Special Feature

Fendy Lee: Unlocking the potential of future top producers

July 5, 2024 3:30 PM SGT

Lee shares insights behind the success of Fendy Lee Group, which has gone from strength to strength since its formation 2013.

"Every agent is different and requires their own way to excel." — Fendy Lee

Fendy Lee has been a constant figure in the real estate industry for almost two decades. A successful realtor, the senior group district director at Huttons Asia has also carved a reputation as a big-hearted leader who constantly seeks to help others achieve their goals.

Lee heads the Fendy Lee Group (FLG), a prolific team at Huttons that has steadily gone from strength to strength since its formation in 2013. A team under the established Rex Tan Division, FLG has consistently ranked among the top-performing groups at the agency. In 2023, the group racked up over $11 million in commissions, with Lee crowned the second runner-up top senior group district director.

Fendy Lee Group (FLG) has consistently ranked among the top-performing groups at Huttons Asia, racking up over $11 million in commissions in 2023 (Picture: Albert Chua/The Edge Singapore)

FLG’s success is underpinned by its track record of yielding top producers comprising both new agents and seasoned professionals. Just last month, one of Lee’s team members, Lawrence Quek, was awarded Huttons’ top-ranking rookie for the first quarter of the year, marking a stellar career kick-off for Quek, who joined FLG last September.

On the other end of the spectrum, Hugo Xu, a member of FLG for over a decade, recently won awards for Rising Millionaire award and the top associate group district director in 2023.

Success stories such as Quek’s and Xu’s are common in FLG, which has turned out multiple millionaire producers. And yet, despite being a driving force behind these achievements, Lee maintains a relatively low profile, underpinned by a friendly, down-to-earth personality.

FLG's 10th-year anniversary award ceremony (Picture: Fendy Lee)

Setting the right values

Lee’s unpretentious nature is a product of his unique upbringing. Born in Indonesia to a Singaporean mother and Indonesian father, Lee grew up in the sprawling archipelago until he was eight. Following his parents’ divorce, he moved to Singapore with his mother, staying in a modest three-room HDB flat on Circuit Road.

Lee recalls the challenges he went through growing up as he adapted to life in Singapore and a new step-family after his mother remarried. “Growing up, I had ups and downs. However, I see that as a good thing. It shaped my values and helped me figure out what to prioritise in life,” he reflects.

Those formative years shaped Lee into a self-motivated, driven individual. He sailed through school and went on to study business informatics, specialising in IT at a local polytechnic. While doing his national service in the army, he was appointed a deputy officer in command at Paya Lebar Air Base. When Lee completed his service, he began his real estate career in 2007.

Lee conducting training for Huttons agents (Picture: Fendy Lee)

Non-linear growth

Lee has been an agent for nearly 17 years. But his path to success hasn’t always been straightforward. In his early years, despite building a good base of clients and a burgeoning team, Lee was floundering. “I was a top producer at the agency I was in at the time, but I didn’t have any savings,” he recounts.

The problem was the excessive marketing expenses he was forking out to generate leads. At one point, Lee led a team of 10 people, with the group collectively grossing commissions of about half a million yearly. However, after subtracting costs, Lee brought home a pay of less than $30,000 a year.

Things got to a stage when he was considering calling it quits. “I thought I should return to an office job that gave me more stability,” he says. But fate had different plans.

After thoroughly contemplating his options, Lee decided to switch from the agency he was with to join Huttons in 2013. This proved to be a catalyst, helping Lee get access to new resources and opportunities. But even then, there were still setbacks. “One of the earliest deals I worked on [after joining Huttons] was the sale of a condo penthouse, but the buyer eventually chose not to exercise the option,” he remembers.

Lee at a new launch project team briefing session (Picture: Fendy Lee)

Lee persevered, painstakingly figuring out the best ways to optimise his work, reduce costs, and craft a model that would produce sustainable and consistent results. Over a decade later, he has built a fruitful career across multiple segments of the property market, including new condo launches and the private and public resale market.

At the same time, Lee has flourished as a team leader, with about 260 members under his team as of the end of April. Along the way, he has become an established trainer, earning his accreditation as a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) trainer and regularly conducting courses for Huttons’ agents.

Proven models for consistent success

Lee’s quality as a leader has its roots going back to his childhood. “I’ve held leadership roles since I was young. I remember my school friends saying I should become a minister,” he laughingly recalls.

As an agent, those leadership skills shone through as Lee started sharing his proven methods for working with friends and colleagues. This led to more people seeking out his guidance. “I saw a lot of agents were making the same sort of mistakes I used to make and weren’t able to earn a sustainable income or were stuck in a rut,” he says.

