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

08/06/2026

Why does the Philippines tax the selling price instead of the actual gain? A look at the history, logic, and trade-offs behind the country's unique Capital Gains Tax system.

05/06/2026

Here's one thing I learned recently about selling income-generating commercial properties.

When a commercial building that has been previously leased out is sold, the transaction doesn't always end with transferring the title and tax declaration. If the previous owner was operating under a business permit, they will also need to formally close their business registration with the local government unit (LGU).

Why does this matter?

Because when the new owner eventually applies for their own business permit to lease out the property, LGUs will require the previous business registration tied to that address to be properly closed first.

And that's where problems can arise.

If the previous owner has outstanding local tax issues, unfiled returns, unpaid business taxes, or penalties, the business closure process can become complicated. In some cases, this may delay the new owner's ability to secure the permits needed to continue leasing the property.

The title can already be transferred. The tax declaration can already be updated. Yet operationally, the property can still face hurdles before it can be leased out again.

It's one of those issues that rarely appears during due diligence—but can become a headache after closing if nobody asks the question early.

04/06/2026

A few years ago, I was in an outlet mall in the US. For some reason, one of the things on my “must buy” list was the iconic Polo Sport Eau de Toilette by Ralph Lauren.

Maybe it was nostalgia. Maybe I smelled it somewhere years ago. But the scent instantly brought me back to my adolescent years. Strange how fragrances can do that. Anyway, I walked into the first perfume store I saw. The bottle was on sale, so I bought it immediately.

Mission accomplished.

After that, I went back to looking for my family while they wandered around the outlet mall doing their own shopping. But then I passed by another perfume store.

Out of curiosity, I checked the price of the exact same Polo Sport bottle I had just purchased. To my horror, it was around 20% cheaper than the one I had bought earlier. My brother told me I could probably just return the first one. But my pride wouldn’t let me. (“What am I… poor?!”) 😂

Anyway, that experience permanently changed the way I buy things. Since then, whenever I purchase anything significant, I instinctively compare multiple stores first before making a decision. And honestly, I think many real estate buyers today behave the same way.

A buyer sees a property at a fantastic price. Maybe even a “good deal” by their own standards. But instead of immediately pulling the trigger, they continue scanning the market. Because in today’s environment, everything feels like it’s on sale. So buyers keep comparing. Keep canvassing. Keep waiting to see if something better appears. Or sometimes… just to make sure they can still ask for another 20%30% discount on an already discounted property.

And that, I think, is one of the major reasons why the real estate market feels so slow right now. There’s simply too much supply and too many choices — which stretches the decision-making process much longer than usual.

03/06/2026

Recent reports of trees being cut along Quirino Avenue have been making headlines these past few weeks. In one viral Facebook video, someone even pointed out that the tree appeared to be “bleeding.” Poor trees.

But as beautiful as trees are, there’s also another side to them that property owners eventually encounter.

Here are 3 real estate problems involving trees that we've personally come across...

1. Surprise! There's a tree!

It was in a newly developed village, and the owner only discovered the issue upon turnover: a massive tree sitting almost exactly at the center of the property.

As a new broker then, it never occurred to me that this could become a serious issue. You can’t simply decide to cut a mature tree down. Depending on the species, permits may be required — often involving the DENR and the LGU. Even relocating the tree isn’t simple. “Balling” and transporting a large tree can become extremely expensive (>Php500K), especially if the destination is far.

2. The falling wall.

There was another case where a newly renovated gate kept getting misaligned. The owner had it repaired. A few months later, it shifted again.

Before the renovation, the architect had already recommended replacing the old perimeter wall, which dated back to the 1960s. But as the investigation continued, they realized the real culprit was the tree beside the wall. Over time, the roots had slowly pushed against the structure, causing the wall to lean and the gate to shift repeatedly.

3. Uprooted the flooring.

Then there was a beautifully maintained house in a posh subdivision that was being rented out. Everything looked great at first glance. But once you stepped inside, parts of the floor tiles had lifted and buckled upward.

The culprit? A beautiful balete tree at the front of the house.

Its roots had spread underneath portions of the property and eventually pushed upward against the flooring. Repairing the damage would likely be complicated, potentially requiring portions of the walls and flooring to be demolished and rebuilt.

Don't get me wrong, I love trees. But sometimes, they also remind you that nature doesn’t really care about your renovation budget.

