A little passion goes a long way

LOVE your job and your job will reward you well. That is the belief of RealProperty.My principal Amanda Goh.

“There are all kinds of challenges out there. You need to have passion and love for your job, so you can turn every obstacle into an opportunity,” says the young entrepreneur in the real estate industry.

Goh notes that with passion, one will have the desire to continue learning new things and the knowledge obtained could enhance his/her career.

“The fact is our job as a real estate agent is not just to post listings or to open doors for viewing. Being knowledgeable and knowing what you are doing will build your professional image, giving your clients confidence in you so they can trust and rely on you,” Goh emphasises.

“Many people have a misconception about this job. They think they can just come in and hit the jackpot, but life is not that easy,” she says.

Goh, a chartered accountant, had the choice of having a career in the family business — a building materials distribution company; or to work with an accounting firm; or start her own business. She decided to choose the latter and became a real estate agent.

Goh is also the honorary treasurer in the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents.

“I like to do sales and I want to be an entrepreneur. My passion in both drove me to start my own business,” says Goh, who began her career as a real estate agent seven years ago.

In school, she had a fondness for numbers and mathematics which led her to pursue her studies in accountancy and go through a lengthy period of exams to gain the chartered accountant licence.

After graduating in London, she came back to Malaysia and helped out in the family business for a few years and was appointed business development director of the company.

However, she was not satisfied and decided to leave her comfort zone.

“I like to sell things and meet people. Since I have a masters degree in real estate, I decided to get the real estate agent licence with the hope that I could eventually set up my own real estate business,” she explained.

Goh had obtained a masters degree in real estate in 2003 in London after receiving her accountancy degree.

She fell in love immediately with her new career as a real estate agent. Her dream to become her own boss was fulfilled a few years later at the end of 2011.

Being meticulous

Besides being passionate, one also needs to be meticulous in this job. Goh says all sorts of unforeseen situations could arise before, or nearing or even after closing a deal and there is no manual that can teach someone how to handle every situation. Being meticulous, however, could help the real estate agent avoid some unwanted situations.

She cites one incident that almost killed one of her deals a few years ago. She had just closed a deal of a sub-sale condominium unit. Before handing over the unit to the new owner, she got a contractor to fix the air-conditioner and water filter as well as to clean up the house — all part of the services she promised the new owner.

“That afternoon when I went over to check the condo, I saw to my horror that the house was flooded in water a few inches high. And it was laminated flooring!” she recalls.

Goh found out that the contractor had accidentally turned on the water in the yard without realising it. She had planned to hand over the house the next day! She immediately called a cleaning company and fortunately the house was cleaned within an hour.

Goh said she learnt a huge lesson from that incident. A professional real estate agent has to be responsible throughout the transaction process to ensure everything is intact until the key is handed over to the owner.

If she had assumed everything was alright and did not take the initiative to check on the condition of the house the day before, the flooding might have caused her to lose the deal and, more importantly, her credibility.

Currently, there are 18 negotiators in her company and she is looking to expand.

Apart from that, Goh is hoping to learn from Australia’s real estate agents especially when it comes to after-sales services, which could be adopted by her agency locally.

For instance, a real estate agency in Australia will provide the services of a handyman or a gardener to a client for a period of about six months to a year to do any repairs or gardening work.

“I am looking into this and hope to set up a system which could add value to our clients,” she adds.

This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on June 24, 2016, which comes with The Edge Financial Daily every Friday. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.