Derek Soh, the co-founder of Polygon Properties, has a very different view of how a real estate agency should operate.

Derek Soh, co-founder of Polygon Properties.

While other real estate firms emphasise recruitment and sales, Derek Soh aims to build platforms that develop negotiators into entrepreneurs and enables property owners to rely on only one brand to address the entire spectrum of their needs.

How did you decide to become an entrepreneur?

After completing my degree, I returned to the United Kingdom to complete my master’s degree in International Business Management – then I spent a year in the oil and gas industry working for SapuraCrest and Petronas.

While working, I met my first boss, who is an inspiring real estate negotiator – he drove a BMW and he sold 3 or 4 million ringgit houses – now those are probably worth 8 million ringgit. He was successful, drove a nice car, dealt in nice houses, and he was highly sought-after by clients for opinions.

I wanted that kind of career for myself. So after a few months, I decided to leave the oil and gas industry to work in real estate. Being from a family of entrepreneurs, I’ve always wanted to become an entrepreneur and build something for myself.

You’ve earned prestigious awards such as the Most Influential Young Entrepreneur (MIYE) award in 2017 and the Influential Individual award at the StarProperty.my Real Estate Awards in 2018 – what contributed to your success?

I’m blessed to have a group of like-minded business partners who share the same vision of inspiring and improving people’s lives through what we are doing. Working with them has made me who I am today. Beyond having a network of like-minded partners, I believe personal success has a lot to do with consistency, discipline, and adopting an entrepreneurial mind-set.

Agents and negotiators need to have consistency and discipline – but a lot of agents work hard in the beginning, and by the time they make some money they will slow down. Agents and negotiators need to advance beyond being team leaders and think of themselves as businessmen or entrepreneurs specialising in real estate.

The success of Polygon Properties is mostly due to our training and after-sales service programs. For new agents and negotiators, we have something called the Million Dollar Realtor Program (MDRP) – we designed it as a 30-day process with training and day-to-day monitoring.

The intention is that when a new agent or negotiator comes in, we can be confident in saying that if you don’t know anything about the real estate industry, you could follow our program and learn everything you need to know. By the end of the 30 days, we have to make sure the new agents can close at least one or two cases and then they will be considered knowledgeable in the industry and able to operate independently.

In terms of after-sales service, we started the Polygon Customer Care Program (PCCP) – it’s a cost centre, but it is necessary because we want to be known as a trusted brand. The PCCP ensures that property owners can always find help as long as they are our clients.

Even if you cannot find the agent or negotiator, you can call Polygon Properties for after-sales service – if you have plumbing problems, for example, you can call us and we will handle it for you.

How much experience (in terms of years) would you say is necessary for a practising negotiator to become an entrepreneur?

After about five years, any decent negotiator would arrive at a point when they can choose whether to venture into other businesses – because after five years they would have accumulated enough capital and experience – or if they want to continue in the real estate industry by building teams.

The first and second years are about learning the ins and outs of the industry – the third, fourth, and fifth years would be about accumulating capital and networking. After about five years, you would have enough knowledge and practice, you would have met many different people – the good and the bad. Also, you would have some money put aside and you would have built a large enough network to become an entrepreneur.

I made my choice in my fifth year. I had the choice of either becoming an entrepreneur or focusing on real estate with team building. I did both. I focused on building teams, but at the same time I invested in businesses like MaxiHome Management – which is a venture with Vincent Nee focusing on hostel management services for property owners and university students – in addition to various businesses in F&B, lighting shops, renovations, investment and a few others.

Let’s talk facts and figures, what has been your company’s track record so far?

In 2018, Polygon Properties transacted properties worth about 1.3 billion ringgit – which I believe is a very healthy figure for a company that is just two years old. We’re aiming to hit 2 billion ringgit in 2019.

What is your area of speciality in terms of geographic locations?

I believe in diversification, but our Kuala Lumpur office emphasises the greater Kuala Lumpur area – or the central Klang Valley – in places like Mid Valley, Subang, Kepong, and Shah Alam.

Beyond the heart of KL – Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Melaka, and Johor Bahru, are the hotspots. After these five areas, we look overseas. We also have a service office in Guangzhou, China – as buyers there are keen on buying properties in Penang, Melaka, and around KLCC.

Read on for Derek Soh's views of the Malaysian property market in 2019.