Special Feature
A realty powerhouse
By Melvin Lim
/ EdgeProp Excellence Awards 2022 |
Melvin Lim of PLB Realty receiving the Top Transactor Award for Resale Condos from Shermie Tee, EdgeProp Singapore vice president, agency sales and training
The name PropertyLimBrothers is a recognisable one. Mention the name and the company’s popular and innovative videos come to mind.
Previously a team under PropNex, PropertyLimBrothers recently branched out on its own to form a boutique agency called PLB Realty. PLB Realty, which has 55 full-time realtors and a staff count of over 100, was officially launched on Sept 9.
“We’re the fastest-growing real estate tech company driven by tech and analytics. We’re also a realty powerhouse for property sale, real estate education, insights and advisory through videos and social media. This is what sets us apart, and this is what PLB Realty is all about,” states Melvin Lim, CEO and co-founder, PropertyLimBrothers and PLB Realty.
Lim: Team effort is key, as can be seen in the collective effort of our team of seven marketing one property at any one time
In this year’s EdgeProp Excellence Awards (EPEA), Lim is one of six agents who have clinched the highest number of transactions in the landed property segment by an individual real estate salesperson. He is also a winner under the resale condo category, and the only one to walk away with two awards at this year’s inaugural EPEA in recognition of real estate salespersons.
“There are many other talents in the landed segment, but to be one of the top six transactors is something we’re definitely proud of. I would say this achievement is a result of the collective effort of the Inside Sales Team and our media team,” he says.
In addition, Lim attributes the achievement to PLB Realty’s unique PLB team model.
“We’re not a one-man show here. Team effort is key, as can be seen in the collective effort of our team of seven marketing one property at any one time,” Lim says.
Each property listing is handled by a dedicated team that comprises creative production, research, client care, as well as the listing managers and specialist from PLB Realty’s Inside Sales team.
He says: “This forms a team of seven to take care of each listing, which enables us to give the same listing the full attention it needs. The team model allows us to focus on what we do best — which is, marketing each property to its fullest potential and finding the right buyer to secure the sale for our sellers.”
“As our clients rightly want optimal focus on their property, our method also helps us clinch the maximum potential price for our clients’ properties within the shortest amount of time,” he adds. “We don’t just sell homes, we push them to the right audience.”
Breaking new ground
One of the key factors for PLB Realty’s success is its innovative pitches. During our interview, Lim reveals that the team posted its first-ever home tour video in December 2016, a month after they came up with the idea.
At the time, the video was the first to feature a human element within home tour videos. The team comprised just Lim, PLB Realty’s other co-founder Adrian Lim, and Lim’s friend who helped to record and edit the video.
“Adrian and I desired to stand out among the pool of property agents. We wanted to reverse-engineer the traditional brokerage method, moving beyond mere transactions to focus on a customer-centric experience. We believe every home has a story, and we wanted to tell that story and position each home differently,” Lim says.
The duo, who quickly leveraged the booming social media sphere, sought to offer buyers a rejuvenated property viewing experience through digital technology.
“I was inspired by home tour videos that were crafted by real estate agents overseas and was thinking of how to apply this concept to the Singapore context, as Singapore’s homes are different and a lot of homes here are owner-occupied,” he says.
Even today, a lot of coordination and pre-planning prep work needs to be done for each home to ensure its readiness for video production content. “When we first started out, we also had to prep owners with the concept of home staging, as some of them were resistant to the idea. We then had to share the efficacy of home-staging with our clients, as well as how the immersive viewing experience would give them the competitive edge, as well as a greater reach,” he adds. “Looking back, it certainly paved the way for what we’ve become today.”
The result of their first video? The team sold the property within 30 days, when a buyer approached the co-founders because she saw the video while shopping in a mall near the property.
“To us, it showed that the whole idea of viewing a home without being physically there worked, and we have not stopped since! This eventually culminated in PLB Realty’s Signature Landed Home Tours that you see today, supported by an industry-leading ecosystem of property content,” Lim shares.
PLB Realty has created 1,512 videos on its YouTube channel since its formation. In the last three years, 720 home tour videos were created. PLB Realty has also sold 516 properties in the past 24 months and helped 110 home buyers purchase their dream properties in 2021.
