Roelof wrote a blog on the advantages for home sellers of a sales agent who is a member of Vastgoedpro.
An estate agent and/or property valuer who is a member of Vastgoedpro offers certainty both for the professional themselves and for the customer who does business with this professional. Yet what exactly does an estate agent’s membership of Vastgoedpro mean for you as a customer?
Vastgoedpro monitors the quality of its members so you can use their services with confidence. Membership of Vastgoedpro isn’t open to just anyone. When an estate agent wishes to become a member, a balloting process is held. Associate members need to meet specific training requirements and subsequently attend mandatory annual training courses. Your agent works using standardised documents and general consumer terms and conditions that have been adopted following sector-wide consultation and approved by the Association of (Prospective) Home Owners (VEH) and the Consumers’ Association. If your agent is confronted with an unfamiliar situation, they have access to an expert office, legal service and 750 fellow professionals who can be consulted. Members of Vastgoedpro also work according to a code of practice, must be able to present a certificate of good conduct (VOG) and take out professional and business liability insurance.
This all combines to ensure that you use an agent who:
- Possesses demonstrable knowledge of the property business.
- Actively keeps their knowledge up-to-date and is up to speed on topical issues.
- Works using the correct documents.
- Has a wide network at their disposal.
- Possesses the tools and information to do their job to the best of their ability.
As an example, I recently spoke to a lady who, without there being any immediate problem, wanted to learn more about how things work in the property market. She had put her house on the market via a Vastgoedpro agent and was highly satisfied with the process. Her neighbours, however, had selected a different agent and so much had gone wrong in their case that she started to have doubts about the assignment she had given her agent. In the course of our conversation about communications with the agent, the assignment and general consumer terms and conditions, a number of articles of which we also discussed, this lady quickly reached the conclusion that not only was her instinct about the agent correct, but everything was clear and properly arranged on paper as well.
Having had her mind set at rest, the lady from the above example continued to do business with her agent. She had selected the agent because they had seemed a good match but was relieved to discover that issues such as training, expertise and reliability were also properly regulated. Yet what if something still goes wrong and a dispute arises with the agent? Vastgoedpro professionals are members of the Dutch Foundation for Consumer Complaints Boards, which settles disputes on behalf of over 50 industries. This organisation, set up by the government, offers you the certainty that your complaint regarding payment or services rendered is assessed correctly, fairly and independently, should you and the professional fail to reach a settlement yourselves.
In short: a high degree of certainty during what is already a stressful time when buying or selling your home!
