Special Feature
Gratitude and graciousness pave the path to sustained success
By Nicole Chia
/ EdgeProp Singapore Excellence Awards 2022 |
Nicole Chia of ERA Realty Network receiving the Top Transactor Award for Landed Property from Shermie Tee, EdgeProp Singapore vice president, agency sales and training (Picture: Albert Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Nicole Chia has savoured sweet success in her 10-plus years as a property agent, and her latest accolade was snagging a spot in EPEA’s Top 6 Realtor list, landed division. No stranger to professional recognition, Chia has garnered a reputation for closing the highest number of landed transactions at ERA every year since 2017 — and more — during her agency career, a healthy harvest that assures Chia that her way of serving clients is a productive one.
When she heard that she was on the EPEA Top 6 Realtor list, she felt shock, surprise, and, above all, a sense of blessing. “I feel very blessed,” she says. “I feel very thankful for the support from the developers, sellers and clients who have trusted me. I feel like my time and effort have been recognised.”
Chia: You have to willingly plant the seeds and nurture your journey to reap a good harvest
Chia has always endeavoured to treat every person she meets with respect and graciousness. She says: “I don’t judge people. I serve everyone as a potential buyer. Some people may not buy from you today, but serve them well, and they may come back when they want to buy. It is very important to establish trust and confidence.”
Instead of being interested in an instant sale, Chia says, the main focus should be to build a reputation in a close-knit market. When she started marketing landed properties, she opened with District 28, before swiftly expanding to include other popular districts, such as Districts 13, 14, 15, and 19.
Running open houses, Chia says, she met other folks living in the same neighbourhood. Sometimes, they even attended the viewing multiple times. Often, they were in no hurry to sell their property, and did not even intend to move. But she continued to serve them, answer their questions patiently and diligently, and provide as excellent a service as she could.
Serving people with a gracious spirit has strengthened Chia’s love for her profession, because, after all, she affirms: “I have a passion for property… I have a personal interest in this industry and what I do.” Sharing this genuine passion for properties with others built Chia not only a network of clients and potential clients, but also a champion ecosystem of supporters who loyally referred her to their friends and families.
Chia and her husband Norman Tan clinched the 1st Runner-Up ERA Husband and Wife award in 2021 (Picture: Nicole Chia)
In fact, Chia spent years in the industry hardly distributing advertising flyers. She built her business foundation on strong word-of-mouth referrals. “When clients know I have a network in a particular estate, they are sometimes pleasantly surprised by the results — such as closing a sale within a week,” Chia says. “Sometimes, the sellers have known me for years before they think about selling their property. This career is not a sprint, but a marathon.”
“You need an entrepreneurial spirit, passion, and stamina to succeed in this industry,” Chia notes. This is especially important as she specialises in landed property sales, which requires a different skill set compared to agents who focus on rental transactions or HDB and condominium sales.
“Closing landed property cases can take a very long time. The purchase price can be significantly steeper compared to buying a nonlanded property, and because of that, buyers will be very careful with their viewings.” Chia adds that some clients have gone for up to 100 viewings before finalising their purchase, and this can take months, or even years.
This attitude has certainly put Chia in the right stead for not only gaining, but also sustaining success. She was formerly a mortgage broker and some of her clients encouraged her to take the dive into becoming a property agent. In fact, some of Chia’s clients had so much faith in her ability to serve them well that they offered her the opportunity to handle their portfolios. “I am very thankful for my clients, who have supported me all the way,” Chia says. This helped her to crest through the Covid wave. “Business was a little slow during the first year of the pandemic, but then transactions picked up and so did prices. Even with restricted viewings, we ended up closing sales,” she recalls.
Norman Tan and Nicole Chia (Picture: Nicole Chia)
This positivity and support from Chia’s network fuel her fire through the many viewings and long closing turnaround times. She finds her career fulfilling, especially so when she helps elderly clients who are looking to downsize and find their perfect retirement home. “Retirement planning is key,” Chia says. “I feel a sense of achievement when I see how happy my clients are in a new home that suits their retirement needs, and when I assist them in buying an investment home to earn rental income. This really makes a difference in their lives.”
She jokingly compares being an agent to being a 7/11 store. “It is not just a job. You can work from 9am to 5pm for an office job, but being an agent means running your own business,” Chia says. “Running your own business means operating 24/7. Clients will call you at any time! I’ve even closed deals while on holiday.”
A particularly memorable deal occurred when her seller was in Australia and she was in the UK, and a co-broking agent wanted to ink the deal. “I had to stay awake till 2am or 3am to align with everyone’s timings, and we managed to close the deal.” Fostering strong relationships with other agents is key, says Chia. Trust is integral to closing cases, especially when overseas.
ERA Singapore recognised Chai for clinching the most landed resale transactions in 2021 (Picture: Nicole Chia)
Does Chia have any advice for clients? “For buyers looking at landed properties, I would suggest buying as early as possible. We have been on an uptrend, and low prices have gone with the wind.” She observes that prices may stabilise, but are not likely to soften because of land and construction costs. “Today the price you pay seems high, but tomorrow it will be low.”
At the end of the day, Chia observes that flaming the entrepreneurial spirit is essential to success, but a good work-life balance is also possible with deft time management, especially for those with families. Chia is married with two children. “You have to willingly plant the seeds and nurture your journey to reap a good harvest,” she says. “I’m in this for the long term.”
For more information:
Contact Nicole Chia l 93803803
ERA REALTY NETWORK PTE LTD
CEA No.: R013142G
Top Transactor is a Sponsored Series in recognition of Real Estate Salespersons who have achieved the highest number of transactions, based on information from CEA’s Public Register and data.gov.sg between July 2021 and June 2022 that was extracted on 10 August 2022.
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