On Rent, Estate Agents, and Landlords Part 1

Image by gusset via Flickr

Monday 1st August,2011: Journal entry
Diary,

Wherever (or whenever), there is a need for a service, there will always be someone available to provide that service. When it comes to finding a house to rent, help in buying or selling a house, real-estate agents are some of those people we look to in providing that much needed service. With the increasing demand for housing especially in urban areas, the number of ‘estate agents’ has also been on the increase. They seem practical, strategic and can be quite helpful at times. Just so that we are on the same page, by ‘estate agent’ here, I mean the mobile men and women that we can usually find in town and around our communities who are in the business of finding accommodation and selling houses on behalf of others.

I must admit, they definitely can spare you the headache of moving around neighborhoods in search of a house (considering they find you one). They seem to be practical and can find you something relating to your budget specifications and desired location. I have met some excellent ‘estate agents’ who can find you something you will like in no time at all. In our vegetable basket however, we sure cant ran away from the possibility of finding a few rotten tomatoes and sadly in this case,the rotten tomatoes a many! It is worrying to note that some of the people we entrust our hard earned money to may just be seasoned conmen masquerading as ‘estate agents’.

Below are some issues I thought were worth reflecting on.
1. Some of these ‘estate agents’ will usually claim to have a house when they don’t even have one. They embark on a house hunt as soon as you give them the ‘viewing fee’. They usually buy time by spanning the client in a never ending web of lies.
2. Don’t you think the money they ask is a bit too much considering it is Tax free? A viewing fee of K50,000 to K 100,000 and the final payment which is usually K 200,000. It may just be too much considering you also need to pay the landlord who may want a payment of 3 to 6 Months in advance.
3. Whilst the landlord will usually contract an agent to find a client, the relationship between some of these ‘estate agents’ and landlords is questionable. There have been cases where we witness the landlord claiming not to know the agent.
4. There seems to be no control! A house may sometimes resemble a crime scene with all sorts of ‘estate agents’ going in and out of the house with their prospective clients.
5. Despite giving them an elaborate description of what you want, others will often show you something quite to the contrary. Like I mentioned above, this might just be a way for them to buy time when they don’t actually have a house tailored to your specifications. Why on earth should someone start showing you a 3 bedroom house when u asked for a two bed roomed one?
6. Crooked ‘estate agents’ have been known to connive with the landlord to up the fees so that they might increase the percentage of their commission or ‘cut’.

7. Are they registered or affiliated to any professional institution or body? If not why are the local authorities letting them conduct their ‘business’ freely? What is the legislation with regards to estate agents in Zambia?

Reuben Mulenga,Kitwe