Times are difficult

When I started in this industry, I thought I would mainly be involved in the secondary market. Even during training, it was on the secondary market only. Nothing or very little mentioned about the primary market. However, after a month, I find myself mostly working on the primary market. It is because times are bad. Developers are engaging estate agents to help sell their units. My company, being one of the reputable one, is being engaged by many developers. That's how I get involved. It is still tough, just like the secondary market. Both markets are tough. It is a buyer's market now. Cash is king. Selling is difficult although transactions are still happening.

Close shop

My seniors tell me I am doing a good job. Perhaps because they see me coming to the office often, making calls, updating my data and what not. At least I am doing things. I have my activities. They say there are people who do nothing even after two months. Its a compliment alright but to me, it means nothing if it is not translated into income. At the end of the day, its the amount of selling that I have done that counts. Personally, I feel like I am working at less than half pace. I need to do more. I am still trying to adjust to the fact that I don't work 9 to 5. I work twenty four hours. Sometimes I feel lazy I just don't do anything. I need to push myself, motivate myself more. I will give myself a year. If I cannot close even one deal after a year, I might as well close shop.

On my own

Working on my own is a totally new environment for me. More than thirty years of working experienced have not prepared me for this. Before, there's always something that is chasing me, be it my boss, reports, papers to be presented, my subordinates etc. There's also the punch clock to worry about. Now there's nothing that chases me except myself. As a result, sometimes I tend to get lazy. Today for example, I planned to be in the office by ten in the morning, make some cold calls, do some reading to increase product knowledge and update my database. However, after the morning prayers, I went for a jog. Came back, had my bath, took breakfast and read the papers. By the time I realised it, it was already eleven. Then I felt sleepy so I nodded off a bit. Soon it was already time for the afternoon prayers. Sigh......by that time, I was debating with myself to go or not to go to the office. Finally, I managed to drag myself to the office, reaching there almost three in the afternoon. With so little time left, I did less than a quarter of what I originally wanted to do.

Selling is the name of the game

Doing what I am doing now, I don't travel anymore. All of the time, it is within the Klang valley only. Gone are the days when every month, I would be on the plane to Bintulu and finally to Bakun. Sometimes, twice a month. It was hectic alright but the pay was good so I stayed on. I also quite enjoy the job working with nice people plus doing something that I know best. It was challenging but it was great. Now I am doing something even more challenging. I am on my own, something which I never experienced before. I have no boss to report to. No reports to write. No papers to present. No meetings to attend. No deadline to meet. No subordinates to help me. I can stay in the house the whole day if I want to cause nobody cares. As for the office, I come and go as I like. However, I have to sell cause if I don't sell, I have no income! Selling is the name of the game. 

Keep on trying

A few days ago I was getting somewhere with making sale for a condo costing about a million coming with a free car plus more than a hundred thousand cash to boot. In the end, the deal didn't get through. If it had, it would have yielded me some thousands. Then last night I was involved in discussions to sell properties worth about four hundred million. Wow! Whether it will be successfully concluded or not, I do not know. That's the life of a real estate negotiator. From zero to a few thousands to a few millions in commission, everything is possible. You only need to sell but that's the hardest part, selling. So far I have not sold anything but I will keep on trying. Jack Ma failed so many times he has lost count but now he is a multi billionaire. Micheal Jordan failed so many times before he became the legendary basketball player. Abraham Lincoln failed so many times before he finally scaled the height to become president of USA. There are many other inspirational stories to fall back on. The question is, can I do the same? As long as I keep on trying, I have not failed and will have a chance. Failure is when I stop trying!

On the chin

I am encourage by the responses that I received from doing cold calling. Although from about fifty calls that I made, I failed to get even one appointment,  it is still a step forward for me, albeit a baby step. It is a learning experienced for me. Believe you me, I will be having many more learning experiences of many different kind in the future but it is okay. As long as I am moving forward, it is enough for me. One day, in sha Allah, it will come to fruition. Meanwhile, I will keep on learning. I will keep on trying. Failing does not mean it is the end of the world. It is giving up. I will take the challenges as they come, on the chin.

Learn from the experience

I read recently that one of the reason why people doing sales are not meeting their targets is because they don't do enough selling. They do other things besides selling. The time spent on actually selling is less than 20%. I can say that it is true for me. As a rookie in this business, my first month was spent doing reading, learning, exploring and scouting. I did very little selling although I did do cold calling. Don't know if it was the right thing to do but as a result, now I know a little bit more about the business plus the most important thing, I have products to sell. So, what I need to do in the second month is to do the actual selling. It will be tough for sure but even if I failed to sell any houses, I will surely learn from the experience. 

