About the Author
My name is Joshua and I have been in Real Estate for a year now. While the aim of Estate Magnates is to provide quality Real Estate information for homestay or investments, it does not generate any income – I don’t run advertisements on the website! Instead, I am a full-time real estate agent and the only way for me to earn a living is through commissions from property transactions.
Trusting your property transactions to a stranger over the internet is a risky decision, and those that do so are worth applauding for. My previous articles have all been in regards to the real estate market and reviews, and I will like to try something different with this.
The purpose of this blog article is to give you some insight into my decisions of becoming a real estate agent, and my future plans for the Estate Magnates brand.
What Led Me to the Real Estate Industry?
Teenage Years
For most people, being in sales is a “last resort” option and never as a first job out of university, and the idea will bring many to their knees. But I thought differently.
One of the earliest part-time job that I had was in selling magazine subscriptions. As simple as it sounds to be, it has to be one of the most challenging roles that I have ever faced. As a 15-year-old, I was tasked to selling these subscriptions to Junior College/ “A” levels students, this led me to question myself if I am up to the role! Furthermore, it was challenging because the magazines that I was selling requires detailed knowledge on life sciences and general news.
The feeling in closing a sale was immeasurable. The commissions were great, but the pleasure of providing good advice that led to the purchase was worth its weight in gold.
Another turning point was during my Diploma internship as a Lab Assistant. Even though I enjoyed learning about life sciences, I felt the drag of routine in practice, due to the lack of discussion on the subject matter with people.
Mid 20s
I really enjoyed learning on life sciences and went on to further pursue my Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, which was focused strongly around disease models and organic chemistry. However, I had higher aspirations beyond a role in the laboratory and was left with two choices;
Pursue higher education, and proceed into academia possibly 5-6 years later
Start working immediately with current qualifications
The main difficulty with option 1 is the high tuition fees for higher education, and I did not want my parents nor myself to be in debt. After all, we are a middle-class family.
Option 2 was more feasible, but the thought of being confined behind a desk was not the way I envisioned my life to be. Don’t get me wrong, working in the biomedical science industry is still a viable career choice, however, it was more in line with routine work, and does not offer me the opportunities to provide people with consultative advice.
I still enjoyed the subject matter of biomedical sciences but decided against working in the healthcare sector.
This further drove my curiosity in starting a sales career. While I was still deciding on my choice of full-time employment, I did a part-time job as a sales representative in the Cruise Industry. I remembered being a part of a roadshow where the hours were long – 8 am to 10 pm, but it did offer the same excitement during my time selling magazines.
I realized an important fact – Most clients will not get exactly what they are looking for, and it is up to the sales representative to provide credible advice for them to make the right decision.
First Contact with the Real Estate Industry
Around March 2017 when I was attending a career fair, I came across a recruitment booth for Real Estate. At that point in time, I was keen in joining the industry, but had some reservations as becoming a real estate salesperson is similar to operating your own business. There were much ongoing costs in order to secure and maintain your client base, that at 24 years old I do not have the capital.
Full-Time Employment as a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative
My first full-time employment was in Jul 2017 as a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative. The main scope of my duties was to promote and sell medications to Health Care Professionals. This addressed one of my main criteria which was to play a consultative role to my clients. At the same time, I was given the opportunity to talk about disease models every day, which is my passion and what was learned in University.
The Problems
About 15 months into the job, I realized that there were some issues that were coming into this dream job. The main problem was not towards the company itself but more to the industry as a whole.
The first issue was in regards to the products. For salespeople, we are often limited to promoting the one product which pays us. This limits our ability to be impartial, and I will rather be paid on the advice that was given, which was not possible.
Next, the role was not scalable, this is the problem which applies if you are working for a wage. I want to be in a role in which I am allowed to set my own directions.
Full-Time Real Estate Salesperson
Now that I have enough savings to tide over the initial startup costs, I have decided to venture into Real Estate, which addresses the problems that I have mentioned above. Dealing Real Estate provides a limitless inventory that allows the buyer to find what they require.
Besides the variety of products that I can promote, building a successful brand has always intrigued me. A brand has the capacity to be scalable in different directions and opens plenty of opportunities.
The Creation of Estate Magnates
Real Estate is a multi-faceted industry that consists of too much information online and might not be reliable to most consumers. Estate Magnates’ vision is to provide credible information for our readers, giving them the confidence and knowledge to make good property decisions.
It is always exciting to learn about different kinds of properties to promote, each with its own unique features. Check out some of the reviews which I have written for Estate Magnates!
Property Reviews
Real Estate Investment Articles
We understand however, that the advice provided on our site might be general and may not pertain to your specific scenario. Hence, we are providing a separate model that provides for free consultation calls with any of our Estate Magnates agents – which is just me at the moment, but we are expanding the team in the near future!
Future Direction
The real estate industry is highly competitive with agents fighting to get the highest commissions. I believe that this is what makes a good agent; however, the client’s interest should never be caught in this crossfire. There are numerous incidences over the past few years which have shown this to be the case.
In order to protect the spirit of sharing exceptional advice, Estate Magnates agents should be regular contributors to the brand with engaging content yet at the same time, providing with accurate factual information.
Octane Concept Design
Besides providing good property advice, we understand that there are some challenges that can potentially arrive throughout the property transaction stage which Estate Magnates, as a property consultant group, might not be able to handle. This is the reason for our partnership with Octane Concept Design.
Octane Concept Design is involved in renovation/contracting works, which in the future, will potentially offer a combined solution to both our clients, to minimize the risks involved during the property transaction process.
These services can for example include property valuation and site assessment prior to the sale. For the average consumer/investor, orchestrating such a huge project can be difficult when you are juggling between;
- Interior Designers/Contractors
- Property Valuer
- Property Agent
- Respective Clients Involved in the Transaction
This might cause an oversight of seemingly unimportant details, which bring about a huge loss of value for the client.
We understand that this offer is not suitable for all properties – new launch properties comes to mind. This service is geared towards clients who are attracted to purchasing older properties for its benefits. Older properties will be usually bringing a higher risk to buyers as they might be left with a huge bill for renovation should they underestimate the costs required!
For clients who are interested in rebuilding projects, working closely with Octane Concept Design allows us the opportunity to optimize the best value for your redevelopment, reconstruction, and Additions & Alterations (A&A) project. This will allow them to build the home of your dreams without the risks of expensive oversights from structural planning, which can happen after purchasing the land.
Octane Concept Design currently provides services such as residential and commercial renovations, if you are interested, please visit Octane Concept Design for their portfolio of works.
Now that you have heard my story, are you keen on working with us? Contact us at +65 96329840 or send your queries to estatemagnates@gmail.com! Our consultations do not have a charge, so let us assist you!
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee, or other group or individual. The author does not accept any responsibility whatsoever for any harm or loss arising from accessing or relying on information contained in this blog post.