyers.”

He mentioned that similar measures should be taken for those purchasing from the secondary market as well. 

The publication quoted him as saying that Kuala Lumpur development would face “some supply adjustment as a result of the newly gazetted Kuala Lumpur Master Plan 2020.”

“The approval process and adjustment of the plot ratio affects many developments and there will be fewer launches in the coming quarters. This will be a great opportunity to market the ongoing development,” he said.

Lim encouraged the government and Bank Negara to review and liberalise lending guidelines.