Participants of the Successful Property Management Course held at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies

Students in a workshop session during Brecher's Successful Property Management course

The Institute of Real Estate Management’s (IREM®) Successful Property Management course was taught by Natalie D. Brecher, CPM® at the EARRETC in Nairobi, Kenya 23 – 25 August 2011. There were 31 real estate professionals from Kenya and Uganda in attendance, representing firms as large as CB Richard Ellis and the Commercial Bank of Africa and as small as sole proprietors of property management firms. Collins Kowuor, Chairman, Eunice N. Macharia, Chair of the Education Committee, and Moses Kiambuthi, CEO, all with the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya (ISK) handled the logistics and supported this effort of U.S. Aid and the IRPF.

Over the three days, course topics included advertising, budgeting, human resources, maintenance, risk management and client relations, with one section devoted to ethics in the property management profession. The course was presented interactively, with group workshops to have the participants apply the concepts learned.

I’m often asked about the conditions of traveling in the developing countries of the world.  While there are still challenges, especially in parts of Africa and the long-distance travel to the Far East, one needs to go back in time to really experience what the early years of travel were in many of these markets.

One trip that comes to mind was from Kiev, Ukraine to Yerevan, Armenia.  The trip was to be the first week in March in 1995.  At the time, Armenia was in the throes of being blockaded by both Turkey and Azerbaijan which severely limited the transportation options to get to Armenia.  Our travel agent had me booked through Moscow to Yerevan.

When I got to Moscow, I arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport and went to Passport Control.  The only English that the Passport Agent could speak was “Visa.”  I told them I was simply transferring to another flight to go to Armenia, but he indeed insisted again and again “Visa, Visa.”  There was a telephone there, and I asked if I could use it.  I was met there by one of the drivers that we had hired in Moscow on a preceding assignment and also had the number of the company that did our transportation arrangements while in Moscow.  I took the card and called the English-speaking company and told them that they kept insisting on a Visa.  She said that she didn’t believe that that was necessary and asked if I would hand the phone to him.  He listened, then hung up, and dialed another number and handed me the telephone.  The gentleman on the other line identified himself as a Russian official and in perfect English said to me: “You either get a Visa or we’ll put you on a plane back to Kiev, Ukraine.”  It turns out that you do need a Visa if you are going to fly out of another airport and since the transfer was not at Sheremetyevo, but one of the lesser airports called, “Domodedovo” Airport, an approximate 2-hour ride away.  I asked him if he could assist me in getting a Visa.  He said yes and that the officials there would take me to where I could buy a Visa.  I asked him the price and he said $340.  I told him that I thought it was outrageous whereupon he said: “Then you want us to book you back to Kiev?”  I asked him if he would make the arrangements to help me get the Visa.

Three soldiers came, recovered my suitcase and spoke with the driver of the car who spoke no English.  I then went outside of Sheremetyevo, got in a jeep with the three soldiers and my suitcases, went through a wooded area and came to the International Sheremetyevo area.  They assisted me in climbing three flights of stairs and I got in line to purchase my Visa.  Since I needed what cash I had in hand for my assignment in Armenia, I saw some Japanese buying Visas using credit cards.  I used one of my credit cards and they charged back 6% for the use of the credit card which apparently was what American Express was charging them at the time.

But I had missed my next flight but managed to make an arrangement on a flight the following morning.  I was warned that the flights to Yerevan on Aeroflot were quite unreliable and that seat assignments generally meant very little.  I was warned to get there 2 hours early.  I met my driver and he took me to the Aerostar Hotel which was one of the better hotels in Moscow at the time being run by Canadians in a very efficient and livable manner.  I had the doorman inform the driver that he should meet me the next morning at 5:00 a.m. as the flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00 a.m. and I was told it was a 2-hour drive from the hotel.

