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25-04-22, 11:23
Priming young property agents to sell dream homes on YouTube
Real estate entrepreneur Nicholas Tan gets creative while grooming the next generation of property leaders.
Apr 25, 2022
WHEN he was a newbie real estate agent, Nicholas Tan spent his days as a sleep-deprived "zombie".
His daily routine kicked off at 5 am and consisted of rushing down to project sites, getting information from developers and construction workers, canvassing for prospective customers, conducting property viewings, before wrapping up the day's work at 2 am.
"I would be scribbling into a spreadsheet on a clipboard while sweating in a dark car-park stairway in the middle of the night," recalls Tan, now founder of real estate media brand Selling Singapore.
"At the beginning of a real estate salesperson's journey, you typically hustle very quickly to secure a bunch of clients."
But he has since learnt that enduring a trial by fire - fraught with gruelling hours, laborious tasks and countless rejections - is not always necessary in becoming a successful property agent.
Today, the 31-year-old helms a 22-strong team of salespeople and creatives. He makes it a point to give all new joiners ample training and mentorship before they hit the ground running.
"It's ludicrous to ask a new agent to go out there and start prospecting when they have zero experience in solving the client's problems or pain points," he tells The Business Times.
At Selling Singapore, which specialises in digital marketing, video production and home staging to sell residential properties, each newcomer is attached to seasoned agents or staff to shadow them.
The training spans about 3 months before the individual "graduates" into a role in which "they have to learn by doing", Tan says. For property agents, that will be when they have become confident enough to go out and pitch for business. "Most of them will then start to close deals within the first month in," he adds.
Salespeople are also assigned to market segments, such as HDB resale flats or landed houses, that align with their interests and social circles. Tan stresses the importance of placing individuals where they are comfortable. A complete newbie will feel extremely out of place trying to sell luxury penthouses to high-net-worth clients, for instance.
He says: "The right platform and opportunities will help individuals soar."
Value-added services
Tan's team took shape in 2017, and the company was incorporated in July 2019. But it was only in 2020 that they moved into videos and digital marketing aggressively, which helped treble the year's revenue from 2019. Revenue went on to rise 70 per cent in 2021 while sales volume surged 93 per cent.
Selling Singapore concluded 92 transactions worth S$43 million in gross sales value in 2020, translating to more than S$1 million in commissions. Last year, they closed 143 deals amounting to S$120 million in gross sales value, which worked out to over S$1.7 million in gross commissions.
Every listing or sales campaign is managed by 2 agents, who are supported by a digital marketer, admin staff and interns.
The agents are registered under PropNex Realty, which takes a cut of the commissions as it provides access to training and a vast community of salespeople. "Outside of what PropNex can offer, value-added services such as home staging and social media will then come from Selling Singapore, which is a private entity and an umbrella brand," Tan says.
The salespeople in his team are paid entirely in commissions, which increase in a tiered structure according to the size of the deal. Meanwhile, the in-house creative and administrative personnel are salaried employees.
The agents charge sellers about 2 to 4 per cent of the transaction price. For developers, the fees tend to be 4 to 6 per cent for new launches, as they are usually either smaller, boutique developments or single landed housing projects.
Tan says Selling Singapore commands higher-than-average rates due to its branding, expertise in digital marketing, reach, and the proficiency of its salesforce.
For single landed projects, it also offers consultancy services to developers, such as at the inception of the architectural concept or when it comes to the house's aesthetics and functionality.
In terms of the costs of running the business, roughly 42 per cent goes into marketing, which largely consists of advertising spend and fees to put up listings on online property portals. Manpower costs then make up about 32 per cent, and the remainder is spent on training and home-staging inventory.
A warehouse stores the inventory, including furniture, artwork, ornaments and other decorative items, as well as any existing furniture that is swapped out temporarily from the listed property for the staging process.
Authentic, fresh content
The beautified interiors are then showcased in Selling Singapore's virtual home tours, which bring the viewer through the main details of the unit and project such as the floor plan, orientation, year of completion, and more. Amenities and schools nearby are introduced via pins and photos on a map.
In the videos, Tan dons streetwear with sneakers and addresses viewers off-script. He likens this to chatting with a friend - a departure from the formal presentation style of the typical agent clad in a suit and tie.
The idea is to cement an unpretentious brand personality that is "fresher, edgier, more raw, and younger" than a run-of-the-mill real estate media arm, he says.
Another key feature of the videos is the research data and financial calculations. "We do (some of) the homework for buyers and anticipate their questions and concerns," Tan says.
For example, a video may give a breakdown of the monthly mortgage payments and interest rates if the unit is purchased. When there is an investment angle, the team may estimate the rental yield based on historical data, or present the per-square-foot rental rates at comparable condominiums. Other videos discuss recent transactions of houses within a certain radius.
"We make all this information very digestible, in a single flow, and not mind-boggling," Tan notes.
He reckons Selling Singapore's "authenticity" also sets it apart from the scores of other agents using virtual tours to sell properties. In particular, he engages social media influencers - adept at connecting with their audiences - to help train his salespeople in "organic, freestyle, off-script delivery" in front of the camera.
This stands in contrast to the formulaic approach and "robotic, unnatural presentation" of some of their competitors, he says.
The general format of Selling Singapore's videos was modelled after US real estate personalities' YouTube property tours and reality television shows. Many of these American powerhouse realtors are known for their charisma, eloquence, humour, polished content and flair for deal-making.
"We basically reverse engineered their processes and tailored the content to our Singaporean context and lingo," Tan notes.
Moving forward, Selling Singapore will keep dipping its toes in inventive ways of creating real estate content. "Whatever is fresh and unconventional, we'll try it," Tan says.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth-investing/priming-young-property-agents-to-sell-dream-homes-on-youtube
Real estate entrepreneur Nicholas Tan gets creative while grooming the next generation of property leaders.
