In this series entitled Agent Success Stories, we sit down with agency leaders to find out their side of the story. From their humble beginnings to the challenges they have faced on the road to success, we learn that a career in the real estate industry is one filled with boundless opportunities – if you know where to look.
Unlike many others who joined the Real Estate industry, Fossil’s venture in this space stemmed out of his desire to fill up his time. Previously from Singapore Airlines, Fossil found himself trying to fill his time during his days off. As a trainer in SQ, he realised he had huge pockets of time in between his training and decided to make use of them in the Real Estate industry. This paid off as his efforts saw him being in the Top 10% of PropNex despite him doing it as a part-time venture.
However, this arrangement did not come easy. As his Real Estate activities scaled up, he saw himself struggling to juggle both jobs. He recalled waking up every 3 hours to reply to messages, and not being able to reply to his clients for long hours during his long-haul flights.
As time passed and his family grew, it became clear to Fossil that only the Real Estate industry could give him the flexibility he wanted without compromising on his career.
Being there for his clients through different stages of life
Fossil is specialised in several areas, including residential housing and property asset progression for the HDB and private sector.
He focuses on helping homeowners in different stages of life grow their property portfolio, usually from a HDB flat to a private property, using careful planning, detailed research and long-term strategy. Under Fossil’s expertise, clients can look forward to owning one or two fully paid private properties by their retirement age, by upgrading or downgrading their properties and turning them into investment. Fossil mentions that the end objective is allowing clients to build up a good retirement fund through sound property investments.
Tough times don’t last, but tough people do
Back in the day, there were no tools as efficient as the SRX Analyzer or Market Reports. From manually cutting and pasting data pulled from different sources to create his own analysis reports, what pulled Fossil through was creativity and innovation. This differentiated him and impressed many clients, who have trusted him ever since. He cites an important part of his growth – the learning process, where he learnt and gained knowledge from a variety of people he came across, especially co-brokers, lawyers, and bankers.
During those times, properties were much tougher to find as there were hardly any listings in the newspapers. Whatsapp was non-existent and it was hard for agents and property seekers to find relevant information and contact each other. Fossil had to individually text people, which was much more of a hassle, as compared to what Whatsapp allows him to do now – send mass messages and have group chats at no cost. The process of meeting up with people as well as finding and sharing listings was slow but necessary to get warm leads. Nonetheless, this never once faltered his determination to deliver the best results for his clients as he worked day and night to propel his career.
Eventually, his hard work paid off as it was a dream come true when he sold a unit at Sentosa Cove as the sale marked a milestone in Fossil’s career as a part-time agent. “Milestones don’t come easy and selling a unit at Sentosa Cove was definitely a highlight of my property career. It took lots of time and effort, but it was worth it.”
Making money work for his clients
When meeting his client for the first time, he would begin every consultation with finding out what their intentions are and recognise what is important for them. From there, he will offer his clients different options when analysing a portfolio of properties in comparison to their original property of choice. His transparency and honesty makes it easy for clients to warm up to him as upon meeting for the first time, Fossil is always ready to listen and empathise with any of their struggles. “What is important is what the client wants. Being the consultant, it is on you to let them know what their options are and ensure that the best decision is being made.”
Aside from presenting his clients a portfolio of properties, he always ensures to go above and beyond what is requested from him. Unlike other agents, he is always thinking out of the box and recognises that there is never a one size fits all situation. For instance, when meeting clients who are interested in asset progression, he understands that upgrading a property does not always equate to increasing room count but instead, could also be for owners to reap the benefits of capital gain. He takes it another step further by providing his clients with financial advice as he would take initiative to present in-depth calculations to help his clients plan for their budgetary goals, all the way to establishing a budget to save for their retirement fund in the long term. “Sometimes, clients tend to focus on solely increasing profit. My job is to help them learn how to let the money work for them, not the other way around.”
His versatility puts him at an advantage as being a strong believer in keeping up with consumer trends, he is quick to recognise how to interact with clients across all ages. With his extroverted personality, his ability to cater to different clients from all backgrounds and preferences, allows him to provide his best service. Not to mention, as consumers’ perspectives and preferences are ever-changing, Fossil is always on the ball and constantly adapting to trends when it comes to formulating new strategies and meeting the requirements of his clients. “Nowadays, the younger generation prefer to converse via Whatsapp, while the older generation feel more comfortable talking on the phone. Either channel, giving that extra touch of human interaction and communication definitely goes a long way when getting to know how to talk to your clients.”
When asked about a memorable closing, he cites how he once met a client who was looking to sell his industrial property in hopes to purchase an HDB. After analysing the client’s finances, Fossil encouraged them to purchase a condo as it was within their affordability means and would also help to build their retirement nest fund. Given that it was the first time the client was purchasing a condo, Fossil took extra effort to guide them from start to finish as he would patiently explain every guideline to his client. He placed the priority of his clients first as he forewent a certain percentage of his commission as means to upkeep a high level of transparency and allow his client to purchase the property at an affordable price. Overtime, the client successfully sold his industrial property and purchased a much bigger condo. “Every client relationship is important. It is never a touch and go situation, but instead a lifetime relationship and journey in their lives.
Driven by support from family and team
After the birth of his firstborn, he felt a greater sense of urgency to work hard as the sole breadwinner of his family. Understanding this, he switched his perspective on life and began to craft out new ways of managing his time even more efficiently. Be it taking breaks to talking to his clients, he knows that every second would count to helping him take another step closer to achieving a new milestone.
Family plays a crucial role as his motivation, support system, and the backbone of his success. He gives credit to his beloved wife for her unwavering support and for being with him through thick and thin. He recalls flying country to country as a steward and spending his breaks meeting clients as a part-time property agent, all while his wife took care of the children at home.
“My wife told me one day – the kids won’t recognise their dad!”. This sentence deeply struck him and he decided to focus on his career as a full-time agent, that was when he felt everything came into place.
With a growing family of five, and being the sole breadwinner, there is an expectation on Fossil to provide for the family. Growing up, there were many opportunities he did not get access to. Now that he is a father, Fossil strives to give his all in order to open the same door of opportunities for his children.
Other than his family, Fossil also takes care of 12 other associates under him as he makes it a point to guide, coach, and groom them as his own and takes pride in their success. Balancing the two made Fossil even more relentlessly when managing his time and prioritising his work.
To Always Expect the Unexpected
Fossil shared why it is always necessary to expect the unexpected in this industry. He recalls a hurtful incident when he was co-broking with his good friend. It started off smoothly but in the end, the deal was concluded without his knowledge and he was left out unknowingly. As someone who always gives his all, he definitely felt beaten down, especially since he would never have expected his good friend to leave him out of the loop and take all of the credit. This also served him a learning point: business is business, we should always expect the unexpected and mentally prepare ourselves to be ready for bad times. As for what has happened in the past, it is important to move forward and do better, for there will always be downfalls. Similar situations are bound to arise and it is important to learn from experiences and emerge stronger.
Advice for young agents
“Hard work will always pay off. Focus on your differentiating factor and improving lives. Do right, be well.” Fossil urges aspiring agents to enjoy the job and focus on improving lives instead of pursuing the money. It is helping others and being a valuable property agent for their clients that will attract results.
He adds, “Be hungry, pick things up fast, and persevere.” He also stresses the importance of having a good support system, mentor, and coach that you can count on.
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