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		<title>What&#8217;s the Best Neighborhood in Metro Manila to Raise Kids?</title>
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		<category><![CDATA[Finding a Realtor]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Salcedo Village, Makati]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[First time home buyers guide]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[home buyers and sellers guide Philippines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maita Siquijor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippines real estate]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.residencesmanila.com/2010/07/28/whats-the-best-neighborhood-in-metro-manila-to-raise-kids/"><img align="left" hspace="5" width="195" height="110" src="http://www.residencesmanila.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/IMG00487-20100826-1147-195x110.jpg" class="alignleft tfe wp-post-image" alt="What&#039;s the best neighborhood in Manila to raise kids?" title="What&#039;s the best neighborhood in Manila to raise kids?" /></a>What do you think is the best neighborhood in Metro Manila to raise kids? Here are some things to consider.]]></description>
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		<title>First Time Homebuyers Find Opportunity in Current Market</title>
		<link>http://www.residencesmanila.com/2009/07/27/first-time-homebuyers-find-opportunity-in-current-market/</link>
		<comments>http://www.residencesmanila.com/2009/07/27/first-time-homebuyers-find-opportunity-in-current-market/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:13:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maita Siquijor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles & Advice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finding a Realtor]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://residencesmanila.com/?p=111</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.residencesmanila.com/2009/07/27/first-time-homebuyers-find-opportunity-in-current-market/"><img align="left" hspace="5" width="195" height="110" src="http://www.residencesmanila.com/wp-content/plugins/thumbnail-for-excerpts/tfe_no_thumb.png" class="alignleft wp-post-image tfe" alt="" title="" /></a>Looking for a one-stop-blog to help first time home buyers in the Philippines, I didn&#8217;t find any!  Doing a bit of research, I found this site from Basta Pinoy  with an article by Charles Covalesky, a Title insurance lawyer based in Florida, with info on helping you get your first home.  Yes, it was written for the Florida [...]]]></description>
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		<title>The 5 Things Brokers Won&#039;t Tell You About Choosing A Broker</title>
		<link>http://www.residencesmanila.com/2009/07/17/the-5-things-brokers-wont-tell-you-about-choosing-a-broker/</link>
		<comments>http://www.residencesmanila.com/2009/07/17/the-5-things-brokers-wont-tell-you-about-choosing-a-broker/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maita Siquijor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles & Advice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finding a Realtor]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.residencesmanila.com/2009/07/17/the-5-things-brokers-wont-tell-you-about-choosing-a-broker/"><img align="left" hspace="5" width="195" height="110" src="http://www.residencesmanila.com/wp-content/plugins/thumbnail-for-excerpts/tfe_no_thumb.png" class="alignleft wp-post-image tfe" alt="" title="" /></a>Before buying your first home, you may wish to consider getting a licensed Broker.  Why is that, if you&#8217;re so good with surfing the Net and looking at all this free information to help you evaluate and decide?  A professional, experienced broker  from the Philippine Association of Realtors Boards (PAREB) or the Real Estate Brokers Association of the Philippines (REBAP)  can [...]]]></description>
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Start uga_filter: <p></p><p>Looking for a one-stop-blog to help first time home buyers in the Philippines, I didn&#8217;t find any! </p>
<p>Doing a bit of research, I found this site from <a href="http://www.bastapinoy.com/housing_CK_firsttime_homebuyers_find_opportunities_20080827002.htmhttp://www.bastapinoy.com/housing_CK_firsttime_homebuyers_find_opportunities_20080827002.htmhttp://www.bastapinoy.com/housing_CK_firsttime_homebuyers_find_opportunities_20080827002.htm">Basta Pinoy</a>  with an article by Charles Covalesky, a Title insurance lawyer based in Florida, with info on helping you get your first home.  Yes, it was written for the Florida residential buyer market, but a lot of the advice offered can be applied here.  There are a couple of points which the article cites, which are differently practiced here in the Philippines.  </p>
<p>One, in terms of financing, there is NO PHILIPPINE BANK that will give you an approved loan equal to the house&#8217;s selling price.  That means you must put in some equity, equal to at least 30% if the house is on re-sale.  The only time I&#8217;ve seen this exception is when some customers would agree to  an unscrupulous agent&#8217;s suggestion to pay off the appraiser.  What the appraiser does is to raise the value rating of the house, consequently leading to a higher approved loan value.  In many cases, it&#8217;s enough to cover the entire selling price.  But it doesn&#8217;t reflect the real asset base of the Philippines.  We in the Philippine Association of Realtors Boards (PAREB) discourage Realtors from bribing any official or network partner, as it sets a precedent of dishonesty and bad business advice.</p>
