‘Fast buck’ real estate agents in UAE told to clean up their act

Real estate agents must develop a long term relationship with buyers and tenants even when business is booming in the real estate industry, says Ryan Mahoney, chief executive of Better Homes.

Customers browse through property ads at a Better Homes office in Dubai. Estate agents have been urged to take customer care more seriously to keep up with the property boom. Lauren Lancaster / The NaShow more

DUBAI // Customer service to prospective buyers and tenants is failing to keep up with the property boom.

The result is a lack of trust between estate agencies and their clients, and one leading agent has urged the industry to take customer care more seriously.

“It’s all very well for an estate agency to be set up on Monday, make a fast buck, and be gone by Wednesday,” said Ryan Mahoney, chief executive of Better Homes. “But we need to develop that relationship for the long-term.

“When the market slows down, as it inevitably will, then if your company has good customer service people will still use you.”

Two years ago Better Homes launched an online rating system for its agents. Despite initial concerns the system could be unfairly skewed by negative comments or unrealistic positives, it has proved popular, said Mr Mahoney.

“We’ve found that people are very rational and have been very fair in their ratings. If we do something wrong we are willing to admit that and look at improving.”

Ibrahim Malik, an IT consultant from Pakistan, said the housing boom meant many people searching for a home on a budget received poor service.

“Now that the market is up again we are seeing the same kind of poor behaviour as we saw during the boom years,” he said.

“In some of the companies the agents don’t return your calls and aren’t interested in providing a good service. It seems like they just want to make a fast buck.”

Those working in the industry said people tended to be wary of estate agents.

“As far as my experience goes, out of 10 people, maybe seven will trust me,” said Kenneth Santos, a property agent at Geometrics Real Estate in Dubai.

He said that was because of people’s previous experiences during the recession.

“This is due to the stories they have been through during that time,” said Mr Santos, from the Philippines.

“Many real estate brokers were not registered with Rera at the time and fled with their money. So the trust isn’t there as these people were just thinking of securing themselves.”

Mr Santos said, however, that the environment was slowly changing.

“I’ve been here since 2011 and it’s changing at the moment. The market is slowly picking up and now, it’s getting better. It all depends on the nationality of the client and that of the broker.”

Mr Mahoney said allowing people to rate agents honestly and having the results clearly available online helped to counter some of the negative opinions of agents.

Since the rating system was launched in May 2012, customer satisfaction levels have risen from an average of 6.5 to 8 out of 10,. It is accompanied by statistics for the number of properties the agent has sold and leased, length of service and a brief biography.

“I would encourage other companies, particularly in real estate, to consider doing something similar. At the end of the day creating a sense of transparency builds trust with the customer.”

It was a sentiment that many people agreed with.

“My experience of estate agents has been that they just want to get their percentage of the deal and don’t really care what happens afterwards,” said James March, from the UK, who works in retail.

“This kind of thing shows that they are accountable.”

However, poor quality customer service is not just limited to the property industry.

“It’s a nightmare trying to deal with the telecoms companies,” said Jade Williams, from the UK.

“You call them up and the person on the other end is incapable of answering your questions.

“They seem to have a set script and just keep repeating that. It’s infuriating.”

* Additional reporting by Caline Malek