Pardon me if you had to wait a while for this announcement. It’s something that may potentially compromise the integrity of this website. Whatever happens, I promise not to sell out.
I am now an agent for Ayala Land, Inc.’s Brokers’ Circle
Vision of this website
In the About page of this blog, I said:
This website is envisioned to be an information resource center where anyone (living or working here or not) who is seriously planning to build or buy a house in the Philippines, can learn and connect with product and service providers. It’s a place where prospective homeowners, suppliers and industry practitioners are encouraged to interact with one another.
I have worked so hard to establish a little credibility with this blog. This website is a culmination of around eighteen years of my “on-and-off” hobby as an observer of the real estate market (believe it or not, some people have weird hobbies; I don’t play Dota or Ragnarok, I play Google Earth and Wikimapia).
Right from the conception of this site, I have sworn to myself that I shall protect the interest of the prospective Filipino home owner because:
building or buying a house can be one of the most important decisions anyone will make in his or her lifetime; it can be life-altering. Committing mistakes or making the wrong choices in the buying or building process can lead to disastrous results that may never be reversed or undone.
My responsibility is to YOU, who are planning or dreaming to own your house in the Philippines, NOT to a single product and service provider, industry practitioner or developer (regardless of whether the company is a market leader or a small-ticket player)
Now that I market Ayala Land, Inc. properties, there appears to be a conflict of interest. Many might think that I will focus on the merits of Ayala Land properties and deliberately miss out on the merits of other deserving developers. In fact, I am afraid, that’s the impression I made on Best real estate in the Philippines, part 3. That part focused on Ayala properties, Nuvali and Westgrove.
I’m editing several images of projects of Eton Properties Phils., Inc., Filinvest, Cathay Land, Inc., the Quiros family and Britanny Corp., Greenfield Development Corporation and many more. And I shall feature them all with equal prominence.
Resolving the conflict of interest
In order to remain true to the vision of this website and to be an effective property agent , I shall do the following:
- This website will remain an objective online information resource center, NEVER a virtual marketplace or palengke for real estate. I thereby, renounce my original plan of attracting direct advertisers, which may include developers. This website shall remain advertisement-free, except,
- Perhaps, I will allow Google Ads in this site for the following reasons:
- Google only serves contextual-relevant ads, i.e., if I write about real estate, housing and other related keywords, it will only place ads that are appropriate for those keywords. It’s not supposed to place ads about flat abs or erectile dysfunction.
- I want to prove to my readers that working online, especially blogging, is the cheapest (not necessarily easy) way of earning income (sometimes passive income) that can potentially make you get rich slow. I hope this site recovers, at least, my total cash outlay of less than 5,500 pesos (US$117), for the domain name and the one-year hosting. That way, I have put up a business that I enjoy so much and one that finances itself.
Who knows, you might even get your dream house thru blogging? Please click here to read the story of someone who actually did.
- I am developing my second website to market Ayala Land, Inc.’s properties. That site will become a virtual store that will be open 24/7, 365 days a year.
For your information, Ayala Land, Inc. is segmented into three divisions: Ayala Land Premier, Alveo and Avida. I am fortunate enough for the following reasons:
- I’ve been assigned to Ayala Land Premier, the high-end division of Ayala Land, Inc.
- I’ve been assigned to Mrs. Lita Valdes, the most successful accredited broker in the history of Ayala Land.
To prove to you that this website will treat all developers equally, I shall disclose here what my friends (remember our survey of New Sta. Rosa last Oct.1?) didn’t like about Nuvali’s Retail Center – “it’s presently not senior citizen-friendly.”
Last Thursday, October 8, in a meeting with Mr. Mel Cuvin, Ayala Land Premier’s Senior Sales Executive who handles the division’s accredited brokers, I told him about this. And he promised to bring it up to the big bosses upstairs. But by disclosing it here, I hope the issue will be resolved hastily.
