MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

a. Every PropNex agent will be required to be covered under the Professional Indemnity Insurance, worth $100,000 each. BOLD move, certainly yes, the premium is expected to cost in the tune of $800,000 to the agents and the company. If all other professionals such as lawyers and doctors are subjected to Professional Indemnity, it is only right that real estate agents are covered as well to protect the interest of consumer and seriously one would want to be considered a professional.

b.   All PropNex agents will also have to fulfill 12 points (equivalent to a minimum of 12 hours or more) of Continual Professional Development (CPD) annually in order to maintain the status of a professional agent in PropNex. Why CPD? This is not new and many regulated industries require such practice. For instance the insurance industry, under MAS requires all insurance agents to annual CPD. Thus PropNex’s move in an unregulated industry is certainly commendable to ensure the currency of PropNex agent to latest policies, market trends and ethical conduct of the business starting from 1 October 2008.

 

c. The Proficiency Test, that requires all new agents upon joining PropNex, will ensure that agents who want to be part of PropNex to have the necessary skills to carry out the job. The test is designed with three parts: a compulsory section on Code of Conduct and Ethics and two other parts on Public Housing and Private Property. A 75% pass is required before admittance to actual real estate activities.

 

d.  PropNex Professional Practitioner Certificate (PPPC), with the various initiatives put into place, all PropNex agents will be issued with PPPC starting from 1 October this year upon fulfilling the various requirements indicated in the insurance coverage on their certificate. This way all our consumers can verify the validity of the PropNex agent.