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Joining forces
Elite Dome will be sending several members of its staff on the course.
"Four [employees] are in sales and two are required to sit the new RERA exams. However, we are sending admin and finance staff to do the exams in due course," says Zeitouni.
Regulation
It would seem the regulatory framework is increasingly and more effectively in place, and will perhaps eventually wipe-out the ‘cowboys' of the Middle East.
"The Land Department established RERA to basically get a hold of what on earth is going on in the market. Not just with developers and their projects, but also the advisory channel; the real estate agents," says Sheridan. Prior to its inception 12 months ago, Sheridan believes the situation was somewhat uncivilised.
"Many [agents] were freelancers, unlicensed and working from no fixed abode, and encouraged quite frankly by many of the developers who would take a reservation form from a camel," he says.
Since then, RERA has implemented a number of laws, most notably those detailing escrow accounts and mortgages, which appear to have renewed investor confidence in the emirate, though only time will tell how effective the brokerage courses have been.
Headquartered in England, Fine & Country focuses on the upper-quartile of the market, competing with the likes of Savills and Cluttons.
"We've established ourselves with 269 offices in the UK and have about an 8% market share of the market we're targeting, which is the top 25%. Last year, we did over US$161m in estate agency commissions," explains Lindley. A rather handsome sum, though given the prices of the properties on the company's books - the first freehold property listed in the October issue of Fine & Country's international magazine costs US$5.6m - it is perhaps rather modest.
"The average estate agency commission is about US$3,200 or US$3,500, at Fine & Country, it's around US$29,900," says Lindley. Though with Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitting the UK is in a recession, will people keep spending in this sector?
Surviving the crunch
"The Fine & Country end of the market is the more mature end of the market, and is less dependent on mortgages. In being less dependent on mortgages for their transactions, they are more able to do what they want to do, but you couldn't say they haven't been affected," he stresses. Although this agency may be able to withstand the cyclical nature of the economy, how will independent companies bear up?
"We are seeing estate agencies fail; we are probably down 80% in the number of transactions as an industry. From 2006 to 2007, there were around 1.3 million transactions in the UK, this year we reckon there will be around 400,000 transactions," he explains. A loss of almost one million sales in just one year.
Fortunately, with an international presence, the agency can focus on other markets as opposed to being trapped in the hardest hit areas. In creating a global network, Fine & Country entered the South African market, and currently has 62 offices in the region, as well as a licensee in Nigeria.
International operations
"I don't know quite where Nigeria fits into the picture, but somebody wanted the license," says Lindley. The company as recently set up operations in the USA, Thailand, Mauritius and the Bahamas, though bills Dubai as one of its most significant steps.
"Dubai is very important to us as we try to grow the brand in global sense. I think Dubai is going to be very important now, and in the future of all commercial activity. It could be the centre of the world's financial and commercial business, and tourism hub," says Lindley. Despite his colleague's earlier description of the Middle East property market as the "Wild West", Lindley believes it is in some ways ahead of other markets.
"He calls Dubai the Wild West, but in England, you could come out of prison in the morning and become an estate agent in the afternoon!" Echoing Lindley's belief the market will see continued growth, Zeitouni believes property in the emirate is still a sound investment, despite a slowdown in sales.
"There are currently more sellers than buyers, and consequently this means sellers have to take a far greater commercial view on their capital return. This means prices have not come down, but have stabilised and any correction, if it happens, will be limited and of a temporary nature," he explains.
Perhaps boldly, Zeitouni goes as far as to say having money in Dubai's property market could currently be considered, "a safer haven than cash."
Although there is still far to go, Zeitouni for one believes the organisation will continue to introduce new policies and procedures to strengthen the market.
Should its workforce pass the brokerage course, Elite Dome could be looking towards a bright future with the muscle of an international brand behind it, while Fine & Country will perhaps become an integral part of the UAE's penchant for branding.
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