Born into a less-than average family in 1981, my grandparents and parents struggled to provide for the family. My parents encouraged us to do well in our studies as apart from sincere prayers and supplications, it is the next best effort we can make to change lives. I always felt excited to learn about new things and I was self-motivated to attend good schools and do well in my studies. This was all with the aim to provide a better life for my parents and grandparents.

It really helped that I loved learning and doing well in exams. For the past four decades, I was blessed to have attended good schools, graduated from local and overseas universities, worked in the public and private sectors, and forged meaningful relationships with people from all walks of life. Wherever I go, I pass on the beacon that changed my life and my family’s –  the message that education is really important to change your life.

I became a secondary school teacher as my first career, before becoming an Assistant Director in a department within Ministry of Finance. Following that, I ventured to work at Singapore Aviation Academy before going into the private sector and traveled on the job. When I decided to settle down in 2014, I became an Associate Lecturer in Republic Polytechnic (where I lectured on Cognitive Processes and Problem Solving Skills, as well as subjects Tourism & Hospitality modules) and while focusing on real estate full-time.

My parents made a costly mistake in their property decision. They first owned a 3rm HDB and upgraded to an Executive Apartment (EA) in 1997 as they wanted to provide a more comfortable life for their three children. Their intention was good and the whole family was overjoyed when he bought the EA.

However, came the 1998 economic crisis and my father got retrenched. He drove taxi to make ends meet and had to pay $2000 worth of cash as his monthly mortgage.

It was really a lot for a single-incomed family and I realized that my father was not prepared with any reserves to tide over such an unfortunate situation. He persevered and drove taxi for the next ten years, my mother went back to her admin-support job, I gave tuition while going through A-Levels and NUS, and proceeded to NTU-NIE to quickly secure a job. My sibling and I were lucky to have made it to tertiary education despite the challenges.

When my father finally sold the EA, it was a negative sale and he lost $170,000 of his hard- earned CPF OA.

Then I realized… my parents could have experienced a better real estate journey.

And I was bent on not making the same mistake. And I wanted to save others from losing money through their properties.

My personal humble journey began with a resale EA in Woodlands, in 2006. When I sold it in 2012, I made a profit of about $200,000. I always inspire others to make wise property-related decisions by telling them that the only time I see a sudden six-digit figure in my bank account is when I sell my own property.

Following that, instead of moving to a private property, my husband and I got a 3rm BTO unit in Punggol East. (I will share with you why this decision at length when we meet.) And when we sold the BTO, we got a profit of $230,000.

Today, I got myself a 3bedder Freehold unit in District 15 while my husband is deciding on which property to invest in. (Yes, I told him not to take too long to decide.) And this is Asset Progression. You don’t have to always upgrade in the size of your property in Asset Progression.

Let’s meet up for a drink so that I can share more.