JPatag Real Estate, 5th Floor Phinma Plaza, Plaza Drive, Rockwell Center, Makati (2026)

09/08/2026

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.

One major consideration against the move was surprisingly simple: few faculty members wanted to relocate or make the commute just to teach.

Two decades later, the idea resurfaced. In 2025, Ayala Land confirmed discussions to acquire AIM’s campus as the school considered relocating to a larger site. The negotiations eventually fell through.

Where am I going with this?

You can build a township. Convincing people, particularly skilled people, to move there is another matter entirely.

As Metro Manila deals with a property glut, developers are increasingly looking outside the traditional CBDs for growth. But the AIM story illustrates a problem they’ll have to solve:

How do you bring the talent with you?

I think this becomes particularly interesting if the Philippines seriously pursues an opportunity I believe we’re naturally suited for: retirement tourism.

Warm weather, English proficiency, hospitality, relatively affordable living, and a large pool of healthcare professionals. Meanwhile, aging populations abroad are facing increasingly expensive long-term care.

Imagine something like Balesin Island, but built around retirement instead of vacations: beautiful surroundings, restaurants, recreation and resort-level service, combined with clinics, rehabilitation facilities and the specialists retirees actually need.

Building it may be the easy part.

The harder part is convincing doctors, nurses, chefs and other skilled professionals to build their lives there too.

We’ve convinced foreign chefs to move here and open restaurants. Companies convince talent to relocate for work. Developers have created entire communities where previously there was very little.

So it’s certainly possible.

06/08/2026

One of my favorite personal finance books is The Millionaire Next Door. The authors studied actual American millionaires to understand how they built and maintained their wealth. I highly recommend reading it.

One concept that caught my attention was their formula for estimating what your net worth should be based on your age and income. It's a simple benchmark to see whether you're accumulating wealth at a pace similar to the millionaires they studied.

Expected Net Worth (ENW) = (Your Age × Your Annual Income) ÷ 10

(Exclude inheritances from both your annual income and your net worth.)

Here's how to interpret the result. If your net worth is:

* Less than half of the ENW, you're an Under Accumulator of Wealth.
* Around the ENW, you're an Average Accumulator of Wealth.
* At least double the ENW, you're a Prodigious Accumulator of Wealth.

When I applied the formula to myself, I realized it isn't as straightforward for self-employed professionals.

The book assumes a more traditional source of income, but as a real estate broker, mine isn't.

Should I use my gross commissions before broker splits? My commissions after splits but before business expenses? Or my actual income after deducting all business expenses?

Then there's another challenge. My income fluctuates from year to year. Should I use last year's income or average several years?

After a lengthy discussion with ChatGPT, here's the approach that made the most sense:

1. Use your net income after business expenses.

The book uses your annual realized income. For self-employed professionals, we think the closest equivalent is your net income after all legitimate business expenses. That's what your business actually earned.

2. Use your 3-year average net income.

One exceptional year can skew the results. Averaging your net income over the past three years gives a more realistic picture of your earning power and makes the formula more useful.

The book wasn't written specifically for brokers, entrepreneurs, or other self-employed professionals, so there's no definitive answer. But I think this interpretation makes the formula much more practical for people whose income isn't fixed.

05/08/2026

Most people know that when someone passes away and leaves a property to several heirs, the estate can be settled through an Extra-Judicial Settlement of Estate (EJS). This allows the heirs to divide and transfer the property without going through a lengthy court proceeding.

But what if the deceased left only one heir? This is where many people get confused.

Since there's no one else to divide or partition the estate with, there's no need for an Extra-Judicial Settlement. Instead, the sole heir executes an Affidavit of Self-Adjudication—a sworn statement declaring that he or she is the only heir and is adjudicating the entire estate to himself or herself.

This distinction becomes important when the property is eventually sold.

If the seller inherited the property as the sole heir, the supporting document is not an Extra-Judicial Settlement. The seller's ownership is based on an Affidavit of Self-Adjudication. When the property is sold, the parties execute a Deed of Absolute Sale, together with the Affidavit of Self-Adjudication that establishes the seller's ownership.

Using the correct document ensures the transfer complies with Philippine law and avoids unnecessary issues during the transaction.

