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

Once upon a time, a broker was about to close the sale of a property. They were already at the stage of signing the Contract to Sell (CTS) and receiving the earnest money — usually one of the final steps before the transaction moves forward. The sellers, siblings who inherited the property, agreed to meet the buyer at a bank. The broker did what brokers normally do. She reminded both the buyer and the seller the day before and again on the morning of the meeting. The broker e

Continuing yesterday’s story, here are the practical lessons: 1. Earnest Money: Size Matters There’s no fixed legal rule on how much earnest money should be. In institutional deals, 10% of the purchase price is common. But in private transactions between individuals, the absolute amount may matter more than the percentage. The larger the earnest money, the larger the risk if something goes wrong. Its purpose is to show commitment — not to create financial damage. Sometimes, a

Once upon a time, a broker was about to close what looked like a relatively smooth deal. After weeks of negotiation, the buyer and seller finally agreed on the price. To formalize the deal, the seller required 10% of the purchase price as earnest money — amounting to several million pesos. The buyer pushed back. The broker, fearing that asking for another concession might derail the sale, explained that 10% is common practice in many transactions, especially when the seller w

In 2017, a condo unit in BGC caught fire. By midday, photos of thick smoke billowing from the unit were already circulating on Facebook. Firefighters forced the door open and contained the blaze before it spread to adjacent units. The unit itself, however, was a total loss—almost everything inside was reduced to ashes. According to the firefighters, the likely cause was the air-conditioning unit, which had been left running while the tenant was away. They noted that the AC ap

Once upon a time, a foreign tenant leased a condo unit just before the world shut down. Then the pandemic hit. He flew back to his home country—but kept paying rent, kept the lease alive, kept everything exactly as it was. The unit stayed locked, quiet, untouched. Until one day, it didn’t. A water leak appeared. The condo admin tried calling the tenant—no answer. Time was ticking, water was running, so they escalated to the unit owner. With the owner’s consent, they entered t

Once upon a time, an in-house broker sold a pre-selling condo to a walk-in buyer. The buyer was pleasant, easy to talk to, and decisive. The deal closed in a few weeks. File done. Commission earned. Life moved on. Months later, the broker met someone with the same last name as his buyer. It was an uncommon surname, the kind that makes you pause. So he asked, if they were related. She smiled. “That’s my father.” What a small world. Thinking nothing of it, the broker casually m