Selling Sentosa: Singapore’s luxury real estate agents say the reality is less glamorous

SINGAPORE – Luxury real estate has never been more in the limelight. 

In 2023 alone, Netflix’s hit reality TV series Selling Sunset (2019 to present) racked up over 259 million hours of viewing across the globe on the streaming platform. The show is just one of dozens airing now featuring those who sell high-end properties to the rich and famous.

However, Singapore-based luxury realtors tell The Straits Times that their livelihoods are far less glamorous than TV screens depict, though they agree that big wallets and big personalities come with the territory of dealing in luxury residential properties.

In the first half of 2024, a total of 382 prime non-landed residential and landed residential units were sold in Singapore, resulting in sales of $3.3 billion, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank.

One of the top luxury non-landed home transactions during this period was the sale of a penthouse unit at the Skywaters Residences in Shenton Way for $47.3 million, at $6,100 per square foot.

Luxury realtor Michele Cabasug, 49, deals with such high-value transactions. The Hawaii-born American began her real estate career here in 2005, after moving to Singapore with her then husband.

While house-hunting, she fell in love with the aesthetic of a black-and-white bungalow in Nepal Park, but it was slightly above their rental budget. “I decided I was going to make that $200 myself,” says Ms Cabasug.

New to Singapore, the marketing graduate entered the real-estate sector by connecting agents with prospective renters of black-and-white homes around Mount Faber, Mount Pleasant and Kay Siang Road – before she later branched into leasing and sales herself.

“I came here as a trailing spouse with no listings and no clients. I didn’t even know how to drive on the right side of the road or what a district was, and I got propelled into representing these good class bungalows,” she says.

Ms Cabasug attributes part of her success to her being an outsider to Singapore’s high society, which she says plays well with clients who appreciate discretion and some distance from their existing social circles.

 “I don’t know who these people are, and they know I don’t know who they are,” she says, referring to Singapore’s old-money families and influential expatriates.

“I’m not from the Philippines, I’m from Hawaii. I’m not a typical expat’s trailing spouse, I’m not a demure housewife, I’m not an SPG, I’m not a corporate person, so they don’t know what I am and think I’m an alien.”

From trailing spouse to “queen of fire sales”

Today, Ms Cabasug is an agent under Sotheby’s International Realty, and lives in a four-bedroom condominium unit in Sentosa Cove, which she bought in 2021.

Part of her drive to excel stems from her divorce, she says, and the high cost of raising kids in Singapore.

“A lot of people want Louboutins, but I’m in it for the school fees,” she says, referring to the famed French brand of designer shoes. After splitting with her American husband in 2007, she spent much of the past two decades as a single mother to three children, aged 16 to 18, who study at private international schools here.

Though she owns a boat named Drama Queen, anchored in the canal behind her home, Ms Cabasug says her approach to dealing with clients is matter-of-fact, unpretentious and discreet.

She works 12- to 14-hour days, which often extend into weekends and public holidays. Never switching off is one of the job’s occupational hazards. “Sometimes, I could have a party at home and I’d walk over to a viewing in Sentosa and come right back.”

Calling herself the “queen of fire sales”, Ms Cabasug says she has a knack for spotting distressed properties below market value – like helping a client acquire a Seascape @ Sentosa penthouse for $5.9 million from a buyer who purchased it at $9.3 million.

Some of her other recent conquests include selling a Thomson Ridge bungalow for $7.2 million in 2023, and a $22 million Sentosa Cove bungalow in 2022.

Unlike the flashy agents portrayed on shows like Selling Sunset, Ms Cabasug does not turn up to viewings dripping in branded goods or trying to blend into the world of the ultra-elite.

She says of her biggest clients, mainly Singapore’s old-money families and Asian Americans looking to settle down in Singapore: “They’re billionaires; they don’t need me to entertain them; they don’t want to be my friend.”

But she notes that she often has to deal with high-net-worth (HNW) individuals with “no boundaries, no rules and no concept of time”. This means having to show up in person at short notice at the client’s home to discuss something easily done over the phone.

One of the most brow-raising demands a client has made has been to ask her to procure a pregnancy test after each bungalow viewing.

Another client, with a “Peter Pan complex”, a pop psychology term referring to someone who is socially immature, asks her to help him break his rental lease and find a new apartment every time he lands a new partner.

A key lesson from dealing with these big personalities is learning when to keep one’s mouth shut, she says. “You don’t argue with them. If I try to bring up, ‘Hey, you know, we’re kind of being really unfair in the refund of the deposit,’ they’ll cut you out in a heartbeat because there’s another agent out there.”

For the luxury realtor, it comes down to making it seem like the decisions to be made are the clients’ own idea. “I tell them: ‘I’m 100 per cent on your side, so what do you want to do?’”

And competition in this area can be stiff. According to the Council for Estate Agents, there are 35,251 property agents in Singapore as at January – a figure that has risen every year since 2020.

Despite this, she says, it is a misconception to think that her job is about massaging the egos of the ultra-rich. Instead, Ms Cabasug believes it often comes down to moments many do not consider important.

