Licensed to lease

According to the Polish Real Estate Federation (PRFN), careers in the real-estate market offer good prospects for advancement. However, it says the market needs 10,000 extra  agents in the next five years, while currently there are only 4,500. To encourage companies to hire more, the group says changes to current regulations should be introduced.

"Poland's market is developing very dynamically so there is a need to introduce a two-tier license." Aleksander Scheller, the president of PRFN, said during a recent Sejm conference on the construction and real-estate industries.

PRFN suggests that the first-level license could grant the status of "real-estate administrator," which would only require secondary education. Those with such a license would then work under the supervision of a real-estate agent. The second level would be equivalent to today's national agent license, however future candidates would have to possess specific tertiary education in a subject connected to real-estate management.

Scheller added that the two-tier license system works successfully in the US, in which "brokers" make up the higher tier and "agents" compose the lower level. In Poland, the first real-estate agent licenses were granted in 1998, and the profession is still considered something of a novelty. Currently, applicants must pass an exam to gain a license.

"The license is considered as proof of competence, since knowledge of the law, the sales industry and construction is needed to carry out the professional tasks of a real-estate agent," said Jerzy Sobański from the Warsaw Association of Real Estate Agents.

"However, the national exam is considered to be very difficult, as usually only 15 percent of the participants pass," he added.

The Warsaw Association of Real Estate Agents is currently organizing a preparatory course for candidates. All participants should possess at least secondary education. However, according to a law that will be introduced at the beginning of 2007, candidates will have to possess tertiary education.

All interested foreigners can attend the course and later take the national exam, although knowledge of Polish is essential.