42 | BUSINESS WORDS | John Howell One World.One Standard.
The time has come for the overseas property industry to make some important choices. What sort of industry do we want? How can we get it? How can we protect our businesses? What standards should the industry apply? Can a trade association help us? Which one? What do we want it to do?
The Experts Y
Ron Phipps (Ron): 2011 president of the US National Association of Realtors (by confer- ence call)
www.realtor.org EMAIL
phippsrealty@gmail.com
Sue Ash (Sue): Chair of AIPP EMAIL
sue@ashcommunications.com
Jeremy Aston (Jeremy): TM Real Estate. A developer of property in Spain. EMAIL
jeremy@tmuk.info
Mervyn Nugent (Mervyn): Managing Director of Diamond Estates Worldwide. Specialising in the sale of real estate via financial advisers.
www.diamondestates.co.uk EMAIL mervyn@diamondestates-
worldwide.com
Phil Page (Phil): Marketing manager for Assetz. Assetz specialises in the sale of investment property in the UK and overseas.
www.assetz.co.uk EMAIL
phil@assetz.co.uk
In the chair John Howell (John): Editorial director of OPP EMAIL
john.howell@opp.org.uk
ou might think that these questions are academic: that you can’t infl uence such
things. Yet, right now, we have an unprecedented chance to make a real difference.
Why? Because the Association of International Property Professionals (AIPP) is at a crossroads and, if we act quickly, the industry has a real opportunity to set its agenda. What is AIPP? It is a not-for-profi t trade body which, though based in the UK, has members around the world and which can legitimately claim to be “the industry body for the international property market”. It lobbies. It educates, both the profession and the public. It sets standards. It represents a true cross-section
of the industry: agents, developers, lawyers, banks and FX dealers and the media.
Why is it at a crossroads? Its CEO
has just left and it has (in effect) merged with the UK National association of Estate Agents (NAEA). Through the NAEA and its international partners its geographical reach and strength will increase enormously. OPP is a member of AIPP and was a major player in setting it up. So we thought that now would be a good time to get a group of highly experienced industry experts to discuss what might be done to improve it, what we wanted and how we wanted to get there. In short, to draw up an action list to present to the new board of AIPP. We assembled them for a long (but sober) lunch at London’s famous Café des Amis in Covent Garden. Here is their report.
Disclosure: John Howell & OPP were both founder members of AIPP. John Howell is a former board member of AIPP.
Do we want an association that can speak for the industry? Yes! We were unanimous. There has probably never been a time when it has been more necessary for the industry to speak with one voice and there has probably never been a time when it has been more important for that voice to be constructive, authoritative and responsible. There are a number of reasons for this. Fairly obviously, one is the diffi cult economic situation and the huge reduction in the volume of the international property market.
This makes credibility all the more important and, at the same time, makes it diffi cult to compete with people who do not abide by any standards without evidence of your own credibility.
Another reason is the increased internationalisation of the industry. This leads to working in partnership with other agents and developers in countries far away. Knowing that they’re operating to the right set of standards makes that whole process easier and less risky. Finally, we are, in many countries, subjected to or threatened with regulation. That regulation is often
developers. Most of them are national in scope (though they may have an international division or international connections) and most of them focus on only one sector of the industry. These would include the NAR, ICREA, the NAEA and so on.
There are also a few international groupings, such as The International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI), but those present at the Round Table felt that their activities were limited. AIPP was felt to have a profi le which already embraced not only the encouragement and protection of the industry but also its role as ‘the consumers’ friend’. This was the route
“Can one organisation really serve the needs of all parts of our industry? Yes, I believe that it can” - Phil Page
drafted by people whose main responsibility is nothing to do with international property and who do not understand it.
As a result, their decisions and rules can make little sense – yet it is beyond the ability of any one individual, agent or developer to have much infl uence on the regulator or legislator.
Lobbying, by a credible association, could prove far more successful and bring great benefi t to us all. Phil raised the question of whether one trade body could adequately serve the needs of agents, developers and the other people working in the international property industry. We concluded that it could and, indeed, that it gave additional strength and value if an association represented all facets of the industry.
Can AIPP fi ll this role?
There are a number of high-powered organisations active in the fi eld of looking after the interests of estate agents around the world. There are a few more looking after the interests of
that had been taken, years ago, by the very successful Organisation for Timeshare in Europe (OTE). However, OPP must remember that it is not the only game in town. It should work closely with other organisations with a view to presenting a unifi ed front when it comes to issues with an international dimension.
Can any such organisation be truly global?
Being recognised as a global player is diffi cult. For example, AIPP is widely perceived as being a UK organisation, despite the fact that it has members in quite a number of countries. The NAR is perceived as being a US body and ICREA Canadian – despite the fact that both of them have international divisions.
The consensus was that establishing a real global presence is even more diffi cult.
In practical terms, it is unlikely that any trade body in the international property industry is going to have a true global reach in the sense of
ROUND TABLE
www.opp.org.uk | JULY & AUGUST 2012
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