What makes a real estate negotiator successful? Hard work is one, but nothing beats timeless values such as discipline, punctuality and being there for the client all the time. These are the values that made Emery Sum one of the most successful real estate personnel in Malaysia, having recently closed four deals worth a total of RM10 million.
However, success is not new to Sum. Before she entered the real estate industry, Sum was a Chartered Financial Planner. She was then working at Public Mutual where she managed to bring in sales worth RM5 million and won two trips to Hokkaido and Shanghai. In 2009, during the economic uncertainty when many businesses, especially financial institutions, were going through a tough time, Sum decided to look for a new industry to join, where ‘it is always green’.
One day, she saw a banner showing a recruitment ad by a real estate agency. Inspired, she managed to get a job at one agency, but left after eight months because she felt she was wasting her time there. For her, it was an unproductive eight months.
“I started to look for other agencies. I wanted to be with a very established agency, especially one with many branches,” she said. She started by shortlisting 3 of the biggest agencies and gave them a call. “The first call I made, the person who answered the phone was very rude,” she said, thus she decided to avoid the company that seemed to be nurturing such an attitude.
It was a different scenario when she called the second company as the person who answered was polite. She even spoke directly to the boss who was even more polite and helpful. Sum’s fate was sealed when she joined the new agency, namely, Oriental Realty.
She worked really hard, up to 3am or 4am in the morning at the office (not from home as many agents would do). In the morning, she would meet up with the homeowners and take many photographs of the units she helps to sell. At night, she would email and post up new property listings at iProperty.com.
Her efforts paid off within a month as she managed to earn a commission of RM120,000, almost 100% more than what she scored at the previous place.
Currently focusing on the Mont Kiara area, the majority of Sum’s clients are expatriates, with most of the dealings related to the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) scheme.
Multinational companies prefer Mont Kiara for the sake of their expatriate employees as it offers a good ambience and amenities such as international schools.
There are also many multinational companies with offices in Mont Kiara. These clients come from Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong, and most of them are interested in residential properties. Sum was especially ecstatic about one Japanese investor who spoke highly of her.
The client, who conducts property seminars in Japan, invested in a RM500,000 property, and later introduced two more Japanese investors, who invested in a RM1 million and RM800,000 property respectively. Later, one of them came back and bought a RM2.4 million property.
One of the biggest factors that contributed to her success is that she is with the client throughout the entire property buying process. “Having a sense of responsibility is important; the customer comes first before you,” Sum noted. She is with her clients right up to the final moment of signing the dotted line. For her expatriate clients, she has even helped to provide additional services such as translation.
“One must know everything, the A to Z of buying a property. I make sure I am present even during the signing of the sale and purchase agreement, even though some agents would not bother to be there,” Sum said, noting that the agent’s presence also makes the clients more comfortable and confident.
She noted that all emails must be answered, and requests responded to. “If some clients require a property in a location that is not my niche, I would send them to iProperty.com to look for listings in that area. One should not be greedy by trying to grab every deal. By doing so, you cannot serve the client properly,” she added.
iProperty.com has been a boon for Sum, it is where she has been listing her units for the past two and a half years. She noted that iProperty.com is especially appealing as its customer base is very popular with the expatriate community. Sum has also supported many of the packages launched by iProperty.com.
“I have only one tool – iProperty.com. I trust iProperty.com, not even the newspapers, to deliver more leads,” she said.
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