Switching estate agent

If you wish to join another estate agent (EA), you must submit a switching request to your current EA. Your EA can choose to either acknowledge your switching request in the Advanced CEA Estate Agencies System (ACEAS) before it is routed to the receiving EA, or let ACEAS automatically route it to the receiving EA after a period of time.

Once the receiving EA has supported your switching request, you will be able to log in to ACEAS and submit the switching application to the receiving EA. The receiving EA will then need to verify your application and submit it to the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA).

Upon receiving all the required supporting documents and payment of applicable fees, we will take approximately two to three weeks to process your switching application. Please note that the RES will remain registered with the current EA until the switching application has been approved by CEA.

However, please note that if your switching application is submitted during the annual registration renewal period (i.e., after 30 September) and it is subsequently approved by CEA, your RES registration with the new estate agent will only be effective from 1 January of the following year. Hence, you will remain as a registered RES with your current estate agent until 31 December of the current year, and you do not need to submit an RES registration renewal application during the renewal period.

Fees

• Application fee for RES registration:

  • For registration valid until 31 December 2025: $50

  • For registration validity starting from 1 January 2026: $60

• RES registration fee:

  • For switching within the current registration period : No registration fee required

    • Note: If your RES registration with your current EA ends on 31 December 2025 and you wish to switch to another EA with no change in registration period (i.e., registration still ends on 31 December 2025), your new EA does not need to pay the RES registration fee.

  • For switching to take effect in the next registration period : $280 (i.e., from 1 January 2026)

    • Note: If your RES registration with your current EA ends on 31 December 2025 and you wish to switch to a new EA in 2026, your new EA must pay the RES registration fee for the validity period of 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026.

If you have any questions on the ACEAS workflows or encounter any technical problems, you can refer to this set of Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 143KB).