<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Age can't catch up with realty whizz
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He joined ERA at 55 and made his mark as a top agent in just three years </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lorna Tan, Finance Correspondent
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-- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM
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Mr Syed Abdullah Alhamid was 55 when he joined property agency ERA Singapore in 2000 as an agent.
He made his mark quickly.
As the company's top producer for three consecutive years from 2003 to 2005, Mr Syed Abdullah, now 62, is proof that age is no barrier when one has the drive and passion in his work.
In fact, he enjoys his current job more than his previous ones, including those as a dealer at stockbroking firm JM Sassoon and as an economics teacher.
He was so good in closing transactions that he was ranked as ERA World No.1 Top Volume Producer 2003 (for ERA Europe & Asia-Pacific) at the ERA International Conference in Las Vegas in the United States in March 2004. He closed 265 transactions in 2003, averaging 22 transactions a month.
Last year, he won the ERA Singapore Top Record Transactor title, when he closed a record of 37 transactions in April.
As a rookie agent in his first year, he earned $175,000 in commissions. At his peak in 2004, he made in excess of $800,000. Since his fourth year, his yearly commissions have averaged more than $500,000.
An ERA division director since 2006, he earns an additional overriding commission of about $60,000 to $100,000 a year from his more than 150 associates. As at the end of last month, he has already crossed the half-million- dollar mark in gross commissions.
He is married to a former group financial controller, Zainah Mustafa, 53, and they have five children. He loves to bowl and jog. Today, he can still do a 5km jog at eight minutes per km comfortably.
He believes that his fortune is also due to the blessings from Allah, and so contributes regularly to the Muslim community.
Q: What's the most expensive property you've ever transacted?
It was a double-storey semi- detached house in District 15 for $2.2 million. At 2 per cent commission, the total gross commission for this transaction alone was a cool $44,000. On average, about 90 per cent of my transactions are HDB units, and 10 per cent, landed properties and condos.
Q: What are your money habits?
To me, cash is king. Currently I have more savings (80 per cent) than money in investments (20 per cent). This is simply because I am still supporting my twins - a daughter doing her final year in medicine at Monash University in Melbourne and a son doing his final year honours degree in biochemistry at Nanyang Technological University. He wishes to further his studies up to a PhD.
My youngest son, who graduated with a diploma in electrical & electronic engineering at Singapore Polytechnic, and is now working with Hewlett-Packard, has hinted to me that he too would like to pursue his university degree after a few years of working experience. So you see, they are all on father's scholarships. Hence the necessity to have liquid assets like savings and stocks.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
I do simple planning in that I need to ensure that I have enough savings. Every month I make sure I put aside enough to cover all basic expenses such as loan instalments for the house and maximum CPF contributions for me, my wife and my second daughter, who helps me with my real estate work.
The extras I keep in my 'float' for opportunities such as in foreign exchange and stocks. Recently, when the US financial crisis worsened, I converted all my blue chips to cash at a small loss. I am also monitoring the Australian and New Zealand currencies closely.
For instance, I recently invested when the Aussie dollar was at parity to the Singapore dollar and I may exit when it hits A$1.25 to A$1.30. I put my cash in fixed deposits and savings account.
Q: What about insurance planning?
Not much. I have a whole life and hospitalisation coverage. My annual premium is about $5,000.
Q: What stocks do you invest in?
I normally 'nibble' on blue chips in the Singapore stock market whenever there is a correction, particularly when the market is down suddenly due not to the local economy's fundamentals, but because of overseas events which affect the local market temporarily.
I always go for blue chips such as Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Singapore Airlines (SIA), OCBC Bank, DBS Bank, United Overseas Bank (UOB), SembCorp Industries and SingTel. I don't keep them for very long periods. I will monitor them closely to offload them once they give more than 10 per cent returns.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I came from a poor and big family of 10 kids where I was the fifth child. My late father was a bill collector earning enough to make ends meet. I was eight when he died. My second eldest brother had to leave school and he took over as the family's breadwinner. I gave mathematics tuition from Secondary 3 and earned $60 a month.
After O levels at Raffles Institution, I delayed my pre-university education and joined the teaching service to support the family because my second eldest brother met with an accident and was in a coma. My older sister too had to work to support the family.
I resumed my pre-university studies privately after five years of teaching and did my A levels as a private candidate. I went to the National University of Singapore and graduated with a second class upper honours degree in economics.
Q: What has been a bad investment?
A bad expensive investment was in 1993 when after being loaded with cash during the super bull market, I tried my hand at publishing. The first issue of the Malay bi-monthly magazine Melayu Baru went well and we broke even operationally.
