Turn yourself into a home hunter or seller, and try looking for an agent on the NAEA’s Find an Estate Agent service.
The results may surprise you, according to one member who did just that. He calls the new service thoroughly divisive, promoting one set of members above the other.
The unlicensed NAEA agent says he was astonished and furious to find that when he punched in a postcode to find an NAEA agent, up came a choice between Licensed NAEA agents and ‘ordinary’ NAEA agents.
The message on the site to consumers is clear: a Licensed member offers the highest level of protection to members of the public. An unlicensed NAEA member, by contrast, may be an individual working for a firm not licensed by the NAEA or might not deal in residential sales.
The questing NAEA agent who went on to look for a Licensed NAEA agent in his postcode was, he says, “offered a piddling firm working from home a few miles away”.
It it hard to know what consumers might make of it all on discovering that 'unlicensed', on the other hand, encompasses the likes of Knight Frank, Strutt & Parker, Chesterton Humberts, etc...
Try it here:
https://www.naea.co.uk/estate-agent-search/licensed/
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Comments
Why does anyone bother with the NAEA? A search on my local postcode returned NONE of the main players in my local town.
Even searching for unlicensed members only returned one of the main players.
And, of course, when you decide to put your house on the market the first thing you do is go to the NAEA web site to find a 'licensed' agent.
Dave@CW
My mrs got a B grade in French GCSE and I failed. Guess who did all the talking when we went to France?
Please don’t make out passing an ARLA or a NAEA exam is anything like a degree. If you want letters after your name, go to university.
Thanks Clive@CW, there was me thinking all those running about with NAEA and FNAEA had not done years of training with meanigful exams? So they are highly qualified, taken lenghty formal training and robust exams and as such can claim agency is a profession?
No though not.
Just a Con, but do accpet ARLA is a little harder and has more meaning.
@CW? Please dont tell me you own up to being at Countywide!
@Ace - journalists dont just print comments they condone. That would be silly - a quote is a quote and if edited it ceases to be such.
@richard - Oh Dick, you really are a plank. If a neg passes the ARLA exam their knowledge will exceed that of many who have not.
Use of initials convey to the public that the staff member has received formal training and actually knows their ar*e from their elbow.
OPPS!! Those using the Con of pretending they are actually qualified have confirmed their con by some choice posts!
Keep up the pretence if you have no conscience, which you can't have or you would not peddle such a lie in the first place!
Guys its not the site that annoys me, its such terrible, blatant use of such stuff, OK its normally the worst agents who have nothing else, but to buy "Initials after their name" but the industry is tarnished enough and this sort of con just supports everyone who slags agents and drag the best down to the worst levels.
But then you will have told your mum you have initials after your name so stuck with the lie now?
Am I alone in thinking this article is extremely offensive. What right does anyone have to describe my practice as Piddling just because I work from home.
A truly terrible comment and I hope EAT will apologise for printing and thereby condoning such comments
@Patricia
What an excellent post - you really have hit the nail on the head and I could not agree more.
Well done!
I recently renewed my membership with the NAEA, which was due in November, but there seemed some urgency with their reminder letters.....
The changes to the site now imply that we, as mere NAEA agents and not 'Licensed NAEA Agents' , are less than trustworthy. Why? Because we havent bought their very expensive client money protection insurance or attended their 'technical course' - a very basic course designed for new entrants to the business.
After 30 years in the business with memberships to NAEA, TPO, OFT, ICO, NALS and having NALS client money protection insurance in place - we are also a SAFE Agent (Safe Agent Fully Endorsed) recognised by all the important consumer groups and the government - the NAEA, have arbitrarily decided to infer that we are less than competent and do not offer adequate protection to the public.
This is what they say on their website - why use as NAEA Licensed Agent:
'Every year, unlicensed agents cause Britain's homebuyers and sellers unnecessary stress and hassle - and sometimes loss of money - by giving incorrect or misleading advice or offering poor standards of customer service.'
This is misleading and somewhat defamatory. Where is the Advertising Standards Agency here! There is no legal requirement to be licensed. Having client money protection insurance is advisable for all agents and a good agent will ensure this is in place.
SAFE's advice on their website it much more measured :
'Landlords and tenants often make decisions based on cost but it is important to ensure you ask your agent for details of the organisation they are regulated by and whether or not they are covered by a client money protection scheme. All agents regulated by ARLA/NFOPP, the Law Society, NALS and RICS maintain and operate separate designated client accounts where your money is held completely separate from the operating funds of the firm. If the agent you are using cannot provide you with the assurance of knowing they are covered by a client money protection scheme the question you need to ask is why not?'
I like many others, will now be taking stock of exactly what benefits being a member of the NAEA has had over the years. I think very little, as other commentators have mentioned. One last point, has any agent ever had a lead from Property Live?? If the public were as aware of NAEA as they would like us to believe, we would receive at least a small amount of leads, we dont.
@Ex naea member
Quite right.
Howevr,
@Richard
You seem to be at least 20 years behind the times regarding 'paying for designatory letters'.
What's with Richard this morning? He's posting on 2 subjects, both with such vitriol. I think if I were him I would avoid this particular site, it obviously upsets him.
You don't get it do you!
Licencing and all that is going on re CPD is a means to rid the NAEA of the old school Fellows, those who don't see the point of 2 hours CPD being told how to take a photo after 30 years of taking photos.
That is the sort of naea deluded self interest that made me resign after twenty years of membership. They became misguided after all the trips to usa realtor's conferences. They started building a 'federation' and lost touch with their members' needs.
This latest farce shows I made the right decision to quit the naea or tufty club as I call it.
Off point but shocking grammar in this article.
@ Richard - I think you are on the wrong site.
Here, let me help:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Anger-management
Is this just a London thing?? I could ask every one of my vendors what the NAEA is and they would look at me with a blank expression.
Yes, fair enough, if they did something, I would sell the benefits of being in the NAEA, but being as it seems the do absolutely nothing for it's dinosaur members, why does anyone bother?
What benefits do they offer, the public in my area has absolutely 0 awareness of them. Where is there marketing and brand awareness, apart from making comments on this site? Why are they still operating?
Wake up and smell the coffee!!! This pathetic organisation exists because you members, unable to get real qualifications, pay to be a member so you are able to have a nice little sticker and initials after your name to fool the public.
It, the NAEA ends if you become honest, stop "con" marketing and just believe what you offer is good enough, perhaps that’s the real issue?
Well. I have just done the same. The top of the list were not even agents!!!!! No hyperlink to the website either.
A potential vendor would find their first call pretty tiresome
Thank heavens no one would ever use it