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Thread: She earned twice as much in a month as she did in a year

  1. #1
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    Default She earned twice as much in a month as she did in a year

    http://business.asiaone.com/Business...20-181252.html

    Mon, Nov 23, 2009

    The New Paper

    She earned twice as much in a month as she did in a year

    By Desmond Ng


    A RECORD 5,719 private homes were sold from July to September - surpassing the previous record of 5,129 units in the second quarter of 2007.

    Because of this boom, real estate agencies have reported stellar performances, with more people signing up to become agents.

    In one month, this property agent earned $90,000 in commission nearly twice the amount she did for the whole of last year. And it's thanks to an unexpected mini property bull run in the third quarter of this year. The returns can be attractive - just ask property agent Wee Ai Na.

    This 34-year-old earned about $90,000 worth of commissions in October, far exceeding the $48,000 that she earned in the whole of last year.

    Miss Wee, an agent with ECG Property, said her recent deals were all sales of private condo units averaging some $1.5 million each. She sold six condo units last month, with a total value of about $10 million, in the prime 9, 10 and 11 districts.

    Most of her transactions are new units from developers, where the commission is less than 1 per cent.

    Said Miss Wee: 'I never expected to do so well. But the market did really well and I guess I was lucky. It was a lot of hard work and I guess I got my lucky break.'

    Miss Wee, a Singapore permanent resident, has been in this business for only two years.

    She moved here from Malaysia when she was 3 and studied here before getting her business degree in accounting and finance at the University of Exeter in the UK.

    She admits that hers is no rags-to-riches story. Her father,who died 11 years ago, was a timber tycoon in Kuching, Sarawak, and they had a huge house on a one-hectare site.

    Miss Wee, who is single, lives with her retiree mother in a 3,200 sq ft condo in Katong.

    She does not own any property.

    Her three brothers and six sisters are all in the family business.

    'I am very blessed and well-provided for. I had no issues with money and I never had to go hungry. But I don't ask my family for money,' she said.

    She worked as an auditor with KPMG for two years before joining Hewlett-Packard as a business process analyst. She worked there for about three years. Her last drawn salary was about $5,000 a month.

    She then joined a trading business as a business partner selling misting fans here and in Kuching.

    It didn't take off as well as she expected, and she turned to real estate.

    'I have always had a keen interest in property because it's a tangible asset. I also like to meet people. So, I thought that it was a good industry to be in,' she said.

    Her start was far from rosy.

    For the first six months, she didn't draw a salary and had to live off her savings.

    'The volume of work was very low, I was still learning and observing the market. My family asked if I wanted to join the family business but I refused to do so.

    'I knew I was in a bad shape but I wanted to strike out on my own. I learnt how to live lean then,' she said.

    That means no new clothes, jewellery or lavish meals at restaurants.

    As she lives with her mum, her biggest expense is her car, a humble Chevrolet Aveo for which she paid $67,000 in 2003. The $650 monthly instalments came from her savings.

    'I can't do without the car because I need to travel around to meet clients,' she said.

    As a rookie, Miss Wee has been learning a lot about her job. For example, about how it helps to go the extra mile for her clients.

    She recalled how a client remarked that he missed the famous braised duck rice from Pasir Panjang Road about two years ago.

    Miss Wee immediately drove from East Coast to Pasir Panjang to buy the duck rice, and delivered it to her client who lives in Sembawang.

    The reward' A $10,000 commission for closing a $1.5 million Reflections at Keppel Baycondo deal for this client a week ago.

    She said: 'You cannot take these things as hardship. It's part of the job. I am serving my client and I have to do my best.'

    PropNex agent Andy Goh, 29, raked in about $600,000 in commission this year alone - a huge increase from his takings of about $400,000 last year.

    This former air force regular has been an agent for about 2 1/2 years.

    He said: 'I've always had a passion for property and the returns can be good. I am focused on my high net-worth clients and it paid off.

    'This is my best year. The property market did well, and it helped my business too.'

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    mr funny is offline Any complaints please PM me
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    Default Fast upturn in property market surprises agents

    http://business.asiaone.com/Business...20-181249.html

    Mon, Nov 23, 2009

    The New Paper

    Fast upturn in property market surprises agents


    THE recession seems like no more than a distant memory, and 2009 is turning out to be a great year for property agents.

    The commissions they earned were nothing short of spectacular in the third quarter, some real estate companies told The New Paper.
    Related story:
    » She earned twice as much in a month as she did in a year

    PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said his agents brought in some $54 million worth of commissions - the company's best quarterly performance since it started 10 years ago.

    This translates to about $1.8 billion worth of properties sold in three months.

    He said: 'The property market did very well and there was a pent-up demand for homes. A lot of consumers who were sitting on the fence came into the market. And interest rates, which were low, also spurred demand. 'People felt the economy was recovering, and bricks-and-mortar was seen as a safe bet.'

    The last high was during the third quarter of 2007, when his agents brought in $45 million in commissions. He said almost every active agent in his company earned more this year than last year, and some even doubled their commissions.

    During a slow year, he estimated, an agent could make about $7,000 per month, and this could go up to $20,000 a month in a good year.

    HSR Property Group CEO Patrick Liew said the company saw a 25 per cent increase in commissions from the previous quarter.

    Pent-up demand He said: 'The last quarter was good for the industry. What caught most of us by surprise was how fast the upturn was. There was a lot of pent-up demand and the sentiment was very positive.

    'There was an increase in transactions across the board, from primary to secondary sales.'

    He also noticed more people joining the industry to be agents. He said an average of 250 people joined his firm every month in the past three months, compared with 100 to 150 earlier.

    These new entrants include those who used to be lawyers, accountants and financial controllers. There was even a managing director of an electronics company.

    Some of them had been retrenched from their previous jobs, said Mr Liew.

    He added: 'The property market was at a downturn but now people are bracing for an upturn.

    'Some of these professionals may have been retrenched or they don't feel that their current job has any security. Others want something with an unlimited upside.'

    ECG's Mr Eric Cheng said that on average, the company's agents earned about 15 per cent more than in the previous quarter.

    He said: 'The transaction volume was higher and logically, the agents' commissions also increased. It was better than the previous high in 2007.'

    Mr Paul Heng, founder of NeXT Career Consulting Group, said it's not surprising that job-seekers will take advantage of the real estate boom to join the industry.

    He said: 'The property market has indeed improved and for those who are jobless or looking to switch jobs, it's only natural that they'll join this industry. The barriers to entry are quite low and it's easy for them to join a big company and get trained there.

    'Similarly, if the insurance or financial services industries picks up, more people will switch careers too.'

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