The Merge… What Exactly Happened

At around late 2009, when I was still working under my first company, I was serving a buyer and brought them to view one of the most beautiful and luxurious HDB estates in Singapore, Forfar Heights at Strathmore Avenue.

Forfar Heights can be a really complicated matter for us realtors when it comes to marketing apartments like these. Well firstly, the estate is only three years old in 2009, therefore most Singaporeans will not be allowed to sell their apartments, because of the minimum occupation period (MOP) rule set by the HDB.

Second, it’s one of the most sought-after areas to live in Singapore, even for private apartments. Queens Condominium, The Metropolitan, are a few examples of the condominium in the vicinity.

Then it comes to the pricing. The selling price of the HDB flats in the area is considered to be pretty high as compared to the usual HDB prices in other areas. Therefore, when it comes to bringing buyers to view the unit, we really want to make sure they can afford the apartment first.

Truth is, the prices for these HDB flats are so high, most people who are able to afford flats like these are able to afford condominiums already.

After all that’s been said, Forfar Heights is truly one of the nicest HDB apartments in Singapore.

“Nice” seem to be a very general term, so let me pen down some of the cosmetic attributes here.

• Highest storey is 40th floor. (If I remember correctly, the highest storey of HDB apartments then as Pinnacle @ Duxton wasn’t built yet)
• Strathmore Avenue is literally a 5-minutes drive away from Orchard Road
• It is possible to see the sea from the top floors.

Basically, it is as if living in a condominium estate with the lack of facilities.

So anyway, I brought my client to view one of the apartments there with a co-broke agent named Benson and she made a commitment on the very day we viewed the place.

And that was the very day Benson and I sold one of the most, if not THE MOST expensive (as according to an article in the newpaper)  HDB flat in 2009.

Fast-forward a few months, and I was unhappy with my manager in my company to say the least, and the second appointment date for the transaction was approaching. So Benson called me a few days prior to the second appointment for some arrangements, and he learned that I had expressions to leave the company.

We met up, had a chat, and I decided to join Benson in KF Property Network as I needed a change of pace in my career.

At the time when I joined Benson’s team, we came up with the team name SRI which stands for Singapore Realtors Inc.

The main motivations for establishing the team name was to provide true professionalism and ethics in our service, as we have met too many people with the opposite.

As the team slowly expanded, we created a bond and or the first time in my life, I enjoyed every single minute of work with the team.

Months passed, and we know we definitely made a difference in the Real Estate Industry.

However, as we meet up with people in our line all the time, we come across brilliant ideas from brilliant people all the time.

And then we met Bruce and his team, the Team 5000 which specialize in a different sector of the business across the industry, the great ideas fused and a new team was formed.

On the 8th of October, 2010, marks the day of the official merger of SRI Group and Team 5000, to be renamed as SRI5000.

This is what exactly happened on my page of the book, and if you have read this far, I hope you find this story fulfilling.