Tough going

It seems to me that I am now embarking on a new career, at sixty years old. At an age when many people are already slowing down or have already stop working altogether, I am just starting. How ironic! In a way, it is good, It keeps my mind working, my body active. However, how long I can remain in the industry, I do not know. It's tough going, that's for sure. There's absolutely no free lunch unlike when you are a salaried worker. Everything you earned, you have to work for it. It is a challenge alright. A tough one but there's a saying, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Do I belong to that category of people?

Stay focus

Was at a mamak restaurant in Putrajaya yesterday in the afternoon to meet a person who has been in the industry for eleven years. He started with nothing, just like me but after eleven years, he is now in a very comfortable position. In other words, he is doing very well. Before that, he was running his own business for thirty years but it went bust. That's when he became an estate agent at age fifty two. It was a fruitful meeting. I learned a lot. He was kind enough to share with me his experience, having gone through eleven years of trial and tribulation. One thing I can take away from the mamak restaurant meeting is to be focus. Don't try to do too many things. For example, his focus is Putrajaya and Cyberjaya and then only landed properties. He knows them like the back of his hand.

No more theory

What I have been doing in the first month being an estate agent is to absorb. Yes, a lot of absorbing, through reading about the industry, meeting people, visiting new housing developments, attending team meeting, viewing houses for sale, observing the senior people etc. Its been a month of learning and absorbing. Success is not guaranteed. To have a chance, you have to work hard. Otherwise, you will end up like many of the agents who eventually leave the industry because income is uncertain. There's no guaranteed salary at the end of the month. Its like running a business. You have to have a target, then a plan on how to reach that target, then follow up with actions to execute the plan. All MBA stuff which I know already having done my MBA but now, its the real thing. No more theory.

Part of the job

I have been receiving cold calls for so many years from so many people. Most of them are from banks telling me cash is available immediately if I want. To put it plainly, asking me to borrow. There are also calls from others such as hotels, health, insurance etc. How they got my name and telephone number I do not know. However, that is not what I write about now. It is more about me doing cold calling now. I have known about cold calling before from books that I have read but never ever thought I would end up doing cold calling. Yes, I am doing cold calling now. Yesterday I made about twenty calls. I failed to make even one appointment. Why? because it's not enough. I need to do a hundred or even a thousand. When you are doing sales, cold calling is part of your job. Being rejected is part of your job. I am doing sales. Selling houses!

Not immediate

After almost a month in the real estate business, I realised it is not getting houses to sell that is difficult. It is getting buyers to buy. That is the most difficult part. In times like this when the economy is not really on the sunny side, houses for sale are a plenty. It is buyers that are scarce. I am learning the ropes so to speak. Everyday I am meeting people and learning new things. The rewards has not come yet. It may take three months, six months, a year or even more before I can see anything. That's the way it is. It is so unlike Uber where the reward is immediate but little. In the real estate business, it is not immediate but it is a lot more.

Friends from Brighton days

Had breakfast with friends from those days in Brighton last Sunday. It was 1974 when we first arrived in Brighton, England. We have come a long way since then. Most of us are in our sixties already. Grandparents. Retired and enjoying the fruits of our labour....... except me off course. Still, we asked how many grandchildren you have. How different it is from those days. Hmmm.....times really flies. A few of our friends have also passed away. Many more are still alive but last Sunday, only eight of us could make it. Good enough.

Carnival

Just thought I'd joined the crowd. It was fun. The atmosphere was carnival like. As for the threat from the red shirts, I didn't see any of them. Must have disappeared in the sea of yellow!

Icing on the cake

After more than three years of riding the motorbike, I have become quite handy with it. Gone are the days when I was a rookie, riding like a beginner which I actually was. I still don't ride fast. The most I would go is 60km/h. Only on the very rare occasions I will go up to 70 or 80km/h but I am most comfortable riding at about 50km/h. That's my favourite speed. Now that I am retired, I seldom drive anymore. Most of the time, it will be the bike. It is so convenient. No traffic jam issue, no parking issue and no cost issue because there is no toll charges plus the fuel cost is so low it is forgettable. Now I am thinking of upgrading to a scooter. There are some beautiful scooters out there on the road. getting one would be the icing on the cake.  