As he took more agents under his wing, Lee was motivated to create training systems that would make it easy for his team members to learn and grow. He mapped out two game-changing systems – The Complete Circuit (TCC) and Accelerated Asset Progression (AAP).

Lee conducting training for Rex Tan Division (RTD) teammates (Picture: Fendy Lee)

TCC tackles the fundamental goal of earning a consistent income as a real estate salesperson. It walks agents through four foundational areas (Leads, Report, Analyse and Connect) that cover the end-to-end skills required to generate sustainable earnings. This includes everything from targeting leads and conducting research to doing technical analysis and cultivating soft skills.

AAP, on the other hand, is an innovative programme targeted at supercharging a salesperson’s career. Lee created the system so agents can learn how to attain true longevity in the industry. “As agents, we often do asset progression planning for our clients, but we don’t do it for ourselves in terms of building a long-term pipeline of clients and future leads,” he observes.

The solution, he says, is that an agent should view their career like a business or store owner. “Every agent needs an ‘inventory’ of listings at all times,” Lee says. Those listings must be built through a primary source of resale properties, coupled with an additional source from new launches.

Lee uses food as an analogy, noting that resale properties should be the “main dish” that drives agents’ income, while new launches are the dessert. “Agents often fall into the trap of relying on just new launches because these are usually faster to close. But new launches fluctuate depending on the market, which can impact income,” Lee cautions.

Ultimately, the truly successful agent has an income structure built on a solid base of resale transactions, a secondary base of new launches, and additional earnings, which Lee likens to insurance, through rental listings. “You need to have a balance of everything and be proficient in serving clients in all these capacities.”

Lee receiving the award for Top Senior Group District Director in March 2023 (Picture: Fendy Lee)

Growing together

With the TCC and AAP systems, FLG excels in providing its members with a structured way of learning and progressing in their careers. But another crucial aspect, says Lee, is the team itself. “We [FLG] work as a close-knit community, helping each other to grow.”

Having that community to lean back on is vital for an agent, as the work can sometimes feel lonely or isolating. In an industry that can be hypercompetitive at times, Lee opts for the opposite approach, fostering a team culture built on giving and sharing. He maintains a flat hierarchy in the group, with input and ideas welcomed from all members, whether new or old.

Lee believes the culture of the group lies in the values his team upholds. “Our core values are fun, love and gratitude,” he says, adding that the values were carefully selected based on the abbreviation “FLG” to ensure they were entrenched within the group.

Lee: True purpose in life comes not from making money but from providing value to those you love and to the people around you (Picture: Albert Chua/The Edge Singapore)

The values reflect a priority not centred around materialistic values, which is what Lee is passionate about. “My priority in life has always been my family, and I understand that true purpose in life comes not from making money but from providing value to those you love and to the people around you,” he contemplates.

That desire to add value has prompted Lee — and by extension, FLG — to be involved in numerous charity initiatives. Recently, Lee helped raise funds for Prison Fellowship Singapore (a non-profit that reaches out and provides rehabilitation-focused help for prisoners, ex-offenders and their families) by selling t-shirts, with the proceeds going to the organisation.

Tailored mentoring

Lee hopes that by instilling the right values in his team, his members will find solid meaning and purpose behind their work. “It’s easy to join the industry thinking that it’s about having the flashiest lifestyle or earning the most money, but for me, the true value is in giving back where you can,” he remarks.

In tandem with this philosophy, FLG operates on a basis of integrity and professionalism, rather than focusing on outward appearances or status. “Anyone can be a good and successful agent, regardless of their background,” declares Lee. For him, it is about putting in the work, treating others with respect, and having a bigger purpose in life beyond wealth.

The FLG team at Lee's newborn celebration in 2024 (Picture: Albert Chua/The Edge Singapore)

This grounded way of thinking permeates Lee’s mentoring style. Striving to balance rationality and empathy, he is constantly seeking ways to build up each team member. To that extent, Lee’s mentoring is tailored to each agent, catering to their individual personalities and merits. “Some agents need more structure, while others need autonomy. Some agents are more inclined to number-crunching, while others love relationship building,” he notes.

Lee identifies these strengths and weaknesses through one-on-one sessions, helping to figure out the unique roadmap that will unlock the potential of each agent. “Every agent is different and requires their own way to excel,” he says. In that sense, he views himself as a chameleon. “It’s not about me, but rather it’s about matching my style of leadership with various people in a way that best suits them.”

In the vast world of real estate, Lee’s humble and purposeful approach to mentorship sets him apart as a shining beacon for agents everywhere.