04/08/2026

Circling back to yesterday's post...

1. Every college student should learn how taxes actually work.

One of the biggest gaps in our education system is that we graduate without knowing how taxes, BIR registration, and tax filings work.

When new brokers join a developer's sales team, they're required to register with the BIR as self-employed salespersons and issue Service Invoices (formerly Official Receipts). Most of them hire a bookkeeper to handle everything—often the cheapest one they can find.

Some are fortunate enough to work with accountants who explain the basics, remind them to submit required documents (like BIR Form 2307), and ensure their tax filings are complete.

But many simply assume that because someone is filing for them, everything is in order.

That's why I always tell people: don't assume your accountant or bookkeeper is handling everything.

2. If the broker wasn't filing taxes, why didn't the BIR catch it sooner?

The simple answer is resources.

The BIR doesn't have the manpower to actively go after every taxpayer, especially those with relatively small amounts involved. But that doesn't mean the problem disappears.

Unpaid taxes continue to accumulate penalties and interest over time. Under the current Tax Code, unpaid taxes are generally subject to a 25% surcharge plus 12% annual interest (previously 20% before TRAIN) on the unpaid amount until it's settled.

Some people also worry about requesting an Open Case report from the BIR because they feel it might draw attention to unresolved issues. Whether or not that actually affects enforcement, the more important reality is this: waiting rarely makes the problem cheaper. The longer unresolved tax liabilities remain, the more they can grow.

The takeaway is simple: understanding your tax obligations isn't just for accountants. It's part of running your career responsibly.

3. In the broker's case, I estimate that her tax liability is already north of P10 million—and it continues to grow as penalties and interest accrue. Hopefully, that's reason enough for every broker and self-employed professional to start learning the basics of taxation before it's too late.

03/08/2026

Once upon a time, a developer had dozens of in-house brokers, but one consistently stood out.

She was a top seller year after year. Wanting a bigger market, she eventually left the developer and became an independent broker. She started handling secondary-market properties, and before long, her sales had doubled.

Later, she joined a brokerage firm. During tax season, she overheard her colleagues discussing their Income Tax Returns (ITRs) and BIR deadlines. She joined the conversation and slowly realized that earning commissions as a broker came with tax registration and filing obligations.

That was when the story turned into a horror story.

Despite years of earning substantial commissions since her years with a developer, she had never filed a single income tax return. Not Income Tax. Not even the monthly VAT return.

She knew how to sell properties, close deals, and collect commissions. What she never learned was what had to happen after the commission was paid.

End of story.

My comments tomorrow.

02/08/2026

Many lease contracts require tenants to pay advance rent and a security deposit before moving in. Although they are often collected together, they serve different purposes.

Advance rent is simply rent paid ahead of time, usually equivalent to two months' rent. Security deposits, on the other hand, are meant to answer for unpaid utility bills, property damage, and other obligations at the end of the lease. It should not be treated as unpaid rent.

Here's a mistake I still see in many lease contracts:

The advance rent is immediately applied to the first two months of the lease.

While this is common practice, it weakens the lessor's protection. Once those first two months have passed, the advance rent has already been consumed.

A better approach is to apply the advance rent to the last months of the lease instead.

For example, if the lease requires 2 months' advance rent, the tenant pays:

1 month's rent for the first month of occupancy
2 months' advance rent to be applied to the last two months of the lease

This way, the owner has continuous protection throughout the lease term.

Why does this matter?

If the tenant pre-terminates the lease, stops paying rent, or issues unfunded checks, the lessor has more leverage. Depending on the lease agreement, the owner may terminate the lease, enforce the contract's penalty provisions, and apply the advance rent as agreed. If the advance rent had already been used during the first months, that layer of protection would no longer exist.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted this issue. Many tenants pre-terminated their leases or were unable to fund their rental checks. In many cases, they asked owners to use the security deposit to cover unpaid rent. Unless the lease expressly allows it, this is generally not the purpose of a security deposit. Once it is used for rent, the owner may no longer have funds available to cover damages or unpaid utility bills after the tenant moves out.

A well-drafted lease clearly distinguishes advance rent from the security deposit and specifies when each may be applied. That simple detail can save both landlords and tenants from unnecessary disputes.

