My Journey into Real Estate

Now, in this COVID 19 period, being a real estate salesperson is really very demanding. 

Not only must you be good at your work (know all about the projects / resale matters); you must also be proficient in Info-Technology.

Using zoom for virtual meetings with clients, doing virtual showroom tours with clients, and using zoom to show a resale unit. And salesperson must use Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and even Pinterest to get more attention to their websites or what they are promoting now.

During COVID period, when no face to face meeting with clients is allowed, so salespersons have been very busy with WHATSAPP clients, updating clients, as well as Zoom video conferencing.

All these are needed from a real estate salesperson now.

How I started.

I,  Rick Fok, am now a real estate salesperson with OrangeTee & Tie. 

My love for real estate started way back in end of 2009.  At that time, I would find out all relevant info online to see how to be a real estate agent.

I found out that you need to get a licence before you can practice any form of estate agency work.

So I explore the option of being a runner to an existing agent so as to learn on the job.  But then, I was still working in MediaCorp as an Account Director, who is in charge of advertising sales.

This makes it very difficult to mix the two roles.  Hence I took on part-time property agent role after I graduated from OrangeTee T-Off session and took a CES exam.

My interest in real estate work drove me to try out property sales.  I have been a sales professional for more than 20 years, so I believe real estate work should not be any problem. 

I still can remember my peers telling me real estate is such a big pie / big market. 

As I drive along the road, my peer will tell me , “look on both sides of the road, there are so many HDB flats,  there are so many prospect who want to sell their units” such a big potential market available. 

I was totally taken by that comment.

I deeply remember my first HDB deal as a part time agent, because my up-line is very remote, always MIA, missing in action, I find it hard to reach him to ask questions. 

HDB transactions at that time are very cumbersome, and require much more procedures and checks.  I had no choice but to turn to HDB Resale Portal online to look for answers and to get instructions on step by step approach…

Really if HDB website is not available, I really cannot perform the HDB transaction.

My struggles in my journey

Then when I first started to do new project initial launch, there were so many activities to do; such as hyping, door knocking and roadshows. 

I participated in the hyping activities and it was disastrous.  I stumbled when I tried to approach strangers on the streets to promote the new launch.

After much practice,  I got more courageous and subsequently, I even tried to stop turning cars to pass a flyer.

Those were my struggles as a part time agent, without much guidance from my up-line.  Through this I realized that it is important to get a more involved and supportive up-line.

Through trial and error methods, I grew to become more daring, more vocal, and much more knowledgeable in real estate matters. 

When I finally decided to jump from doing part time to full time real estate work,  I joined another real estate agency SAVILLS, to learn more and to earn more from project sales.

In Savills, I changed my focus, and concentrated my efforts in new property launches besides my resale activities.

Because of my love for new projects, seeing the beauty of showroom, and understanding the process and results of new condos after TOP, this motivated me to focus on this area. 

I am also motivated by this quote, Ella Jane Fitzgerald.

“Just don’t give up trying what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong”

It is here, that I started to improve myself with more skills set needed to do project sales.

I started out learning website creation from Google. I would say, it was the most interesting thing that I have ventured into cyberspace.

Going through YouTube tutorials on WORDPRESS, a platform for website creation was very exciting.

I had to use 2 computers to try and learn and do at the same time.  One computer is on YouTube and another is in WordPress formatting so that I can practice together.

Initially, when I place my website into Google Ads, I managed to secure several deals and made some good profits.

At that time, competition was not strong, as many agents are still not into Google Ads web marketing.

But gradually, it became so expensive; I remember I had to place a $15 bid for one click for D’Leedon launch, that finally slow me down in my pursuit of website marketing.

I also attended several courses on Marketing in the Digital era, and learnt about FACEBOOK marketing and how to do Facebook business pages and how to do sponsored ads.

I bought a SMS modem from BlueOcean that allows me to send sms broadcast to many numbers. That way, I could send out new launch marketing info to my list of prospects which I have accumulated from the years of using Proptools FSBO.

