RE/MAX Malta partners with the Academy of Business Leaders to develop and deliver a new real estate licence course
Malta’s real estate industry is set to be regulated by 2021, with all property consultants needing to acquire a licence by then. In the run-up, the sector’s stakeholders have been frantically organising the delivery of a mandatory MQF Level 4 accredited course to approximately 2,000 real estate agents across Malta and Gozo.
The MQRIC-recognised programme consists of nine ECTS credits and delves into topics such as property legislation, finance for agents and the building legislature in Malta. RE/MAX managers will be sitting for 13 ECTS credits, including an important ethics module.
Rising to the challenge, RE/MAX Malta is well on its way to getting all its agents licensed by year end. In preparation, the renowned real estate franchise has partnered with the accredited Academy of Business Leaders to deliver the new course. As the first company in Malta to launch a real estate academy and to lobby for the regulation of estate agents, RE/MAX is looking forward to welcoming a more professional local industry by 2022.
“The fact that agents need to apply for a licence and study for a qualification is a great start because it will separate those agents that don’t take the business seriously from those that do,” Jeff Buttigieg, CEO of RE/MAX Malta, says.
“That said, we feel that in order to improve the industry and impact the service we provide as a whole, the course should contain an informed mix of service standards, soft skills and technical training.”
RE/MAX Malta plans to continue focusing on providing its associates with service standards and soft skill training as one of its core values.
“We believe that the buyer, seller, tenant and landlord will ultimately all benefit from better standards and a more highly-qualified agent,” Buttigieg remarks.
“We’ve been delivering real estate-specific education since 2004 and we currently have two full-time trainers – in addition to the training we outsource to other international and local coaches who cover more specialised topics. Right now, we are calling on our history of training provision to accommodate modules required for the new licence so agents may continue expanding their careers.”
Training is the heart and soul of RE/MAX
According to Buttigieg, the company’s partnership with the Academy of Business Leaders is an essential strategic move. Both businesses have pooled their resources to create the new course’s content and ensure that their training is both aligned with the RE/MAX way of learning and adapted to the National Framework of Higher Education.
“At the Academy of Business Leaders, we’re at the forefront of offering accredited courses in management and leadership, and our partnership with RE/MAX is certainly a win-win situation,” Morgan Parnis, CEO of the Academy of Business Leaders, says.
As Malta’s real estate frontrunner, RE/MAX believes that to truly step things up a notch, further enhancement of standards and guidelines for property agents should be communicated through competent bodies or NGOs.
“We can’t rely on the licence alone to improve standards. If the competent body really wants agents to be a mainstay in the industry, it needs to address the public’s negative perception of agents and to show the Maltese that real estate associates are indeed becoming more professional,” Buttigieg stresses.
For this reason, RE/MAX Malta invests heavily in market research and training development. The company has led the way in providing consumers with market knowledge for the last decade, and its CEO believes that now that licensing has come to fruition, the government should use the momentum to provide transparent statistics and commission studies on the service offered by agents. Only then companies will be able to understand their market share and the behaviour of their buyers and sellers, and consequently make strategic decisions on how to run their businesses.
“It is time to stand up and be counted,” Buttigieg poinst out.
“Currently, only half the property sales in Malta and Gozo are managed by a real estate consultant. If the public were to be guided as to why they should use an agent, they would also realise that an expert’s advice is a major convenience. And, above all, with an agent’s experience and market knowledge, a buyer will almost always save money and a seller will earn more.”
Over 300 RE/MAX members are currently attending the course at the Academy of Business Leaders and are set to be qualified by the end of June. However, this does not mean that all other training has come to a halt.
“Unlike other real estate companies, we will never stop training our people because we know that that’s what’s best for the industry. Training is the heart and soul of RE/MAX and we’ll continue to run the licence course alongside our other mandatory training because, in the end, that is what actually helps our agents to build and strengthen their own businesses,” Buttigieg concludes.
For more information on RE/MAX Malta and the training it gives to all its property consultants, contact the team via https://www.remax-malta.com/.