Will the Resa law affect the brokers only?… Think again!

After my article in this column and my other article in another paper, after discussions in several forums and conferences, after meeting with several heads of sales organizations of different developers, sales agents have now realized that this so-called RESA law is no longer a joke. For the longest time, people thought that selling real estate is something that you do as a last resort if you cannot find a decent job, if you do not have a diploma from a reputable school or if you just want to take a chance to hit that fabled “jackpot” transaction. Very few people looked at this as a real and professional career. The mediocre rest thought that real estate is all about giving out flyers and wishing that someone might get interested with what they are promoting, inquire and hopefully buy. They took things lightly if not for granted. They thought trainings and seminars were unnecessary and a waste of precious time.

This “awakening” is the good thing which was brought about by this law. Somehow, the government was able to catch their attention and show that they really mean business this time. I still remember our lecturer telling us that we are a lucky batch because starting “next year,” real-estate brokerage will already be a profession and aspirants to be practitioners will already have to take a four-year course! This was 20 years ago! And every year they say the same thing over and over again just to get enrollees to their seminars and reviews.
However, people were still caught by surprise when this act was signed into law on June 29, 2009. The surprise turned into fear when they learned about the limiting provisions of this law. This fear turned into anger when they realized that they were practically “cornered” by this law, seemingly helpless at present since there were no provisions for a smooth transition. These people I am referring to are the in-house sales people of most of the bigger developers. They have the impression that they are being forced into a situation where they have no choice but to turn to the few licensed brokers who were fortunate enough to renew their licenses just before the deadline last June.
Most developers feel that this law, with all its good intentions, only favors the existing active licensed real-estate brokers now but have neglected the existence and importance of the in-house sales organizations who are actually the ones who have played a major role in bringing Philippine real estate to where it is right now by bringing in the dollars through international sales and also promoting pre-selling real-estate investment locally as I have mentioned in Part 1 of this article.
The main reason for this is that there is nobody representing the sector of the in-house sales people during deliberations in real-estate councils like RESCOP, in the Congress and in the Senate during its public hearings. Presently, there are no existing associations or organizations which can act as the voice of these highly productive but unfortunately unrecognized workers. We consider the OFWs as the new heroes of the economy for being dollar earners, but we fail to recognize these agents who have significantly helped to convince these OFWs to invest their dollars in Philippine properties.
I have had several discussions already with some of the heads of the sales departments of the major developers and they have realized the need to have a formally organized body not only for proper representation for the practitioners categorized under the RESA law as the Real Estate Sales Person but also to eventually professionalize this level of practitioners by setting higher standards and observing their own Code of Ethics.
Last October 5, we signed the Memorandum of Agreement for the formation of FRESA or the Federation of Real Estate Associations. Parties to this include PAREB, REBAP, IPREA, PARA, IPREC, PARCS, CREBA & NREA. These are all associations of real-estate brokers, appraisers and consultants. All these practitioners are actually the direct beneficiaries of this law. Ironically, the sector of the Real Estate Sales Person which is duly recognized in the RESA law as one of the five classes of real-estate practitioners, and the one which is most adversely affected by this law, especially the existing in-house agents, have no official representative to present and defend their official position.
The good news is that something is being done to have a smoother transition from the current practice to the new RESA law. DTI and PRC are already close to finalizing a MOA to achieve this objective. We have submitted additional recommendations which we can just hope will be considered. Concerned readers of this column may also send their comments or suggestions through e-mail so we can forward them to the agencies involved. You may also send an e-mail expressing your interest to support the move to form an association of registered (once available) in-house sales persons to act as the voice of the agents.
Unless DTI and PRC finally sign the MOA for a smoother transition to the RA 9646, people will remain restless about RESA. I promise to keep you updated on this issue here in my column next month.

(Editor’s note: the author is currently the National President of the National Real Estate Association. For comments and inquiries, you can send your e-mail to andymanalac85@yahoo.com)