Exams to help city realtors build credibility

K Chandrasekar, President, NAR-CREAA says, “NAR is going to come up with ID cards and online examination called RE-MET for realtors. Suppose, in the future, the government comes up with any norms concerning the qualification of the agents with regard to the RERA (Real Estate Regulation Act), this will help agents easily enter the fold. NAR is looking at enforcing these parameters from January 2017 onward. They will conduct the exam for each Indian city with an NAR presence. The members will need to pass the online test and the top performers will be graded and rated online on the NAR portal. This will be beneficial for enhancing the credibility of the realtors – both within the real estate circles and individual customers, who can then be assured of dealing with a trusted realtor. Members are also expected to show their IDs to clients to build credibility for the organisation.” 

These new measures are being taken in line with the vision of Samir Chopra, the President of NAR-India. NAR has tied up with realtors in as many as 30 cities across India and Chennai is one of them now, although the city’s realtors have had an association with them from 2008. “This new collaboration with NAR will help us a lot when any new norms concerning licensing in the brokerage business is brought about by the government. Right now, for membership into CREAA, we follow a procedure and qualification criterion requires involvement of aspiring members in the realty business for a period of at least three years. The potentials are usually recommended by members who are known realtors. A background check is run on shortlisted profiles and a personal interview is conducted,” says Chandrasekar. 

Once NAR-India’s testing methodology is put in place, aspiring members can appear for the examinations as a stepping stone for membership into CREAA. The advantages of being associated with a peer group are many. “For instance, there is an opportunity for networking with as many as 100 members of the realty community in Chennai – which can be used to further one’s own business. Transactions can be carried out between members of the group as well. Apart from that, the association conducts educational and awareness programmes on the realty sector twice a month. At these sessions, realtors are coached on areas such as soft skills – involving negotiation, interaction and transparency etiquette. We also brief them on the rules and regulations of the industry from time to time. At the fortnightly zonal meetings, a lot of valuable information is disseminated,” adds Chandrasekar. 

He goes on to add, “Even though conditions are tough for realtors these days, favourable policies of the government and the professionalism of our members in CREAA will help us weather the tough days. Continuous training and upgrading skills will be the focus. Members are being asked to concentrate on primary market sales (residential) in association with developers.”