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 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

"Should I sell?" Clients keep asking me this. My usual reply is a question of my own: "And then what?" The answer matters, because selling now comes at a cost. In today's soft market, some buyers are negotiating as much as 20% off asking prices. If you need the cash, that can be a fair trade. Liquidity is a valid reason to sell. But some owners tell me they'd park the money in a time deposit, earn interest, and buy back once prices drop. That's trying to time the market. It's

Do stocks and real estate move together? 📈🏡 We plotted the PSEi against Forbes Park land prices (₱/sqm) from 1980 to today, with each president’s term shaded. What the data suggests: ✅ Over 5-year periods, the two moved in the same direction about 7 times out of 10. ✅ In the big confidence shocks (the 1984 debt crisis, the 1997 Asian crisis, 2008), both fell. ⚠️ Year to year, it’s close to a coin flip. Stock prices react daily, while land prices barely move in an ordinary b

How to read our price guides The secondary-market figures we've been posting are asking prices: what sellers are asking right now, not what properties actually sold for. Here's how to read them. 1.⁠ ⁠Upgrades don't pay back in full. As my dad used to tell me, a Honda Civic is still a Honda Civic, even if you upgrade every part. Volk mags, a B18C5 engine, a Focal sound system. There might be a buyer for a P1.5M Civic, likely an enthusiast, but that pool of buyers is very small

How much does 1 square meter actually cost in a Metro Manila condo? Based on resale listings I gathered, the answer ranges from around ₱95,000/sqm to ₱664,000/sqm among the 83 buildings in this comparison. That means 1 sqm at Balmori Suites costs roughly the same as 7 sqm at Chateau Verde. Of course, price per sqm alone doesn’t tell you whether a condo is cheap or expensive for a reason. Location, age, developer, amenities, density, unit size, parking, and the quality of the