Property in the biggest industry in any country. If you consider how important building or housing construction is to a country, then appreciate that real estate is sum value of that land and property over its useful life, say 70-100 years. That's a lot of value, and agents get a 5% commission for any sale on those assets. So you might therefore appreciate the importance of the real estate sector, and the implications for how the sector is managed. Ever wondered why the real estate sector remains loosely regulated despite the desire of the peak bodies to increase regulation. Well let me give you my theory:
1. Realty associations have no interest in improving the standards of agents. Apart from the rhetoric, they really want their agents dumb and docile so they go out and earn commissions for them, but never have the standing to establish their own agency. Put another way, they want a steep supply curve, where they act as gate keepers.
2. Real estate has several associations because they want power and prestige rather than wanting to improve the industry. Reason is not the standard.
3. Realty associations want to talk down the standards (and they are bad) of the industry because it increases their market share, and increases the number of agents working for them.
The industry, like any other, is divided into perpetrators and victims, and they operate on different planes. Consider the following:
1. Aspiring unlicensed agent who wants a piece of wealth and will do anything it takes to achieve it. They don't see the need for a licence because the industry is poorly regulated, and if they ever had a license they could lose it. If they don't have a licence, they can always become a legitimate agent later because they could only be prosecuted on criminal grounds. Can convicted criminals become real estate agents. I don't know, but I dare say a bribe will avoid that consequence.
2. Honest agents - bless these people because they are so unaffected by the world around them. Seldom do I meet them, but then the scum of the earth are attracted to foreigners, so its understandable if we are a little tragic in our assessment. Or maybe its when confronted by a foreigner than people truly reveal themselves. Sorry, I have not conducted an empirical study of industry ethics. But if I estimate from unsolicited contact with agents, the news is bad.
3. Industry leaders: There are those who have influence and those who earn it. On the issue of earning respect, there is an agent named 'Gigi' who is all over the internet. I don't know if she is a good agent, able to delegate responsibility so that she can adequately service clients. Regardless, her marketing efforts are formidable. A cynic would conclude that Gigi died 20 years ago and her agency has retained her facial image as a brand. She is the new breed nevertheless challenging the old school, which is about protecting entrenched interests.
4. Profitable bureaucrats: There are those bureaucrats with the power to veto projects. They of course have the capacity to earn significant kickbacks so any proposal made does not get to the next stage, as the politician controlling that department is going to require so much more. So I guess for an aspiring developer, you really want to know the people in the department, so you can avoid the politicians. So congrats to the directors with influence. It is of course those corrupt dept heads which are promoted.
5. Unprofitable bureaucrats: These are the people who for lack of presentation or a legacy of honesty, or outspokenness are unable to rise through the system. Some of them become people haters, complaining about every issue, others do their own smaller deals. You might call up the dept, and they have this desire not to help you on the phone. Instead they want to meet you at a coffee shop, so they can sell their services. eg. I can get your project approved. These are of course the fixers. Some of them are useful because they are the unloved technicians who actually have some sense of objective reality. There are those very smart people who have remained deputy directors because they have been outspoken. They risk loosing their jobs, but they are sometimes tolerated because they are good. These people in a Western country would be perceived as 'negative' because Westerners evade such thoughts. In the Philippines people cannot escape it. Its great to here these people when they speak out. You get so many insights.
The values that drive the Philippines political system should be apparent to one and all. Living by others standards of value and judgement, by compromising any sense of personal pride and integrity, thats how these people become like that. The thinking is so entrenched that virtue is rendered impractical. People are reduced to concrete-bound, short-sighted morphs. So how does it change? It requires reason to be the standard of value. So how do you get that? Well it takes the following:
1. Better data gives better decisions
2. Better justice since law enforcement is at least a tacit attempt at instituting objectivity, that is assuming the laws are objective. Big sigh there!
3. More outspoken people, particularly influential people outside the sector
4. Greater prosperity would give people greater sense of conceptual comfort. You don't engage in abstract thinking when you are on the edge of extinction
There is of course a chicken inside that egg.
-----------------------------------------------
Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com
1. Realty associations have no interest in improving the standards of agents. Apart from the rhetoric, they really want their agents dumb and docile so they go out and earn commissions for them, but never have the standing to establish their own agency. Put another way, they want a steep supply curve, where they act as gate keepers.
2. Real estate has several associations because they want power and prestige rather than wanting to improve the industry. Reason is not the standard.
3. Realty associations want to talk down the standards (and they are bad) of the industry because it increases their market share, and increases the number of agents working for them.
The industry, like any other, is divided into perpetrators and victims, and they operate on different planes. Consider the following:
1. Aspiring unlicensed agent who wants a piece of wealth and will do anything it takes to achieve it. They don't see the need for a licence because the industry is poorly regulated, and if they ever had a license they could lose it. If they don't have a licence, they can always become a legitimate agent later because they could only be prosecuted on criminal grounds. Can convicted criminals become real estate agents. I don't know, but I dare say a bribe will avoid that consequence.
2. Honest agents - bless these people because they are so unaffected by the world around them. Seldom do I meet them, but then the scum of the earth are attracted to foreigners, so its understandable if we are a little tragic in our assessment. Or maybe its when confronted by a foreigner than people truly reveal themselves. Sorry, I have not conducted an empirical study of industry ethics. But if I estimate from unsolicited contact with agents, the news is bad.
3. Industry leaders: There are those who have influence and those who earn it. On the issue of earning respect, there is an agent named 'Gigi' who is all over the internet. I don't know if she is a good agent, able to delegate responsibility so that she can adequately service clients. Regardless, her marketing efforts are formidable. A cynic would conclude that Gigi died 20 years ago and her agency has retained her facial image as a brand. She is the new breed nevertheless challenging the old school, which is about protecting entrenched interests.
4. Profitable bureaucrats: There are those bureaucrats with the power to veto projects. They of course have the capacity to earn significant kickbacks so any proposal made does not get to the next stage, as the politician controlling that department is going to require so much more. So I guess for an aspiring developer, you really want to know the people in the department, so you can avoid the politicians. So congrats to the directors with influence. It is of course those corrupt dept heads which are promoted.
5. Unprofitable bureaucrats: These are the people who for lack of presentation or a legacy of honesty, or outspokenness are unable to rise through the system. Some of them become people haters, complaining about every issue, others do their own smaller deals. You might call up the dept, and they have this desire not to help you on the phone. Instead they want to meet you at a coffee shop, so they can sell their services. eg. I can get your project approved. These are of course the fixers. Some of them are useful because they are the unloved technicians who actually have some sense of objective reality. There are those very smart people who have remained deputy directors because they have been outspoken. They risk loosing their jobs, but they are sometimes tolerated because they are good. These people in a Western country would be perceived as 'negative' because Westerners evade such thoughts. In the Philippines people cannot escape it. Its great to here these people when they speak out. You get so many insights.
The values that drive the Philippines political system should be apparent to one and all. Living by others standards of value and judgement, by compromising any sense of personal pride and integrity, thats how these people become like that. The thinking is so entrenched that virtue is rendered impractical. People are reduced to concrete-bound, short-sighted morphs. So how does it change? It requires reason to be the standard of value. So how do you get that? Well it takes the following:
1. Better data gives better decisions
2. Better justice since law enforcement is at least a tacit attempt at instituting objectivity, that is assuming the laws are objective. Big sigh there!
3. More outspoken people, particularly influential people outside the sector
4. Greater prosperity would give people greater sense of conceptual comfort. You don't engage in abstract thinking when you are on the edge of extinction
There is of course a chicken inside that egg.
-----------------------------------------------
Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com
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