There are several classy restaurants in Nuvali’s Retail Center but none has its own restroom. The retail center has a centralized restroom. Though, it’s large and very clean (you can eat on the floor), the restroom is inaccessible for senior citizens with mobility problem. I think Ayala Land went overboard with their effort towards water conservation, recycling and sustainability.
Thanks a lot
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Congrats Jun! Good for you! And I hope your new site will be as good and as informative as this one.
(BTW, Google’s conceptual ads aren’t 100% foolproof so be active in filtering them. I sometimes get ads for abs and shoes that make you taller for my vegetable gardening site. May mga advertisers lang talaga na ganun, bidding on unrelated keywords just to get more eyeballs.)
Dear Mr. Montecito Landowner,
Thank you so much.
You don’t have to congratulate me, Sir; you should congratulate yourself and your family.
To remove your apprehensions ones and for all, I assure you that the entire Nuvali, and even Westgrove in Silang, WERE NOT IN ANY WAY AFFECTED BY ONDOY. It was like they existed in a world all their own.
Last October 1 (please read my post Best real estate in the Philippines, part 3; there are lots of pictures there), we surveyed all the developments in what I call the New Sta. Rosa; we examined all the nooks and crannies.
At Nuvali, we started at the Retail Center and eventually made our way to Montecito (passing by Abrio, Avida Settings, future site of Xavier School and Treveia.)
In Montecito, we were even escorted by the “hagibis’ or motorized guard, to survey the entire place. We were concerned not so much with its improvements but with the damages that Ondoy might have brought to Montecito. We looked everywhere but, honestly, we found none. We couldn’t find any sign of Ondoy like broken tree branches, puddles of water, washed out bermuda grass, none whatsoever. So Sir, you can sleep well now.
We will return there soon because we weren’t able to take any picture of Montecito; the guards wouldn’t allow us. Maybe, next time they will.
Why did I say that you should congratulate yourself for investing in Montecito?
You see, Sir, Montecito will be the first residential project that will have the lowest density in almost 50 years. For the benefit of the other readers, “low-density” housing project means there will be very few houses in a very large subdivision.
The first (and last) time such very low density project was launched was in 1962, in what is now famously known as Forbes Park in Makati. I’m sure, Sir, you know the Ayala’s mindset regarding their projects: they keep pushing the envelope to the next level; they always deliver (if not over deliver) what they promise.
Expect Montecito to equal the beauty, serenity and value of Forbes Park within a few years; surpass them in several. You won’t have to wait 50 years for Montecito to approximate Forbes Park in all levels.
I can write here for hours on end about Nuvali, in general, Montecito, in particular, but that will turn this site into a selling forum (I think, I just did : ). You may contact me via +63 02 447.6328 or +63 02 929.609.7142 if you want to know more.
Thanks a lot for dropping by and my warmest regards to you and to your family.
P.S. You may also contact Mr. Mel Cuvin, Ayala Land Premier’s Senior Sales Operations Executive, for your questions about our projects. I don’t want to give his contact numbers here. Maybe an e-mail will be okay? You may email him via cuvin.mel@ayalaland.com.ph. His answers to your questions are relevant to me as an agent for ALI, so please copy furnish me via junsanchez2003@yahoo.com
Lastly, I suggest you use Wikimapia instead of Google Earth. Wikimapia tags the boundaries/perimeters of each development. But like all Wikis, it cannot be taken as Gospel Truth; anyone, including yourself and me, can add contents or edit any Wiki, including Wikimapia.
P.S.S Thanks again
Congratulations!
I discovered this blog after Ondoy. We recently purchased a lot in Montecito and was desperate to know if Nuvali was affected by the floods. Thanks to this blog, we now feel more confident about our decision to buy land miles away from Metro Manila.
I am looking forward to more posts about Sta. Rosa, especially Nuvali.
P.S. May we now ask Ayala Land related questions here? I checked Montecito in Google Earth (after visiting this blog) and I have several questions on the perimeter of the subdivision.