Apr 25, 2022
WHEN he was a newbie real estate agent, Nicholas Tan spent his days as a sleep-deprived "zombie".
His daily routine kicked off at 5 am and consisted of rushing down to project sites, getting information from developers and construction workers, canvassing for prospective customers, conducting property viewings, before wrapping up the day's work at 2 am.
"I would be scribbling into a spreadsheet on a clipboard while sweating in a dark car-park stairway in the middle of the night," recalls Tan, now founder of real estate media brand Selling Singapore.
"At the beginning of a real estate salesperson's journey, you typically hustle very quickly to secure a bunch of clients."
But he has since learnt that enduring a trial by fire - fraught with gruelling hours, laborious tasks and countless rejections - is not always necessary in becoming a successful property agent.
Today, the 31-year-old helms a 22-strong team of salespeople and creatives. He makes it a point to give all new joiners ample training and mentorship before they hit the ground running.
"It's ludicrous to ask a new agent to go out there and start prospecting when they have zero experience in solving the client's problems or pain points," he tells The Business Times.
At Selling Singapore, which specialises in digital marketing, video production and home staging to sell residential properties, each newcomer is attached to seasoned agents or staff to shadow them.
The training spans about 3 months before the individual "graduates" into a role in which "they have to learn by doing", Tan says. For property agents, that will be when they have become confident enough to go out and pitch for business. "Most of them will then start to close deals within the first month in," he adds.
Salespeople are also assigned to market segments, such as HDB resale flats or landed houses, that align with their interests and social circles. Tan stresses the importance of placing individuals where they are comfortable. A complete newbie will feel extremely out of place trying to sell luxury penthouses to high-net-worth clients, for instance.
He says: "The right platform and opportunities will help individuals soar."
Value-added services
Tan's team took shape in 2017, and the company was incorporated in July 2019. But it was only in 2020 that they moved into videos and digital marketing aggressively, which helped treble the year's revenue from 2019. Revenue went on to rise 70 per cent in 2021 while sales volume surged 93 per cent.
Selling Singapore concluded 92 transactions worth S$43 million in gross sales value in 2020, translating to more than S$1 million in commissions. Last year, they closed 143 deals amounting to S$120 million in gross sales value, which worked out to over S$1.7 million in gross commissions.
Every listing or sales campaign is managed by 2 agents, who are supported by a digital marketer, admin staff and interns.
The agents are registered under PropNex Realty, which takes a cut of the commissions as it provides access to training and a vast community of salespeople. "Outside of what PropNex can offer, value-added services such as home staging and social media will then come from Selling Singapore, which is a private entity and an umbrella brand," Tan says.
The salespeople in his team are paid entirely in commissions, which increase in a tiered structure according to the size of the deal. Meanwhile, the in-house creative and administrative personnel are salaried employees.
The agents charge sellers about 2 to 4 per cent of the transaction price. For developers, the fees tend to be 4 to 6 per cent for new launches, as they are usually either smaller, boutique developments or single landed housing projects.
Tan says Selling Singapore commands higher-than-average rates due to its branding, expertise in digital marketing, reach, and the proficiency of its salesforce.
For single landed projects, it also offers consultancy services to developers, such as at the inception of the architectural concept or when it comes to the house's aesthetics and functionality.
In terms of the costs of running the business, roughly 42 per cent goes into marketing, which largely consists of advertising spend and fees to put up listings on online property portals. Manpower costs then make up about 32 per cent, and the remainder is spent on training and home-staging inventory.
A warehouse stores the inventory, including furniture, artwork, ornaments and other decorative items, as well as any existing furniture that is swapped out temporarily from the listed property for the staging process.
Authentic, fresh content
The beautified interiors are then showcased in Selling Singapore's virtual home tours, which bring the viewer through the main details of the unit and project such as the floor plan, orientation, year of completion, and more. Amenities and schools nearby are introduced via pins and photos on a map.
In the videos, Tan dons streetwear with sneakers and addresses viewers off-script. He likens this to chatting with a friend - a departure from the formal presentation style of the typical agent clad in a suit and tie.
The idea is to cement an unpretentious brand personality that is "fresher, edgier, more raw, and younger" than a run-of-the-mill real estate media arm, he says.
Another key feature of the videos is the research data and financial calculations. "We do (some of) the homework for buyers and anticipate their questions and concerns," Tan says.
For example, a video may give a breakdown of the monthly mortgage payments and interest rates if the unit is purchased. When there is an investment angle, the team may estimate the rental yield based on historical data, or present the per-square-foot rental rates at comparable condominiums. Other videos discuss recent transactions of houses within a certain radius.
"We make all this information very digestible, in a single flow, and not mind-boggling," Tan notes.
He reckons Selling Singapore's "authenticity" also sets it apart from the scores of other agents using virtual tours to sell properties. In particular, he engages social media influencers - adept at connecting with their audiences - to help train his salespeople in "organic, freestyle, off-script delivery" in front of the camera.
This stands in contrast to the formulaic approach and "robotic, unnatural presentation" of some of their competitors, he says.
The general format of Selling Singapore's videos was modelled after US real estate personalities' YouTube property tours and reality television shows. Many of these American powerhouse realtors are known for their charisma, eloquence, humour, polished content and flair for deal-making.
"We basically reverse engineered their processes and tailored the content to our Singaporean context and lingo," Tan notes.
Moving forward, Selling Singapore will keep dipping its toes in inventive ways of creating real estate content. "Whatever is fresh and unconventional, we'll try it," Tan says.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth-investing/priming-young-property-agents-to-sell-dream-homes-on-youtube