An Alderley Edge Estate Agent has become one of the first in the area to receive its licence from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA).
A licence for estate agents was launched at the House of Commons in November 2010, in a major push to raise standards in the industry, and Michael J Chapman is proud to be amongst the first to receive the licence.
A licensed estate agency branch means consumers are guaranteed that at least one agent within that branch is qualified in residential property sales, either through a formal qualification or through length of service in the industry.
Currently there is no barrier to anyone setting up and practising as an estate agent and no legal requirement for them to obtain the new licence, leaving consumers to choose between a licensed or unlicensed agent.
The licence will also guarantee the agency is covered by required amounts of Professional Indemnity Insurance, will undertake 12 hours of Continuing Professional Development every year, commit to keeping up to date with industry developments and be bound by the NAEA's rules of conduct.
Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the NAEA said "I am delighted to confirm that Michael J Chapman Estate Agents is now fully licensed. We would like all sellers and buyers to ask their prospective agents, do you have an NAEA licence? If they don't, they should ask themselves whether that's the agent from whom they would get the best service when marketing their property.
"No one would knowingly use an unlicensed taxi driver. Neither should they use an unlicensed estate agent."
Michael Chapman, Partner of Michael J Chapman Estate Agents commented "We are focussed on providing a high calibre service to our sellers and buyers, and being a founder licensed estate agent shows our commitment to being one of the best estate agents in the area.
"We are committed to delivering a professional service that helps our clients achieve their goals and I believe that our responsive and customer focussed approach to meeting our clients requirements sets us apart."
Having spent over eighteen years in the property industry, where he has gained a wealth of experience covering all market conditions, Michael Chapman decided to go it alone and set up his own independent estate agents in the village last year, which moved in to their new office at 79A London Road at the beginning of January.
Comments
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Wow, a massive 12 hours a year development and a "commitment" to keep up to date with blah blah blah. Having been on the receiving end of several "commitments" from several estate agents (both rental and buying) in the surrounding area of the last few years ill be amazed if the low regard people have for estate agents in this country is improved anytime soon.
By the way, a quick sum for everybody, 12 hours a year equates to 14 minutes a week training, just about 3 fag breaks! How will they find the time to fit all that intensive training in??
I would raise a few points regarding the NAEA generally though, I don't think a qualification on its own means an agent will give you the service, quick sale, or price you want or expect, that will come from local knowledge and experience built up over time.
Anyone who wants to become an estate agent needs to be approved by The Property Ombudsman (TPOS) for CEARA, those who want to agree to further standards can sign as a full member and display the OFT logo. TPOS have a full complaints procedure and require member agents to follow their code of practice, they also require you to have suitable Professional Indemnity Insurance, all of which the NAEA have too, so besides the qualification they are almost identical in what they require agents to do.
The license scheme I think is just a way for the NAEA to try and stand out in a crowded self regulatory system and improve membership levels, there are many agents who aren't a member of the NAEA but still offer a good service. Good or bad, right or wrong TPOS is the only official regulation for estate agents at this time. I think for the Chief Executive of the NAEA to compare unlicensed estate agents to unlicensed taxi drivers is wrong and provides a misleading message to anyone looking to sell their property, raising standards is good, but distorting the facts isn't!
Estate agents get a hard time and some rightly so! most endeavour to provide a professional and fair service, but anyone who has dealt with a bad one will take some persuading on that.