Life was smooth-sailing for Aaron Teo. Whatever he put his hands and efforts to, he would get the outcomes he wanted.

He had no need for God in his life, or so he thought.

When he met with an accident while delivering food, and when he kept failing his real estate exam, Aaron’s eyes were finally opened to the futility of his self-striving efforts.

Read Part One of his story here.

When Aaron awoke from the operation, he discovered his wound sown up with 10 stitches.

Aaron’s stitched-up arm after the operation. He risked suffering severe blood loss taking it upon himself to get to hospital instead of waiting for an ambulance.

“You Superman ah? I heard you rode yourself to hospital with your arm torn open?” the doctor remarked. The medical professional had frowned upon it as he could have sustained severe blood loss.

“You are very lucky: The impact missed hitting your bone by a few millimetres. However, muscles do not grow back so you have to live with a weaker arm,” the doctor told Aaron.

Back to a Godless existence

After surviving the accident and operation, Aaron went about life as usual. God became less than an afterthought in his life; he simply had no time and no need for God anymore.

“I did not think it was God that protected me and saw me through it all. I felt super lucky that I almost died but did not die. Nothing could take me down now, I thought,” said Aaron.  

Even while recovering from the accident, Aaron continued to spend time with his children. He brought the kids out for a picnic when the COVID lockdown rules were eased.

Instead, he became obsessed with the idea of making money having experienced being in dire straits.

A friend of his invited him into the lucrative trade of shipbroking. Even as a trainee, he was earning a decent monthly wage. Thus, though the real estate exam had resumed by then, Aaron put it on pause to focus on his new career.

He soon realised that being a shipbroker required him to entertain clients frequently. He hated smoking and drinking, but still found himself often coming back home in the wee hours of the morning reeking of alcohol and smoke.

“I had lost my way along the way. I was reminded that I had quit my job in order to spend more time with my family, and not to make more money,” said Aaron. 

After nine months, he left shipbroking. He prepared himself to hunker down to study, once again, for his real estate exam. The next one would be in the June of 2021.

Unfortunately, many people applied to take the exam that month and Aaron did not get a slot.

He had to wait another four months to take the exam. During this period, he continued studying every day, breaking only to spend time with his children.

In October 2021, he took the exam and failed it again. By then, he had applied for the exam five times and failed it three times.

Still, Aaron was as stubborn as a mule in not wanting to give up on his realtor dreams.

“Everyone was telling me that I had got myself in a mess because I chose to leave my stable government job. If I hadn’t, even during COVID I would still have had a regular salary.

“But deep down I knew I always wanted to do something more, as well as spend more time with my children,” said Aaron.

He applied for the exam the sixth time. Candidates are usually given a two-year limit to take the exam but his was extended to three years due to the COVID pandemic. Still, it would be the last time he would be allowed to take the exam.

It was as if the universe was conspiring against him. The exam in March had to be postponed to April due to a change of organiser. The postponement meant that Aaron could no longer sit for the exam as his three-year term would have ended in March 2022.

Last chance to become a realtor

Filled with despair, a panicky Aaron appealed to his Member of Parliament to explain his situation. The Council of Estate Agents wrote back to him and said they would make an exception to allow him to sit for the April exam, but it would be his very last chance.

Then, Aaron felt even more pressure to make it this one last time. Having failed the exam three times despite long hours of intensive studying, he was no longer confident in his ability to pass the exam.

A good friend of his who also started taking the exams at the same time as him in 2019 but had since passed it and become a realtor volunteered to coach him over Zoom.

Every other day for the final three weeks leading up to the exam, his friend would spend three hours on Zoom guiding Aaron.

Out of the three hours, however, two hours were spent talking about God. His friend kept telling Aaron how God helped him and how God had great plans for Aaron’s life too.

“I was surrounded by Christian friends who kept talking to me about God or prayed for me,” Aaron said. 

This time, unlike other times when he replied solely on his own determination and efforts, Aaron “decided to do things differently”. He prayed and chose to surrender the outcome of the exam to God.

