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

Broker: Juan, I have a client who’s a lessor but not VAT-registered. If he sells the property, shouldn’t the sale be exempt from VAT? Juan: What kind of property? Broker: It’s a building with rooms being rented out. Juan: Then the sale can still be subject to VAT. See, VAT isn’t determined solely by your current registration status as “non-VAT registered.” It’s based on whether your transactions cause you to breach the VAT threshold. Since the property is used in business, it

Remember this story? My client had a simple fix for it. From Old Post: Once upon a time, a broker closed a deal and was tasked to transfer the title to the buyer’s name. The sellers were based abroad. Years prior, during a visit to the Philippines, they executed a Special Power of Attorney (SPA), authorizing a relative to sign on their behalf. Everything was complete. Documents were in order. Then came submission. The person in authority glanced at the SPA… paused… and said:

Decades ago, there was a small store that sold milk. At the time, nearly all milk came from a single importer sourcing from NZ. Most distributors bought from the same source and sold at similar prices. Except for one store. This shop sold milk significantly cheaper, often even below what others paid for it. Naturally, people bought from them. The big distributors noticed their sales dropping and complained: “Why are they getting better prices?” The answer: they weren’t. Every

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

I was speaking with a broker who’s been in the industry since the mid-90s. He told me: “What we’re going through now feels worse than the Asian Financial Crisis.” That’s a strong statement. But is it actually true? Disclaimer: What I know about the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) is secondhand—based on research, industry stories, and conversations with veterans. So if you lived through the AFC and see gaps here, feel free to jump in. What the AFC actually looked like + Office la

In banking, staff are required to operate out of a “backup office” for a week each year—a site located far from the main headquarters, designed to take over if something catastrophic happens. It’s part of Business Continuity Management. Most hated it—seeing it as wasted office space, idle equipment, and lost time. Preparing for a scenario that feels… unlikely. Until 2020. --- BCM exists for one purpose: to make sure the institution survives. --- Now bring that into real estat

Following up on yesterday’s post...so I walked into the BPI branch across the street and asked if they offered safety deposit boxes. They said yes. And apparently, I got lucky. A client had just terminated their lease, so one box became available. The only one. The teller mentioned that vacancies are rare, and most boxes stay occupied for years. The size was 10 inches wide, 24 inches deep, and about 3 inches high. Just right for real estate documents. You can even fit some je

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

Early in my career, I thought I had a breakthrough strategy: destroy the benchmark. If success in brokerage is driven by inventory, then the fastest way to win is simple: get more listings than everyone else. The top brokers I spoke to had: 300+ listings The very best broker? Around 800 quality listings Not all are direct, some are co-marketed. But with that scale, probability works in your favor. So I asked: how do I get there faster? The idea: Lower the commission. Typical