Banking on real estate know-how to invest

70% of PropNex agent's portfolio is in property, 30% in bonds and blue chips

Lorna Tan
Invest Editor/Senior Correspondent


Growing up in a low-income household is a challenge for anyone but property executive Stewart Lim was fortunate in that his parents had a sound exit strategy - education.

His now-retired father used to work as a concrete-mixer driver while his mother is a clerk in a construction firm.

They saved most of their salaries to provide Mr Lim, now 30, and his two younger sisters the funds for tertiary education, which they saw as a sure-fire way to break out of the poverty cycle.

Mr Lim, an associate group director at real estate firm PropNex, recalls helping at his uncle's food stall during his secondary school days.

"I was 14 and was paid $5 an hour. My tasks were to cut vegetables and wash the dishes. I was grateful for the opportunity given and hardship that I had been through," he says.

His life experiences taught him that to make money, he needs to constantly improve his skills by attending various courses and saving most of his earnings.

This mindset led him to invest $1,252 of his hard-earned savings from working full time as a swimming instructor in a real estate salesman course with Real Centre Network in 2011.

A year later, he started studying for an engineering degree.

"I was holding three different roles (student/swimming instructor/real estate salesman) during my university days. My aim was to pay off the tuition fees and living expenses without taking any loan or troubling my parents," says Mr Lim, who is not married.

He obtained a degree in mechanical design engineering from the University of Glasgow, administered by the Singapore Institute of Technology, in 2013.

Q Describe your home.
A My home is a four-room Housing Board flat in Bukit Panjang, where I live with my parents and two younger sisters.

This is where I spent my growing-up years with my family. It is my parents' first home after moving from Lim Chu Kang kampung, when I was born in 1988.

I like the location with its accessibility to shopping malls, amenities, parks and sports facilities.

Q What's in your property portfolio?
A In 2015, I bought my first property at the age of 26. It was a 570 sq ft two-bedroom apartment with one bathroom at High Park Residences in Sengkang at $636,000. It is expected to receive its Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) status by June and I am looking at a potential rental yield of 2 per cent.

Two years later, I bought my second property, Le Quest in Bukit Batok, a 495 sq ft one-plus-study unit at $652,000. It will obtain its TOP in 2021.

I am targeting capital appreciation of between 10 and 20 per cent in view of the growing young generation in Sengkang and government plans of creating the new Tengah town.

As a real estate salesman, I have the latest market updates, partly based on supply and demand issues, plus an understanding of developers' pricing strategies, before making a decision.

Q Describe your property investing strategy.
A Putting to good use what I have learnt from PropNex, I will monitor the surrounding future development plans by the Urban Redevelopment Authority before considering the entry price and the unique selling point of the property.

I plan to upgrade to a bigger unit in the next five years and it could be a landed property or a four-bedroom private condominium for my family to enjoy.

Q What's your view of the property market?
A Given Singapore's stable political environment and many upcoming exciting developments in different parts of the island, I believe the property market will continue to grow steadily and rapidly over the years, due to the limited supply of land and population increase.

Q What's your financing strategy?
A I took a bank loan with floating interest for my first property and subsequently refinanced it to a fixed interest rate mortgage due to the volatile market.

For the second property, I adopted a "forced savings" method to pay for the progressive payment without taking any loan. This drives me to work harder to make any payment I need to.

Q Do you have insurance cover for property and contents?
A My insurance coverage consists of mortgage insurance for the properties and my personal term plan for critical illness, hospitalisation and death.

Q What's your overall investing strategy?
A As a real estate salesman, I walk the talk by placing 70 per cent of my investment portfolio in real estate and 30 per cent in Singapore bonds and blue-chip stocks.

Q My dream home is...
A My dream house will be a landed property or a four-bedroom condominium in the western part of Singapore, where I can live close to my relatives and occasionally host gatherings for family or friends.

I wish to provide more space for my parents to actively engage in their hobbies like gardening, working out and cooking.