IN his teens, Ismail Gafoor recoiled at the idea of becoming an entrepreneur. His father was a newspaper vendor and ran a provision shop. Entrepreneurship seemed gruelling, and worse, a dead end.
But since the founding of his brainchild PropNex, his fortunes have burgeoned from those hardscrabble days when his family of five siblings lived in a one-room rental flat.
PropNex is Singapore’s largest listed real estate group with a sales force of 12,000 and counting. Its market capitalisation exceeds S$640 million. Its business has expanded far beyond its initial core activity of HDB sales; it has built “verticals’’ in corporate leasing, with divisions offering services in collective sales and prestige landed properties. Its overseas presence now includes Indonesia, Malaysia and more recently, Australia.
“I thought entrepreneurial life was tough,’’ he recalls. “My dad worked so hard. We never had luxuries, but we felt loved. We didn’t travel because who would look after the business? Entrepreneurship meant being tied and obligated to something. I decided I didn’t want to be an entrepreneur.’’
Yet those gruelling days and the challenges he grappled with – first, as a national serviceman and then a fledgling real estate broker – have helped shaped Gafoor’s ethos. He seems hard-wired with an optimism which spills over and is infectious, grounded in what appears to be hard-won self-awareness.
“One thing about me from young and makes me different is that I dare to make decisions. When I decide on something, my brain is triggered and it must be executed. I never stand in the middle ground. It is tough for people to convince me otherwise unless they have facts. I’m a very logical person.’’
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“In anything we do, we must enjoy the journey. … I’ve come to realise that my job is to bring light to others, so I cannot be down. And I don’t want to be down.’’
His ethos, a blend of discipline, humility and a commitment to meritocracy and a common culture, is integral to PropNex’s “secret sauce’’ and arguably a draw for aspiring sales talent.
His father instilled discipline in his youth with a daily routine that began at 4am to help with the business. That, he said, made the army a “paradise’’. Despite having just an O-level qualification, he was an outstanding trainee and was picked for officer cadet school (OCS) in a cohort of mostly A-level holders from elite schools. “I was happy with anything in the army because life there seemed happier than home. But OCS was a shock. For once, I felt I didn’t belong.
“It took two weeks for me to realise that I’m good enough – in my own way. Many boys talk and talk – but can’t do.’’ He joined the Singapore Armed Forces and was one among a very few to be offered a pension.
But he left the SAF at 32, drawn by the lure of real estate as a path to wealth. By then he had upgraded from a three-room HDB flat to a unit in Normanton Park, and eventually a terrace house. “I want people to benefit just as I benefited (from real estate)… I desired to have a better home, and I achieved that. I believe this is a dream people deserve, to build wealth through real estate. I told my wife, let’s go into real estate; we can make a difference to many people. That passion brought us success.’’
Not long after, his firm teamed up with four other firms to become PropNex in 2000. The companies were bound by a franchise agreement, renewable every two years. Gafoor was convinced that economies of scale would propel growth, but the partnership was flimsy at best. “The initial idea was to bring together like-minded partners, but you cannot grow a company without the right foundations. We weren’t guided by values.’’
The partnership fell apart just two years later. But the silver lining was an opportunity to start afresh – via a merger of the remaining partners. “I decided the company must be guided by values and purpose, not economies of scale.’’
Since then, the group has crystallised its core values in an acronym Care. It spells continuous self improvement; autonomy and entrepreneurship; respect for others; and ethics.
“In any decision, in milliseconds, my brain asks – am I guided by our core values? It’s a filter system and a choice… We exist to make a difference in people’s lives by providing a value-added service, so they can be better off.’’
But is property still a viable path to wealth for young people today? Prices have surged with inflation and demand. Even in the resale HDB market, August data showed 54 million-dollar flat transactions. The previous high was 45 such transactions in September 2022.
Higher stamp duties and financing costs are also a threat to affordability.
He insists that Singapore is still a lucky country where the home ownership rate is high. “It may be more challenging. I don’t paint a rosy picture.’’
“The starting salary today for someone with the right skill set may be S$8,000... There will be people who are dynamic, entrepreneurial, and able to achieve and accumulate wealth. But they are probably in the top percentage of their generation.”
Young people, he said, should not wait to buy property. “You should take a proactive approach to plan your journey of wealth creation through property. You should not wait to save enough for your dream home which may never materialise because of inflation.’’ The route may be via a build-to-order public flat or a resale flat.
Young people, he says, should carefully consider the implications of applying for a HDB Plus BTO unit, which comes with restrictions which are likely to dampen price appreciation. HDB Plus units will be in choice locations and enjoy higher subsidies. But the minimum occupation period (MOP) is 10 years; and they can only be resold to buyers who satisfy the household income ceiling of S$14,000.
He says the long MOP means young couples need to consider how their nuclear family may change with children and perhaps a parent eventually living with them. A family could outgrow a three-room unit too soon.
“Can a young person buy a private property? I say yes, but what is within your budget? If you’re emotional and over-stretch your finances and can’t afford to hold onto the property, you will lose money. Or you may buy a unit but misunderstand the concept of lease decay, and the wealth creation may not happen.’’
Even with its prodigious growth so far, PropNex has set its sights on bigger things. It is aiming for a sales force of 15,000, giving it a 50 per cent share of all registered agents in Singapore. The firm claims a share of 65 per cent of the HDB resale market and 60 per cent of private resale. Even in landed resale, its share exceeds 47 per cent.
Propnex has embraced technology in its quest to add value to clients. With its market share, it is able to aggregate real-time data on caveats, sale and lease transactions as they happen, instead of waiting for transactions to be reflected in official data. Such up-to-date inputs are invaluable for clients’ decision-making.
Meanwhile, Gafoor has activated his succession plan. The firm recently announced the appointment of Kelvin Fong as deputy chief executive. Five agency team leaders were promoted to agency vice-presidents. Gafoor says the developments reflect the firm’s commitment to meritocracy.
“I owe my success to meritocracy. A business is about appointing the right person to lead; that’s the only way the interests of people are taken care of. Many companies fail because they don’t have a structured process to nurture the best talent and to enable people to rise up the ladder. Any young person can be a leader in 15 to 20 years.’’
“Our strength is not just about our training or technology. Those things can be replicated. But it’s hard to copy our culture which is about respecting people and sharing.
“We tell our people that you can only be successful when you make others successful. That’s one reason we’re able to retain people and grow; people want to learn from us.’’
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