Once upon a time, a broker (let's call him MB) was handling the sale of a condo unit. Like many listings in the PH, the listing was non-exclusive, so several brokers were marketing the unit. The keys remained with MB and he simply lent the keys to other brokers. MB handled the listing professionally. He advised the owner that the asking price was too high based on market feedback. He marketed the property in all platforms using gross pricing terms instead of “net to seller” p

Once upon a time, on a quiet December afternoon, just as the long holiday break was beginning, a broker received a call from a tenant. Foreign Tenant: “[Broker], the aircon in the second bedroom stopped working. The ones in the living room too. Three out of the four units are down. Please make sure this gets fixed as soon as possible. My son is arriving before Christmas.” Broker: (Already sensing the problem) “Yes sir. I’ll arrange it.” The broker immediately called their tru

Once upon a time, a broker leased out a condo unit. The process was smooth. Papers signed, unit turned over, everything in place. Then the call came. It was the building administration. They had flagged the tenant after finding online records linking him to estafa and fraud cases. Naturally, they were concerned. No building wants that kind of reputation inside its premises. The broker checked for himself. A quick search showed the same cases. So he confronted the tenant. The

Once upon a time, a lessor rented out a unit to a lessee. The lessee, in turn, subleased the unit on Airbnb. Then the pandemic hit—and the subleasing business collapsed. When the lessor tried to deposit the tenant’s checks, they bounced. Attempts to contact the lessee became increasingly difficult, with communication turning inconsistent. As the lease neared expiry, the lessor repeatedly reached out to ask whether the tenant intended to renew. There was no response—until a fe

In case you missed it, Ayala Land Premier announced on April 17 that, in light of “challenging global conditions,” it is putting The Laurean Residences on hold. You can view the official statement here: https://www.ayalalandpremier.com/our-portfolio/laurean-residences/ For those unfamiliar, Laurean Residences is located on the site of the former parking building behind the BPI Head Office in Makati, along Dela Rosa Street. Why does this matter? There’s a simple shortcut peopl

Once upon a time, a unit was leased out under a standard contract—no pets allowed. Everything seemed normal at first. Until one day, the building admin reached out to the owner. There had been complaints from neighbors. A strong, unpleasant odor was coming from the unit. “Oh no,” the owner thought. When was the last time he heard from the tenant? Could something be wrong… or was he overthinking it? So he went to check. The moment the elevator doors opened, the smell was alrea

Once upon a time, Broker 1 got a call from Broker 2. “Do you have the consularized SPA? We need it for the transfer.” “We already gave it to you,” he said. “It was in the folder with the other documents.” “We checked. It’s not here.” A week passed. Broker 1 went through every file in the office. Nothing. He was sure he had submitted it. But being sure doesn’t solve a missing document. Now the real problem came in. The seller, who lived abroad, refused to take another painful

Once upon a time, a homeowner leased out her property to what appeared to be a well-off Filipino couple. They arrived for the viewing in a sports car, accompanied by bodyguards. They looked the part—confident, polished, and financially capable. They expressed strong interest and, unusually, insisted on moving in within a week. Pressed for time but reassured by appearances, the owner accepted. The couple issued post-dated checks (PDCs) covering several months of rent. At first

If this is something that matters to you, the safest approach is simple: protect yourself contractually. When submitting an offer, include a clause requiring the seller to declare whether any of the following occurred inside the property: + Any death + Suicide + Violent crime or homicide If the seller refuses to sign such a declaration, well then, we know the answer. This approach is important because laws on disclosure vary widely across countries. In many developed economie

A buyer once came across an attractively priced condo online. He had been searching for a property for months, and this listing immediately caught his attention. The price seemed below market, so he scheduled an ocular right away. When he arrived at the building lobby, the owner personally greeted him and accompanied him upstairs. As they reached the unit, the buyer was about to step inside when something odd happened. The owner stopped at the doorway. He didn’t go in. He sim