In this article series, I'm going to feature some of the leaders in #BSA and share their experiences with me and the team.
Today, we will be speaking to Jervis Ng.
Jervis is an Associate District Director. As the youngest Millionaire Real Estate broker and Champion leader in the Real Estate Industry, the founder of JNA Real Estate have led a team of over 90 salespersons and single-handedly transacted $300m worth of properties specializing in the High Net-Worth and Ultra High Net-Worth market.
With full exposure to the market, Jervis is extremely well versed and updated with the latest news and trends in the property market. His commitment to working the extra mile to achieve his client's goals and targets together with his expertise in analyzing the market, have made him a highly sought-after property consultant for both investors and homeowners alike.
The interview is conducted by my team on my behalf.
Can you introduce yourself and also, your experience in the Real Estate industry?
Hi, my name is Jervis, I’m 26 this year. I have been in the Real Estate business for 5 years now, started at the age of 21, and am now 26.
People often know me as the founder of JNA Real Estate, and there, I am leading a team of 83 millennials under the age of 40. Our average age is about 28 to 30, with plenty of mid-career switches.
Our team focuses on two main things.:
1. Operational Excellence in selling homes.
We believe that selling homes shouldn't be passive. It shouldn’t be just posting on property guru but instead, to think very differently. For example, in terms of our home tour videos, we do not want them to be too lengthy and would be thinking of creative ways to sell them.
2. Objectivity Investment.
How we help people actually really make money through real estate. No matter what seminar you go to, everybody would say Real Estate can buy. Instead, we want to be an alternative opinion as we are practitioners ourselves, we invest in Real Estate ourselves.
And recently, I co-founded a salesforce called “Nark” with one of my best childhood friends, Christian Oh. Very inspiring man who came from a bankrupt family and then now through Real Estate, he owns eight properties at 26! The name "Nark" is derived from Noah’s ark, and we started this because we wanted to bring better client experience as well as higher objectivity and integrity to the marketplace, that was our focus.
What made you go into Real Estate?
Fun fact. I never expect that Real Estate will be my full-time job, I never wanted to be a Real Estate agent because I grew up in a family where my parents do Real Estate, and I want to be a lawyer. But eventually, I found my footing in Real Estate and I really enjoyed it.
I wasn't a very bright student in JC, more so considered myself a "C" student. And one day, I came across a book by Robert Kiyosaki that says, "A" students work for "C" students, which was the point at which I told myself "Okay, I want to be an entrepreneur".
So, when I was in the army, I started eight startups in different phases of my two years in commandos and all eight failed. The only thing that made money was me spending my time giving economic tuition to a JC girl, who later became my classmate in law school at SMU. Yes, I managed to get into Law in my second year of Uni after working really hard in my first year of school.
I remembered I want to be either a litigator, that is a criminal lawyer, or a fund manager in private equity. But I also recall telling myself to give myself another chance in entrepreneurship "why not give self-employment one more chance" because I'm someone who's very mischievous, I don't like to follow rules, and I knew that if I were to be employed, I will get fired very quickly, 100%. I knew that because when I was doing my internship at state courts, doing pro bono, free legal services, I came late and I left early. My superiors were all so pissed off with me. The truth is I felt that sitting down all day was so jading.
Anyways, I decided to try self-employment for just one more year with the goal to pay off my school loans which were about 40k+. At that point, it's either I work part-time after school (maybe scooping ice cream), and then get paid a maximum of 1k, or I find a job that can help me earn 40k ASAP and move on.
I was at a crossroads between a financial advisor and Real Estate. And I remembered talking to a couple of financial advisors and also leaders in PropNex. I guess I decided on Real Estate the very day I walked past the wall of fame at level 10 PropNex building with Bobby, and I remembered asking him who are these Platinum award achievers and he replied that they are people who are earning more than 100k a month. I was shocked, how's that possible because earning 10k a month to me is already a lot and 100k, that's insane!
So then, I joined #BSA and Bobby groomed me all the way, starting with my salesmanship to my presentation style. And in 2017, the second month, I crossed a commission of $170,000. This was the month in which the whole industry started talking about me: How did this 21-year-old guy even do it?
And to be real honest, I didn't really do much. In fact, all I did was close two deals: One with my teacher and the other one was a lead that I got through door-knocking.
So, when I received the commission, I realized 2 things:
- I will not be able to make this amount of money should I continue to be in a corporate setting, and
- Despite it being a rather large amount, it didn't give me the satisfaction that I thought I would have.