A great business to be in

Real estate business is a good business. You start from the bottom like what I am doing now. This is the hard part, a real estate negotiator. Here the role is to be the middle man, helping people to buy or sell houses for a commission. If you find that this is the job you like, you can go for the diploma in real estates. That will take two years. Then there's another two years of real life practise before you can go for the interview to get your license to own a real estate agency. Once you achieved that, its plain sailing from then on. As a licensed real estate agency owner, you can have up to thirty real estate negotiators under you. These real estate negotiators will do the hard work for you. You don't have to do it anymore. All you need to do is to provide the guidance and motivation. Whatever commission they received, a certain percentage will be yours. What a great business to be in where other people do the hard work for you!

Learn from them

When I started this new profession, I thought finding houses to sell was the difficult part. After a few weeks I found out that it is finding buyers that is more difficult. I can find houses or land to sell or rent but getting buyers is another thing. That's what I have discovered so far. I don't know how my colleagues do it but they seem to be doing alright. They are selling houses with total values in the millions. They can have holidays overseas. They must be doing something right. As for me, I am still in baby steps. Need to learn from them.

Different

Huh! Its been three days since I last updated this blog. That's the surprise I got when I opened my blog this morning. I thought it was only yesterday that I had added in something. Nowadays I find it difficult to be consistent unlike before. Perhaps that's a refection of my life now. What I'm doing now doesn't require me to be at the office nine to five. It is up to me. When I feel like it, I go to the office. Otherwise I can be anywhere I like. I can be at a restaurant somewhere but I am working. I can be with friends having a cup of tea but I am working. That's the way it is now. A completely different kind of profession. I don't know if it is my cup of tea having worked nine to five for all my life but I will give it a try.

Absolute awesome

The All Blacks was awesome last night. Italy was well and truly beaten. It was like a walk in the park for the world champion. It looked like becoming more of a practise run towards the end. The defeat by Nothern Ireland last week was nothing but a small dot on a white piece of A4 paper. After all, they are only human. Last night however, there was only one team on the pitch. The Italians tried to put up a fight but all to no avail. They were totally outclassed, beaten by the best team in the world. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Nothing is impossible

The win by Trump has given me a lot of encouragement. One thing is to never give up even if you sometimes feel that the mountain is too steep to climb, the hurdle too high to clear, the path too narrow to pass and the road too long to negotiate. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, go for it for until it is a done deal, anything can happen. The other is age is not a factor. He realised his dream to become the President of the US of A at age 70. I am (just) 60. Its 10 years to 70. In 10 years, a lot can happen. I can still dream, no doubt about it. Not only dream but to realise the dream. Why not? Nothing is impossible! 

Job of a different kind

Having a cup of tea at Line Clear Ampang. My office is just in front, walking distance. Yesterday, I joined the Friday prayer congregation at De Palma hotel, again walking distance from my office. This Saturday afternoon, I have an appointment to view a house. On Monday, I have two more appointments. One is to view an office building that is selling at over RM35mil. The other is to view a land plus building that is selling at RM5 mil. Tuesday, I planned to make a few calls. Wednesday, I need to start advertising my listing to get buyers. Thursday, more viewing if I can get them. Friday, I.....the list goes on. Getting a listing is one thing. Getting buyers is another. Hmm.....that's the life now. At sixty years old, I am just starting.

Now its real

Doing what I am doing now is a totally new thing for me. I am based in Ampang where the company have one of their offices besides thirteen others. However, it is up to me if I want to go to the office or not. Nobody cares. It is not a nine to five job. I come and go as I please. I can work from home if I want to. I don't get paid by the company as well. Its all based on commission. The more houses I sell, the more commission I get. I do my own planning. I schedule my work as I want it to be. I make my own appointments. In other words, I am on my own. Off course I can always refer to the seniors and the more experienced people for guidance. But one thing is clear, it is up to me. I don't sell houses, I don't get paid. Don't know if I can do it or not cause all my life, I have always been a salaried man. My only experienced to these kind of things were in MBA classes. Textbook thing. Now its real!

A disaster

Two days ago I made a few calls. Warm calls and cold calls or whatever call you may want to call it. Then yesterday I did my first viewing. I was excited, nervous, apprehensive but I know I had to do it. I have to start somewhere or I will never get off ground. The viewing however, turned out to be a disaster! Watching from the gate, I could see that the compound of the house was littered with unsightly things. The moment I entered the house, I was taken aback by the condition inside. I could see straight away that the house is not being well kept. Just like the compound. It put me off my footing. I lost sense of what I wanted to say or do.  I heard myself asking if this is a bachelor's pad? That is a real no no! Finally, I did what I had to do and went off. With the condition of the house and the price he is asking, its an almost impossible job I thought!