“In the luxury market, a lot of people are really cr*ppy to one another,” she says. This means that being nice to other agents, intermediaries and support staff can make a big difference.

“I get a lot of deals from helpers, security guards and maintenance staff. They’ll reach out saying, ‘Ma’am, someone’s moving’,” she adds. “A security guard in Nassim Road gave me leads because I was nice to him, and I’ve picked up at least 10 deals just from lift chit-chat.”

Even though one might assume that getting chummy with clients is key to closing deals, Ms Cabasug says that after 19 years in the industry, she prefers keeping some clients at arm’s length. 

“It can backfire on you, right?” she says, adding that she does not go out of her way to attend networking events or get friendly with potential clients.

“They’ll ask you to do a lot of free things. Like ‘Okay, I’ve bought this property, Michele. I didn’t buy it from you, but can you look over all the defects for me? How much do you think my property is worth? Do you think this is fair wear and tear?’

“Everybody in Singapore talks about property constantly. At the end of the day, I don’t want to talk property with my friends at all.”

Rubbing shoulders with the ultra-rich

Realtor couple Sunita Gill and Kaizar Karkaria, both 45, take a different approach when it comes to selling Singapore’s most expensive homes.

The married Singaporeans, under real estate agency PropNex Singapore, say that integrating into Singapore’s high society is an important part of their approach to selling luxury homes, as making it in the space requires that one become familiar with the lifestyles of the ultra-rich.

Mr Karkaria says: “There is a tiny bit of an ‘old boys’ club’, so when they see you at that certain club, they have a bit of trust towards you.”

“Like the ACS boy network,” Ms Gill adds, referring to Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) which Mr Karkaria attended.

As such, blending their personal and professional lives makes sense, says Ms Gill, who adds that their clients are regular guests at the couple’s lavish Deepavali parties hosted at hotels and high-end restaurants.

Going above and beyond is also key. Ms Gill recalls an instance when a client casually mentioned that her child loves cakes from an expensive French bakery, and Ms Gill made a point of sending one on the child’s birthday. “They were quite impressed that you were actually listening.”

Prior to working together under the Singapore Luxury Homes banner in 2020, Ms Gill worked in the media industry as an account director while Mr Karkaria, who graduated from University of Waterloo, Canada, was in financial consulting.

The couple, who have two daughters aged eight and 10, and live in a Bukit Timah landed property, also create social media content on high-end real estate under their Singapore Luxury Homes banner.

Some of their recent top-dollar highlights include the 2023 sale of a $15 million penthouse in Grange Road; a $45 million good class bungalow in Astrid Hill, also in 2023; and a $7.5 million apartment at Ardmore Park in 2020.

Their typical client profile is someone looking for homes in the $5 million to $180 million range.

Ms Gill says her networking and social media branding attracts many professional mums who come to her with specific housing/spatial needs for their families because she understands what it is like to raise kids, while Mr Karkaria specialises in the commercial real estate space based on his prior contacts in the industry.

One key lesson for the pair was never to assume the limits of a person’s wealth from first impressions, or what they say or leave out.

“Clients are funny,” says Ms Gill, adding that it was eye-opening to see them come in with a purported budget of $2 million, but raise this tenfold when they spot a good deal.

“Back then, people dressed in Gucci, but now you have the most unassuming people coming in. You have to take it with a very open mind,” says Ms Gill.

“We’ve had clients who come in shorts and singlets, and they turn out to be multi-millionaires,” says Mr Karkaria. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

And, despite the big money involved, they note that in their experience, big egos and high-drama clients are not the norm.

“Funnily enough, the higher the tier of the person, the more respectful they have been towards us. You might think they’ll be more snooty or difficult to deal with. Actually, they’re easier than the ones who are lower-tier,” says Mr Karkaria.

“The clients in the luxury space know what they want. They have seen much more and have a lot of cultural diversity behind them.”

Ms Gill adds: “Luxury is not a price tag. It’s a way of educating yourself about the finer things in life. You could make an entry-level apartment a luxurious one and live luxuriously. It all comes with that education about the quality of things and how you style the interior.”

Dr Tan Tee Khoon, country manager for PropertyGuru Singapore, notes that excelling as a luxury realtor requires that one understand the unique needs and desires of high-net-worth (HNW) individuals, as well as provide exceptional service.

He adds that 56 per cent of property seekers today consider responsiveness as a key factor when choosing a property agent, and 39 per cent are more likely to choose an agent they know personally, according to PropertyGuru’s latest biannual Consumer Sentiment Survey.

“In the luxury segment, HNW individuals expect agents to provide a personalised experience such as VIP tours and tailored property searches that meet their functional needs and personal aspirations,” adds Dr Tan.

“Building existing relationships with HNW individuals and family offices can open doors to exclusive opportunities. Many luxury realtors also educate themselves on topics like cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and the arts to engage meaningfully with sophisticated property seekers.”

