MIEA fetes real estate agency industry’s brightest stars

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KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 3): Malaysia’s real estate agents, negotiators and agencies were honoured at the National Real Estate Awards tonight. Held by the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA), this year’s Top Realtor of the Year award went to Datuk Adrian Wang of CBD Properties Sdn Bhd while the Top Real Estate Firm award went to Hartamas Real Estate (M) Sdn Bhd at the National Real Estate Awards tonight.

The black-tie event saw about 750 guests gathering at Sime Darby Convention Centre that included real estate agents, negotiators, property developers, financial institutions and representatives of related industries.

The awards’ organising chairman and MIEA deputy president Eric Lim said this year the awards received a record 38 submissions for 19 categories, including seven new ones.

“New categories were introduced to cover the different sectors of the market, now covering 19 categories making it reachable to more people,” he added.

In addition, new awards were introduced this year, including Top Rookie Realtor of the Year, Top Project Marketing Firm of the Year, Most Innovative Firm of the Year, Real Estate Website of the Year and MIEA-theedgeproperty.com Top Online Real Estate Negotiator.

Meanwhile, awards coordinator Soma Sundram said the awards was an excellent avenue for real estate agents and negotiators to show their achievements and be viewed positively by the public.

The Most Innovative Firm of the Year award, which was won by Zerin Properties, and MIEA-theedgeproperty.com Top Online Real Estate Negotiator awards, which was won by Irene Chua of Leaders Real Estate, were sponsored by theedgeproperty.com, a one-stop property portal that is part of The Edge Media Group.

"[The Most Innovative Firm award] is an award theedgeproperty.com can resonate with. We believe in and embrace wholly innovation and see this as the way ahead," said The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd and The Edge Property Sdn Bhd managing director Au Foong Yee.

"We see theedgeproperty.com as the way forward -- we use technology to enable all stakeholders to win in an inclusive environment," she added.

On the MIEA-theedgeproperty.com Top Online REN, Au said: "We are not looking in the winner the REN who has merely posted the most number of listings on theedgeproperty.com. Quality of listings is a key criteria for our selection of the winner. 

"It is noteworthy that the winner has demonstrated her embrace of innovation and technology -- in her use of the free analytical tools including transaction price trends and comparisons on theedgeproperty.com.

"All the tools are designed to help users of the portal make better investment decisions."

MIEA's Lim noted that while this is a very trying time for the real estate industry, there is still business to be made and transactions to be concluded.

“I firmly believe that we, MIEA real estate agents and negotiators are resourceful enough and possess strong a conviction to ride through this period.

“The members of MIEA and the award recipients are all resilient and do not waver in difficult times. Instead, they press on,” he added.

Meanwhile, MIEA president Erick Kho urged real estate agents and negotiators to look outside the country given the limitations of the domestic market and the emergence of new economic treaties and growth corridors in Southeast Asia and beyond.

"The domestic market demand has its limit, we have to go international to seek bigger markets for our business as the world becomes smaller with today’s advanced information communication technology and [budget airlines]. Only then can we expand at global pace,” he said.

MIEA immediate past president Siva Shanker said while the association had achieved a lot, such as opening a chapter in Penang and registering more real estate negotiators, there was still more to be done such as setting up offices in Ipoh and Kota Kinabalu.

According to the association, the awards is not only a measure of success for the industry but also the pinnacle of achievement for real estate firms, agents and negotiators.

Moreover, the recognition accorded by the awards have resulted in more business opportunities, easier recruitment and more confidence from the public, it said. (NRE AWARDS 2015)

THE LIST OF WINNERS

Real Estate Agents:

Top Realtor of the Year - Datuk Adrian Wang Fook Ping – CBD Properties Sdn Bhd

Top Real Estate Firm of the Year – Hartamas Real Estate (M) Sdn Bhd

Top Real Estate Firm (Perak) of the Year – New Ipoh Properties

Top Real Estate Firm (Penang) of the Year – Property Talk

Top Real Estate Firm (Sarawak) of the Year – Kozin Real Estate Sdn Bhd

Top Rookie Realtor of the Year – Raphael Wong Wai Kit - Real Estate Finders (MY) Sdn Bhd

Residential Real Estate Firm (Small) of the Year – Full Homes Realty (Kota Kemuning)

Residential Real Estate Firm (Medium) of the Year – Property Hub Sdn Bhd

Commercial Real Estate Firm of the Year – Hartamas Real Estate (M) Sdn Bhd

Industrial Real Estate Firm of the Year – Royale Rich Real Estate Agent

Top Project Marketing Firm of the Year – Hartamas Real Estate (M) Sdn Bhd

Most Innovative Firm of the Year – Zerin Properties

Specialised Projects of the Year – Knight Frank Malaysia Sdn Bhd

Real Estate Website of the Year – Zerin Properties

Million Dollar Roof Top:

Harry Goh Kim Yang - Royale Rich Real Estate Agent

Teo Zi Lin - Zilin Properties

Lifetime Achievement Award – Mr Stephen Tew - Hectares & Stratas

Real Estate Negotiators:

Million Dollar Roof Top:

Shermine Lim Kwee See - CBD Properties Sdn Bhd

Gerard Chan - Three Acres Real Estate Sdn Bhd

Wong Yau Long - Cornerstone Realty

Top Real Estate Negotiator of the Year – Wong Yau Long - Cornerstone Realty

Top State (Sarawak) Real Estate Negotiator of the Year – Colin Wong Yek Fong - H. Simon Real Estate

Rookie Real Estate Negotiator of the Year – Chris Tee Hwa Khuan - Property Hub Sdn Bhd

Top Residential Real Estate Negotiator of the Year – Nick Lu Weng Kong - CBD Properties Sdn Bhd

Top Commercial Real Estate Negotiator of the Year – Lim Yoong Siang - Hartamas Real Estate (M) Sdn Bhd

Top Online REN 2015:

MIEA-theedgeproperty.com Top Online REN of the Year – Irene Chua Hui Siang – Leaders Real Estate

MIEA-PropertyGuru Top Online REN of the Year – Norafiza binti Arifen - Chester Properties Sdn Bhd (Taman Desa)