One useful trick in real estate is learning how to estimate the size of a space just by looking at it. Here’s a simple method. Step 1: Use a car as your measuring stick Imagine a Toyota Fortuner. A Fortuner is common enough that most people can picture its size. Step 2: Place the car in the space Mentally park the Fortuner inside the area you’re trying to estimate. At the corner. If it helps, imagine standing beside the car: • the driver’s door • the back seat • the trunk Onc

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

Here’s a practical tip I picked up from a fellow broker on how to minimize notarial costs when closing a sale — without cutting corners. The situation When you submit a Deed of Absolute Sale (DOAS) to the BIR, many RDOs require a separate document called an Acknowledgment Receipt (AR) stating that the seller has received the full consideration indicated in the DOAS. Technically, most DOAS templates already contain a clause like: “Receipt of which is hereby acknowledged by the

If you ask most lawyers whether they’re knowledgeable in real estate transactions, they’ll likely say yes. But in practice, not all lawyers operate at the same depth. Real estate is one of the most regulation-heavy areas of law in the Philippines. Tax rules evolve. BIR issuances change. Court rulings reinterpret old principles. What worked five years ago may already be outdated. That’s why I prefer lawyers who specialize in real estate — not those who just “handle” it occasio

Client: Juan, how do you price a land lease? JPRE: What exactly is being leased? Client: It’s a portion of land inside a larger commercial compound we developed in XXX. There’s already an existing commercial building in the compound, but this specific tenant wants to lease an undeveloped section and construct their own structure. How should we price it? JPRE: There isn’t a single, market-standard formula for pricing land leases like this. Unlike condos or office spaces, where

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

Good news for families with unsettled estates. On Feb. 18, 2026, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri filed Senate Bill No. 1865 seeking to extend the Estate Tax Amnesty until Dec. 31, 2028. The previous extension expired on June 14, 2025. If passed, this would reopen the window once again. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: the real bottleneck in estate settlement isn’t the tax. Two years ago, we invited Atty. Jojo Mejia to speak on Estate Settlement Taxation and Planning under TRAIN