Becoming a Successful Real Estate Agent in Singapore Featuring Tricia Chong from PropNex

At 32, Tricia Chong from PropNex is a real estate veteran with 11 years of experience and an illustrious career winning numerous awards. She entered the industry at a tender age of 17, working part-time during the school holidays at a local real estate agency. There, she developed her interest towards the industry due to its attractive rewards and flexible working hours, which cemented her decision to pursue this career full-time at the age of 21. PropertyGuru is delighted to have Tricia share her journey as a real estate agent and her personal tips to success.

Preparing to become an Agent

Like everyone else, the first step to becoming an agent is to pass the CEA exam. One tip to preparing for the exam is to break into learning groups with the same batch mates and help one another through the study sessions. Tricia also shared that it is important to practice with past years’ papers and through studying together, you can ask one another questions and absorb the information better.

Her Advice for New Agents

When asked about her advice for new agents and those who are interested in joining the industry, Tricia once again stressed that integrity and professionalism are what moves you forward and closer to success.

“When you first start, you need to be passionate and positive about the environment. There might be various (difficult) situations that you need to manage, so persistence is key.”

She also shared that joining the right company and having the right team and mentor are so far the best and biggest investment she has made for herself. “It is important to choose the right team, and this is one of the most beneficial things that contributed to my personal growth as an individual and a professional.”

Myths about Agents

We often see agents decked out in branded wear and driving luxury cars creating the impression that it is extremely lucrative to be a real estate agent. However, Tricia cautioned that behind this is long hours of toiling and hard work that no one else sees.

While she was attracted to the rewards and flexibility of the job, starting as a beginner was far from a walk in the park. She quickly learned that these rewards do not come easily and are a result of consistent hard work, sacrifices and strong self-discipline. Based on her experience, an agent who has worked full time for a decade earns an average of $100K – $200K a year.

The downside to her job is that her weekends, public holidays, and evenings are often sacrificed for customers’ viewings. Even so, this has also trained her to be highly disciplined and she adopts a strict lifestyle like going to the gym regularly to keep herself in top form and credits her family for the strong work ethics that they have inculcated in her since young. She also motivates herself from time to time by always concentrating on the one goal that she has in mind and that is to achieve financial stability and freedom for retirement.

Her Secret to Success

“Selling a property is not just a transaction, you need to be genuine and empathetic to be successful. This simply means to always have the clients’ interest at heart.” Tricia emphasised that being sincere and providing good service in this people business are what contributed to her success.

Besides this, investing in the right marketing platform is also important to every agent’s success. PropertyGuru as the marketplace for property seekers and sellers, is very easy to use and her favourite features are Featured Agent and Boost. “I am the Featured Agent for one of the HDB estates and it helps me to get more enquiries on my focus area. Boost also helps me in gaining more exposure on the platform and generating more leads.” She added.

Apart from her job, Tricia also enjoys conducting workshops on sales coaching and training too. Moving forward, she foresees herself giving back to the community by sharing her knowledge and experiences or providing advice to agents to help them attain their personal or professional goals.

PropertyGuru thanks Tricia for her insightful sharing and wishes her all the best in her career! We hope her sharing has inspired you to become a better agent. Together with Partner360, we look forward to bringing you more value-added content, see you next time!

At PropertyGuru, we’ll see you home. 😊