Clearly the worst was yet to come.  We arrived at the Domodedovo Airport at 7:00 a.m.  While the Sheremetyevo was in reasonably poor shape, this airport was a total disaster.  The building was full of cigarette smoke and people were wandering about the area with their arms full of packages to get to Yerevan.  There were dogs that I later discovered that were with potential passengers.  The driver motioned for me to sit down while he determined where I should go to check in.  I sat on my luggage and within 15 minutes, five different obviously poor individuals came up to ask for money.  Finally, an airport personnel individual with very limited English invited me to come to a room to wait.  The driver and I went to that room.  After 30 minutes, we went out to wait to check into the flight.  I turned the corner and an amazing number of people were in a queue lined up to check into the flight.  I got in the line with the driver and spent an hour and a half moving tediously forward behind a gentleman that I know had 14 bags.  The reason I know that is I had nothing else to do but to count them every time he would move them the one or two feet that marked some progress of getting checked into the flight.  I finally got to the front of the line with my two bags, and they told the driver that I was overweight.  We left the line and went into a second line.  When I got there, they wrote down how many rubles I needed.  I hadn’t converted any U.S. dollars into rubles so the driver asked for $20 which I gave him and he left to get rubles.  Upon his return, I got back in line only to discover that I was four rubles short and had to wait again.  Finally I went through Security and Passport Control to go to the flight.  My driver, in apparent glee, eagerly waved goodbye to me (after I had paid him the amounts that he was due plus a generous tip).  I turned the corner and found two large areas full of people, dogs, packages, bags and various other sundry things that apparently were to go on the plane.  I could find no personnel that spoke English so I held up my ticket and kept saying, “Yerevan!  Yerevan!  Yerevan!”  Finally a gentleman came up and said, “Yerevan” showed me his ticket and compared it to mine and they were identical.  He motioned to me as though he would take care of me, so we got into another line.  There were obviously a considerable number of packages that were going to be flown to Armenia.  They included television sets, a car fender and various other large boxed and bagged items.  There were dogs milling around with the people ready to get on the plane.  When the time came to board, there was a rickety bus outside and I timed it so that I was one of the last people on the bus.  That allowed me to be one of the first people getting off the bus when we got to the plane.  I went up the stairs as quickly as possible and showed my ticket to a stewardess.  She took me to a seat and motioned that that was my seat.  I put my hand luggage overhead, which had no doors on it, just open with a cord in front of it.  I then watched in amazement as the plane filled up.

Three ladies behind me found their row and lifted the bottom seats and crammed packages under the seats.  Then, one at a time, they sat down and the others then put packages on top of them.  The last one pulled the packages that were left on top of her so that what remained was a seat full of packages with three heads sticking out.  Three gentlemen across the aisle and one row ahead did the same thing except one man would never move.  That forced the window-seat passenger to climb over him every time he moved in or out.

I then wondered where all the dogs went and looked under the seat in front of me and saw the head of a dog with a muzzle on it.  It was apparently a younger dog with very large paws.  When the meal finally came, the owner of the dog took the muzzle off and fed the meal to the dog.  The dog then got very excited and climbed underneath the seat and over my lap, his head under my legs, over my legs, until I finally gave him enough room to get out.  He ran down the aisle and did not return to my knowledge.

I then leaned back and asked myself the question, “What am I doing here anyway?  I don’t know if anyone is going to meet me.  I don’t know anything about the country.  I could be lost or disappear, and no one would have any idea where I was.”  I closed my eyes and got a few fitful minutes of rest.

Upon arrival into Yerevan’s airport which was about the same condition as the one I had left in Moscow, I got through Passport Control and started walking towards the exit.  Fortunately I saw a sign with my name on it and was picked up and taken to meet my host.  My host was waiting in the restaurant of the hotel where I was to stay.  His name was Steve Anlian, an American-born Armenian that over the years I have found to be the hardest working and one of the smartest individuals with whom I have had the pleasure to work.  Steve was the Chief of Party for ICMA (International City/County Management Association).

I had to carry a small flashlight that Steve was kind enough to give to me because the power would go off up to 10 times per day and through the evening.  That was because of the barricade between Azerbaijan and Turkey, there was a limited supply of electricity and it was extremely unreliable.  One evening Steven had me to his home for dinner where I met his mother-in-law and the rest of his family.  He walked me back to the hotel and people would pass us in the dark.  You could hear them and Steve said they actually believe they can see in the dark.  We stood in the central plaza of Yerevan and counted the lights that we could see in a city of upwards to ¾ of a million people.  The number was 14 including the clock on the city hall.

Despite the difficulty of the trip and despite the anxiety of getting there, it turned out to be an excellent opportunity to get to meet the young men and women of Armenia and ultimately complete two different projects in that country.

