Once upon a time, a tenant was happily renting a house in an upscale village. Everything went well until a strong typhoon hit the city. The storm uprooted the neighbor's tree, and it fell on the house. The roof gave way, rain poured in, and the tenant's expensive furniture was ruined. So who pays for what? Here's how the Civil Code generally answers it. The roof. The lessor is obliged to make the necessary repairs to keep the property fit for its use (Art. 1654). Repairing th

In all my years as a broker, the best deal I've ever seen was a 174 sqm two-bedroom condo in a mid-market building in a major CBD. It sold for P14 Mn. Net of the parking slot, that worked out to about P71,400 per sqm. At the time, that was roughly 60% below the BIR zonal value. I know what you're thinking. "Why would anyone sell that low?" The owner was wealthy and bought the unit during pre-selling. At P14 Mn, he was already making a profit, and that was all he wanted. "You'

This is an urban legend many of you have probably heard. Some people swear it really happened. Once upon a time, a developer was assembling land for a new residential subdivision. One by one, it bought out the neighboring parcels. Everything went according to plan, except for one small lot right in the middle. The owners of that lot asked for a price far above what the developer was willing to pay. Months of negotiation went nowhere. Then the owners made a threat. If the deve

How much should you raise the rent? Clients ask me this all the time. Should it be 5%? 7%? 10%? Or should the rent stay the same? First, it helps to remember why lessors raise rent at all. The main reason is to keep up with the cost of living, which is inflation. The second is the market, meaning supply and demand. Escalation is usually discussed before the lease is signed. But because it's a touchy point, many lease contracts are silent about it, and the parties just "cross

If a relative asks you to sign their home loan with them, ask one question before you pick up the pen: am I signing as a co-borrower or as a guarantor? They sound alike, but they are very different roles. A co-borrower shares the loan and usually shares the property. Think of siblings who buy a beach house together for the whole family. All of them are named on the title, and all of them are on the hook for the amortization. A guarantor (what most people call a co-signer) doe

In 1987, researchers asked a group of experienced real estate agents to value a house. They all toured the same house and got the same information. The only thing that changed was the listing price. Agents told it was listed at $119,900 valued it at about $114,000. Agents told $149,900 valued it at about $129,000. Most insisted it hadn’t influenced them. If a seller’s asking price can move an expert that much, imagine what a number from the government can do. I think this is

In November 1998, Manny Pangilinan's First Pacific paid about US$749 million for a 17.5% controlling stake in PLDT. This was not an amateur buyer. MVP started as an investment banker. By 1998 he had spent 17 years building First Pacific in Hong Kong. He had the backing of Indonesia's Salim family and the resources to hire top advisers. If anyone could do proper due diligence, it was this team. And yet. Once they were inside, they found that Piltel, PLDT's mobile subsidiary, o

Why is it so painful to give up P5K, even when doing so could protect you from a much bigger loss? Recently, I wondered what would happen if I lost my phone or credit card and someone racked up hundreds of thousands of pesos in unauthorized charges. So I considered leaving my main credit card at home. The problem? It earns me around P15K a year in cashback. The alternative was another card through Apple Pay, which is more secure. My AI friend suggested a compromise. Most of m

Why did property prices in Metro Manila go up so much?