Many Singaporeans who’ve decided to settle down in their 20s may be familiar with the struggle to afford their first Build-To-Order (BTO) flats.
The exception perhaps lies in Christian Oh, who owned not one, but eight properties by the age of 26. He is also currently the investment director of a local real estate company.
Source: @Chrisoqy on Instagram
However, the success he enjoys today didn’t come easy, as Oh once had to break a six-figure bond with the Ministry of Education (MOE) in order to enter the real estate market full-time.
Sharing his backstory on an episode of the JNA Real Estate video podcast, Oh claimed that he excelled academically in his teens and eventually secured an MOE scholarship.
While most people would go to great lengths to secure a Government scholarship, Oh decided on something quite maverick.
In order to pursue real estate full-time, he apparently broke his bond with MOE, incurring a six-figure sum in the process.
When asked why he decided to dive into the property market at 22, Oh attributed the move to “divine intervention”. However, he also admitted that he wanted to make a change in an industry which “spoke a lot to him”.
In particular, Oh felt that opinions in the real estate market are “not as objective”. Therefore, he felt that there are things he could do to change “the entire landscape”.
Another factor that played a key role in convincing Oh to join the real estate market was his firsthand experience in his younger years.
Recounting the incident, Oh shared that his father had wanted to sell his BTO flat to upgrade to a condominium back in 2009.
However, his father was allegedly ill-advised by a realtor to “over-leverage” and purchase a second condo unit, even though the HDB unit had yet to be sold.
He subsequently ran into difficulties managing his mortgage and debts and had to sell off both condominium units to ‘start anew’. Oh’s father then moved back to a three-room flat in Ang Mo Kio.
Despite his financial troubles, Oh’s father kept the situation away from him and continued to keep the family going.
For this, Oh said he’s “very thankful” for his father. He also shared that the experience motivated him when he made the foray into real estate.
Things were unfortunately not all smooth-sailing for Oh when he first joined the property market.
In fact, his ‘breakthrough’ only came close to a year after joining real estate.
JNA founder Jevis Ng, who hosts the podcast and has been a friend for 17 years, recalled an incident when Oh passionately shared about a “potential product” that he wanted to present to a client.
Describing Oh as someone who’s “obsessed with numbers”, Ng jokingly called his former schoolmate a “geek”.
Today, Oh is the director of investment at JNA Real Estate and is in charge of setting out the investment strategies for clients and brokers in the company.
Source: @chrisoqy on Instagram
By the young age of 26, Oh already owned eight properties — seven local and one overseas. Ng also mentioned in the podcast that Oh has already done sufficiently well to “retire already”.
Seeing how far he has come after enduring setbacks and taking a chance at changing his career paths, we’re sure Oh and his loved ones have a lot to be proud of. Here’s wishing him the best of luck and continued success.
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Featured image adapted from @Chrisoqy on Instagram and Instagram.
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