From construction sites to client homes: how Lissa’s 25 years in development makes her a different kind of property agent

By Lissa  |  JLT Realtors

Published: jltrealtorsg.com

Most people become property agents and then learn about real estate. I did it the other way around.

Before I ever helped a single client buy or sell a home, I had spent over 25 years working inside the construction and development industry — running projects, costing materials, advising on specifications, and watching buildings come to life from the ground up. When I eventually became a licensed property agent in Singapore, I wasn’t starting from scratch. I was completing a full circle.

This post is about what that background actually means for my clients — not as a credentials exercise, but as a practical explanation of why the experience gap between agents matters enormously when you’re making one of the biggest financial decisions of your life.

What 25 years in construction development actually taught me

My career spanned construction project management, specialised architectural materials, and certified costing accounting. That combination is unusual — and it turns out to be exactly the right preparation for real estate.

Here is what each part of that background contributes:

Construction project management: I know how buildings are made

Running construction projects means understanding the full lifecycle of a building — from structural design and contractor management to defects liability periods and handover. I have sat on both sides of the table: as the person responsible for delivery, and as the person signing off on quality.

When I walk through a property today, I’m not guessing at what I see. I know what a properly constructed ceiling void looks like versus one that has been patched. I can read the signs of a good contractor versus a rushed one. I understand what “maintained to a high standard” actually means structurally, versus what it means cosmetically.

Specialised architectural materials: I know what things are worth

Not all marble is equal. Not all timber flooring holds its value. Not all stone cladding weathers the same way in Singapore’s climate. My background in architectural materials means I can look at a renovation and tell you whether the finishes used were genuinely premium or whether they were premium-looking at the time of installation.

This matters when you are buying a resale unit where someone else’s renovation is already baked into the asking price. I can assess whether those finishes justify the premium, whether they will need replacing in five years, and whether the materials used were sourced and installed correctly.

Certified costing accounting: I know what things actually cost

This is perhaps the most directly useful skill I bring to a property transaction. As a certified costing accountant who has managed project budgets across many construction developments, I can produce accurate cost estimates for renovation, reinstatement, and rectification work — not as rough guesses, but as structured assessments based on current market rates and real project experience.

Most buyers receive renovation quotes only after they have already committed to a purchase. By then, the numbers are no longer negotiating tools — they are just costs to absorb. I give my clients those numbers before they sign anything.

What the “full circle” looks like in practice

Let me give you a concrete example of how this works during a typical property search.

A client was considering a resale condo unit in a development built in the mid-1990s. The asking price reflected a recent renovation — new kitchen, new bathrooms, fresh paint throughout. It looked beautiful. The seller’s agent described it as “move-in ready.”

During the viewing, I identified:

•         The kitchen renovation had used attractive but low-grade stone countertops that would show wear within 3–4 years

•         The bathroom waterproofing had not been redone despite the full retile — a significant omission that typically costs $4,000–6,000 per bathroom to rectify properly

•         The electrical distribution board had not been upgraded and was running on original 1990s fittings, creating a potential safety and insurance issue

•         The timber flooring in the living area was a laminate product, not solid timber, and had already begun to lift slightly at one edge — indicating moisture ingress from below

Total remediation cost estimate: approximately $28,000–35,000 on top of the purchase price.

Armed with a specific, itemised assessment, my client negotiated a price reduction that more than covered those costs. The unit they bought still looked beautiful — they simply paid a price that reflected its true condition, not its cosmetic presentation.

Why this matters more in Singapore’s resale market than anywhere else

Singapore’s private resale condo market is unique. Units are often sold with renovations intact — sometimes decades-old renovations presented as recent. The tropical climate accelerates material degradation in ways that buyers from other markets don’t always anticipate. And the premium placed on “move-in ready” units means cosmetic improvements are frequently used to justify asking prices that don’t reflect the underlying condition.

Add to this the fact that renovation costs in Singapore have risen significantly in recent years — contractor rates are up, material costs have increased, and lead times have lengthened. A property that “just needs a light touch” in 2024 language might mean $60,000–80,000 if you want it done properly.

Buyers who go in without accurate cost intelligence almost always overpay — not because they were careless, but because they didn’t have the right person in their corner.

What I bring to the selling side too

My background isn’t only useful when buying. If you are selling, I can help you make strategic decisions about pre-sale improvements that will genuinely move the needle on your asking price — and talk you out of spending money on things that won’t.

Common advice from less experienced agents: “refurbish the whole kitchen.” My advice is more precise:

•         Replace cabinet doors and hardware rather than the full kitchen — same visual impact at 20% of the cost

•         Invest in professional deep cleaning and grout restoration before any new tiling

•         Fix visible defects that sophisticated buyers will use as negotiation leverage

•         Leave cosmetic choices (paint colours, soft furnishings) neutral and minimal — buyers prefer to imagine their own vision

The goal is always the same: maximum return on whatever you spend before the sale.

Why I became a property agent after all of this

People sometimes ask why someone with my background would move into real estate. The honest answer is that I watched too many people — family, friends, acquaintances — make expensive property decisions without the information they needed to make them well.

Property in Singapore is not just a home. For most families, it is the single largest store of wealth they will ever build. The stakes are too high to leave to chance, to charm, or to an agent whose main skill is closing deals quickly.

Together with Jimmy — whose 30 years in construction gives us a combined depth of expertise that is genuinely rare in this industry — we built JLT Realtors around a simple idea:

our clients should have the same quality of information that a developer or construction professional would have, brought to bear on their personal property decision.

That is the full circle. And it is why we do what we do.

Work with Lissa and Jimmy

Whether you’re buying, selling, or simply trying to understand what your property is really worth, we bring a depth of construction and development expertise that most agents simply don’t have. Book a free consultation at jltrealtorsg.com.