Real estate “personal shoppers” are standing up for their role and are calling for state registration
Most people will buy at most one or two properties in their lifetime. A process that, along with changing jobs, is defined as one of the most stressful, in this case due to the buyer’s inexperience and the economic effects of making a wrong decision. To help people in this particular situation, real estate “personal shoppers,” or what is the same, real estate agents who Advise the buyera figure not very well known in our country but very popular in ‘real estate’ in the UK or the US, where it is estimated that 87% of property purchases are made on his advice.
“We start from an ambiguous position. when potential client Enter a real estate agency, thinking you are a customer, when in reality the agency’s customer is the seller. They will show you the apartments they want and will take care of the interests of the seller first, ”Helena Gallardo, president of the association, explains to ABC. Spanish Association of Personal Real Estate Shoppers (Aepsi), which calls for state regulation of its activity.
From the outset, Gallardo explains and justifies the role of “personal shoppers” for real estate, assuming from the outset that the name itself may not help them, since it is only associated with advice to clients with very high purchasing power, “when in reality it is not.” In fact, he guarantees that 47% of the apartments bought with the advice of members of the association he heads are priced between 300,000 and 500,000 euros, and most of the clients are local residents. For this reason, get rid of elitist imageThey don’t rule out starting calling themselves buyer’s real estate agents, which is technically what they are.
Gallardo explains the characteristics of his profession, which mainly consist in helping the client to choose the property, based on the fact that many people do not have the time to scrutinize all the offers on the market and also to make visits. The consultant is keen to ensure that there is nohidden deputy«In the chosen property based on technical, financial and legal reports, and at the same time assist in the negotiation process with the seller as well as in the search for the most advantageous mortgage. “The balance is that in addition to the time saved and peace of mind when getting advice, the cost of the contract they sign more than compensates,” Gallardo explains.
If the business of real estate agents assisting buyers is on the rise, the demand made by the sector is that of a state regulation Profession, a requirement parallel to the one made by the General Council of Estate Agents Associations (API), which regrets that the new housing law approved in May does not include the long-awaited professional registration, a slightly different situation in Catalonia. In this community, since 2011, anyone working as an API, whether as a buyer or seller advisor, must be registered, as a legal, social, or political science degree is required, or completion of a 200-hour training. From Aepsi, Gallardo requests that this recording be popular throughout Spain. “The person who has a pizzeria one night lowers the bar and opens the next morning can’t be a real estate agent,” Gallardo sums up. Other communities are considering creating a registry with the same characteristics as Catalonia.
At the time, APIs referred to the new housing law as a “missed opportunity” to create that record statewide, which was also tied to the obligation to sign a Liability insurance, a request that was also signed by the Association of Personal Shoppers. Both issues made it to the bill, but it was dropped.