31/07/2026

Back in 2015, the DPWH proposed building a vehicle underpass along Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue (formerly Buendia). The goal was to ease one of Makati's worst traffic bottlenecks.

The plan was a four-lane, 570-meter tunnel passing beneath the Makati Avenue intersection. Construction was supposed to begin in June 2015 and finish by April 2017, with a budget of around P1.2 billion. At the time, DPWH projected it could cut traffic in the area by as much as 50%.

So... what happened?

According to documents released through the Freedom of Information portal, the project was suspended because the DPWH was unable to secure the required excavation permit from the Makati City government.

It's interesting to imagine what Makati would look like today if it had pushed through.

Back then, the roughly 880-meter drive from A. Venue Mall to Zuellig Building could take up to 1.5 hours during heavy rains, partly because the Estrella Bridge was under construction. While the completed tunnel may have improved traffic in the long run, the construction itself would likely have made congestion even worse.

Years of roadworks along Gil Puyat could have effectively isolated the northern parts of Makati—Guadalupe Viejo, Guadalupe Nuevo, Poblacion, and Bel-Air—from the city's main business district.

And that raises an interesting question:

Would Poblacion have become the vibrant dining and nightlife district it is today if the underpass had been built? And how might it have affected demand for Rockwell properties?

(Map shown is generated by AI and is for illustration purposes only.)

30/07/2026

𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮—𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡.
𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩, 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮.

𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗘: 4-𝗕𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯, 𝗗𝗮𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶ñ𝗮𝘀

This owner-built residence features spacious interiors, a private dipping pool, 20 solar panels, double-glazed windows, a fully fitted kitchen, whole-house water filtration, and enhanced security.

301 sqm lot | 250 sqm floor area
4 bedrooms | 2 parking slots
Selling Price: Php 32 Million

For more details, please contact:
Karen Crizza Umoquit
Listing Administrator
JPatag Real Estate/ Team MavRock – RE/MAX Capital
M: +63 917 888 5753
E: [email protected]

29/07/2026

Circling back to yesterday’s poll...

80% voted yes.
20% voted no.

The correct answer is:

Yes—but subject to the banks’ approval and compliance review.

How do I know this can be done?

Because I personally witnessed this exact arrangement in an actual property transaction.

The buyer’s funds were divided between two major Philippine banks. After completing their respective compliance reviews, both banks credited the remittances and issued the Manager’s Checks required for the purchase.

As expected, the transactions were flagged for further verification. That did not mean the funds were illegal or that the transaction was automatically prohibited. It meant the banks needed to establish the source, purpose, and parties behind the transfers.

Among the documents requested were:

1. The contract showing that the funds would be used to purchase a specific property;
2. The birth certificates of the buyer and the Philippine-based sibling, confirming their identities and relationship; and
3. An apostilled Special Power of Attorney authorizing the sibling to act for the buyer in connection with the property purchase.

The important lesson is that a large or unusual remittance may be delayed and investigated—but it can still be approved when the parties can properly document the source of the money, the purpose of the transfer, and the authority of the person acting for the buyer.

However, approval is never automatic. Each bank conducts its own assessment based on its internal policies and the circumstances of the transaction.

But what if the recipient is merely a friend rather than a sibling?

That arrangement may receive greater scrutiny because the bank will need to understand why a substantial amount is being transferred to an unrelated third party and why that person is purchasing Manager’s Checks on behalf of the buyer.

If the bank is not satisfied, it may decline to credit the remittance or arrange for the funds to be returned through the sending bank.

So, yes, banks may allow it—provided the parties can fully explain and document the transaction.

28/07/2026

Question: A Filipino-American buyer who lives in the United States is purchasing a property in the Philippines.

To avoid timing issues in remitting funds, the buyer sends the purchase money to a sibling in the Philippines. The sibling then purchases a Manager's Check payable to the seller.

Would a bank allow this arrangement, considering its AMLA compliance requirements, even though the Manager's Check is being purchased by someone other than the buyer?

🗳️ Vote in the poll. Share your answer in the comment section.

A: Yes, the bank will allow it.
B: No, the bank will not allow it.

Answer will be posted tomorrow.

JPatag Real Estate

09/08/2026

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