Participants of the Estate Agency course taught by David Michonski in Nairobi

by David Michonski

Given that this was a first trip to Kenya and to Africa, I must say that preliminary impressions were completely incorrect and Kenya was eye-opening in terms of its real estate opportunities and the high quality of its practitioners.

Preliminary impressions were formed from personal lack of experience in Africa and from news reports of an authoritarian regime on Kenya’s West, in Uganda, a new nation being born out of conflict in Sudan, political tensions to the south in Tanzania and famine and mass deaths in Somalia to the north, not to mention Somalian pirates prowling the seas.   In addition, confidence was not raised by physicians recommending at least seven immunization shots be administered before arrival and warnings against eating local foods.

Reality was quite different.  A nation long extolled for its scenic beauty, Kenya did not disappoint.  But a different kind of beauty was found in the human energy and excitement found everywhere. Nairobi was full of dust, congestion and confusion, but all because the nation is growing with construction of every major road, literally, going on at one time and building construction booming. The ensuing chaos was of the positive kind that comes from growth, advancement and economic progress.  It was staggering to observe and left me breathless in a way that I had not observed since first seeing similar patters in China in 2000.

The Kenyan people are energized by entrepreneurial hope and are racing to participate in economic advancement.  They are optimistic about their future even in light of social conflict just four years ago after the last election.

The real estate brokerage business is alive and growing.  Valuation, property management and deal-making are spreading throughout the country and standards are rising.  Kenyans have huge demand for new homes, second homes and resort properties and developers are rapidly filling the demand while agents position themselves for the inevitable re-sales that are endemic to a mobile population in a vibrant economy.  Foreign investment from China, the Middle East, Germany, Italy and England are pouring into the country and fueling the property boom.

All in all, Kenya is entering an exciting time for real estate and the future looks as bright as its well-educated population.

by Vincent Agaba, CEO of AREA-Uganda

Having been founded on 23^rd April 2008, the Association of Real Estate Agents of Uganda (AREA-Uganda) is an umbrella body of real estate agents and managers, real estate professionals and other organizations with interest in the real estate sector. AREA-Uganda was formed to bring real estate agents/managers and others interested in the sector into one body to work collectively towards developing a professional real estate sector in Uganda and creating awareness of its benefits as an engine for economic growth.

The main objectives of the AREA-Uganda among others are

i.     To lobby and advocate

ii.    To promote real estate education

iii.   To ensure business best practices

iv.   To carry out research and development

v.    To encourage collaboration and networking

AREA’s progress since 2008 is proof that although the association is young, it has accomplished a great deal in a short amount of time. The Association has made achievements at seven levels;

        i.   Some of the previous activities include a refresher training course of real estate agents, which was held in March 2009, in collaboration with International Real Property Foundation (IRPF). This training was the first of its kind in Uganda and is currently being offered on a continuous basis at AREA-Uganda. From the training it was observed that Information Technology within the sector needs great improvement.

      ii.   Therefore, the Association in collaboration with Uganda Primary Market Mortgage Initiative, under the International Finance Corporation (IFC) World Bank initiated a project to establish a Multiple Listing Service (MLS), to date an MLS website (www.mls.ug) is running along our website (ww.areauganda.org) and members are uploading listings. This is a public domain to access property on the market, posted by professional agents who are members of AREA-Uganda. Secondly, the information on property transactions in the database will be useful for mortgage banks and appraisers to value properties. 

    iii.   AREA-Uganda undertook is a stakeholders’ workshop on a national real estate agents Code of Conduct, which was organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing, Lands and Urban Development and the Uganda Primary Market Mortgage Initiative (UPMMI-IFC). The workshop marked the start of developing a Code of Conduct focusing on professionalism among agents, which was concluded and adopted by the members of AREA-Uganda for self-regulation.

    iv.   AREA-Uganda has engaged in several trainings which include, Mortgage training, Valuation training, brokerage management training and Instructors training at the East African Regional Real Estate Training Center (EARRETC). The Association has developed more training programs and to date has six training programs on offer.

      v.   The Association has become the lobby arm of real estate on behalf of its members including, lobbying on tax issues in parliament, good regulatory environment with Ministry of Housing Lands and Urban development and making presentations on housing forums representing the real estate industry. The Association is represented on many of the committees in the ministry concerning housing policy issues.

    vi.   AREA-Uganda has changed leadership to a new board of directors, thanks to the voluntary leadership spirit of the practitioners who have given their time and resources to support the objectives of the association.

  vii.   AREA-Uganda has developed a five year strategic plan (2011-2016) with the assistance from the International Property Foundation. This is to create a focus on achievable outcomes with realistic activities.

