Once upon a time, a broker was hours away from closing a sale. The night before, he followed his usual routine and reminded the seller what to bring the next day. IDs. Documents. And, most importantly for this transaction, the owner’s duplicate copy of the title. Weeks earlier, the broker had already asked the seller to prepare everything. The title was there. The seller placed it inside an envelope together with the rest of the documents. So when the broker called the night

Once upon a time, a couple owned a house in a posh village and a high-end condo. They were in that stage where they simply wished to see the world. So, they decided to lease out their house and stay in their condo. They got their trusted broker friend to look for a tenant. Their friend showed their house multiple times until one day, they got an offer. The prospective tenant was a top executive of a multinational company. Since the company wanted to declare the rent as an exp

Once upon a time, a broker was finally about to end a long dry spell. The deal was huge: two entire floors of an office building. The buyer was serious, negotiations were well underway, and because of the size of the purchase, they were asking the developer for a bigger discount than the published rates. But the numbers still weren't where the buyer wanted them. So the owner of the buyer's company decided to step in. Instead of continuing the negotiations through the broker,

Once upon a time, a developer had dozens of in-house brokers, but one consistently stood out. She was a top seller year after year. Wanting a bigger market, she eventually left the developer and became an independent broker. She started handling secondary-market properties, and before long, her sales had doubled. Later, she joined a brokerage firm. During tax season, she overheard her colleagues discussing their Income Tax Returns (ITRs) and BIR deadlines. She joined the conv

Once upon a time, a property owner discovered that the boundaries on his land title overlapped with those of the neighboring property. To resolve the issue, he hired a geodetic engineer to conduct a survey and establish the correct tie points. Once the survey was completed, only one step remained: have the Municipal Assessor update its records. So he went to the Municipal Assessor's Office. The assessor told him, "Before we can process this, you first need to pay your real pr

Once upon a time, a new broker had a residential lot listed in Tagaytay. Another broker called and said she had a buyer interested in viewing the property. They agreed to meet on a Saturday at 9:00 AM. Knowing traffic to Tagaytay could be unpredictable, the broker left early and arrived at 7:30 AM. He messaged that he was already there and that they could take their time. Apparently, "take your time" meant arriving at 12:30 PM. Fortunately, he had Mobile Legends on his phone.

Reports are out on the long-awaited GCash IPO. GCash is preparing what could become THE LARGEST IPO in PH history, with reports saying it may raise as much as P92 Bn. So what does this have to do with real estate (RE)? And why is this a horror story? Because in the world of investments, RE and the GCash IPO are competing for the same wallet. Years ago, fresh from the banking sector, I had a long argument with a colleague about RE as an investment. This was around 2015. Stocks

There is now a YouTube interview of an actual tenant who lived in the condo building affected by the recent fire last week. Search “Trapped sila sa NASUSUNOG na CONDO” on YouTube. I watched the video and read some related accounts. To be clear, many details are still alleged. But even before blame is assigned, there are lessons here for everyone. Based on reports, the incident likely started near the garbage chute area. Some suspect a discarded lithium-ion battery. If it was

Recently, a friend messaged me about listing a pre-selling lot he bought 2 years ago. His plans changed and now he wants to sell. I told him he realistically has 3 options: 1. Continue and treat it as a long-term hold This only makes sense if he can complete the purchase and is willing to wait MANY years. 2. Try to resell now at a loss A pre-selling resale has to compete with the developer’s own inventory. For his lot to sell, it would need a clear advantage: a meaningful dis

This is not for the faint-hearted. When people talk about the Metro Manila condo oversupply, one number keeps getting repeated: “Almost 8 years’ worth of inventory.” It sounds dramatic. But what does it actually mean? The math is surprisingly simple: 79,200 unsold Metro Manila condo units divided by 10,100 units sold in 2025 = 7.84 years Rounded off, that becomes roughly 8 years. In plain English, this means that if developers stopped adding new supply today, and if buyers co