From selling HDB flats to luxury residences

Not all agents take the same approach to looking for clients. Husband-and-wife realtors Shen Jiaming, 45, and Joelle Chew, 43, say that rather than dabble in high society and country clubs, they prefer keeping it all-business with their clients.

“We have colleagues who deal with HNW clients by entertaining them – wine, dine, karaoke until 3am,” says Ms Chew, a Ngee Ann Polytechnic graduate who used to work in the hospitality sector.

“But that’s not our style. Sometimes, clients offer us drinks, but we don’t partake. They appreciate that we do our job professionally.”

The couple lead a 137-agent division under ERA Singapore, and got their start in the luxury residential space after the global financial crisis of 2008 because they spied an opportunity amid the downturn.

“There was a big void in the luxury segment as a lot of agents were moving towards handling HDB flats, whereas we were in the HDB segment and went into luxury when we saw that void,” says Mr Shen, a Singapore Polytechnic graduate and former air force officer.

Over the course of five weeks in 2010, they secured $388 million worth of property listings by reaching out to the owners of new luxury developments. The couple managed to sell only 20 per cent of that, but that experience proved to be a valuable lesson in how different the luxury market is from the mass-market sector.

Some of their recent achievements include the sale of a Namly Hill bungalow for $25.2 million in 2023 and a 16,000 sq ft Sentosa Cove bungalow for $28 million in 2021. In the prime non-landed residential space, they have also sold $8 million condo units at 3 Orchard By-The-Park and Watten House.

“The most important thing is not the strategy: what method you use, throwing fliers, road shows, digital marketing. It’s about the mindset and expectations,” says Ms Chew.

For instance, Mr Shen points to differences in how the ultra-rich approach their property purchases. “We always think of property as investments, but we see that a lot of high-net-worth (HNW) people approach it as collections.

“They might say, ‘I don’t need to stay inside, and I don’t need to rent it out. I’ll just leave it vacant.’ We were quite taken aback.”

While selling points like location and proximity to MRT stations, or the presence of a pool, gym and other amenities are key benefits they would highlight to someone looking to rent a space, the pair have learnt that such details matter less to those looking to expand their prestige property collections. 

Also, HNW clients are turned off by the idea of their properties appearing in advertisements and fliers, preferring more discreet sales, meaning that agents have to get creative with leveraging their networks to bring prospective buyers in.

Mr Jeremy Lim, executive group district director of real estate agency Huttons Asia, concurs with the couple’s assessment and says that “need” versus “want” is a key difference between the mass-market and luxury real estate sectors.

While mass-market buyers approach their property decisions as a “need”, luxury buyers tend to go into the market as a “want”. This also means that buyers in the luxury space require more time to make their decisions as they are in no hurry.

Mr Eugene Lim, key executive officer of ERA Singapore, adds that Singapore’s stable regulatory environment, status as an Asian financial hub and the English-speaking environment make it an attractive destination for high-end buyers from across Asia and the West alike.

“Well-heeled Asian buyers come mainly from China, India and Malaysia, while Western buyers are mainly from the United States as US citizens purchasing their first residential property in Singapore do not need to pay additional buyer’s stamp duty,” Mr Lim says.

Mr Shen and Ms Chew, who have been working together for 17 years, are not the only pairing that have ventured into the real estate trade as a couple. The move makes sense when two like-minded people decide they want to make money together, they say.

And for clients, it means an effective selling proposition: “Buy one, get one free.”

While Mr Shen is more of an artist who is “better with emotions and reading clients”, Ms Chew takes a more behind-the-scenes approach and helps structure difficult deals.

This division of labour typically means that while Mr Shen is the one who starts the conversation with clients and builds rapport, Ms Chew comes in with the research and solutions. “This left-right jab goes on until the client says: ‘We’re in.’”

The pair, who live in a semi-detached landed property in Serangoon Garden with their 18-year-old son, say that this helps them to strike the right balance between logic and emotions, which is ever present in all real estate decisions, no matter the budget.

Mr Shen says that his pitch to clients is simply: “I’m looking for that spark of joy in your eyes.”

That line cuts through the noise, and helps to buy time for more viewings so that the couple can get a sense of what their client is truly looking for.

Says Ms Chew: “My personal take is: when we talk about real estate, there are two feelings clients want to have. One is that they must feel safe – that the one dealing with my property is someone I can trust and is knowledgeable enough.

“The second thing they need to feel is happy – that when I talk to you, engage you, give you my business – I’m happy that you’re going through this journey with me.”

The pair say that while other agents are working towards early retirement, they are more focused on furthering their real estate dreams.

“If we can help our agents on a massive scale and build an empire out of it, if that’s being a mogul, then, yeah, that’s what we’re aiming for,” says Ms Chew.

Referring to twin brothers Brett and Jason Oppenheim who are leading Selling Sunset’s Oppenheim Group, Mr Shen adds: “That’s who we’d like to be more like.”

Mr Shen and Ms Chew are getting there, slowly but surely. While Jason Oppenheim rolls up in a Ferrari Roma, the couple currently get around in a Tesla Model 3.