Special Feature

[ERA IWD 2024] Eileen Lim: The free-spirited realtor speaks

March 8, 2024 3:45 PM SGT

"I’m here to tell you that you are good enough, and you are ready to make that leap.” - Eileen Lim

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Real estate agent Eileen Lim chose to start off 2024 with a self-imposed medical break, in a wheelchair. And yet, even as she is being pushed by her sister in recovery from her procedure, she has lost none of her trademark optimism and jubilant presence. “I’m going to be wheelchair-bound and undergoing therapy for these two months, and that means that I won’t be able to work,” she says. “Or rather, I guess I could have some appointments, but I’m choosing to use this time to focus on my recovery and personal well-being instead.”

Some of us might not be able to comprehend choosing to step away from work for weeks at a go, especially if work means securing multi-million-dollar real estate deals (along with the agent commission fee). Lim looks at it from a pragmatic point of view.

A free agent

“It’s all about planning ahead in order to reach the financial targets I set for myself,” she says. “Since I’m out of commission for the first two months of this year, I need to set higher targets for the other 10 months of the year in order to make up the difference. It’s no different from what any business owner would do.”

This sense of ownership is a quality that distinguishes the country’s best realtors. Planning ahead also means Lim can choose her downtime to pursue her interests, from continuous learning to family trips. “Even if it is for extended periods, having an annual schedule means I can minimise any disruption to my clients; and when I’m away, I can be focused without experiencing too many work interruptions,” she adds.

Lim’s advice to women who are interested in becoming realtors, but worry about the commitment they may have to make: “You can hustle and work super hard if you want, or if you have other personal commitments in your life, you can choose to work only certain hours a day or on the weekends,” she says. “Of course, I can’t deny that getting leads may be more challenging for part-timers. However, if you are highly motivated and if flexibility matters more, being a realtor can bring a great supplemental income stream.”

The former national youth basketballer, who studied at Raffles Girls’ School and Raffles Junior College, has always been highly self-motivated. Realising early on that her strengths did not lie in academia, Lim pursued entrepreneurship vigorously, starting her own mobile phone business “back when Nokia phones were the big thing”. With the emergence of the modern smartphone, Lim foresaw the industry’s change and made the decision to pivot to real estate in 2010. In her opinion, the current measures in Singapore’s market favour home ownership for residency, rather than as a speculative investment.

Single, female and a homeowner

“The statistics are clear that our real estate market has consistently moved upwards since the 2008 financial crisis,” she explains. “With the additional buyer’s stamp duty changes, the market is extremely stable and not prone to sudden fluctuations. While huge profits can still be made from selected unit types, the market as a whole is more driven towards home ownership for residency.”

She observes: “Compared to a generation ago, there are definitely more single female homeowners today.”

She qualifies that by pointing out that “today, more people are choosing to remain single or marry later. So rather than buying a marital home, they are buying private property on their own or in situationships. If the relationship unravels, there are less complications compared to, say, a divorce”. Poll results released in January by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) revealed that women aged 21 to 49 feel marriage is not a necessity compared with men of the same age, and women aged 21 to 34 feel the same about parenthood.

Dr Chew Han Ei, a senior research fellow at IPS, commented that young people “have checkboxes these days before they can consider marriage and parenthood”. That includes solidifying their careers and owning a home, which is why Lim and her peers have observed a new trend of young private property buyers taking their first steps in property ownership. “These are buyers between the ages of 27 and 29, making their first purchase singly or in groups as friends. They view property as a live-in investment or as a rental property for passive income,” she notes.

Lim adds: “These buyers usually have financial support from their family as they are unlikely to have sufficient savings for the downpayment. In fact, women have an advantage as they will have joined the workforce earlier than men, and therefore should have more savings as well as a bigger paycheck.”

She elaborates: “Often, if they are buying with one or two other co-owners, they may flip them a couple of times before splitting the profits and buying their own separate properties. Typically, they will be around 35 by then and may buy a resale HDB flat with a large upfront payment, say, 50% of the sale price. It’s really a very savvy financial move and it demonstrates how it is possible to be a strategic property owner in our market.”

The fact that the concept of property is no longer viewed as a consequence of marriage pleases Lim, as she has handled many challenging cases in the past. “The truth is, whether you are, or intend to be, a property owner or realtor, real estate is incredibly empowering for women today. It anchors them and allows them to build financial resources for themselves. For many women, there can be a lot of trepidation towards taking that first step.”

She adds: “What I really want to tell women reading this is, don’t paralyse yourself with your own criticism. We live in a country where gender equality is a deeply rooted value, and yet our female leaders in various fields still have moments when they feel like they are not good enough. I’m here to tell you that you are good enough, and you are ready to make that leap.”

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