A decade ago, says Liz Grimbeek, co-franchisee with Marc Vladislavich of one of the Rawson Property Group's Cape Town commercial property franchises, the brokering of property, whether commercial or residential, was almost exclusively handled by people without tertiary qualifications, apart from the qualifications insisted upon by the Estate Agency Affairs Board in order to qualify for a Fidelity Fund Certificate.
That situation, said Grimbeek, has now changed completely. Today, a high percentage of property brokers have tertiary qualifications as a career in property tends these days to be seen as stimulating and rewarding with long term opportunities for growth and development.
In her own team, said Grimbeek, four of the six brokers now have degrees or qualifications including BCom, BA and LLB degrees and one is a qualified and registered valuer.
"All these qualifications have shown to be valuable but it is particularly clear that UCT's three year property management degree (with some students going on to do a fourth year honours qualification) has proved especially appropriate for a career in property and the more candidates we can recruit from this pool of talent, the happier I will be."
Grimbeek said that she was highly gratified after a recent session with Property Management undergraduates at UCT to find that over 60 wanted their names to be put onto a list for internship positions within the Rawson Property Group and many requested to be contacted regarding possible positions with her franchise.
"This influx of suitably qualified people will give the whole commercial property sector a far more professional image and for this we can be grateful," said Grimbeek.