AREA-Uganda continues to enable skills enhancement and networking among its members through monthly meetings, in which every last Friday of the month a different theme is being discussed with the assistance of invited guest presenters. Additionally, AREA-Uganda continues a campaign of recruitment of new members.

UPN Assembly at the Annual Building and Construction Fair in Sarajevo in April, 2011

Have you ever thought it possible to have a flourishing real estate association through the auspices of a primarily virtual office and dedicated leadership? The Real Estate Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina has proven it is possible. The Association, which was formed in 2007 with the assistance of IRPF has a goal to establish an organized real estate business based on the model of developed countries; to protect the interests of property owners; to provide the highest level of integrity and trust between agents and customers, and to contribute to stability and development of real estate industry.

Here are some of UPN’s recent accomplishments:

• UPN participated in the Sarajevo Annual Building and Construction Fair in order to introduce participants to the role of the Association, and to introduce strategic plans for the future development of the Association

• UPN formed a task force to review previous work, organize the new assembly, elect a new Board of Directors and arrange elections for future leadership of the Association.

• At its regular session held in Sofia in June, UPN was accepted as a full member of CEREAN. With this act UPN has become a world-recognized association, and it opened many doors to UPN members in the area of individual professional development and gaining international professional designation, and the possibilities of social and political engagement in the region, in the field of real estate legislation and leadership. BiH is the only country of former Yugoslavia that is a member of CEREAN (or any other associations).

• Upon enrolling in CEREAN, UPN has applied for financial assistance for the establishment of a single MLS within the Country. The first grant that was available was awarded to UPN. The grant will provide funds, which will help to launch the country-wide listing service. This will enable members of the UPN and the general population to have access to the entire BiH real estate marketplace in one place!

• In negotiations with the world’s three largest providers of MLS applications, American FlexMLS outbid the others by a drastically lowered price of their MLS solution in order to help UPN BiH and fit within the limited resources that the Association currently has. FlexMLS for BiH will provide BiH real estate practitioners all the phenomenal tools that the members of other Associations worldwide are enjoying, but UPN will have to assume responsibility for translating the “input” pages. With separate membership with UPNMLS, BiH real estate practitioners will become members of the U.S. National Association of Realtors (NAR), and will have the right to use the name REALTOR ® in their advertising materials! The package also includes some 50 standardized contracts for commercial and residential transactions!

Macaluso (second from left) with participants of the Train-the-Trainer course in Romania

Macaluso and Giumenta with student Grace Wakaba of the Train-the-Trainer course in Kenya

In May and June of 2011, IRPF delivered Train-the-Trainer courses through two regional networks, the Central European Real Estate Associations Network (CEREAN) thanks to a grant awarded to IRPF from the Leonard P. Reaume Memorial Foundation and the East African Regional Real Estate Training Center (EARRETC) with USAID funding.

Instructor Tony Macaluso traveled to Romania at the end of May to conduct a Train-the-Trainer course for nine CEREAN member participants. The course involved five days of instructor training with an emphasis on classroom participation, one-on-one instruction and individual presentations. Macaluso reported positively on the group trained saying that “presentations were remarkably good for the majority of students,” and that “overall this class of students performed as good or better than former Train-the-Trainer classes we had conducted.”

As a result of the program, Instructor-Participants are qualified to teach future CEREAN International Real Estate courses, which Macaluso previously taught in the region, in order to expand the professional concepts throughout Central/Eastern Europe without incurring the costs of hosting an overseas instructor. With the cadre of professionals trained to become trainers, CEREAN will create the CEREAN Real Estate Institute using a revenue model that will benefit not only the trainer delivering the program, but also the professional developing the curricula and the association which offers the training.  Such an outcome is exactly what IRPF wants to achieve: providing CEREAN with the tools to advance their goals in the region and allow the association to deliver additional value-added services to members, while generating income.

