Mohamed Ismail started his real estate business under Nooris Consultants Pte Ltd on 1 January 1996. Nooris was coined after Nooraini (the name of Ismail’s wife) and Ismail. With a small 350ft² office at Apollo Centre, he started his company with a small team of just six agents. With his emphasis on training, strong leadership and motivation, the company’s membership grew within six humble months to approximately 50 associates and thus the first chapters were established.

Subsequently, Ismail shifted to his new office at Bukit Merah Central, a 900ft² office. With his focus and value add to his associates, the company rapidly grew and, within two quick years, materialised as the largest Malay real estate company in Singapore with over 200 associates. The rapid growth in the niche Malay market had its advantages. However, at the same time, this created a problem in attracting the non-Malay agents as the company was predominantly Malay agents. Ismail’s desire to break into the mainstream market caused him to think. He did not want to just settle for the pole position (top) in the Malay market; he wished to capture the mainstream market.

Also in October 1996, Joseph and Alan became partners when they started up the real estate firm Prulink Realty Pte Ltd. The two long-time friends met in their army days in camp. They knew then that they wanted to become business partners, which they did when they formed Prulink Realty at Hougang Street 21 with just eight agents.

In year 1999, Ismail co-founded First Class Consultant(S) Pte Ltd with Joseph and Alan. First Class was a franchise concept company providing real estate services. The Nooris Group and Prulink group boasted a combined strength of approximately 600 agents. The objective of setting up First Class Consultant(s) Pte Ltd was to give greater value to the agents, enjoy economies of scale and create a stronger bond and synergy amongst the agents of Nooris and Prulink. The idea of First Class Consultant(S) Pte Ltd attracted other players in the real estate industry.

Formed in 2000, PropNex moved to a new mega office at Novena, a 10,000 ft² office, providing a one-stop service, from legal and accounting, to administration and IT, to its associates. This established PropNex as Singapore’s largest real estate company then with over 3,000 agents.

Three other agencies joined forces with First Class Consultant(S) Pte Ltd. In 2000, these five real estate companies pulled together their resources to create a new entity. Known as PropNex (Property Network for Excellence), this franchise concept was the largest network around.

In 2002, due to a non-alignment of vision, one of the member firms pulled out of the franchise, leaving behind the other four. While the departure initially caused some ripples in the industry and cast some doubts on the future of PropNex, it did not cost much of a dent as PropNex continued to grow and increase its market share from 30% in 2001 to 40% in year 2003.

Their vision of “building to last” took another step forward when the remaining member firms merged on 1 January 2004. They devoted six months of negotiation and planning to create a win-win formula so that the company could be merged to last; a single entity with strong foundation and values and vision built to last. They aimed to provide for its people to meet their maximum potential in their respective fields.

“It was in the months of November and December 2003: Hari Raya and Christmas were rolling in back to back to meet the year 2004 and Chinese New Year in January. While everyone in Singapore lapped up the celebrations without a care in the world, I spent my holiday working feverishly with my partners over a very important business deal – one that would alter the future of PropNex forever.” –Ismail

There were now four partners in Propnex and they all knew that it was time for a full merger to take place—it was the only way to grow the company to the next level. The possibility of a full merger raised many issues and the four partners couldn’t come to an agreement on shareholdings, portfolios, directorships and other issues.

Thankfully, the deal went through smoothly and was settled by the time Chinese New Year ended and the lion dance troupes hung up their dancing shoes.

Thus it was in 2004 that PropNex was transformed into a single entity away from the franchise concept, when four entrepreneurs pooled together their finances and resources to set up a single entity. PropNex was established with strong core values as its foundations that would help the organisation fulfill its mission of being “Built to Last”.