5 Warren Buffett Lessons Every Real Estate Agent Can Apply

Stuart Chng
Dec 18
5 min read

Growing up, I didn’t have mentors to guide me. Instead, I turned to books—both physical copies and audiobooks—to learn from people who had already walked the path.

During my National Service years, I became deeply interested in personal development and investing.

One individual who stood out to me was Warren Buffett—one of the most disciplined, independent, and thoughtful investors of our time.

While Buffett is best known for investing, many of his principles apply just as strongly to building a long-term real estate career.

Principles in investing that applies just as much to the real estate business — Principles in investing apply just as much to the real estate business

Here are five lessons from Warren Buffett that are highly relevant for anyone in the property business today.

Lesson 1: Treat Life Like a Punch Card With Only 20 Spots

In The Snowball, Warren Buffett shared an analogy that stuck with me deeply.

Imagine your life as a punch card with only 20 punches.

Each punch represents a major decision or investment.

Once you use one, you have 19 left. Then 18. Then 17.

“You’d get very rich,” he said, “if you thought of yourself as having a card with only twenty punches in a lifetime, and every financial decision uses up one punch. You’d resist the temptation to dabble. You’d make more good decisions and you’d make more big decisions.”

This idea hit me hard.

If we assume an average lifespan, turning 40 already puts you close to the halfway point. That means perhaps only 10 meaningful punches remain.

After I read this, it was like a punch in my gut. Next year, I will turn 43 years old.

From mentoring agents, I’ve observed that:

It takes about 18 months for a full-time agent to become competent in one market segment
It takes around 3 years of consistency to become confident and adaptable
Even experienced agents can lose confidence after policy changes, market downturns, or prolonged dry spells

So the real question becomes:How many 3-year cycles do you realistically have left to succeed in this industry?

Buffett’s punch card reminds us to be intentional and selective about where we invest our time, energy, and focus because none of us really know how many more punches we have left.

Lesson 2: Spend Less Than You Earn

Warren Buffett is famously simple in his lifestyle.

The same house.

The same wife for over 50 years.

The same neighbourhood.

No obsession with luxury cars, art, or status symbols.

This wasn’t forced discipline—it was natural to him.

Buffett allowed compounding to do the heavy lifting instead of chasing appearances.

If someone with billions can avoid lifestyle inflation, it’s a powerful reminder for real estate agents—especially those experiencing sudden income spikes.

This lesson goes beyond money.It’s about adopting a sustainable lifestyle that supports long-term success, not short-term validation.

Lesson 3: Be Satisfied With Steady Progress

Warren Buffett’s great-great-grandfather once wrote to his son:

“Be content with moderate gains.Don’t be too eager to get rich.”

This advice came during a time of rampant speculation and loose rules—much like many fast-moving markets today.

For real estate agents, this is especially relevant.

Chasing fast money, flashy deals, or constant displays of success can distract from what truly matters:

Business longevity
Reputation
Relationships

Don’t let greed shorten your career.

As you grow and close more deals, remember the people who helped you get started.

Wealth without respect, trust, or goodwill eventually rings hollow.

As Buffett himself said:

“If nobody thinks well of you, your life is a disaster—no matter how big your bank account is.”

Lesson 4: Attribute Success to Luck

Warren Buffett often speaks about what he calls the “Ovarian Lottery.”

“I have been very lucky. I was born in the United States in 1930 and won the lottery the day I was born.…"

Warren would later say,

“When I was a kid, I got all kinds of good things. I had the advantage of a home where people talked about interesting things, and I had intelligent parents and I went to decent schools.

I don’t think I could have been raised with a better pair of parents. That was enormously important. I didn’t get money from my parents, and I really didn’t want it.

But I was born at the right time and place. I won the ‘Ovarian Lottery." This humility matters because many people have merit, yet few succeed at the highest level.

Often, the difference isn’t talent—it’s timing and circumstance.

When I reflect on this, I’m grateful to be operating in Singapore:

A stable economy
Strong property fundamentals
Clients who place trust in long-term planning
Teams and leaders who believe in shared growth

Recognising the role of luck keeps us grounded, grateful, and open to learning.

Hard work matters—but hard work combined with good fortune is what truly shifts outcomes.

Lesson 5: Treat Every Dollar Like It’s Worth Ten

"Warren looked at every dollar as ten dollars someday, he wasn’t going to hand over a dollar more than he needed to spend."

"Every penny was another snowflake for his snowball." - Chapter 16, The Snowball

That mindset shaped how he spent, invested, and prioritised.

This doesn’t mean being miserly. It means being intentional.

If every dollar you spend today represents ten dollars tomorrow, you pause before:

Impulse purchases
Unnecessary expenses
Poor investments

This mindset applies equally to opportunities:

A new lead
A referral
A long-term client relationship

Each one has compounding potential if treated with care and respect.

Final Thoughts

In both life and business, most people only need a handful of truly good decisions to do well.

For real estate professionals, those decisions often revolve around:

Why you entered the industry
Your business model
Who you learn from
How you define success

Warren Buffett lives by both an outer scorecard (money, achievements) and an inner scorecard (values, integrity, fulfillment).

He could have bought and sold the businesses within Berkshire Hathaway with a cold calculation of their financial return without considering how he felt about the people involved.

He could have become a buyout king.

He could have promoted and lent his name to all sorts of ventures.

But his long term business partner Charlie Munger said it best:

"In the end he didn’t want to do it. He was competitive, but he was never just rawly competitive with no ethics. He wanted to live life a certain way, and it gave him a public record and a public platform. And I would argue that Warren’s life has worked out better this way."

It’s easy in this industry to become obsessed with rankings, commissions, and appearances. But real success comes from staying aligned with who you are and what you stand for.

When you look back years from now, your greatest win may not be how much you earned—but whether you stayed true to yourself along the way.

Everything else, you’ll figure out as you go.

Stuart Chng, Executive Group District Director of Huttons Asia, is a renowned leader and personality in the real estate industry.

He adores music and can play a few instruments decently without upsetting his neighbours. When not doing so, he enjoys pillow fighting with his son and coming up with silly puns which barely amuses his wife.

Professionally, he is a licensed real estate agent, an avid stocks, options and real estate investor, multiple businesses owner, team leader, speaker and columnist for several property newsletters and blogs and is often quoted in media interviews on 938FM, Channel 8, PropertyReport, PropertyGuru and other publications.

Throughout his career, he has helped many clients grow their wealth through selecting great property investments and managing their portfolios actively. Read his clients' reviews here.

Stuart has also coached many top million dollar producing agents from top real estate agencies in Singapore. Read his agents' reviews here.