I also purchased software from the web, SENDBLASTER that will allow me to do mass email broadcast to the list of prospects as well as property agents.

I also took on digital platforms such as LinkedIn and Pinterest, and created some accounts for use.

Although I cannot make full use of these platforms because of ignorance, so I only managed to use it for listings.

In Singapore, property portals has always been the forefront of any property agents efforts to go digital. 

Property Guru and iProperty has always been leading the race. Only recently many more big players has joined in SPH’s SRX, 99.co, Malaysia’s Media giant’s Edgeprop,

Because Property Guru has been increasing price at exorbitant rate, all these new players are busy courting many agents to subscribe to alternative portal. 

These made portal subscription very costly now, because agents are trying to cover as much ground as possible by having more portals.

It is during this venture into the digital world that I started to incur a lot more costs to my real estate business.

My google ads campaign can cost thousands of dollars plus my Facebook ads can also amount in thousands of dollars, this definitely made a huge impact to my expenses.

And it does affect my profitability, because sales didn’t pick up as much to cover all my expenses.

It’s how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success. –David Feherty

So I tried to do SEO, to get organic search results, this will minimize my ads expenses.  But it is a very tiring, time consuming thing, and it is very complex.

I need to read so much online to do some simple SEO skills. This extra effort really slows me down in my work.

Now, I have reduce my expenses by not using Google Ads or FB ads, in my digital marketing, only relying on traditional SMS and email blasting methods and SEO methods.

In these present times of the COVID pandemic, digital skills is such a necessity.  Because we are unable to meet customers on a face to face environment, all agents have to resort to digital ZOOM, Google Meet, WhatsApp Video, to do digital meeting.

And in video conferencing, we also need to have digital presentation with Electronic Direct Mailers, PowerPoint slides as well as video all prepared.

So going digital is still the way to go for real estate agents and I believe I am midway through it, and should be able to cope with the new changes.

Presently, with so many things that I cannot do, or are restricted to do, I can only go back to basics to call and contact my previous owners and landlords, and to mail out letters for sourcing, and to make my website better.

And to continue with basic SMS messages and electronic mails.

Recently, in my digital class at Orange Tee, I have learned some basic SEO tricks, and also focus on building up a good blog site to attract traffic and searches to your site.

All these did attract some good leads for enquiries.

I am still working at a breakthrough in my real estate work, instead of doing all these work continuously; I need to find a more effective way to source for new leads.

Quotes from these famous people do inspire me to continue on.

1. “Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion.” — Tony Hsieh
2. “People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed” – Tony Robbin
3. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” — Colin Powell

So, I have fine tune my sales approach more to helping clients fulfil their needs, instead of chasing after the commission for the deal. This requires me to make more preparation and focus on what I learnt from past mistakes.

Conclusion

I love real estate work and the possible fulfilment it can bring, and I hope to be able to sustain this momentum and continue till I retire at 75.

I believe that in every transaction, I have made someone very satisfied with their action (buy or sell), and have added value to the outcome.

This gives me a great sense of fulfilment.  It is this satisfaction that will continue to drive me in real estate work.

Earning more from a business deal is important but it should not be the key factor that drives my action, hence I will not force a deal for a higher commission job and ignore the benefits of a better value job.

Making my customer satisfied and getting the best value for each transaction will always be my goal.

If you do have any needs for advice on real estate matters, do give me a call, and I will be able to share and discuss with you the various options available to you. Thank you.

Written by Rick Fok

Rick Fok is a realtor with OrangeTee & Tie Pte Ltd. He has been in this real estate business for 10 years.  He is very focus in helping his clients rent properties and he does help many customers to buy new projects according to their needs.  His interest include sports such as running and soccer besides just real estate work. He loves to connect with people to discuss properties related issues and gets enormous satisfaction in helping them fulfill their needs

If you have any queries on this topic or other , please do give Rick a call and he can arrange for a discussion over a cup of coffee.

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