<p>Credit ratings for consumers are only visible to the Philippine banks, unlike in the States you can pay for the service for access to the information. Your bank officer will just tell you that you get a pass&#8217; or &#8216;fail&#8217; rating.   Our loan approval system also relies on specific neighborhood information from referred friends or associates,   in addition to a review of the objective details given by the borrower himself.  That&#8217;s where the Realtor&#8217;s role is important as he acs as mediator between the borrower and the bank if he offers bank loans as a mortgage broker. </p>
<p>Lastly is that though there may be an economic recession round the world, in the Philippines most people I&#8217;ve talked to, sellers and buyers, say that it&#8217;s as if  the country is much less affected than its Western counterparts.  You may also attribute it to the smaller supply of good homes  in your area of choice, which keeps buyers on their toes to look for the best house with the best deal.  But my advice is to aim for a fair price or slightly lower than market price, and grab the good property if you find a house worth negotiating for.  Don&#8217;t wait for the seller/owner to bring the selling price way down.  Every seller, remember, thinks that his house is the best.  He can be less objective about the pricing compared to the next seller.   Good houses in any market sell quickly.</p>

Start uga_in_feed
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Ending uga_filter: <p></p><p>Looking for a one-stop-blog to help first time home buyers in the Philippines, I didn&#8217;t find any! </p>
<p>Doing a bit of research, I found this site from <a href="http://www.bastapinoy.com/housing_CK_firsttime_homebuyers_find_opportunities_20080827002.htmhttp://www.bastapinoy.com/housing_CK_firsttime_homebuyers_find_opportunities_20080827002.htmhttp://www.bastapinoy.com/housing_CK_firsttime_homebuyers_find_opportunities_20080827002.htm">Basta Pinoy</a>  with an article by Charles Covalesky, a Title insurance lawyer based in Florida, with info on helping you get your first home.  Yes, it was written for the Florida residential buyer market, but a lot of the advice offered can be applied here.  There are a couple of points which the article cites, which are differently practiced here in the Philippines.  </p>
<p>One, in terms of financing, there is NO PHILIPPINE BANK that will give you an approved loan equal to the house&#8217;s selling price.  That means you must put in some equity, equal to at least 30% if the house is on re-sale.  The only time I&#8217;ve seen this exception is when some customers would agree to  an unscrupulous agent&#8217;s suggestion to pay off the appraiser.  What the appraiser does is to raise the value rating of the house, consequently leading to a higher approved loan value.  In many cases, it&#8217;s enough to cover the entire selling price.  But it doesn&#8217;t reflect the real asset base of the Philippines.  We in the Philippine Association of Realtors Boards (PAREB) discourage Realtors from bribing any official or network partner, as it sets a precedent of dishonesty and bad business advice.</p>
<p>Credit ratings for consumers are only visible to the Philippine banks, unlike in the States you can pay for the service for access to the information. Your bank officer will just tell you that you get a pass&#8217; or &#8216;fail&#8217; rating.   Our loan approval system also relies on specific neighborhood information from referred friends or associates,   in addition to a review of the objective details given by the borrower himself.  That&#8217;s where the Realtor&#8217;s role is important as he acs as mediator between the borrower and the bank if he offers bank loans as a mortgage broker. </p>
<p>Lastly is that though there may be an economic recession round the world, in the Philippines most people I&#8217;ve talked to, sellers and buyers, say that it&#8217;s as if  the country is much less affected than its Western counterparts.  You may also attribute it to the smaller supply of good homes  in your area of choice, which keeps buyers on their toes to look for the best house with the best deal.  But my advice is to aim for a fair price or slightly lower than market price, and grab the good property if you find a house worth negotiating for.  Don&#8217;t wait for the seller/owner to bring the selling price way down.  Every seller, remember, thinks that his house is the best.  He can be less objective about the pricing compared to the next seller.   Good houses in any market sell quickly.</p>

Start uga_filter: <p></p><p>Before buying your first home, you may wish to consider getting a licensed Broker.  Why is that, if you&#8217;re so good with surfing the Net and looking at all this free information to help you evaluate and decide? </p>
