Yahoo Finance Agents, this is the real reason why clients say 'no' to you
Bobby Sng with his team, Ryan Low (far left) and Jackson B (right), along with GoalsMapper's Dato’ Wayne Chen and Alina Wong. Photo: Albert Chua/The Edge Singapore
The Singapore property industry is a multi-million dollar one, with top-tier property agents transacting several million dollars’ worth of properties in the country.
In the 1Q2022, the property market in Singapore saw a total of $6.1 billion in investment sales transactions, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report.
In 2021, the total investment volume for the property industry stood at $25.8 billion, according to another edition of the same report.
Despite the staggering amount of money transacted, property agents have very little information to work with.
At present, property agents base their pitches on basic information such as the value of the property, cash proceeds, as well as their clients’ income to determine whether they are the means to purchase their new home or not, according to Bobby Sng, senior advisory branch district director at PropNex.
Based on his 18 years of experience as an agent, Sng realises that most clients, after deliberating on the decision to transact on a property, tend not to proceed.
Yet the reason is a simple one.
“After speaking to many clients and meeting agents, my team and I came to realise that most of the clients we meet are not as clear on their financials as they should be. For instance, certain property transactions don’t get through at times because our clients simply realised that the property they were eyeing, was pricier than they thought,” says Sng.
A revolutionary tool
With this knowledge, Sng believes one tool will revolutionise the way property agents conduct their sales pitches and enable their clients to get more familiar with their financials.
The GoalsMapper (GM) property tool offers property agents a series of tools that are key in giving their clients a more comprehensive assessment of their financial needs when it comes to purchasing a property. The tool can be used on personal computers (PCs) and mobile tablets.
The tool comes with several features that allow agents to possess essential information at their fingertips. These include live bank interest rates, as well as formulas for the total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) and mortgage servicing ratio (MSR).
Another nifty feature is the tool’s template of clients in frequently encountered situations such as a married couple looking to decouple and acquire another property, single or married property holders looking to upgrade their homes, or property owners planning for their retirement.
“These sample templates can also be tweaked and customised according to our clients’ circumstances”, says Sng.
Ryan Low, associate group director under Sng’s team of agents at Bobby Sng Advisory (BSA), is a fan.
“When I first came across the tool, I thought that the real estate industry could benefit from it too, because we deal with large transactions, we’re talking multi-million-dollar buys,” says Low.
“Beyond the value of the property and cash proceeds, there may be other hidden expenses our clients may not pay as much attention too. These include expenses for the children, school, monthly utilities… all of which fall under the radar when it comes to considering big-ticket purchases,” he adds.
At our interview, the EdgeProp Singapore team was given a quick introduction to the tool. This writer was impressed by the comprehensive report that revealed whether a potential property client was financially fit to purchase a property or even consider an upgrade.
Within the tool, the charts depicting the various incomes, expenses and mortgage rates, are colour-coded for easy reference.
The icing on the cake? An electronic report, with every single detail, will be sent to the client at no cost. Purchasing a big-ticket item like property requires some time needed for consideration.
Sng understands this well.
“In addition to giving agents the tools they need to make their pitches, we believe in empowering our clients with the information they need in order to make a momentous decision like this as well,” he says. “This is why we send these reports at no cost. Once our clients have had a clearer idea on what their purchase will entail and have had a few days to think about the purchase, we will then follow up with them to see if they’re still keen to go ahead.”
PropNex's BobbySng and GoalsMapper's CEO Dato' Wayne Chen. Photo: Albert Chua/The Edge Singapore
Playing fair
In addition to enabling transparency with his clients, Sng is also looking forward to levelling the playing field for newer property agents, especially in an industry where experienced agents may get a leg up due to the information they’ve accumulated through the years.
“I truly believe in giving everyone an equal start. I also believe that everyone deserves a chance to shine,” he says.
Responsibility is another factor that will get agents far, he adds.
“Real estate agents need to understand that they are self-employed. We are all our own bosses. One of the biggest reasons people fail, in my view, is because when they come on board, they’re just following what their higher-ups say. That’s not being an entrepreneur,” says Sng. “We need to take ownership over what we want to do every single day. We have to make decisions. We cannot leave the decisions to just anyone and everyone.”
Helping clients achieve financial freedom
With the sheer amount of potential that comes with the GM property tool, Sng and his team of agents have high hopes for it.
For Sng, helping his clients achieve financial freedom is one of them.
“In addition to its obvious benefits for the property industry, this tool really allows agents to understand how money works, and how they can help their clients make their assets work for them,” he says.
“Most of the people I’ve come across only work and earn, when they should also be setting money aside for investment purposes. They don’t know how to invest. They don’t know how money should be prioritised, what should be spent first, and what should not be spent first. Instead of putting their money to work, they opt for items that bring them instant gratification,” he adds.
“My wish is that one day, with this tool, I can talk to anybody and tell them that they could have shifted their money in certain ways to truly multiply. That is something I really wish to achieve moving forward.”
Jackson B, associate group director, and another agent under BSA, envisions an industry where all agents stand equal in terms of the information they’re able to provide to their clients.
He also hopes that professionals of all industries – including bankers and financial consultants – can come together to share their ideas on how to best help their common client grow their property or finance portfolio.
“When I first saw this tool, I wished someone had showed it to me when I first started out myself five years ago,” says B.
“I would have been able to leverage on the property sentiments at the time and advise my clients on how they can achieve their financial goals and retire comfortably with their assets”.
“This tool really helps put things into perspective for us and our clients as they can resonate with the templated situations within the tool,” he adds.
“The beauty of this tool, is that it gets really personal, and it recognises that we all have different goals,” says Low.
“When I conducted a presentation to one of my clients with this tool, she got very excited at her various prospects, all of which were neatly presented and displayed,” he adds.
“Having this tool marks our first step towards the property industry. When entering into a new industry, you really need to have a very strong partner to work alongside with. So I'm very fortunate that we get to meet Bobby's team and to be able to do this with them,” says Chen.
“Our hope is for more agents aspire to conduct themselves professionally and ethically to create more value for their clients. In the long run, we are looking at introducing this tool regionally. Of course, we welcome feedback from our users. From the feedback, we will constantly improve and innovate to create more features that can further support them in the long-term business,” he adds.
Goalsmapper.com’s CEO and co-founder Dato’ Wayne Chen says, “I really resonate with Bobby’s values and views with regard to the real estate business. I appreciate his professional and ethical approach in the way he conducts his client transactions. Bobby’s commitment towards training his agents is also very, very high. With GM property, I think his involvement in making sure that the property agents are well trained makes a huge difference.”
Jonathan Ong & Associates, a subsidiary of BSA, will be conducting seminars for the Civil Service Organisation (CSO) in September and October to educate their clients on the importance of financial planning.
Call 81808777 or go to www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-sng or www.facebook/BobbySngAdvisoryGroup for more details.
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