To help sellers prettify their properties for listing and filming, PLB Realty set up PLB Concierge in 2019. PLB Concierge is PLB Realty’s one-stop service that takes care of the prep work from start to end. This includes decluttering advice, touch-ups, as well as assisting sellers to ready their property for marketing.
In 2022, PLB Realty also set up its own “Stage by PLB”, an in-house home accessories staging arm to further enhance capabilities to add value for its clients.
“We are thankful for the continuous trust and support of our audience, clients and friends, as well as industry partners,” Lim says.
Teamwork is the dream work
Teamwork is evidently important to the people at PLB Realty. Apart from the agency’s proprietary PLB Team Model that is tagged to each transaction, Lim attributes its compelling and engaging videos to the agency’s in-house production team as well as its research, tech and analytics team. “They collectively add and maximise real value for our clients,” he says.
Behind each video is a lot of work, says Lim. “[This is] because we strongly believe in not marketing a property hastily. What helped us move these homes is a combination of home staging, compelling video storytelling and aggressive social media marketing.”
“As brand power increases, this results in healthier profits and collaborative power, attracting more trusted clients for our Inside Sales Team. The collaborative power allows us to invest in home staging, video production capabilities, branding, marketing for consumers, as well as our building tech capabilities for our Inside Sales Team consultants and tools to add value to our consumers,” he continues.
This same model will allow PLB Realty’s sales team to focus on becoming experts in providing quality customer service for its clients. “This allows our sales team to be not just transactors, but to become full-fledged consultants with key tools such as marketing, research and analysis.”
Other tools that have helped PLB Realty understand the property market better are its proprietary analytics tech platform called the Moat Analysis, as well as its own PLB Candlesticks Chart.
“Each of the two core tools has multiple use cases,” he explains. “The tools give us a more holistic view of properties across Singapore and how their price movement might change in the future. With just a glance, we equip our consultants and clients with the best-in-class information on the property market. Moving forward, we will continue to iterate and improve on the tools we have developed. We also have a deep pipeline of exciting new research projects in store.”
Paying it forward
“Being a real estate agent can be challenging, especially when you’re first starting out,” Lim reveals. “When Adrian and I first started out in 2006 after leaving our ‘stable’ careers in the Singapore Prison Service, we had little to no help. There were no seniors who were willing to share their tips on closing deals with us or seniors who were willing to mentor us. We understood the struggles of not having the resources to learn and grow our business.”
Their beginnings have inspired both Lim and Adrian Lim to build a safe space for real estate professionals to grow. “Being in the real estate industry for the past 15 years, we realised that teaching has always been in our blood. This is also what motivated us to build a safe space for real estate professionals to ask tough questions and get honest perspectives, a space where they can grow and learn together,” Lim says.
While establishing PLB Realty has been one of the proudest and most memorable moments in his career, Lim is not one to rest on his laurels.
“We spent more than five years under the guidance of PropNex. We wanted to reposition PLB Realty as an independent real estate media technology brand and agency with no restrictions. We decided that it was time for us to take the next step. In order for us to grow and operate independently, we had to branch out on our own,” he explains.
Following the official launch of PLB Realty, the co-founders have an aggressive expansion strategy planned for the next five years. This includes the setting up of satellite sales offices across Southeast Asia, where the offices will each have a department of creatives who will perform video shoots and 3D-mapping of the properties they are marketing.
“To add value to the property market in these countries, we’re also planning to diversify PLB Realty’s revenue stream by setting up training academies for aspiring realtors to improve their knowledge and skills when it comes to the sale or rental of property. It’s work in progress and we’ll have our hands full for sure,” Lim says.
“Harnessing the power of both tech and social media, PLB Realty — with the continued support of our existing PLB Media team (the company’s in-house production unit and solely owned under my name) — will continue to revolutionise the real estate realm, expanding our selection of value-added property services. From property sales, digital marketing, to research and analytics, we aim to be the one-stop platform for everything property,” he adds.
For more information:
Contact Melvin Lim l 90676710
PLB REALTY PTE. LTD.
CEA No.: R009814D
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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