My mistake was I left everything to my staff to run the show as I was busy with the stock market. But the company was bleeding before the second issue could be released because of over-spending. Since I did not have the time to monitor it, I decided to close shop. I lost about $150,000. It was an expensive investment experience.
Q: Your best investment to date?
It was my CPF investment in properties. In the mid-1980s, I used purely my CPF Ordinary Account savings to buy a new HUDC maisonette at Eunosville in Sims Avenue for $230,000, after disposing of my five-room point block flat in Bedok South at a profit of $100,000.
After about eight years, I sold the HUDC unit for $510,000, which translates to more than 100 per cent in profit. I bought an HDB executive maisonette at Simei for $345,000 again using purely CPF funds, just before the property boom started in 1996/1997. I sold it in 2003 and made about $100,000.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
My immediate goal is to build up my team of associates to 300 in the next two to three years. I used to close 20 to 25 housing deals a month.
I will slow down on my own sales to say, 10 to 15 transactions a month, and devote more time to coaching my associates. That way, I can earn more passive income through my overriding commission. Some senior and group divisional directors at ERA are earning over $30,000 a month in passive income and that's my target - to achieve financial independence and still do some work.
I estimate that I would need $3,000 to $5,000 a month for my wife and myself when my liabilities are fully paid up.
Q: And your home now is...?
An HDB executive maisonette in Tampines which I bought in 2005 for $430,000. It is now worth about $530,000.
Q: And your car is...?
An MPV seven-seater 2.5 litre Nissan Presage.
[email protected]
<HR width="50%" SIZE=1>
Buying on dips
'I normally 'nibble' on blue chips in the Singapore stock market whenever there is a correction...I always go for blue chips such as SPH, SIA, OCBC, DBS, UOB, SembCorp and SingTel. I don't keep them for very long periods. I will monitor them closely to offload them, once they give more than 10 per cent returns. '
MR SYED ABDULLAH, 62, on his strategy of picking up fundamentally strong blue chips when the local market is hit by overseas events <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start --><!-- vbbintegration : end --><!-- dennis change request 20070424 : start --><!---Google ad - Start : Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:22:05:962---><!-- AdSpace STI Google ad tag --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/site=tsti&pagepos=20&size=10X10"> </SCRIPT>
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He joined ERA at 55 and made his mark as a top agent in just three years </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lorna Tan, Finance Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
-- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->
Mr Syed Abdullah Alhamid was 55 when he joined property agency ERA Singapore in 2000 as an agent.
He made his mark quickly.
As the company's top producer for three consecutive years from 2003 to 2005, Mr Syed Abdullah, now 62, is proof that age is no barrier when one has the drive and passion in his work.
In fact, he enjoys his current job more than his previous ones, including those as a dealer at stockbroking firm JM Sassoon and as an economics teacher.
He was so good in closing transactions that he was ranked as ERA World No.1 Top Volume Producer 2003 (for ERA Europe & Asia-Pacific) at the ERA International Conference in Las Vegas in the United States in March 2004. He closed 265 transactions in 2003, averaging 22 transactions a month.
Last year, he won the ERA Singapore Top Record Transactor title, when he closed a record of 37 transactions in April.
As a rookie agent in his first year, he earned $175,000 in commissions. At his peak in 2004, he made in excess of $800,000. Since his fourth year, his yearly commissions have averaged more than $500,000.
An ERA division director since 2006, he earns an additional overriding commission of about $60,000 to $100,000 a year from his more than 150 associates. As at the end of last month, he has already crossed the half-million- dollar mark in gross commissions.
He is married to a former group financial controller, Zainah Mustafa, 53, and they have five children. He loves to bowl and jog. Today, he can still do a 5km jog at eight minutes per km comfortably.
He believes that his fortune is also due to the blessings from Allah, and so contributes regularly to the Muslim community.
Q: What's the most expensive property you've ever transacted?
It was a double-storey semi- detached house in District 15 for $2.2 million. At 2 per cent commission, the total gross commission for this transaction alone was a cool $44,000. On average, about 90 per cent of my transactions are HDB units, and 10 per cent, landed properties and condos.
Q: What are your money habits?
To me, cash is king. Currently I have more savings (80 per cent) than money in investments (20 per cent). This is simply because I am still supporting my twins - a daughter doing her final year in medicine at Monash University in Melbourne and a son doing his final year honours degree in biochemistry at Nanyang Technological University. He wishes to further his studies up to a PhD.
