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Transparency in real estate brokerage activities in current real estate transactions to protect the interests of investors and buyers is a solution to ensure the real estate market operates safely and healthily.
Lack of practice certificate
According to statistics from the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association (Vietnam Real Estate Association - VNREA), Vietnam currently has about 300,000 brokers operating in real estate service businesses. Of these, only about 40,000 individuals participating in activities have real estate brokerage practice certificates, the rest mainly operate as a connection to carry out real estate transactions.
Finding out the reality at real estate trading floors and real estate brokerage companies in localities, most brokers are individuals who practice freely, spontaneously, without training, without professional knowledge and are not under the management of any State agency.
Notably, due to unprofessional and dishonest real estate brokers, charging high service fees (from 2 - 3% of the seller's real estate value and about 1 - 2% of the buyer's), plus many easy product advertising tricks on social networks, real estate buying and selling websites to find customers such as: posting fake houses without selling real houses; posting information about selling this house, but using pictures of other houses; selling houses in one project, but advising customers to buy houses in another project... real estate brokerage activities in the past have been negatively affecting the market, losing investors' trust, and losing the image of genuine brokers.
Although there are regulations to punish violating brokers, the management of brokerage activities is still "open", real estate brokerage is still a profession with almost no "barriers" to entry or withdrawal. This reality shows that there needs to be a legal mechanism to bind the role and responsibility of real estate brokerage forces in consulting, providing information, including legal procedures of real estate products and projects, to protect the rights of investors and home buyers when participating in real estate transactions; especially affirming that real estate brokerage is a profession in society.
Legalization of real estate brokerage activities
The Law on Real Estate Business 2023 (amended) was passed and took effect from January 1, 2025, with many new points tightening real estate brokerage activities. Article 61 of this law stipulates that individuals practicing real estate brokerage must have a practice certificate; must practice in a real estate trading floor service business or a real estate brokerage service business. This means that individuals are not allowed to practice real estate brokerage freely as they are now.
Article 48 of this law requires project investors and real estate service businesses to receive payments under real estate business contracts from customers through accounts opened at domestic credit institutions or foreign bank branches legally operating in Vietnam. Thus, for brokers working in real estate companies, brokerage fees and commissions will be transferred via banks to control publicity, transparency and help the State prevent tax losses...
According to Mr. Nguyen The Diep, Vice President of Hanoi Real Estate Club, the new regulations will eliminate non-professional real estate brokers, creating a healthy and transparent real estate business environment.
Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Vice President of VNREA, said that in order to adapt to the tightening regulations of the new Law on Real Estate Business, real estate brokers need to master the new legal regulations related to the real estate market to apply them correctly, improve their knowledge of transaction negotiations, use technology to optimize work processes, participate in real estate industry events through professional social organizations and seek new opportunities in different real estate market segments...
The Ministry of Construction is seeking comments on the draft Decree detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the 2023 Law on Real Estate Business. According to the draft, the Ministry of Construction authorizes the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management, VNREA, and the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association to organize examinations and issue real estate brokerage practice certificates. These examinations are expected to be posted on the Ministry of Construction's Electronic Information Portal at least 2 months before the exam.
“The 2023 Real Estate Business Law clearly stipulates that individuals are not allowed to operate as freelance real estate brokers, requiring brokers to have full capacity through a practice certificate in accordance with regulations. This helps create conditions for natural screening, creating fairness for the market, so that the market only has professional real estate brokers with full skills and experience,” said Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh.