<p>A professional, experienced broker  from the Philippine Association of Realtors Boards (PAREB) or the Real Estate Brokers Association of the Philippines (REBAP)  can help you evaluate not only price and features. More importantly he can give you community and insider information, consumer feedback, and allied services that you will not normally get from the usual agent or colorum practitioner!  He can help you save serious money on taxes, documentation, or cut processing time by knowing and going thru the correct channels.   But it would be good to know the following about your prospective broker, as brokers normally don&#8217;t volunteer this info unless asked upfront:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>If the Broker&#8217;s license is updated.</strong>  Real brokers will usually say they are licensed.  That&#8217;s to distinguish them from colorum brokers or fly-by-night agents.  But they won&#8217;t usually tell you how long they&#8217;ve been licensed, or  if their license is updated. All licensed brokers are required to attend Continuing Education Seminars every so often to keep their knowledge about the market and practices current.  So much as experience counts, it&#8217;s good to know that your broker has updated information.  More importantly, it&#8217;s an indicator that he observes the letter of the law.  However, if you choose to  go with an agent, there are also some good ones out there.  It&#8217;s just that their knowledge about documentation, nuances of negotiations, and market may be limited to the projects they sell as that&#8217;s what they&#8217;re focused on. If your home buying needs don&#8217;t fall under the project, then he may be hardpressed to offer something outside his territory and experience.  They  will also expect  the seller to pay them the same fees as a broker, which may be an issue for some sellers&#8211;another thing that a broker will never tell you upfront. </li>
<li><strong>If he&#8217;s a member in good standing with a duly-recognized Real Estate Assocation.</strong> Not too long ago, DTI required that all brokers be a member of a bonafide real estate association to help safeguard ethical and professional practice, in light of  a number of colorum and unscrupulous practitioners.   If your broker is a member, ask his real estate Board or association about his reputation in the group.  You can check out the community bulletins, association websites or the phone directory for contact numbers.  The  <a href="http://munrebpost.wordpress.com">PAREB-Muntinlupa Realtors Board (MUNREB)</a>,  of which I&#8217;m a member of, publishes  in  the AAVA News in <a title="About Ayala Alabang" href="http://www.architerra.org/Alabang_Villages/page_1810565.html" target="_blank">Ayala Alabang Village</a> member brokers who are in good standing.  There is an increasing number of professional, well-educated practitioners, so won&#8217;t you be relieved to know if you&#8217;ll  be working with one?  With the passage of the Philippine <a href="http://munrebpost.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/resa-approved-by-gma-on-june-29-2009/">Real Estate Service Act (RESA)  </a> last June 29, 2009  association membership  will be even be more strictly enforced now that brokers will be governed by the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC).   Heavy fines or license revocation further await unscrupulous real estate practitioners.  Few buyers, and much less first time homebuyers know that they have remedy to bring their case to the association or PRC  in case a broker commits a serious offense  against them.</li>
<li><strong>How many properties he has sold or rented out in your neighborhood of choice.  </strong>It may be helpful to know that he&#8217;s recently spent  sufficient time knowing the neighborhood, as a result of his transactions there.    A good broker who has really worked the territory will be able to focus more on evaluating how the home fits your purchase needs relative to this neighborhood.  Remember, you are not only buying a condo or house.  You&#8217;re buying into a community.  A conscientious broker will take it upon himself to act as consultant by giving you pre-qualified choices zeroed in on your lifestyle preferences.   He doesn&#8217;t choose for you, of course, but he lays out best options for you.  It will be wonderful if he can even anticipate your needs!  That&#8217;s where he will save you time, money and energy as he won&#8217;t bring you to condos only because they fit your budget range.</li>
<li><strong>Ask  for customer or association references.</strong> Most buyers don&#8217;t ask this, and much less brokers don&#8217;t even think about giving customer testimonials!  But if you will entrust your millions for the first time to a relative stranger, you may want to casually ask if he can literally name names&#8211;yes, of  former clients,  the president or an officer of their association who you can call.   A confident, experienced broker will just be too happy to give you a satisfied client&#8217;s name and number.</li>
<li><strong>Ask if he has bought or sold properties for himself.</strong>  A pro broker  wouldn&#8217;t mind sharing  insights on buying and selling property as gained from first-hand experience.  He can empathize with your own concerns as he&#8217;s been thru the process himself.  He will be more understanding about the emotional and psychological nuances you are going thru as first time home buyer.</li>
</ol>
<p>Did this information help? <a title="Email us if you have other questions about first time home buying!" href="mailto:msiquijor_mhs@yahoo.com.sg" target="_blank"> Let us know!</a></p>

Start uga_in_feed
Ending uga_in_feed: 1
Ending uga_filter: <p></p><p>Before buying your first home, you may wish to consider getting a licensed Broker.  Why is that, if you&#8217;re so good with surfing the Net and looking at all this free information to help you evaluate and decide? </p>