Macaluso along with instructor Ric Giumenta delivered the same course to 17 participants in Kenya at the end of June. Participants included advanced real estate professionals with an interest in teaching from Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. The Director of the EARRETC commented that participants were very pleased with the trainers and content and were all very excited with the learning and networking that took place. The instructors were impressed by the quality of students in Kenya and Macaluso reported:

“We were surprised and impressed that each student’s first presentation was at a level much higher than in other classes. They were willing to take risks and try unfamiliar methods with great enthusiasm. After we showed the students how to use the equipment and materials, they demonstrated great creativity and used much of the equipment and materials available to them in their presentations. Both Ric and I felt confident that the top 11 students, given topical materials, could continue training their fellow members and bring them up to meet new levels thereby developing education programs to meet the needs of a growing market and profession.”

Among student feedback were the comments, “I am excited, thrilled and wish to share these [lessons] with younger surveyors,” and “I liked the fact that though I didn’t know what to expect, I was engaged all the time and felt the effect of the lessons on my mind set by the end of the course.” Participant-instructors will either develop curricula or teach one course pro-bono in order to develop their skills and establish a local talent and course content in East Africa.

Christine (center) in Krakow at the Polish Real Estate Federation Conference

by Christine M. Todd

For almost 15 years, the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® has been privileged to serve as the NAR Ambassador Association to the Polish Real Estate Federation. I have traveled throughout Poland with NVAR’s elected leadership to conduct seminars about all aspects of Realtor® Association Management and the fundamentals of how real estate is listed, marketed, appraised and sold in the United States. I have also done consulting services on Association Management for IRPF where I have presented dozens of seminars on Association Management throughout Eastern Europe and Russia and I serve on their Board of Directors. At the crossroads of my work with NVAR and IRPF is an interest in helping emerging real estate markets professionalize and flourish.

Our seminar topics have included the history and evolution of our Multiple Listing Service, standardized real estate contracts, value and enforcement of the Realtors® Code of Ethics, designing educational programs, non-dues income, creating a public awareness campaign for the real estate profession and many others.

The topic that was most requested and also the most challenging for us was “Creating an Effective Government Affairs Program.” In 2001, we first introduced this topic at a two-day seminar for both the Regional Real Estate Associations and the Appraisers Association in Poland.

The concept of lobbying members of Parliament was foreign to our Polish friends. Some argued that the idea of asking government officials for a meeting to discuss real estate laws and regulations appeared to be unprofessional.

The real estate profession was still young and evolving in Eastern and Central Europe.  Real estate practitioners there complained that doing business was not easy.  Many laws were frustrating, as was the lack of industry regulations and exclusive listings. We made the point that in many ways this was a good predicament, because it gave the associations the opportunity to write and lobby for the specific legislation they wanted. If the members of the association could be convinced that by creating a Government Affairs program for their associations, they could help shape the future, this was a positive effort. The flip side would be to continue complaining about how hard it was to do business in a post-communist era.

Our seminar was modeled after NAR’s Government Affairs program. We gave specific examples of how Realtors® in the U.S., on a local, state and national level, not only lobbied for laws and regulations favorable to private property rights, but association staff helped write them! You can image the debate that occurred when we explained RPAC!

I must admit there were times when I questioned if all the time and resources NVAR spent on our Ambassador relationship was worth the effort.  In June of this year, I once again traveled to Poland with our current Chairman of the Board, Karen Trainor, and two past Chairmen. The theme of the two-day conference in beautiful Krakow was “Enhancing the Image of Real Estate Professionals in Poland.”

I presented a program on the history and success of NAR’s Public Awareness Campaign. This was followed by a presentation about a new Global program from Realtor.com, made by the NAR President’s Liaison to Poland, John Butsz (from the Chicago area) and Bruno Crosby, NAR Director of Global Marketing.

During a presentation by the President of the Polish Real Estate Federation, Mr. Wojciech Kuc thanked Realtors® from the U.S. for helping them design and implement a successful lobbying program.

In 2005, PREF successfully lobbied for passage of a real estate licensing law in Poland. Since that time, there has been pressure from the European Union to have the law rescinded.

Responding to concerns that its efforts to get a real estate license law passed in Poland were going to die, the PREF once again employed the techniques and tools NVAR had shared with them, and they went to work.

The end result of their efforts was not only that the real estate license law in Poland was maintained, but also that the PREF is now recognized by the Polish Parliament and government officials as a valuable and effective professional association.

Many of the 20-plus speakers praised the members of the PREF and thanked them for the work they were doing to support such a large and important part of the Polish economy.

Needless to say, I felt like the “proud professor” listening as my students were applauded for their contributions to society.