Making his mark in the industrial property sector

A FIRST class degree holder in Land Administration and Development from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Teo Z L joined the property industry six years ago as a junior real estate negotiator.

Hailing from Klang, Selangor, Teo had spent his childhood growing up near the Port Klang industrial area.

“I came from a poor family. I grew up in a busy industrial area and had always known that industrial property was one of the most expensive properties in the field. So since young, I held the ambition of being a specialist real estate agent in industrial property. I believed agents could earn big money in this sector,” Teo tells TheEdgeProperty.com.

Holding on to that ambition, Teo joined a real estate agency in Klang upon graduating.

“Certificates mean almost nothing if you want to make selling property your career. That is why I decided to start my career by joining an agency to build my knowledge, network and experience,” he shares.

The first part of the journey was difficult for Teo who was only 24 years old then.

“The most-asked question I received from clients when I first started was about my capabilities. They thought I was too young to handle multi-million ringgit industrial property deals. But I told them that all I needed was a chance, just like what they looked for when they were young,” he says.

His sincerity and hard work paid off as he has since gained his
clients’ loyalty. The biggest deal he has handled thus far is a factory unit in Shah Alam which was sold for RM55 million.

“I decided to start my own agency three years ago because I had gained more experience in the field, and had always wanted to build my own company culture, style and future plans,” he says.

Teo founded Zilin Properties real estate agency with about 30 agents/negotiators. More than half of them focus on residential property in Setia Alam, Shah Alam while the rest focus on industrial property.

He aims to further expand the agency to 300 agents within five years and to have branches in Johor and Kuala Lumpur.

Teo says the property market has changed a lot in recent years especially buying behaviour.

“Five years ago, there were more passive buyers and although they searched for properties online, they usually did not know what the market price was as there was limited access to such information then,” he notes.

“However, the world has changed. We see more property websites like TheEdgeProperty.com providing free and reliable information. Buyers can do their own analysis with this free information. Sometimes, buyers only need the agent to process the deal,” Teo says.

However, he says changes in buying behaviour have not impacted industrial property as much as other property types due to its limited supply, especially stand-alone factories. He also foresees large factories covering more than one acre to be in demand due to the lack of supply.

Teo says it takes one or two months to close an industrial property deal, while a residential property deal can be closed in days.

“It doesn’t mean that an industrial property agent is more free than a residential property agent. We have more things to take care of because buyers are more cautious in making their buying decision due to the higher price involved. Even if you have invested months into a deal, you could still lose it,” Teo notes.

“On the other hand, if you have strong professional knowledge and you know everything about the property listed, including its ceiling height, land size, etc, you could still close a tough deal,” he says.

“Never think that being a property agent is an easy job. It involves much more professional knowledge, hard work and time than you can imagine,” he adds.

This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on July 1, 2016, which comes with The Edge Financial Daily every Friday. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.