Give me hope

I have been struggling with my emotions lately. Its tough being out of job. Not so much the job but the steady income that it brings. At the moment its manageable but something needs to happen soon. Otherwise, I will be in trouble. I have my plans off course but it depends on many factors for it to come to fruition. In the meantime, I will have to keep my spirit up. The win by Trump gives me hope. Nothing is impossible if you don't give up. There are many other examples besides Trump, even Hillary Clinton herself. All these stories of people winning over great adversities gives me hope. At sixty years old, I am facing a kind of crisis I have never faced before. However, I feel comforted knowing that life is a cycle. Wherever you are at the moment, its only temporary cause it will roll on. There will come a time when you will be on the upside again, in sha Allah. 

Shocking

To say it was a shocked is an understatement. Its unbelievable! Unthinkable. Won't happen. He came from nowhere to claim the presidency. I think the whole world wasn't expecting it to happened, except off course his supporters. Even they do not really believe he can do it, looking at the polls before the elextion. When he first announced his bid to become the president, nobody took him seriously. Then when he came up with all those stupid statements, everybody thought he was a joke! But he won the Republican nomination, which surprised everybody. Now this happened. How did the US of A ended up with a president elect like him?

Happy faces

One that got away

There was a serious buyer for my house in Seremban who contacted my agent. He wanted to pay cash. The price was lower than what I had asked for but considering the circumstances, I was inclined to accept. However, I asked for a day to decide. Unfortunately, I think the agent didn't tell that to the buyer. Thinking I had not accepted his asking price, he bought another house that he had also been looking at. When I finally told my agent a day later that the deal can proceed, it was too late. Sigh....... it was a sure deal that got away. There's nothing I can do but wait again. The agent didn't do a good job I think. Nonetheless, I hope another buyer will come soon, with a better offer, In sha Allah

A night out

Decided to have some pizza last night. Went to Wangsa Maju pizza outlet. The place was crowded. Possibly because its a Saturday night and also its early in the month. There's still plenty left of the salary. At the restaurant, every few minutes the waiters and waitress were singing happy birthday to you to a guest. It seems like everybody was celebrating their birthday last night at the restaurant.

Look at options and strategise

Yesterday I was back in Seremban. An agent wanted to have a look at the house with the intention of wanting to help me sell it. I said carry on. Its okay with me. I have no problem with that. The house has been on the market for about three weeks now. So far I have not received any offers nor has the agents who are helping me to sell it have come back to me with concrete offers. I hope it will go soon although I can wait a while if I need to. At the moment, its a buyers market. That much I learned while attending the Real Estate Negotiators course. Houses are still selling but at prices below market. Most if not all properties can be sold if the price is right. So for me, its wait and see. Meanwhile, I look at my options and strategise.

Awesome

How come the All Blacks are so good at what they are doing? Unbeaten in eighteen straight matches against the first tier teams of the world, that's a new world record. Add to it a winning rate of more than 90%, that really make them the best in the world. Every time they play, they are expected to win. When they lose, its big news cause they are not expected to lose. If you look at all the top teams in the world, in terms of size and weight, they are all about the same. No one team is bigger or weightier than the other but yet the All Blacks keep on winning. So, where does their strength or advantage come from? Speed? Skills? Tactics? Individual brilliance? I don't know cause I am not a rugby expert but want thing I do know, I just love watching them play, especially when they are winning.

Cross the hurdle

Ever since I retired in 2011 I have tried my hands on many things. Most of them are, however, short lived and not successful.. Tourist guide, dabbling in shares, currency trading, Uber driving and now real estate. The only one that was a success, if I may say so, was when I worked again in 2013, doing the things that I know best, an engineer in the power industry. That lasted for more than three years. Alas, I have to retire upon reaching the age of sixty. That was July this year. As for all the others that I tried, for one reason or another, I stopped after a while. Now I am trying real estate. Already I am feeling the challenge. I am still at the first step, unable to cross that first hurdle.

The three kids

The weekend

Was in the house most of the time during the weekend. Didn't go anywhere at all. Enjoyed the football on Saturday night. All the leading teams won big but for Man U, the woes continue. They had so many chances but couldn't put them away. They need to have a player like Firmino, who showed how to score when in one to one situation. First of all, be cool. Keep your head. Then at the right moment, chip the ball over the goalkeeper. Not try to blast the ball away like the Man U forwards did. On Sunday, there was the Malaysia cup final. Didn't watch it but knew later Kedah had won through penalty kicks. A reverse of last year result.