Real Estate
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The short answer is yes. It is a requirement of the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 that whenever an agent discusses property price with a client, that they keep a written (electronic is fine) of that discussion. The record needs to contain the date and time of the discussion, the address of the property and price discussed. No identifying details of the actual client is required to be kept in the record. Naturally, as an agent, you would want the client’s name and contact details for your database. This is particularly important when marketing a property through an auction campaign, as there will be an increase in buyer enquiry as you have not listed a price or price range in your advertising.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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With under 50 days before the deadline for the current CPD year in NSW, you need to ensure that you have completed your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements. If you are an Assistant Agent, you need to commence your licensing qualification, and complete up to 3 Units of Competency. If you a Class 1 or Class 2 agent, then you will need to complete 6 hours of CPD training, comprising 3 hours for the compulsory topics set by NSW Fair Trading and an additional 3 hours of Elective topics. At ACOP, you can complete these online, via interactive webinars, or by attending face-to-face training sessions at many venues throughout NSW.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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The short answer is yes. However, there are some compliance requirements, such as being a licensed agent in that State or Territory. You can utilise the mutual recognition pathway in other States/Territories to become licensed, so make sure that you research the specific requirements for mutual recognition with each jurisdiction. If you are physically located within 50 kms of the border of another State or Territory, you can hold you licence for that neighbouring State/Territory at your office in NSW when you make application for your mutual recognition. As every State/Territory’s licensing requirements vary, you will need to ensure that you meet those requirements prior to the listing of any property in other jurisdictions.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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Is your property agency compliant with the Supervision Guidelines?
You need to have a written document demonstrating your compliance with the Guidelines by the end of March 2021.
The proforma documents (five in total) that have been developed by the Australian College of Professionals, and are available for property agencies in New South Wales, include:
Supervision Guidelines – Proforma (provided in a word document version to allow you to tailor the information to your agency’s specific requirements)
Four excel spreadsheets to utilise to maintain your specific agency information. The spreadsheets are ready for you to input your data and maintain these as records for inspection if NSW Fair Trading request.
- CPD Register
- Gifts and Benefits Register
- Licensee-In-Charge Register
- Complaints Register
Ensure that you comply with the NSW Fair Trading requirements. Compliance is a necessary aspect of operating a property agency. Whilst compliance can sometimes feel expensive…the cost of non-compliance through penalties being issued, is certainly a more daunting outcome.
Visit https://acop.edu.au/supervision-guidelines/ to find out more and to purchase your copy of the Supervision Guidelines.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Michael Carolan | Senior Trainer & Assessor
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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The short answer is yes, when selling a residential property, real estate agents in NSW are subject to record keeping and disclosure requirements. They also need to keep written records of any pre-purchaser property inspection reports that they are aware of, such as building and/or pest inspections of the property or strata inspection reports. Agents need to disclose the records of pre-purchaser inspection reports to prospective purchasers when they ask for a copy of the sale contract for the property. The prospective purchaser does not specifically need to request a pre-purchase inspection report – the agent must disclose this information when asked for a contract. The record that an agent needs to keep, must include the date of the inspection, who requested the inspection report, who prepared the report including their contact and business details, whether the report author has professional indemnity insurance and whether or not the report is available for re-purchase.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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Every CPD year, which is 23 March to 22 March in the following year, an Assistant Agent must complete a minimum of 3 Units of Competency towards their licensing qualification. These qualifications are the Cert IV in Real Estate Practice for real estate and stock & station agents; and the Cert IV in Strata Community Management for strata agents. Assistant Agents have to complete this minimum requirement each year until they have completed the qualification and make application for their licence. The maximum timeframe that they are permitted by NSW Fair Trading to make the transition from Assistant Agent to a licensed agent is 4 years, with a minimum of 1 year. The CPD requirement for Assistant Agents is NOT the same as the CPD requirements for licensed agents, and Assistant Agents do NOT need to attend the CPD sessions that their licensed colleagues undertake.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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No matter what type of agreement you are preparing for a client (sales agency agreement, property management agency agreement, residential tenancy agreement, or any type of lease agreement), it is best practice to have the client sign first and you as the agent, sign last. As many agreements are now being signed electronically or through specific portals such as Docusign, if the client wishes to make changes to the agreement, then they can suggest the changes and then you have the ability to agree or disagree to the changes prior to signing the agreement. Otherwise, you may be left with a situation that needs to be resolved, which may not be the greatest start to an agency relationship on any level.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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Pursuant to Clause 20 of Schedule 1 of the Property and Stock Agents Regulation 2014 (known better as the Rules of Conduct), an agent must pay rental money for each calendar month owning to a landlord under a residential tenancy agreement, unless instructed otherwise by the landlord. This means that any money that the agency is holding in trust that has been paid as rent by the tenant must be disbursed to the landlord at the end of the month. Naturally, if the landlord has requested (in writing – which is most likely to be as part of the Managing Agency Agreement) that the agency retain funds to pay invoices on behalf of the landlord, this is compliant to retain those funds. For example, if the tenant has paid rent in advance, then all of this rent needs to be disbursed to the landlord by the end of the month, unless the landlord instructs the agent to retain some of these funds in trust for specific purposes.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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As per Section 31 of the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002, an individual must hold a class 1 licence to be in charge of a business. When we talk about the term ‘business’, this naturally means the agency that is offering property services to consumers. It also includes those agents who are working as Independent Contractors within an agency business. Therefore, someone who is an Independent Contractor (either as a Pty Ltd company, a partnership or as a sole trader) is running their own business within another business. This still means that the Independent Contractor needs to have a Class 1 licence, as they are in charge of a business.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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As we all now, masks are mandatory in Greater Sydney at the moment for many venues, which pretty much means if it’s indoors, then masks are mandatory. The most recent Public Health Order has nominated specific venues and also that if social distancing cannot be met, then masks become the alternative. When it comes to auctions and open homes, the NSW Government website is really clear about how to proceed with these. Check www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/industry-guidelines/auctions-and-open-houses for specific information and easy proformas for Safety Plans for the real estate industry. For the past few months, real estate agents have been required to have a COVID-19 Safety Plan for every property that they have listed, in order to allow people to view or inspect a property to buy or rent it or to attend an auction. Even though there is a restriction in greater Sydney for only 5 visitors into a property, this is not the case for open homes and auctions. There can be more people viewing the property, but as an agent, you need to make sure that you are providing a safe environment.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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There are two pathways to transition from a Class 2 licence to a Class 1 licence. If you have held a licence for 2 years prior to 22nd March 2020 and it was current as of that date, you are eligible to automatically transition to a class 1 licence in the specific category of your licence. However, if you did not hold a licence immediately prior to the commencement of the new legislation on 23rd March 2020, then you need to upgrade your qualifications to a Diploma of Property (Agency Management) and also have a Work Experience Log Book completed by your Licensee-In-Charge to attest to your skills and knowledge over the 2 year period that you have held the licence.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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Following the changes to legislation in March 2020, all licensed agents must complete 6 hours of continuing professional development prior to 22nd March 2021 and all assistant agents who hold a Certificate of Registration must complete a minimum of 3 Units of Competency from the qualification required for their full property licence.
Rosy Sullivan | College Principal & Director
Australian College of Professionals - RTO 91513.
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Please visit https://www.acop.edu.au for more information on our courses.
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