My youngest son, who graduated with a diploma in electrical & electronic engineering at Singapore Polytechnic, and is now working with Hewlett-Packard, has hinted to me that he too would like to pursue his university degree after a few years of working experience. So you see, they are all on father's scholarships. Hence the necessity to have liquid assets like savings and stocks.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
I do simple planning in that I need to ensure that I have enough savings. Every month I make sure I put aside enough to cover all basic expenses such as loan instalments for the house and maximum CPF contributions for me, my wife and my second daughter, who helps me with my real estate work.
The extras I keep in my 'float' for opportunities such as in foreign exchange and stocks. Recently, when the US financial crisis worsened, I converted all my blue chips to cash at a small loss. I am also monitoring the Australian and New Zealand currencies closely.
For instance, I recently invested when the Aussie dollar was at parity to the Singapore dollar and I may exit when it hits A$1.25 to A$1.30. I put my cash in fixed deposits and savings account.
Q: What about insurance planning?
Not much. I have a whole life and hospitalisation coverage. My annual premium is about $5,000.
Q: What stocks do you invest in?
I normally 'nibble' on blue chips in the Singapore stock market whenever there is a correction, particularly when the market is down suddenly due not to the local economy's fundamentals, but because of overseas events which affect the local market temporarily.
I always go for blue chips such as Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Singapore Airlines (SIA), OCBC Bank, DBS Bank, United Overseas Bank (UOB), SembCorp Industries and SingTel. I don't keep them for very long periods. I will monitor them closely to offload them once they give more than 10 per cent returns.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I came from a poor and big family of 10 kids where I was the fifth child. My late father was a bill collector earning enough to make ends meet. I was eight when he died. My second eldest brother had to leave school and he took over as the family's breadwinner. I gave mathematics tuition from Secondary 3 and earned $60 a month.
After O levels at Raffles Institution, I delayed my pre-university education and joined the teaching service to support the family because my second eldest brother met with an accident and was in a coma. My older sister too had to work to support the family.
I resumed my pre-university studies privately after five years of teaching and did my A levels as a private candidate. I went to the National University of Singapore and graduated with a second class upper honours degree in economics.
Q: What has been a bad investment?
A bad expensive investment was in 1993 when after being loaded with cash during the super bull market, I tried my hand at publishing. The first issue of the Malay bi-monthly magazine Melayu Baru went well and we broke even operationally.
My mistake was I left everything to my staff to run the show as I was busy with the stock market. But the company was bleeding before the second issue could be released because of over-spending. Since I did not have the time to monitor it, I decided to close shop. I lost about $150,000. It was an expensive investment experience.
Q: Your best investment to date?
It was my CPF investment in properties. In the mid-1980s, I used purely my CPF Ordinary Account savings to buy a new HUDC maisonette at Eunosville in Sims Avenue for $230,000, after disposing of my five-room point block flat in Bedok South at a profit of $100,000.
After about eight years, I sold the HUDC unit for $510,000, which translates to more than 100 per cent in profit. I bought an HDB executive maisonette at Simei for $345,000 again using purely CPF funds, just before the property boom started in 1996/1997. I sold it in 2003 and made about $100,000.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
My immediate goal is to build up my team of associates to 300 in the next two to three years. I used to close 20 to 25 housing deals a month.
I will slow down on my own sales to say, 10 to 15 transactions a month, and devote more time to coaching my associates. That way, I can earn more passive income through my overriding commission. Some senior and group divisional directors at ERA are earning over $30,000 a month in passive income and that's my target - to achieve financial independence and still do some work.
I estimate that I would need $3,000 to $5,000 a month for my wife and myself when my liabilities are fully paid up.
Q: And your home now is...?
An HDB executive maisonette in Tampines which I bought in 2005 for $430,000. It is now worth about $530,000.
Q: And your car is...?
An MPV seven-seater 2.5 litre Nissan Presage.
[email protected]
<HR width="50%" SIZE=1>
Buying on dips
'I normally 'nibble' on blue chips in the Singapore stock market whenever there is a correction...I always go for blue chips such as SPH, SIA, OCBC, DBS, UOB, SembCorp and SingTel. I don't keep them for very long periods. I will monitor them closely to offload them, once they give more than 10 per cent returns. '
MR SYED ABDULLAH, 62, on his strategy of picking up fundamentally strong blue chips when the local market is hit by overseas events <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start --><!-- vbbintegration : end --><!-- dennis change request 20070424 : start --><!---Google ad - Start : Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:22:05:962---><!-- AdSpace STI Google ad tag --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/site=tsti&pagepos=20&size=10X10"> </SCRIPT>