<p>A professional, experienced broker  from the Philippine Association of Realtors Boards (PAREB) or the Real Estate Brokers Association of the Philippines (REBAP)  can help you evaluate not only price and features. More importantly he can give you community and insider information, consumer feedback, and allied services that you will not normally get from the usual agent or colorum practitioner!  He can help you save serious money on taxes, documentation, or cut processing time by knowing and going thru the correct channels.   But it would be good to know the following about your prospective broker, as brokers normally don&#8217;t volunteer this info unless asked upfront:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>If the Broker&#8217;s license is updated.</strong>  Real brokers will usually say they are licensed.  That&#8217;s to distinguish them from colorum brokers or fly-by-night agents.  But they won&#8217;t usually tell you how long they&#8217;ve been licensed, or  if their license is updated. All licensed brokers are required to attend Continuing Education Seminars every so often to keep their knowledge about the market and practices current.  So much as experience counts, it&#8217;s good to know that your broker has updated information.  More importantly, it&#8217;s an indicator that he observes the letter of the law.  However, if you choose to  go with an agent, there are also some good ones out there.  It&#8217;s just that their knowledge about documentation, nuances of negotiations, and market may be limited to the projects they sell as that&#8217;s what they&#8217;re focused on. If your home buying needs don&#8217;t fall under the project, then he may be hardpressed to offer something outside his territory and experience.  They  will also expect  the seller to pay them the same fees as a broker, which may be an issue for some sellers&#8211;another thing that a broker will never tell you upfront. </li>
<li><strong>If he&#8217;s a member in good standing with a duly-recognized Real Estate Assocation.</strong> Not too long ago, DTI required that all brokers be a member of a bonafide real estate association to help safeguard ethical and professional practice, in light of  a number of colorum and unscrupulous practitioners.   If your broker is a member, ask his real estate Board or association about his reputation in the group.  You can check out the community bulletins, association websites or the phone directory for contact numbers.  The  <a href="http://munrebpost.wordpress.com">PAREB-Muntinlupa Realtors Board (MUNREB)</a>,  of which I&#8217;m a member of, publishes  in  the AAVA News in <a title="About Ayala Alabang" href="http://www.architerra.org/Alabang_Villages/page_1810565.html" target="_blank">Ayala Alabang Village</a> member brokers who are in good standing.  There is an increasing number of professional, well-educated practitioners, so won&#8217;t you be relieved to know if you&#8217;ll  be working with one?  With the passage of the Philippine <a href="http://munrebpost.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/resa-approved-by-gma-on-june-29-2009/">Real Estate Service Act (RESA)  </a> last June 29, 2009  association membership  will be even be more strictly enforced now that brokers will be governed by the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC).   Heavy fines or license revocation further await unscrupulous real estate practitioners.  Few buyers, and much less first time homebuyers know that they have remedy to bring their case to the association or PRC  in case a broker commits a serious offense  against them.</li>
<li><strong>How many properties he has sold or rented out in your neighborhood of choice.  </strong>It may be helpful to know that he&#8217;s recently spent  sufficient time knowing the neighborhood, as a result of his transactions there.    A good broker who has really worked the territory will be able to focus more on evaluating how the home fits your purchase needs relative to this neighborhood.  Remember, you are not only buying a condo or house.  You&#8217;re buying into a community.  A conscientious broker will take it upon himself to act as consultant by giving you pre-qualified choices zeroed in on your lifestyle preferences.   He doesn&#8217;t choose for you, of course, but he lays out best options for you.  It will be wonderful if he can even anticipate your needs!  That&#8217;s where he will save you time, money and energy as he won&#8217;t bring you to condos only because they fit your budget range.</li>
<li><strong>Ask  for customer or association references.</strong> Most buyers don&#8217;t ask this, and much less brokers don&#8217;t even think about giving customer testimonials!  But if you will entrust your millions for the first time to a relative stranger, you may want to casually ask if he can literally name names&#8211;yes, of  former clients,  the president or an officer of their association who you can call.   A confident, experienced broker will just be too happy to give you a satisfied client&#8217;s name and number.</li>
<li><strong>Ask if he has bought or sold properties for himself.</strong>  A pro broker  wouldn&#8217;t mind sharing  insights on buying and selling property as gained from first-hand experience.  He can empathize with your own concerns as he&#8217;s been thru the process himself.  He will be more understanding about the emotional and psychological nuances you are going thru as first time home buyer.</li>
</ol>
<p>Did this information help? <a title="Email us if you have other questions about first time home buying!" href="mailto:msiquijor_mhs@yahoo.com.sg" target="_blank"> Let us know!</a></p>

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