One week before the dreaded exam was due to take place, he told God: “God, if You want me to pass and become a realtor then You help me pass. All this while, I believed it’s only based on hard work and perseverance but for some reason, I just cannot do it. You see my heart and You know that I don’t want a big house or fast cars, I just want to spend more time with my children.”

Aaron felt a sense of peace after the prayer.

His prayer of surrender was not just lip service. He showed that he truly meant it by spending his time differently that week.

During the final week before each exam, he would stay at his sister’s home to isolate himself from the children and study for 18 hours daily.

This time after his prayer, he did not touch his notes much. Instead, he took his family out for picnics and even taught his son how to ride a bicycle.

Aaron bringing his three children out to cycle.

A humbling journey back to God 

However, Aaron began getting cold feet the night before the exam.

At 10pm, he talked to God and said: “God, tomorrow is the exam and I know I have already said I will leave You to take the wheel. But I still want to study a little bit. But before I start, I relax five minutes first and go Facebook.”

The first Facebook post that he saw was his friend reposting a quote by American comedian Steve Harvey that said: “Rest your mind. God got you.”

Aaron knew God had spoken. He took one last glance at his books before turning in.

He sat for the exam the next morning, then waited one month for the results, which came by email.  

Together with his wife, Aaron clicked on the email and scrolled slowly to read each line.

When they saw the word “Congratulations”, husband and wife hugged each other and cried. It had been three and a half years since he first started studying for the real estate exam.

Aaron knew that God had answered his prayer.

“It was impossible for me to have done it on my own because this time, I actually did less. On hindsight, going through all these was necessary for God to humble me and bring me and family closer to Him,” he said.

A realtor who leans on God 

Still, life was not a bed of roses when he finally became a realtor in 2022.

He struggled to find clients to serve in his first six months in the job.

“There are more than 35,000 real estate agents in Singapore, why would people want to appoint a new realtor? Most people would rather trust someone who is more seasoned in the trade,” Aaron pointed out.

Nonetheless, God provided him opportunities to help families to rent out their homes as well as other buyers and sellers of homes. Helping one family led to another by word of mouth.

God opened doors and provided him with opportunities to serve family after family with their property purchases.

In his short two years as a realtor, Aaron excelled in his role and helped more than 60 families. In comparison, a realtor on average usually only clocks around 10 transactions a year.

Therefore, Aaron was awarded the “Top Rookie” and “Top Producer” awards at PropNex in his first year.

Aaron was awarded the prestigious ‘Top Producer’ and ‘Top Rookie’ awards out of more than 12,000 realtors with PropNex.

From one who used to pride himself on being a self-made man that trusted in his own striving, a recent video that captured him receiving an industry award on stage showed a different man.

As he received the award to rousing applause, Aaron was seen furiously criss-crossing his arms as a gesture to indicate that it was “not him” but all credit was to go to God.

“I am glad I get to help others meet their needs, and I also get to spend more time with my children as I can arrange my own schedule now,” said Aaron, who is awaiting the arrival of their fourth child this month (September 2024).

Aaron reading to his kids before bedtime.

The family attends Kingdomcity church.

Aaron was baptised at Kingdomcity’s Good Friday service this year.

Faith in the marketplace 

As his relationship with God grows, Aaron is learning how to integrate faith with his work.

“Before meeting any clients, I pray and ask God to help me decide if I should help this family or not, because sometimes it is not the right time or fit. The old Aaron would not have prayed; he would just take any client and that would give more sales leads,” he said.

Aaron, with Cheryl, was invited to attend a Grand Gala dinner as he was ranked Top 2% out of 12,000 realtors at PropNex in his first year of work.

He also stays clear from taking bribes from buyers who are keen to secure certain properties.

“There are agents who lie to the seller to say there is no other offer for the house or that this is the highest offer – after taking under-the-table money,” he revealed.

Aaron told the story of his obstacle-ridden journey to become a realtor on national radio to encourage others to press on in spite of adversity.

“God sees everything. Even when I did not acknowledge Him, I realised that He was always there for me and looking out for me,” said Aaron.

“I thought I could do everything and anything based on my own efforts, but I was so wrong. If you are struggling and going through a tough time now, call out to Him.”

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