Propnex CEO Ismail Gafoor Shares His Success Story

The chief executive of one of Singapore’s largest real estate firms reveals how he conquers the local property brokerage market with a culture of care

With more than 25 years in the real estate industry, it is unsurprising that PropNex executive chairman and CEO Ismail Gafoor should identify with the game of Monopoly, where players compete to build a property portfolio without losing their metaphorical pants.

A favourite family pastime—and one which he consistently won until his children wised up to the strategies—it became an education tool that PropNex could use to teach consumers about residential property investment in Singapore. This May, the company launched a nationwide Monopoly competition, with the game tweaked to account for the city state’s different property segments, multiple home ownership and cooling measures. The key to winning, according to Gafoor, is the ability to make decisions. “Sometimes, you hold on to property for emotional reasons, which will not give you results,” he says. “Winning is all about upgrading or disposing, while ensuring your cash flow is there.”

Above Ismail Gafoor on the November 2022 cover of Tatler Singapore

In other words, it is about calculated risk and methodical acquisition, the approach that Gafoor, who has a bachelor’s degree in land economics from the University of Technology Sydney, adopted to expand PropNex from a two‑person operation in 1996 to Singapore’s largest real estate agency in terms of sales staff. As of January 2022, PropNex has about 10,800 sales agents—roughly 30 per cent more than its closest competitor, ERA Realty Network. Last year, a bumper period for Singapore real estate, PropNex recorded revenue of $957.5 million, $65.1 million of which was net profit, a 108.6 per cent jump from the year before.

Gafoor, who controls about 65 per cent of the company, has come a long way. The 59‑year‑old entrepreneur grew up in a one‑room HDB rental flat he shared with his parents and five siblings. As a boy, he delivered newspapers for four cents each. While serving in the Singapore Army, he discovered a more efficient way of making money. A friend’s uncle had earned $250,000 from a house sale and Gafoor figured that four such transactions would make him a millionaire. His ambition sparked, Gafoor left the Singapore Armed Forces in 1995 and, a year later, started a real estate business, Nooris Consultants, with his wife.

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Above Ismail wears his own outfit and watch

Convinced that he needed economies of scale to succeed, he teamed up with four other agencies in 2000 to form PropNex, only to have the partnership fall apart due to differing values. The blow was an invaluable lesson for the businessman. He joined forces with the remaining partners with the understanding that they would collaborate, instead of compete, with one another to grow the company. A key merger with Dennis Wee Group (DWG) in 2017 transformed PropNex into Singapore’s biggest real estate agency. It went public in 2018 and has ambitions to dominate the market in Southeast Asia, having established offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia in the past six years.

Above Ismail wears a Ralph Lauren tie, his own outfit and watch

MUCH TO SMILE ABOUT

Gafoor has much to be cheerful about. “I’m a happy person,” he says in between munches of biscuit he is eating for energy after the photo shoot for this story. He is referring to his general character and not his achievements, and jokes about his name sounding like “Is‑smile”. He admits that he likes to talk: to be sure, his presence on social media as well as professional and consumer educational platforms shows him to be a tireless champion of his business, staff and family. He likes to use the word “love”, sometimes with the lofty adjective “unconditional”, to explain PropNex’s success, which hinges on the company looking out for its employees.

“It’s unconditional love, truly,” says Gafoor, that allows him to be equanimous about departing staff. “If they choose to leave me for opportunities elsewhere, I’m not upset. If they come back, my heart is big enough not to harbour anger.” He adds that unconditional love is the basis of the company’s “rich sharing culture, where people can be unselfish about spreading knowledge”.

Pre‑pandemic, PropNex organised monthly boot camps where employees were split into groups of five to learn from successful salespeople. Two thousand agents were trained annually, and by someone other than their team leader. When the circuit breaker was announced in April 2020, the company immediately introduced an online education programme that helped home‑bound sales agents continue to improve their professionalism and skills.

Training is abundant and continuous. Gafoor’s mantra is “the day [an employee feels a] company ceases to add value to its people is the day they should leave”. He is not proselytising. Dennis Wee, founder of DWG, cited people development as the reason he decided to merge with PropNex in 2017, despite offers from other industry big boys.

STRIVE TO SUCCEED

There are still hurdles to be conquered to benefit from this unconditional love from the boss. When his eldest daughter, Noorisha Gafoor, 25, expressed an interest in working with him, Gafoor threw her into an entry‑level position. “No one is entitled,” he says. And there is no plan for her to follow in his footsteps. “I don’t want to pass the business to my family. No, no, no!” he insists. “There was never such a desire. I always feel the best man should lead the company.”

The succession plan is already in place, initiated by Gafoor when he turned 50. While he will remain as executive chairman, the CEO reins will be passed to his deputy, executive director Kelvin Fong, who is 12 years his junior. At the time of publication, PropNex has a market cap of about $520 million, having grown roughly 115 per cent from when it was listed four years ago; the red‑hot real estate market in 2021 helped. Says Gafoor: “Even if you’re the best, there will be new norms and requirements. To have a feel of the ground and the people, the next generation has to lead. To me, leadership is not like running a marathon, which has an end point, but like running a relay. You pass the baton on to the next person, and stand aside and marvel at the team being so good—better than you. You have that satisfaction. That’s true leadership.”

Above Ismail wears a Ralph Lauren jacket, shirt, and his own trousers, watch, bangle

Among the challenges of the next lap is improving efficiency and services through digital innovation. Foraying into proptech, the group has bought a 70 per cent stake in Ovvy – The People Marketplace, an app that connects customers needing household fixes to service providers. And, responding to the trend of mainland Chinese buyers returning to Singapore’s property market, PropNex has updated its website to offer bilingual content, an industry first.

This January, the company expanded into the Good Class Bungalow (GCB) market, which it had previously avoided because the segment is too niche and there are other players. “Many of our investors who bought penthouses from us will become citizens in a matter of time. When that happens, it’s their right to buy a GCB and if we’re not there, we’re going to miss out.”

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Gafoor himself has upgraded from the one-room flat of his youth to a bungalow with land to raise pet chickens; his elderly parents and children live with him. Last month, he drove Formula One McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo in his vintage-inspired Morgan, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the car token in Monopoly, in the F1 Drivers Track Parade. “I’d like to think our conversation motivated him to go from 16th to fifth place in the Singapore Grand Prix,” says Gafoor.

Despite all the success, his tough love extends to his younger children, 18-year-old twins. His son is a go-kart driver, with aspirations of becoming an F1 driver, and his daughter, an aspiring model, and the family lived without a domestic helper for years. He himself worked hard to get ahead and is instilling that same work ethic in his children, never forgetting his roots. “My dad was an immigrant from India, my parents didn’t even have a room to start with. What I and my children have now … they’re lucky. They’re blessed.” While his children may now be able to beat him at Monopoly, Gafoor is winning in the game of life.

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Credits

Photography

Darren Gabriel Leow

Styling

Adriel Chiun

Grooming

Angel Gwee

Outfit