CEPI Meets... Steen Winther-Petersen, President of Dansk Ejendomsmaeglerforening

This issue of "CEPI Meets" is published while not yet finalized, due to temporary absence of the interviewee for health reasons. We herewith would like to send him our very best wishes for a quick recovery.

Why is it important for DE to be a member of CEPI?

SWP: DE first became a member of CEI, and naturally joined the CEPI network at the very beginning when the association was set up in the early 90’s. We considered it important for political reasons both from a national and European point of view. So the intention was more political than professional, to support the idea of associations doing things together to have more political weight and influence - we really believe in it.

What does DE bring to the network and to our dossiers?

Denmark is a highly regulated country, and we have views on that. It is an interesting set up, which ensures that our industry is professional. There is an agreement between the government and the Danish association’s representatives, which says that if you do behave properly and have a registration, you are “protected” by the government. We like to say that “if you put a dot in the wrong position, you lose your fee; if you do it right, you get no competition except from people who are like you”.

Could you give some examples of the Danish real estate market’s specificities?

In Denmark, there is only one association at national level, since the several existing ones merged some time ago. In our view it is an example which other countries could follow to make work easier.

Since 1994, there is a law which states every detail which must appear in a contract. The law regulating this consumer area leaves no space to have a more individual set up. In Denmark, unlike in other countries, agents are obliged to provide a finance scheme, on the basis of a mortgage credit (which by the way is one of the best ones in the world), which explains exactly what it will cost to live in the proposed house. The aim is to give the consumer an idea about the real total costs involved when buying a property. The strength of this is that you can really compare house per house. Everything is included: the energy (which is also an EU-wide obligation with the A-G labeling system), the price itself, the interests, the taxes (for the site and for having the right to own something), the insurance, etc.

Education in Denmark in our sector has also been professionalized. In early 1930’s the first regulation started, and the last amendments took place some years ago. There have been in the meantime many regular updates of the law. This means that owners of agencies need yearly
updates, which are self-controlled.

In our country also, there are also many national franchised systems. They have very strict rules to respect, because they are part of a network, and if a problem occurs, it is the image of the big institution behind which suffers. The rules to follow are very detailed, even stricter than the government’s ones. The disadvantage for agents is that either they follow the rules, either they have to leave. As agent, you need to decide when entering the profession: either you are independent, supported by our association, or you become franchised, with a lot of things delivered on a plate, but with all it implies (you cannot decide how you do your ads, all your monthly results are gathered in a centralized database, etc.). It’s a question of lifestyle. We like to say that “the happiest agent is an independent who was franchised but has gotten out of it”.

Another specificity is that there are no cross-border transactions for residential properties in Denmark; it is a very national market. Transactions are made exclusively on a national basis, as Denmark is not generally sought by foreigners; they come to Denmark for work, so they don’t buy houses… Some Danish people do buy in other countries (for example in Turkey), and we have therefore developed a specific system of insurance for Danish brokers: it guarantees to consumers that if a problem occurs, they will get his deposit back. Indeed, anyone who wants to buy a house anywhere in the world through a Danish agent has to comply with the Danish rules: all requirements set by law in Denmark have to be fulfilled, which, as you can imagine, is not always easy, in particular to get specific documents. However it is not very much developed, since the financial and economic crisis, the 10 to 15 Danish agents who were dealing outside borders have almost all stopped this activity and work only in Denmark.

That is also why we support the international work and the network for political reasons, because we encourage the idea of a united set-up for the profession.