FROM the many Forum letters and comments posted in recently, many are still not sure or rather are confused how the Certified Estate Salesperson (CES) course can really serve its purpose, or whether, by passing CES, such agents are qualified to serve the pubic in their HDB Resale housing needs. Many members of the public and practitioners are asking the same questions.

In December 1995, HDB implemented the Listed Housing Agents Scheme (LHAS), until the formation of the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA) scheme in November 2005. HDB has worked with the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers (SISV) and Institute of Estate Agents (IEA) to develop the accreditation scheme, which shares the same objective of instilling greater professionalism in the estate agency industry. It was supposed to be jointly administered by the SISV and IEA, together with the Ministry of Finance and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. This scheme was meant to set the guidelines, minimum educational standards and practice standards for estate agents. Then, agencies under LHAS must adhere to HDB’s strict rules and procedures when handling or submitting HDB resale flat transactions via the online system (Resalenet). As most HDB resale flat transactions are facilitated by housing agents, individual agent must have CEHA as the minimum entry criterion.

SAEA implemented CES, which is a stripped-down version of CEHA. To equate CES with CEHA is not appropriate.

- Can a three-hour HDB topic cover the necessary policies and procedures? Are estate agents who pass the CES course, with 50 out of 100 multiple-choice questions, really qualified to serve buyers and sellers in the HDB resale market or raise professionalism in the real estate industry?

- Does HDB endorse the CES course?

- CEHA has been considered a higher level certification, so what is the rationale for charging $850 for CES but $550 for CEHA?

Tng Bee Lian (Ms)

Source : Straits Times - 22 Sep 2008