Desmond Cheang is the Northern Region recipient of the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) – PropertyGuru Top Online REN 2016.
My Bumpy Ride
My life journey commenced in Georgetown, on the serene Penang Island, where I was the second-eldest child for my parents amongst eight siblings.
Life was quite difficult for us those days, where struggle remained as a part of our lives. As the eldest son in the house, it was also my duty to do the housework and share the family burden with my dad.
After completing my secondary school, I started looking for a job right away! However, getting a job was not as easy as it sounds. I had to flip through the newspaper every single day in hopes of finding vacancy adverts, since there was no internet in those days.
I was willing to accept any job that came my way. Among the job opportunities I’ve seized include working as a construction worker, hotel waiter, as well as a shift-based factory worker. I still remember, I used to leave home in the early morning when it was still dark and return home late night. It was exhausting! But life had to go on.
One fine day as I was flipping through the newspaper, I saw a job vacancy advert for the position of Trainee Technician in a factory located in Singapore. I did not want to miss the opportunity of acquiring new skills which might come in handy later, hence, I moved to Singapore and started my new job.
Later on, I was promoted as a Skilled Technician. When I was about to complete my second year in Singapore, my dad asked me to return home.
I didn’t regret leaving everything behind. It was quite understandable on why my family wanted me back home, and deep down in my heart, I knew that’s the right thing to do as well.
Thus, I returned and started things over from scratch again. I did a few other jobs over the years which includes being a door to door salesman, insurance agent, and van salesman.
Even though the sales job was quite tough at the beginning, but it started to get better over the years. As my selling skills improved, I eventually joined an established publishing company as a Sales Executive covering the Northern Region for a few years. My performance at work was excellent and I realized that I had a bright future in jobs that required me to meet clients.
What Followed After?
Within a short period, I became a Regional Sales Manager earning over RM7,000 per month. At the same time, I also met my better half and got married.
I knew that I had to own a house before starting a family, as it is my responsibility to provide my future wife a place to call home. Thus, I acquired my first property in the year 1992, prior to my marriage.
I acquired my first property – a 900 square feet dream apartment called Rifle Garden for RM70,000. Five years later, I sold this apartment for RM150,000 and gained over 100% profit! Delighted with the returns, I invested the profit into another property dubbed Sunny Ville Resort Condominium for RM250,000.
Time passed and I was blessed with two loving sons. Hence, I had to find a job with a higher pay, preferably a commission-based job. My target was to earn a five-digit payroll a month.
People say that opportunity comes in the most unexpected way! I couldn’t agree more!
It was in the year 1998, while I was waiting for my turn in the car service centre. There was this elderly gentleman who was talking quite loudly on the phone about some real estate deal. Right when he hung up, he looked at me and said:
“Just give me a call, if you’re interested in becoming a real estate negotiator.”
That’s when the idea of becoming a REN emerged. After much thought, I resigned from my high paying executive job six months later, at the age of 38 and took a plunge into real estate. “One should begin with an idea and then follow-up with action,” I thought to myself.
But real estate business was not easy those days! When you are a newbie, it can be daunting and very challenging at times. There’s no internet to advertise online and the only option available was newspaper advertisements – which was unaffordable!
For the hefty amount I spent on a weekly advertisement in the newspaper, I can advertise in PropertyGuru for a year now. Imagine in those days, that amount is quite difficult to earn. Nine months into real estate line, my bank balance was running low and I had to serve my housing loan as well.
Most of the time, I had to literally go out to search for people; knock on doors to find listings; meet customers face to face. However, as the time went by, technology improved and things got much better with the internet, social media and dedicated property portals such as PropertyGuru.
And now…
Today with the power of the internet, things are much easier and faster. You can respond to clients promptly within seconds by just using the smartphone! Those days, we used fax machines! But nowadays it’s like “WhatsApp me-lah”.
Along the journey, I’ve bought another eight properties; six condominiums and a shop lot for investment purpose, as well as a landed abode for own stay. My rental returns cover my monthly installments and even generates positive cash flow.
The credit goes to my wife who motivated me to become a property investor. I still remember her saying;
“If you acquire two properties, you will be a millionaire 10 years later. But, if you buy two luxury cars now, you’ll only have two very old cars 10 years later.” And I’m glad I listened to my wife!
In terms of my career, I have received recognition during my olden days as the Top Salesperson from several companies that I worked for. I have also received many letters of appreciation from my clients whom I consider my most treasured gifts.
But for me, the best and most meaningful recognition was being selected as the ‘Top Online REN 2016’ for Northern Region by the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA)-PropertyGuru. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my loving wife and the motivation from my sons.
I’m approaching the age of 60 now with over 20 years of experience in real estate industry and leading a team of awesome negotiators in Pen Properties. Things turned out to be great for me, considering that I came from a struggling background.
The real estate industry has changed my life path for good and I’m looking forward to continue my journey in this industry for many years to come. Of course, I am happy all my other siblings are doing very well too, in their own way.
As Andrew Carnegie once said, “Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate.”
Mangalesri Chandrasekaran, Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email mangales@propertyguru.com.my