02/06/2026

Not too long ago, one document could quietly make a property almost impossible to sell: the previous BIR Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR).

See, before June 2016, sellers were required to present the CAR from when they originally acquired the property. So if you bought a condo from a developer years earlier, you were expected to keep that CAR indefinitely. When you eventually sold the unit, the BIR will require you to present it as proof that the proper taxes had been paid during your acquisition.

And this is where the horror story begins.

Several condominium projects in BGC reportedly had unresolved issues involving their developers and the BIR. Because of this, CARs were not released and, in certain cases, titles were not fully transferred from the developers to the buyers.

As a result, subsequent owners encountered difficulties selling or transferring their units because the previous CAR could not be produced. Thus, some owners became trapped holding otherwise legitimate properties.

So what changed?

When Cesar Dulay became BIR Commissioner, the BIR eventually relaxed the requirement to present the previous CAR. This helped unblock numerous transactions that had been stuck for years.

But here’s the problem...

Regulatory requirements can change depending on policy direction and leadership. If stricter interpretations are revived in the future, properties with unresolved historical tax documentation issues could once again face transfer complications.

And this issue wasn’t limited to previous CARs.

At one point, the BIR also scrutinized the declared source of funds used to acquire properties. This sometimes became an issue when parents purchased properties but wanted the titles placed partly or entirely under their children’s names. Questions could arise regarding the child’s financial capacity to acquire the asset.

We’re now roughly two years away from another change in administration.

Will some of these stricter interpretations eventually return?

01/06/2026

Once upon a time, a broker received a call from one of his top clients.

The client explained that she was already in the process of buying a pre-selling unit through an in-house broker who happened to be a family friend. But before finalizing the purchase, she wanted a second opinion. The broker gave his advice. The client listened.

Some time later, the broker received an unexpected call from the in-house agent. Apparently, the client wanted the commission credited to him instead. Surprised, the broker immediately called the client to clarify.

He explained that there was absolutely no need for that. In fact, since she was already an existing buyer of the developer, he suggested that she simply convert the broker commission into a direct discount on the purchase instead, which the developer allowed.

But the client refused. She insisted that the broker receive the commission.

End of story.

Of course, not every story in real estate goes that way.

There are clients who, the moment negotiations become difficult, immediately look at the broker’s professional fee as the first thing to cut. Then there are clients like the one in this story.

And I think a career in real estate is really about finding those people. The ones who genuinely respect what we do and understand the value we bring.

So you do the rounds.
You take on leases, even when they’re tedious and time-consuming.
You give the best service possible.
You try to WOW them.
Your name gets passed around.

Eventually, you find clients like that, you take care of those relationships and never take them for granted.

From the older top-selling brokers I know, most of them only seem to have a handful of clients like these. Not many.

But over time, those relationships compound. One client becomes referrals. Referrals become friendships. And before you realize it, those few people quietly become the foundation of an entire career.

29/05/2026

One of the most common misconceptions I still hear in RE taxation is this:

“A condo that has stayed vacant for more than 2 years automatically becomes a capital asset, so its sale is no longer subject to VAT.”

I’ve heard this argument from brokers, accountants, and even lawyers.

The confusion usually comes from BIR Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 7-2003, which discusses “idle” assets.

Yes, the RR says that ordinary assets may be converted into capital assets if they have not been used in business for more than 2 years.

But the same provision also states that this rule applies only to taxpayers NOT engaged in RE business.

Example:

Suppose a manufacturing firm shuts down operations and leaves behind a factory that remain unused for several years.

Since:

the company was not engaged in the RE business; and
the plant was not used in business for more than 2 years,

the idle factory may eventually be treated as capital assets. If sold, the transaction will no longer be subject to VAT.

Now compare that to someone leasing properties.

Under RR 7-2003, taxpayers engaged in the RE business treat their properties as ordinary assets. And once classified as ordinary assets, the regulation is very strict about their treatment.

In fact, RR 7-2003 expressly states:

“In the case of subsequent NON-OPERATION by taxpayers originally registered to be engaged in the RE business, all real properties originally acquired by it SHALL CONTINUE to be treated as ordinary assets.”

In other words, merely leaving a property vacant for 2 years does NOT automatically convert it into a capital asset if the owner is engaged in the RE business.