Even when I made my first million at 23, I didn't consider myself a full-time Real Estate agent until much later. That is when I realized I wanted to continue in Real Estate because of two main things that gave me fulfilment and passion:
- I've been very blessed with people actively seeking to join me. I don't run any ads for my recruitment! So, people seek me for a change in their lives because they are looking for a mentor who is direct, and who doesn't fluff.
- I've managed to experience life and create things that I wouldn't have imagined at 23 or 26 with the income that I received. So, this business really did change my life.
How did you actually first meet Bobby?
Fun fact. I never expected to join Bobby. So, when I decided to join PropNex, I met up with close to 11-12 top Real Estate leaders. Then people around me insist that I should meet up with this guy called 'Bobby Sng' who is a senior trainer in PropNex.
At that time, one thing I knew about Bobby was that he was the father and mentor for a lot of successful brokers who are now legends in the industry. So, I met him. And that day, he told me to just take his blazer and go and take photos, and emphasize there is no need to join his team. But, I realized there is this thing called the spirit of reciprocity and afterward, I joined his team.
What was your first impression of Bobby?
Extreme humble, encouraging, and very forthcoming, very easy to talk to, and I came to realize later that he is a very good salesman. Those who don't know Bobby may think that he's very cocky at first. But after interacting with him, he is someone who really listens.
Sure, Bobby definitely has his own set of opinions but he is always very willing to listen, even to me then, someone whom he has just met, who has nothing, no skills, and yet told him "I want to win in Real Estate". He could tell me to be more realistic, like some other mentors I met prior to him who told me to focus on my school instead. Bobby was the one who said, "Okay, come, let's do it!". Very encouraging, very supportive.
Now, after knowing him better for a while, one thing I can say about Bobby is that he's like an older brother to me, and more so of a life coach than a business coach. I could talk to him about anything in life, about any of my struggles in life.
While a lot of people would prefer to be handheld, I didn't like it because I like having my own creativity, and I like to build things. So, Bobby respect my space and gave me a lot of it to grow. He gave me the autonomy to do what I wanted to do, but would occasionally advise me on ways that I will follow later because I was too stubborn to follow at first but his ways always work eventually.
And not only that, but he also defends us a lot. After joining PropNex, I realized that there are rules to follow, like the way you shout your own brand, with your brand logo, you can't do a lot of things, Bobby was always there, no matter what to support and defend for me.
How would you describe Bobby as a mentor and also as a leader?
Unlike most leaders, he doesn't focus on wanting to win at all costs. Instead, Bobby focuses a lot on the fundamental value of the business, such as being ethical in selling and having righteousness in the business. He's not someone who wants us to compromise on our morals, or our values just to do a quick deal for our clients.
And I personally feel that most people misunderstand him, Bobby feels a lot for his people, but not many understand that he feels a lot for them. Bobby cares a lot about his associates individually. He is always watching over us behind, rooting for us. And every time we meet up, he will always be present, he will observe or be sensitive over our business activities, and he will always take a look from a macro perspective to see if there is anything wrong.
So, to me, not only is Bobby my greatest supporter throughout the trials and tribulations, all the good and bad things that happened, he is my trusted life coach that advises well. He is someone who knows, and appreciates winning with values, and morals and always sees people over profits.
Bobby strongly believes in the 90/10 concept - where 90% of success comes from individual ownership, and 10% of success comes from the resources and support that #BSA provides to help everyone achieve their goals and success. Do you agree with this and personally how have you experienced this?
Initially, I felt that this 90/10 concept was an excuse to push responsibility away, that it was not going to work because the way I led my team of millennials is always hand-holding, from sales to righteousness in selling, to negotiate without staging, etc.
It only came to me at the start of this year, when a couple of senior members in my team, who had journey lives with me, left my team for another. And I came to realize that hey, this 90/10 concept really works.
It works because at the start of every business, in order to be a very successful Real Estate agent or even an entrepreneur, one needs to believe that 90% is himself or herself. Because if the person starts thinking that 90% comes from the team, which a lot of people came into JNA Real Estate thinking this way, then they will start pointing fingers and blaming others when they don't succeed.
So, this 90/10 refers to a mental shift of the individual. 90% of the time depends on oneself, and the 10%, according to Bobby, is 9% from mentorship and 1% is your own core values, which I totally agree with.
