EAAB Qualification Blog Series: 2 - How To Register as An Estate Agent in South Africa.

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The Estate Agency Affairs Board of South Africa ( EAAB ) is the property industry's governing body and controls all the real estate agents and property brokers real estate trading licences.

Before applying with the EAAB, you will need to be employed with a registered and licence holding Estate Agency or property brokerage in South Africa.  This firm will need to be registered, have a current company Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC) as well as have a registered principle agent who holds a Master Practitioner in Real Estate  ( completed PDE level 5 exam ) and A National Qualification in Real Estate Level 5 (NQFL5).

To register and apply, you will need a certified copy of your ID ( or passport & work permit ) and a letter from your employer, the registered estate agency/property brokerage, and the firms registered agency pin.

*You will notice in the blogs I write estate agency & property brokerage.  The reason for this is that estate agency refers to residential agencies while property brokerage refers to commercial real estate agencies. 

To register, go to the EAAB website MYEAAB page and the middle of the web page click on “New Estate Agents”.

You will be taken to a registration page where you will fill in all your particulars and then read and confirm the EAAB's terms and conditions.  Once you have filled in the required forms and accepted the T&C's you will be taken to the Agents portal and supplied with a unique reference number. Keep this reference number should you need assistance at a later stage.

The EAAB will then send you an email with both Username and Password that will enable you to log back in onto the Portal.

To log back in you will need to follow the same process but select "existing estate agent". You will then be asked to reconfirm all your particulars as well as provide additional statistical information, contact details and full address.

At the end of this page, it will ask you to select yes or no on 5 questions.  Please note that you may not hold a criminal record, be declared insolvent or have had a previous FFC withdrawn.  Answer truthfully to all answers as if you lie they will withdraw the FFC and there are both legal and financial ramifications for these actions.

Once you confirm and submit you will be taken to yet another page where you will need to upload all your supporting documentation. This is where you will need your certified ID copy and confirmation of employment with a registered agency.

Once uploaded you will be required to pay the application fee ( which is at now R529.80 as of September 2018 ) either via credit card, which is the fastest way, or via EFT.  If you pay via credit card you will go to a secure page to load your credit card details. If you select EFT, you will receive an email with all the details on how to make payment.  Keep proof of payment.

Image From EAAB website
Once all that is done, you will need to wait on a confirmation email from the EAAB confirming registration. You will then be able to login to your agent portal again and under the righthand tab "Fidelity Fund Certificate" you can click history and download your FFC to print.

All agents are required to carry the card at the bottom of the FFC.  This is to prove you are registered. No non-registered agent may earn commission or referral fee unless they have a valid FFC from the EAAB.  If you are an intern agent, which you will initially be, you will be required to have a longstanding full status agent or principal agent to mentor you, sign and draw up legal documents and work with you on all your deals.

The above sounds complicated, I know, but there will be a fully experienced person at your new firm that will assist you with the process.

Once you have your FFC, its time to start working on your logbook and your national qualification in Real Estate Level 4.

Location: South Africa

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