The Hersing Story
All Set To Make A Name in Multi-Brand Franchising

What's in a name? Plenty, if you are Harry Chua, the person who revolutionised the Singapore real estate brokerage industry when he brought in the ERA real estate franchise back in 1982.

The parents of this trailblazer could not have chosen any better than Hersing (he xing) - Harry's Chinese name - to symbolise their hopes for his future..

Hersing means harmony, happiness and prosperity; and his name is now synonymous with the SGX - ST listed company Hersing Corporation Ltd (Hersing), the holding company of Singapore's largest and top selling real estate agency ERA and Coldwell Banker, the oldest and most well established real estate franchise from the US.

With more than 28 years' experience in real estate brokerage, Harry pioneered many 'firsts' in the industry. In 1979, Harry was the first to introduce the use of information technology (mini computers) in a real estate agency in Asia, at a time when personal computers were still unheard of.

By bringing in the then unknown ERA franchise, he also became the first to introduce a real estate franchise into Singapore.

With ERA, he elevated the professional standing of real estate agents and established a number of practices that have since become industry standards.

These include ushering in a new era of exclusive agreements, where agents are exclusively appointed by property owners to market their properties for a period of time, usually three months.

 

HERSING Brand Manager & Service Provider

Harry is today the Chairman & CEO of Hersing. A brand manager and service provider, Hersing was listed on SGX - ST. Last year, it acquired the exclusive ERA regional master franchise rights for 18 countries in the Asia Pacific from ERA's US franchisor, Cendant Global Services B.V. The countries are Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China (including Hong Kong & Macau), Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Korea (North & South), the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Hersing also holds the Singapore master franchise license for Coldwell Banker Real Estate's residential and commercial franchises, the oldest and most established real estate company in the United States with a history of 94 years.

In the year 2000, Hersing entered into a joint venture with Western Union Financial Services Inc. of U.S.A to provide money transfer services in order to grow and diversify our income source. Western Union has more than 100,000 agent locations in over 185 countries and is a global leader in payment systems, money transfer, electronic commerce and information management products and services. It is an international brand name known and available to billions of people as "The fastest way to send money worldwide."

Through Realty International Associates Pte Ltd (RIA), the company also provides professional consultancy, valuation and property management services.

Says Harry about Hersing's philosophy: "We continue to look to leverage our franchise management and marketing services into other real estate related services. We have only one goal in mind - increasing shareholder value."

 

ERA We're Selling Houses

Harry's success with the ERA franchise is nothing short of phenomenal. Starting from a sluggish $25 million property sales in 1982, the figure crossed the $1 billion mark to reach $1.1 billion in 1993. In 1999, ERA continued to set new records by selling $3.95 billion real estate, achieving the highest real estate sales in Singapore.

When he first acquired the ERA franchise, his goal was to create a brand that people will recognise and remember.
"When you need a drink, you think of Coca-Cola. And when you think of real estate, I want it to be ERA," Harry says.

However, back in the early days of ERA, people used to tease him: "Does ERA mean Equal Right Amendment?"
Today, ERA has become a household name synonymous with providing quality, breakthrough real estate products and services that home buyers and sellers most want and need.

 

RIA Professional Property Services

In the late 1980's when the real estate brokerage industry was starting to boom, Harry saw the need to provide comprehensive real estate training to new agents.

"The business was lucrative, so real estate agents with no proper training were mushrooming all over Singapore. This was not a good sign because as a real estate salesperson myself, I know the importance of training so as to provide professional service to my customers."

So in 1989, he set up the RIA School of Real Estate under RIA. Conducted by professionals, the school offers a formal and structured training programme in the fundamentals of real estate, covering all areas of the real estate market, from financing, valuation and taxation to the legal aspects of property transactions.

In 1995, RIA achieved the ISO 9002:1994 award for its quality real estate training programme and subsequently converted to ISO 9001:2000 by PSB Certification..

Today, RIA also provides ISO 9001:2000 certified valuation services for private properties and HDB resale flats, consultancy services, project and property management services, as well as publication of Realty Guide, a colour real estate magazine which provides a comprehensive list of the properties for sale and rent by ERA Real Estate Specialists.

 

COLDWELL BANKER Making Real Estate Real Easy

With the success achieved in managing the ERA franchise, Hersing is poised to further revolutionise the real estate brokerage industry with Coldwell Banker, positioned to be its premier property arm.

Started operations last year, Harry intends to grow the Coldwell Banker brand as a separate entity from ERA.
He explains: "Through our multi-branded strategy in the real estate brokerage business, Hersing will maximise the value of these world-renowned brands to the benefit of our shareholders."

"With the Coldwell Banker brand, we aim to capture a larger market share of the Singapore residential and commercial real estate market.

"Coldwell Banker has the added benefit of utilizing Hersing's sophisticated IT and operating infrastructure developed by ERA over the last 18 years."

In December 1999, local established real estate agency SML joined Coldwell Banker, giving Coldwell Banker a boost in consolidating its brand name in the Singapore brokerage market. With this strategic move, it is anticipated that Coldwell Banker will make its presence felt in the Singapore real estate scene.

 

WESTERN UNION Money Transfer Service

Hersing entered into a joint venture with Western Union Financial Services Inc. of U.S.A to provide money transfer services in order to grow and diversify our income source. Western Union is a recognised leader in payment systems, money transfer, electroniccommerce and information management products and services. Its network extends to more than 300,000 agent locations in over 200 countries and territories.

Western Union Global Network is our 51% owned subsidiary which is licensed to provide money transfer services in and out of singapore. Western Union Financial Services Inc. of U.S.A owns the remaining 49%. With Singapore's favourable ? geographical location for international travellers and its large number of foreign workers, Western Union has good growth potential.

Western Union is an international brand name known and available to billions of people as "The fastest way to send money worldwide."

 

STORHUB SELF STORAGE Storage Facilities Service

Hersing ventured into a new service business - StorHub Self Storage to provide short and long-term storage facilities to commercial as well as residential consumers.

Self storage is a service business that offers secure, easily accessible, flexible and do-it-yourself storage space to companies, businesses and individuals. It also offers ideal solution to the customer's storage problems like insufficient storage space at work, at home or when the customer is in need of a temporary storage space for his furniture while awaiting the arrival of his new home.

StorHub Self Storage is the first of its kind self storage facility in Singapore. Besides offering clean, secure and up-market storage facilities, StorHub Self Storage also provides other value-added services such as content insurance, climate control and pick-up services.

The vision that Hersing has for StorHub Self Storage is to establish this new business concept throughout Singapore and the Asia Pacific.