Should a Real Estate Agent Be a Specialist or a Generalist?
- Stuart Chng
- Dec 18, 2025
- 5 min read
In the real estate industry, agents often take one of two paths. Some choose to focus on a specific property type or location, while others prefer to work across multiple segments of the market.
If you’re just starting out in your real estate career, this naturally raises an important question: is it better to specialise or to remain a generalist?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Both approaches come with benefits and drawbacks, and the right choice often depends on your personal situation, experience, and long-term goals.
Below are the key factors to consider when deciding which path may suit you best.
Understanding Specialisation vs Generalisation
A specialist concentrates on a particular niche—such as commercial properties, landed homes, a specific district, or resale flats.
A generalist, on the other hand, works across a wider range of property types and locations.
For new agents, the decision usually comes down to a few practical considerations:
Your existing knowledge and background
The types of deals you close early on
Your tolerance for income fluctuations
The guidance available from your team or mentor
Your preferred marketing and prospecting methods
Let’s explore each of these in detail.
1. Your Existing Knowledge and Experience
If you already have experience in a particular area, it often makes sense to start there.
For example, if you previously worked in mortgage financing and regularly dealt with private property buyers, you’re likely familiar with condominium projects, developers, and buyer profiles.
You may even have existing contacts. In this case, focusing on condos is a natural starting point compared to venturing into unfamiliar segments like industrial properties.
Even without formal experience, most people have some local knowledge.
You understand your own neighbourhood better than outsiders—where traffic gets congested, which blocks are noisier, or which nearby shops offer the best value. This everyday insight can already give you a foundation to specialise.
If your knowledge runs deep in a particular area, starting as a specialist can help you build confidence and credibility early on. You can always expand later.
2. The Impact of Your First Few Sales
Your early transactions often shape your career more than you realise.
Sometimes, your initial successes naturally position you as a specialist. For instance, if your first few deals involve retail leasing, clients may start seeing you as “the retail expert” and refer similar business your way—even if that wasn’t your original intention.
These early wins also show you what works. You might discover a reliable way to attract resale flat buyers or a strong pitch for expatriate tenants. When something proves effective, it’s logical to repeat it and build a steady income stream around it.
However, there’s a risk of becoming too dependent on one niche. Property markets evolve, and what works today may not work forever. Over-specialising too early can also limit your broader learning, leaving you with very narrow expertise.
The key is balance: leverage early successes, but don’t let them restrict your long-term development.
3. Your Ability to Handle Market Volatility
Different property segments experience market cycles differently.
Take the oil price downturn in 2014 as an example. The luxury condo rental market suffered significantly when energy firms and banks reduced expatriate hiring and housing allowances. Agents focused solely on high-end properties felt the impact most strongly.
Generalists, however, were better positioned to adapt.
While the luxury segment slowed, demand for mass-market housing continued, as locals upgraded and foreigners sought more affordable rentals.
If you choose to specialise, you must be prepared for greater income volatility. If that level of uncertainty feels uncomfortable, working across multiple segments may offer more stability.
4. Your Team, Colleagues, and Mentor
Your environment plays a major role in shaping your approach.
If your team focuses heavily on HDB transactions, you’ll naturally have more support, shared knowledge, and resources in that area.
Similarly, if your mentor operates as a generalist, you’re likely to follow their example.
While you don’t have to conform to your team’s direction, going against the norm may mean less guidance.
In such cases, it may be worth finding a mentor or team that aligns better with your desired path.
5. Your Marketing and Prospecting Style
Your preferred marketing methods can also influence whether specialisation makes sense.
If you plan to focus on niche areas like office or industrial properties, platforms like Instagram or Facebook may not be effective since business owners are more likely to respond to trade publications, industry talks, or targeted content.
Specialists often benefit from highly focused marketing channels that reach a specific audience.
Generalists, meanwhile, may rely on broader platforms that generate higher volume but less targeted leads.
Understanding how you attract clients will help you determine whether a specialist or generalist approach suits you better.
Final Thoughts: Flexibility Is the Real Advantage
Rather than seeing specialisation and generalisation as a fixed choice, think of them as stages.
Many successful agents start by specialising in what they know best to build momentum and income. Over time, they expand into other segments.
Others begin as generalists, closing any viable deal, before focusing on a niche where they see the strongest results.
The most important thing is to stay adaptable.
Real estate is an industry shaped by constant change, and the agents who thrive long-term are those who continue learning, evolving, and adjusting their approach.
Start with what gives you the strongest advantage today—but keep the door open to growth tomorrow.
Looking for great career mentorship to shorten your learning curve?
Get a 1-time free 30 min career consultation with Stuart and his team leaders. Schedule one right now.
Or drop me a WhatsApp at 9691 9907 if you would like to start your career with our team or attend our next Real Estate Career Seminar!
Stuart Chng, Executive Group District Director at Huttons, 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, business 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.
Related readings:
Comments