Success never came easy for Vincent Lye.
Despite being recognised as a Millionaire Realtor and a Top Commercial Sales Achiever at last year’s SRI Keynote, Lye, a senior sales director with SRI, is quick to downplay his achievements.
Lye’s journey from humble beginnings to forge a successful real estate career was fraught with challenges. He has always been driven by the desire to become financially independent after witnessing his father’s failed business ventures and their experiences with financial hardship.
Working in the food and beverage (F&B) industry since he was just a 15-year-old, Lye is no stranger to the grind.
“I became a bar manager at Tanjong Beach Club and we were running many events, which was very intensive and exhausting,” Lye says. After nearly 10 years in F&B, Lye felt his career prospects were somewhat limited. At the behest of his friend, Lye took a leap of faith and jumped headfirst into real estate.
“The switch happened really fast and I began studying for my real estate salesperson (RES) exams right away,” Lye shares. “At the same time, I was also doing my degree.”
After passing his RES exams, Lye started his career with SG Condo, a boutique investment real estate firm. “I was doing temporary occupation permit (TOP) projects non-stop for the first three years at SG Condo,” Lye recalls. “We were stationed at condominiums from 10am to 8pm almost every day to familiarise ourselves with the units and to standby for any last-minute viewings.”
In addition to the already punishing schedule, Lye had to return to the office to do cold calling three times a week. While it was undoubtedly a challenging experience, Lye credits this period as a growth phase and believes it was instrumental in establishing himself as a condo specialist.
“Back then, we would also study data for specific districts, cold call and survey the market every day,” Lye says. “Slowly but surely, I started becoming an expert on condos. I could tell you the highest transacted psf, the unit size and any relevant details without looking it up.”
Aiming to broaden his knowledge even further in the central core region (CCR), Lye joined a Japanese real estate company as a tenant agent.
“Since my job involves serving tenants and bringing them around, this actually turned out to be a very valuable opportunity as I got to see almost every condo in the CCR,” Lye says.
Having built a solid foundation, Lye began to experience success in condo sales. This focus on fundamentals — from cold calling to advisory — is intrinsic to Lye’s career journey. “I wasn’t coming from a banking or finance background and I literally started from scratch without any contacts or experience,” Lye shares. “It was through the hard work during the first five years that helped me to build up the knowledge, expertise, and credibility responsible for my success today.”
Lye’s confidence in the basics is well-placed. One of his top clients was actually sourced through a cold call. “Through repeated cold calling, I succeeded in helping a wealthy Indonesian client rent some properties. I won his trust, and he allowed me to build out his portfolio,” Lye says. “This included legacy planning for his son, which I further closed the sale of two luxury condos — Boulevard 88 and The Avenir – over Zoom during Covid.”
Though he has carved out a successful niche, an astute Lye also understands the importance of adapting to the market. It’s a crucial mindset that he believes all agents should have as it allows them to give their clients the best possible options. During the circuit breaker lockdowns, Lye extensively researched and studied commercial properties like shophouses and hospitality spaces as alternative investments. His due diligence would pay off.
Lye made inroads in the commercial sector, brokering several major deals which included a $19 million sale of a coffee shop, a $17m shophouse transaction, 6 units of Park Nova worth over $60 million and others. “When the ABSD regulations hit the residential market, I was able to quickly recommend my clients other options that were worth considering,” Lye says. “Because I had developed a prior understanding of commercial properties like retail offices, I assisted my client with a successful portfolio adjustment that exceeded his investment objectives.”
It was a monumental deal — a record $41 million sale of an entire floor of office space at Suntec Tower — catapulting Lye to the vaunted Millionaire Realtor status in SRI. Lye is proud that he was able to pivot quickly to close such a significant commercial deal, despite his expertise mostly revolving around the condo market at the time. This was made possible by the same tenacity and grit that has personified much of his success to date.
Lye’s dedication to his clients and his focus on underlying fundamentals have consistently earned him accolades. Since 2019, Lye has won eight Pegasus awards, three of which were the prestigious Gold category, only reserved for agents who generated over $250,000 in commission a month. Testament to his remarkable consistency, Lye also placed Top 30 in 2021 and broke into the Top 10 rankings last year. As his career has reached new heights, Lye’s journey leads him to believe that others can also replicate his success.
Alongside top executive district director Lester Chen, Andy Goh and Jason Choo, Lye founded SRI Finest in 2021 to cater to big-ticket deals and luxury properties while grooming the new generation of real estate consultants.
“We have a proven and reliable system that helps agents become specialists and accelerate their progress,” Lye shares. “It starts by getting agents to focus on a particular niche in the residential or commercial market. They are trained to have knowledge of their niche right at their fingertips.
This mirrors Lye’s own fundamental approach to understanding the market from the ground up. While he’s confident in the system, Lye is equally sure that there are no shortcuts to success.
“Ultimately, it still comes back to the basic question — Are you willing to put in the work?”
For more information,
Contact Vincent Lye | 90308887
Senior Sales Director (R044151E)
SRI PTE. LTD.
Website: www.vincentlye.com