Passion for grooming others to be professional agents and negotiators

HAVING assisted his father Lim Ah Leck who was also a real estate agent and the founder of Tiram Realty since he was a teenager, Lim Boon Ping had followed in his father’s footsteps to make real estate his career more than 20 years ago.

Currently the training and development manager of Kim Realty and MIEA’s national vice-president, Boon Ping was accorded the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) Fellowship Award at the National Real Estate Awards 2016 on Oct 1.

He joins only 23 other MIEA members who have been conferred the fellowship since the professional body was set up some 40 years ago.

According to Boon Ping, “integrity” is the word that has kept him in the industry for more than two decades.

“As a professional, integrity is important because the word covers many values such as honesty, sincerity and trustworthiness,” he says.

With that work philosophy in mind, Boon Ping wants to educate the public about the importance of enlisting registered real estate agents instead of illegal ones.

“Moving forward, MIEA and I will work very hard to educate real estate negotiators (RENs) along with the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents (BOVAEA) on the need to register themselves but we are also doing our best to raise awareness among the public, especially to educate them on the importance of working with registered estate agents and negotiators,” he says.

The early years

After obtaining a degree in property studies in New Zealand, Boon Ping, who hails from Johor Bahru, returned to work in his father’s agency Tiram Realty as a real estate negotiator. It was only recently (last September) that he moved to Kuala Lumpur and joined Kim Realty as director of training and development.

“After many years of dealmaking, I found that my greatest interest lies in talent grooming and making real estate negotiating a profession. The opportunity arose when my father’s good friend — Vincent Ng (Kim Realty’s CEO) — was looking for a training manager for his agency,” he says.

Having committed himself to MIEA’s training activities, Boon Ping decided to change his career track from closing deals to education — training negotiators, preparing teaching modules and giving talks on property investment topics.

Besides, as MIEA’s national vice-president, he oversees the state branches including Penang, Perak, Johor and East Malaysia.

The property market

Giving his views on the Johor Bahru property market, he says the higher priced new projects in Iskandar Malaysia have had a positive impact on the older properties on the outskirts, which he says have been undervalued for so long such as in Skudai, Ulu Tiram and Kulai.

“Many developers have shifted their focus from the city area to the suburbs by offering landed homes to cater to the needs of locals,” Boon Ping says.

Boon Ping also thinks investors should look at Ipoh and Taiping’s property market, as he feels there are still upside potential in these areas due to their booming tourism business.

As for Penang, the island will remain attractive to property investors but the mainland will need more pull factors to boost demand.

“Population growth is still the key for property demand growth. Although there are many exciting developments ongoing in Batu Kawan, we still need more to draw the crowd to the mainland,” he explains.

Tips for new homebuyers

Boon Ping has helped many young buyers fulfil their dreams of owning their own homes. He feels that the only piece of advice a first-time homebuyer needs is to “start with a humble home instead of your dream home”.

“The youngsters need to be practical and accept the truth that the first home may not be the dream home they desire, for instance homes that offer all the lifestyle features such as an infinity pool or full-fledged condo facilities,” he says.

One should start with homes that will not financially burden them heavily. Young buyers could upgrade later and eventually own their dream home, as their earnings increase. “There are always choices. My advice for first-time homebuyers is be realistic with your budget,” he adds.

This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on Oct 14, 2016, which comes with The Edge Financial Daily every Friday. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.