[:en]Although the road to a BC real estate license and the education along the way can be difficult, some are questioning if it’s difficult enough. Despite the new regulations on practices such as “shadow flipping,” some believe that improving the training and education required to be a realtor is the only way to truly prevent these shady practices. Our team at Benson Wang outlines this issue below.
Education
“We need to change this from giving a test, to giving an education,” said Vancouver real estate agent Keith Roy, a 10-year member of the Professional Conduct Committee at the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. “Right now we’re testing and not educating our new agents. I’m dealing with multi-million-dollar transactions every day … I have an online course that I took.”
“[The requirements] are not in line with the reality of what’s going on,” he continued. “The stakes are higher in British Columbia, and I think we need to raise the bar higher as well.”
Consumer Protection
With his years of experience in the business, Roy believes that there is little to drive realtors to learn and experience anything outside of passing their exam before they begin hunting for commissions. The result of this, he says, is decreased consumer protection.
“The province is under enormous political pressure to at least let families and regular people feel like they’ve got a fair shot at the game,” he said. “And people don’t feel that way.”
With the prices of the unpredictable real estate market out of the hands of realtors, many seek to find comfort in techniques such as shadow flipping in order to guarantee higher commissions, something that affects consumers.
“Realtors don’t control the price: the market controls the price,” Roy said. “Consumers need to know that the rules are fair, and that multiple offers happen within a structure, and you don’t get beat out by someone who maybe paid less than you because that realtor cut back and kicked back commission here, there and everywhere.”
What We Offer
The courses and tools that we offer take the shifting nature of the BC real estate market into consideration and ensure that our students are given more than just information – we provide the blueprint for a career that will stimulate personal and professional growth within the field.
Our team provides BC real estate license training that not only gives you the knowledge required to past the exam but the tools to continue to learn and thrive in a constantly changing field. For more information or further questions, give us a call at (778) 686-8555 and we’ll be happy to assist you.[:]
