When you sell something, you must be able to know your product in and out. Whether it is insurance or a mutual trust fund, it is the same in any industry. Knowing only half about your product can be a disadvantage when it comes to selling.
In the real estate industry, there are industrial, residential, land, commercial, and high-rise properties (such as service residences, condos, etc.), low-rise properties (apartments, flats, etc.), and there are also freeholds and leaseholds. Some freeholds are with consent, and some leaseholds are also with consent.
When you start to focus on certain categories, you must also be able to know other details too—for example, built-up area, land area, ceiling height, electricity power (amps), the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, width and length, balance of leasehold, whether it is an individual title or individual strata title, and whether it is a temporary title.
When you are selling a property, you must also get to know the owner(s) of the said property—whether it is a single owner, joint owners, or even multiple owners. I will come to this part in another case story, where one owner decided not to sell and how the deal ended up.
Knowing your product is important, while the rest of the legalities can be surrendered to your trusted solicitor to handle all the legal matters, to ensure the deal goes through smoothly.
I know some agents only focus on a particular service residence. They might not stay there, but they station themselves in that area every day to farm the building owners. They get to know the owners and work solely on that building. In the long run, they will make friends with all the residents, workers, and even the guards. They have almost-ready prospects to propose units to—whether to buy or rent.