If you’re a foreigner buying property in the Philippines—or a Filipino property owner planning to migrate abroad—here’s something you should think about before you leave: your Philippine bank account. Buying the property is only half the story. Someday, you may need to sell it. And that’s where having a local bank account can save you a lot of headaches. Real estate transactions in the Philippines are still commonly settled through manager’s checks. This becomes especially im

If you're selling a property, should you rent it out while waiting for a buyer? My advice: if you're serious about selling, keep it vacant. Yes, leaving it empty means giving up rental income. But a tenant can make the property significantly harder to sell. The biggest problem is viewings. A serious buyer messages your broker: “Can I see the unit tomorrow at 2 PM?” Your broker now has to coordinate with the tenant. “I’m not available tomorrow.” “I work from home. After 5 PM o

In 1968, the country’s top companies and schools came together to establish a world-class business school: Asian Institute of Management (AIM). Ayala donated the Makati land that became AIM’s campus, in what is now Legazpi Village. Here’s a lesser-known part of the story. In the early 2000s, AIM was offered an exchange: its Makati property for a much larger land in Laguna. Back then, the Laguna property was practically in the middle of nowhere. Today, we know it as Nuvali. On

Lately, I've been seeing videos promoting pre-selling properties because of the attractive discounts and flexible payment terms. The usual pitch is simple: pay the down payment over several years, then just finance the balance through a bank. But here's the question nobody asks: can you actually qualify for the bank loan when turnover comes? As a general rule, banks prefer that your total monthly debt obligations—including your housing loan—do not exceed about 40% of your gro

The Philippines may not have a formal caste system, but class distinctions are often built directly into our homes. Consider household staff uniforms. Some employers prefer them because they create a clear visual distinction between the family and the help. To be fair, some household workers also appreciate receiving uniforms because it saves them from having to buy or decide what to wear. So perhaps uniforms are not the strongest example. Here is a more revealing question: W

Once upon a time, a buyer purchased a pre-selling lot from a developer. Years later, the property was finally turned over. Before building anything, the buyer hired a geodetic engineer to verify the boundaries and actual land area. The survey results came back. The lot was several square meters smaller than what the buyer had paid for. The end. JPRE: Yes, this happens. Never assume that the area written in the contract or title perfectly matches what is actually on the ground

Just throwing out an idea… I was once told that during the Asian Financial Crisis, some office landlords offered extremely long rent-free periods—possibly as much as one year—just to get their vacant units leased. At first, that sounds desperate. But when you think about it, it may actually solve one of the biggest problems in the office-leasing market. Many office units are delivered as bare shells. The tenant still has to design and construct the interiors, install the fan-

Is it still smart to lodge a property in a corporation? It depends. This strategy can be powerful—but only if executed properly. Done wrong, it creates more tax and compliance problems than it solves. 👍 Pros 1. Avoids “estate gridlock” When a property is held in a corporation, ownership is through shares—not the title. So when a shareholder dies, what gets transferred are the shares. This avoids a common PH problem: + Property passes to multiple heirs + Co-ownership balloons

When I first got life insurance, I had absolutely no idea how much coverage I actually needed. A quick search online gives broad rules of thumb. Many advisers suggest coverage of around: + 30× income for ages 18–40 + 20× income for ages 41–50 + 15× income for ages 51–60 + 10× income for ages 61–65 These guidelines are helpful, but they focus mainly on income replacement. In real estate, there’s another way to think about life insurance. At the very minimum, your life insuranc

Client: Juan, how do bank-financed purchases work? Do I have to pay the seller 20% upfront? What if something goes wrong—do I get my money back? JPRE: For bank-financed purchases, the buyer pays the equity portion, usually around 20% of the purchase price, while the bank finances the remaining 80%. The bank does not release the 80% immediately. Instead, it issues a Letter of Guarantee—essentially a promise to pay the seller once the title is transferred to the buyer's (your)