Life Tips #1: Selecting a Pre-selling Condo/Condominium in the Philippines

Some things to consider that you may not realize when get a pre-sold condo/property by Jomar Hilario

1. Preselling mean the condo has not been built yet. That's why the price is cheaper. 

2. This also means you're not sure if they'll ever make the building according to plan.

3. That why you should select a large developer and not one you've never heard of or a tiny one in the provinces.  My family lost 100,000 because we invested in a tiny developer.

4. The easiest way to see if the developer is "big" is to checkout their financial statements ONLINE - if they're a public company.  Click here for an example.

5. Public means they're listed in the Philippine Stock Market

6. So open a newspaper and go to the Finance News and look under "Property"

7. Those are the biggest developers (who are public or "listed") in the country.

8. If the developer is not there, they're "private" so you may have to ask them directly - by going to their offices (really!) what their OTHER projects are. Yes, this article was created by Jomar Hilario and if ever you intend to copy this my name is included please.

9. If they have very small projects and you're buying a small project (Meaning: condo building) also  -- that's probably okay.

10. If they have school buildings and you're buying a condo --think TWICE and do it again. Answer this: if the real estate industry goes "down" (again), will this company have the money to still create your building?

11. Never ever deal with a person who says he's an "agent" . Only deal with Licensed Brokers.

12. Licensed Brokers typically know more information than you need than a "agent" - who's probably only after the commission and may ignore your requests.

13. I've dealt with 2 agents (one who simply resigned w/o letting me know) and their boss (who probably isn't a broker) and they all behaved the same: They never call back. They ignore your requests. They answer in the strangest way possible to avoid your questions. Yes, I've already reported them to their own bosses - and to the public via Twitter.

14. Document every dealing with the licensed broker by taking pictures using your cellphone or digicam of each meeting and document (a 2 megapixel phonecam is good). Keep everyone honest.

15. Never think that you'll stay in this one place forever - since its a condo and it's difficult to "add more space/floors" when your family grows. So always consider it's location, location, location. 

16. If it's located in place or near a place with lots of offices (large commercial areas) then the location is good for starters.

17. So when you move out to your permanent place (a larger condo, a single detached house in a nice subdivision) it's easier to rent out your "old" condo.

When in Cebu city, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/adforce1/

Rivalry in Cebu property market heats up

Thursday, 26 July 2012 19:41 Miguel R. Camus / Reporter    THE Gokongwei family’s property arm is turning its attention back to Cebu City, where the clan’s business empire traces its roots, amid tougher competition from rival business families like Henry Sy’s SM Group, which is also aggressively expanding in that city. Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) said it started work on Robinsons Galleria Cebu, a seven-story mixed-use building in the North Reclamation area, which it claims is its largest commercial development outside Metro Manila. Analysts said the move underscores Cebu’s growing importance as a tourism and outsourcing destination—a fact not lost on the country’s top builders seeking to take a bigger slice of the province’s booming growth.  The island has recently diversified its economy to become a business process outsourcing (BPO) hub “second only to Metro Manila”with tax incentives and advanced telecommunications facilities helping to lure investments, said Claro Cordero Jr., head of research and valuation for Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu, a property consultancy and brokerage firm.   “This phenomenon has helped improve the general purchasing power of [Cebu’s ] local economy,” Cordero said in an emailed response on Thursday. “The general outlook is that the O&O [off-shoring and outsourcing ] companies are still likely to operate and expand in Cebu in the medium- to long-term.”  Robinsons Galleria Cebu will include a 56,000 square meter (sqm) shopping mall, a 153-room gohotel.ph budget hotel, and business process outsourcing offices.  Slated for completion by 2014, it will have a gross floor area (GFA) of 156,000 sqm, but the master plan for the 4.6-hectare lot also includes residential condominiums, RLC president Frederick Go said in the statement. The new project comes as RLC’s  closest competitors are building even larger shopping facilities. Sy-led SM Prime Holdings Inc. opened last month its second shopping mall in Cebu, called SM City Consolacion, with a GFA of  106,857 sqm.  In 2014, its opens SM Seaside City Cebu, its biggest shopping center there, with a GFA of 241,600 sqm. SM Prime is also reportedly in talks to acquire a fourth site in Cebu. Apart from the Sys, Gotianun-led Filinvest Land Inc., which is already developing residential condominiums in Cebu, said it will build a business process outsourcing complex in the reclaimed South Road Properties area.  Ayala Land Inc. also operates a shopping center in Cebu apart from residential projects.  Cordero said the growing trend of property developers expanding in Cebu is unlikely to see a reversal anytime soon. “Coming from a low base in terms of high-rise residential projects of highly dense projects, the highly improving purchasing power of the consumers is seen to sustain these developments and saturation of the market is still far from the horizon,” Cordero said.  The integrated approach of these builders, he said, attracts both end-users and investors, but not without opening up its own set of risks. “This type of demand [buying for investment purposes] is highly-susceptible to market externalities such as the weak global economic recovery,” he said. When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate needs.