I truly believe in core values. Because when we first started sales, we always think of how to earn, to get the commission. We were young, aggressive, and want to prove ourselves. It was all about closings, never about what clients would think. There are a lot of people who do a lot of not-so-good ways to get buyers and sellers, such as making a dummy listing, staging a seller, telling a seller that offers coming at 1.2 when actually the offer is at 1.3, etc. So, the 1% of core value, I agree.
As for the 9%, in terms of personal mentorship, I can relate too because without Bobby pointing me in the right direction, and always letting me know how I can improve myself, I wouldn't have been who I am today!
How has how would you say the support system and also the resources provided to you and your team by #BSA is different from what you've seen in other divisions?
Though I would say in JNA, we are very independent because millennials run our business differently, we have different ways of doing business.
But I have to say that #BSA's support has been amazing because the problem with millennial teams is that we have very few experienced agents. So, #BSA is where all the experienced agents are and they are always readily available to help us, to remind us to play within our zones and it's true because there are rules and boundaries. And, #BSA has a tagging system, that when brokers want to close luxury projects or mass-market projects, #BSA always has that kind of top-tier taggers that can help and guide us.
So, how is #BSA different from other teams? I'm very aligned with Bobby on this. In the current marketplace, there's too much fluff and marketing, people always claimed that there is this easy way for instant gratification and make money. It's true! A lot of realtors prefer instant, you see, the psyche of a typical Real Estate agent is like this: The moment I join a team and make money, this mentor is for me.
However, for Bobby, he instead focuses on delayed gratification! His ways seek to build intrinsic value and don't help the person make immediate cash. Such as his CRM system 'Privyr', where he went on to emphasize to everyone how important it is to do CRM, and then he continued with another system called GM Property where a Realtor can do modelling for his/her clients.
So, in any way, I really appreciate his way of thinking, of putting clients before self, this is something that I respect a lot compared to other leaders. Because the majority just focus on ensuring their associates do very well but they may not have the right values!
How has being a subsidiary of #BSA impacted you as a leader, and also in leading your team?
It's an advantage of being a subsidiary of #BSA. Because we know that we always have a mentor there for us when we need one, a mentor who is like a very close friend, and even a brotherly figure to many. I don't know how Bobby does it but I think it's the rapport he has with people.
Also, Bobby has been in Real Estate for 15-17 years, he has been through a lot of ups and downs, and he knows the outcome of a lot of things. So, before we even do something, or if we are in the process of experiencing something that is not so good, he will always share with us what are the consequences, based on the different actions that we take. So, #BSA is like that kind of senior figure in our lives that guide us towards the right path and right direction.
How would you describe yourself as a leader?
I'm a visionary, and I'm very laser-focused on the team's vision. I know what we need to achieve by 2026, which is to be the most sought-after team for clients and realtors, and we are working hard in that direction.
I like to consider myself a very direct leader. Because how the business is to be calibrated will be on the way in which how I share it. And I'm often the person who is helping both the party and the business, they should hear bad news from me, not just the good and celebrations.
But I have to say that I have a lot more to improve as a leader!
The top three traits that you look out for in your potential new RES to join your team?
1. Extremely high level of integrity.
This is not because we have very high-level integrity, but because we, as realtors, come from a position where we realized that it is very easy to make money in the Real Estate business when one waives on integrity. So, the first trait is that the individual must have high integrity.
2. Have an MVP mindset.
People who have an MVP mindset are very strong team players, they seek to give back to the team, to bring forward our brand together. As you know, JNA Real Estate follows the tagline "The Real Estate brand of our generation" and it actually means we want to change how Real Estate should be done in Singapore, and we need strong MVP players.
3. Individuals who are very coachable.
If you join a team and you feel uncomfortable with the mentor, or you don't trust them, then don't join that team because the mentor will take hours to explain things and it will be wasting both parties' time, right?
Lastly, under 41-year old so that everyone can gel better and can go through the phase of life together. And with my current phase of life, I think I can better lead millennials more effectively compared to people who are non-millennials.
Do you have anything else you'd like to tell Bobby?
Even though there are people who may be misaligned, Bobby needs to know that he is a very amazing leader. He deserves all the credit for everything he has built. As the next generations of realtors, we are always looking up to him, to this elder brother or this coach of ours.
And speaking on behalf of those of us who align with him because deep down we know we are not transactional, or people who truly and authentically love him, we are forever rooting for you. So, don't be too stressed, or please don't shoulder too many burdens of ours as we are all mature in our business.
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Connect with Jervis here
