“It’s great to work with people in my age group, I feel like it’s very easy for the clients to relate to me and be comfortable with me.”
RAYMOND SINGH
Despite a successful career at an IT firm specializing in pharmaceutical software, Raymond Singh always felt drawn to the real estate industry. So in 2009, even though he was working full time and travelling all over North and South America, Singh decided to take the exam to become a broker.
“I was basically studying on planes and in hotel rooms, every minute I could,” Singh said. “I had such a passion for real estate, I knew it was what I wanted to do.”
After obtaining his licence, Singh remained in the IT industry for a short period of time, meeting real estate clients at lunch, after work, and on weekends, and often working up to 70 hours per week.
He credits his father, who exposed him to property investment at a young age, as his inspiration.
“He built brand new homes and sold them in the West Island in the 1980s and has even bought and sold industrial and commercial real estate for his transport business, so my passion for real estate started at a very young age,” Singh said. “I learned a lot from watching my dad doing business, and I remember telling myself at the age of 24 that I could do that too; it was a gut feeling, and I went with it, and here I am, now five years in the business.”
Singh joined Royal LePage Village in Dollard-des-Ormeaux in 2009. The majority of his clients have been downtown, the West Island, St-Laurent and Bois Franc, but he also works on the north and south shores of the island. In addition to covering a large territory, Singh adopts a similar approach to the types of clients he takes on, in that he refuses to limit himself.
“I feel that the days of farming, which means specializing in one area or becoming an expert in a specific type of property, is the old-school way of thinking,” Singh said. “I think now with all the competition and the pace at which the industry is changing, we need to have broad skills and experiences in order to be flexible; that way it’s easier to take advantage of whatever opportunities come your way.”
Opportunities such as selling condos alongside Guy Lafleur, which Singh had the occasion to do in 2012.
“It was pure luck that I got to work as a VIP broker for the Tour des Canadiens condo development in the downtown sales office,” he said. “What an amazing experience, the project sold out in six weeks and that opportunity opened a lot of doors for me; I got calls to work on several downtown condo pro- jects after that.”
Singh also recently began hosting red-carpet sales events for a series of condo developments. These events have been so successful, that he’s slated to host more this year.
Because he’s in his early 30s, Singh takes great pride in helping first-time home buyers find properties.
“It’s great to work with people in my age group, I feel like it’s very easy for the clients to relate to me and be comfortable with me,” he said. “I love educating them about the industry and working to get them the best property for their needs.”
On the other hand, as a real estate investor himself, Singh also loves working with sea- soned investors.
“I really enjoy crunching the numbers with them and creating (return-on-investment) reports, and future value analyses,” he said. “I love that aspect of the business.”
Despite his fervour, the real estate industry has faced many challenges over the last few years in Montreal, including a volatile political climate and other factors such as the economy.
“People think that brokers just list a property, wait for someone to call, sell it, and collect a commission check,” Singh said. “But it’s a delicate and intricate process, a lot goes into pricing a property, marketing it, negotiating the final sales price and then selling it; it’s often the biggest purchase a person will make in there entire lifetime, so naturally, many factors affect it.”
Regardless of the challenges, which are often out of brokers’ control, Singh says he intends to continue in the industry he loves.
In the next five years, he hopes to continue growing his brand and evolving along with the industry.
In addition to continuing his work as a broker, Singh also looks forward to investing in more real estate projects himself.
“I always tell people that real estate is the best investment,” he said. “Not only do you make money from rental revenue but your property appreciates on an annual basis as well.”
From negotiating deals to working with newbie buyers, Singh says he can’t imagine himself in any other field.
“Day to day, this is the most interesting job,” he said. “I’m also very lucky to work with a great team at Royal LePage.”
