The Real Estate Bill 2024 is a bold attempt to streamline the real estate sector, offering much-needed regulation and clarity. However, a deeper dive into its provisions reveals significant adjustments that require immediate attention. Below is a critical analysis of the bill's strengths, weaknesses, and areas needing refinement. 

Title of the Bill  
The title of the bill should be: "The Real Estate Agency and Development Bill". Without the inclusion of the phrase "agency and development", the term "real estate business" is overly broad and ambiguous. Adding "agency and development" provides specificity and clearly delineates the focus of the bill, ensuring it adequately addresses the primary aspects of real estate practice.  

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Inclusion of Key Stakeholders  
To avoid ambiguity, the bill should explicitly include real estate managers, brokers (commonly referred to as Bulooka), and realtors in the definition (or reference) of a licensed real estate agent. These stakeholders play pivotal roles in the real estate ecosystem, and their inclusion ensures that their contributions and responsibilities are recognized and regulated under the law.  

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Property Managers: An Overlooked Role  
Part 3, Section 8, Subsection 2(b) touches on property management but fails to sufficiently highlight or elaborate on the role of property managers. The distinction between the responsibilities of a property manager and a real estate agent remains unclear. This oversight mirrors a similar omission in the recent Landlord and Tenant Bill, where property managers, key players in the real estate sector, were not even mentioned.  

Property managers are essential in maintaining property value, ensuring tenant satisfaction, and bridging the gap between landlords and tenants. Their roles deserve explicit recognition and regulation in the bill to address these gaps and provide clarity on their duties and obligations.  

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Defining the Sales Role  
The term "salesperson" in the bill should be replaced with "real estate salesperson". This modification provides clarity and eliminates ambiguity about the type of sales professional being referred to. Real estate is a specialized field, and distinguishing this role ensures the bill is precise and targeted.  

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Addressing Sole Agency  
The bill does not address the concept of sole agency, an oversight that leaves room for confusion and inefficiency in real estate transactions. It is crucial to stipulate that a licensed real estate agent must receive formal instructions from the property seller to act on their behalf.  

The current practice, where sellers engage multiple agents offering the same property at varying prices, creates confusion for buyers and damages the market's integrity. Additionally, sellers often fail to notify all agents once a sale is completed.  
Introducing a sole agency model could streamline the process. The sole agent could manage coordination with other agents, ensuring uniformity in pricing and facilitating price adjustments.  

If the seller opts for a private sale after issuing instructions, they should be obligated to:  
1. Notify all agents involved.  
2. Compensate the agents for their efforts.  
3. Withdraw the property from all publications, whether digital or otherwise.  

In this context, the term instruction should carry legal weight, akin to a sale agreement, as neither term is adequately defined in the bill.  

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Dual Agency and Conflict of Interest  
The bill also overlooks the issue of dual agency, which can lead to conflicts of interest. To ensure fairness, the buyer and seller should each have their own independent real estate agents. This separation minimizes the risk of bias, particularly in situations where one party offers higher compensation.  
Such a provision would promote transparency and trust in real estate transactions, creating a more balanced and ethical ecosystem.  

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Professional Fees and Commission  
The bill mentions a professional fee, but it remains unclear whether this is equivalent to search fees. The bill must specify:  
1. Who is responsible for paying this fee, the buyer, the seller, or both?  
2. How this fee is calculated and its purpose.  

Surprisingly, the word commission does not appear anywhere in the bill, despite being the lifeblood of the real estate profession. The bill should compel buyers and sellers by law to honor commission agreements to prevent agents from being cheated, a common problem in the industry.  

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Simplifying Terminology  
The phrase "real estate real estate agent" appears unnecessarily repetitive. It should be streamlined to "real estate agent". The term should also be clearly defined at the beginning of the bill and consistently used thereafter.  

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Clarifying Licensing vs. Membership  
On Page 11, the phrase "has not renewed his or her membership for two consecutive years" appears. This seems to reference the renewal of a license rather than membership. If so, the language should be revised for accuracy. Membership typically pertains to associations or organizations, whereas licensing is a regulatory requirement for practicing real estate agents.  

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Can Agents Partner with Multiple Firms?  
The bill does not address whether a real estate agent can be a partner in two or more firms. This omission raises questions about potential conflicts of interest and operational clarity. Clear guidelines should be established to prevent exploitation of the system.  

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Added Bureaucracy for Developers  
Developers are burdened with additional bureaucracy under the bill. Beyond obtaining permits and approvals from the construction review board and city/local councils, developers will also be required to register their developments with another body and license their sales agents. These added requirements may slow down project implementation and discourage investment.  

Streamlining these processes or providing a one-stop regulatory framework would reduce unnecessary delays and encourage compliance.  

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Role of the Disciplinary Committee  
The bill should clarify whether the disciplinary committee has the authority to handle disputes involving real estate agents and clients or property buyers. For instance, can a licensed real estate agent file a complaint against a buyer for failing to honor contractual obligations? Extending the committee's jurisdiction to include such cases would provide a formal mechanism for dispute resolution.  

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Delayed Implementation of Accompanying Regulations  
Many crucial issues have been deferred to accompanying regulations, which will follow the Act. However, based on experience with previous laws, these regulations often take years to materialize, delaying the implementation of vital provisions. The bill should set clear timelines for drafting and enforcing these regulations to ensure the law's effectiveness.  

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This expanded version improves the grammar, flow, and depth of your content, providing a well-rounded critique of the bill. Let me know if additional refinements are needed!


Conclusion: A Step Forward with Room for Improvement.

The Real Estate Bill 2024 is a commendable step towards regulating the sector, but its current form leaves much to be desired. Addressing the gaps highlighted above would create a more robust framework, fostering transparency, professionalism, and trust in the real estate industry.

Kind Regards
Julius Czar
Author: Julius Czar
Company: Zillion Technologies Ltd
Mobile: +256705162000 / +256788162000
Email: Julius@RealEstateDatabase.net
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