This is why the absence of a Certificate of Non-Tenancy (CNT), or even the presence of one indicating when the unit became vacant, can become an issue. The absence of a CNT or a CNT with dates will establish that the unit was previously leased out, which in turn supports the position that the owner is engaged in the RE business.

So if your plan is to convince the BIR that a previously leased property should't be subjected to VAT simply because it stayed vacant for 2 years, that argument is unlikely to work.

28/05/2026

You know how absurdly long the payee details for real estate tax manager’s checks can get?

Something like:

“BPI ROCKWELL BRANCH FAO BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE IFO MARIA THERESA BELINDA A. GURANGO TIN 000-000-000”

(For those unfamiliar, FAO means “For the Account Of” while IFO means “In Favor Of.”)

In one transaction, the bank even complained that the payee details were too long for their system’s check writer.

So when I first heard that Landbank would accept checks payable simply to “Bureau of Internal Revenue,” it honestly sounded revolutionary.

No more ridiculously long payee names.
No more typo errors.
No more requesting replacement manager’s checks because one letter/number was wrong.

Finally, I thought, the Philippines was moving away from these archaic procedures.

From that point on, I told myself: I’m just using Landbank.

…or so I thought.

Until one client asked me a very obvious question that I somehow never seriously considered:

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

And honestly, he had a point.

If a manager’s check is payable only to “Bureau of Internal Revenue,” then theoretically, anyone holding that check could potentially use it to pay for any BIR tax liability under any transaction.

In a way, it behaves almost like a semi-blank tax payment instrument.

Sure, the amount may not exactly match another person’s tax dues. But as long as the amount is usable, the check could still potentially be negotiated for another tax payment.

That immediately changed how I viewed the “simplified” payee format.

So now, whenever someone asks me to prepare a manager’s check payable only to “Bureau of Internal Revenue,” I usually push back and request the longer, transaction-specific format instead.

Yes, it’s annoying.
Yes, it feels outdated.
But sometimes, those overly long payee details exist for a reason.

And for the record: Landbank also accepts the long-format payee details anyway.

26/05/2026

Once upon a time, a broker had a client looking for a pre-selling condo unit.

The broker spent weeks searching for options.

He shortlisted multiple projects, coordinated showroom visits, compared layouts, discussed payment terms, analyzed locations, and patiently walked the client through the pros and cons of each property.

Some projects were too expensive. Some had poor layouts. Others simply didn’t feel right for the client.

After several viewings and follow-ups, the broker finally found a project in a CBD that the client genuinely liked.

The broker arranged another showroom visit, answered concerns, coordinated with the sales team, and continued assisting the client until the buyer finally decided to proceed with the purchase.

But the work didn’t stop there.

The broker then guided the client through the reservation process, collected the required documents, coordinated submissions, and helped complete everything needed to close the sale.

Transaction completed.

Naturally, the broker then followed up for the commission.

Weeks passed. Silence.

After another follow-up, the developer finally responded: the commission would instead be credited to one of their in-house brokers because the buyer supposedly turned out to be an “existing client” of that in-house broker.

In other words, after the external broker did the searching, the presentations, the follow-ups, the convincing, and the paperwork, someone else suddenly appeared at the finish line.

To be fair, not all developers operate this way. Many developers still protect broker relationships and honor professional ethics.

But stories like this are exactly why brokers eventually become selective about which developers they choose to work with.

25/05/2026

The peso has quietly moved from around 55 to the dollar in May 2025 to nearly 61 today, one of the weakest levels we’ve seen historically.

And while most people immediately focus on the negatives, every market event has two sides.

A weaker peso hurts importers because they need more pesos to buy the same amount of US dollars for imported goods.

But on the other side, exporters benefit because they earn in US dollars while many of their expenses remain in pesos.

And there’s another group that quietly benefits from this...

Filipinos abroad earning in US dollars.

Think about it this way: with the peso depreciating by roughly 10%, Philippine assets have effectively become “cheaper” in dollar terms. That includes Philippine real estate.

A condo worth Php10M today would have cost around USD181k when the exchange rate was 55. At 61, that same property is closer to USD164k.

Same property. Different exchange rate. Massive difference.

So if you’re a Filipino abroad who has been thinking about finally buying a home, a retirement property, or an investment unit in the Philippines, this may be one of the better forex windows to seriously consider it.

Brokers, you already know who to call.

JPatag Real Estate

08/06/2026

05/06/2026

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