We are getting there...

Today as I opened my virtual world, a couple of things came to my attention. First, I got an email notifying me that someone actually commented on this blog - I was so ecstatic only to find out that ... the guy's language was totally french (or something). I don't have anything against them actually but some sense of uniformity is already in place here. Surely, my valued audience (that is you my dear) would appreciate reading simple english and or a few tagalogs (since this is a Pinoy site) and not some tongue twisting stuff. So to that fellow writer who posted a comment, I just had to moderate that one and keep it away for good.

The other item that I wanted to inform everyone is actually a modest milestone for this Real estate blogsite. Technorati is a site that has a daily traffic of about ... a million. Its actually a site that monitors blogsites and nothing more. And here is the good news, if you actually type in the search bar Brittany Corporation, this site (www.somareb.blogspot.com) will come out as the 3rd or 4th (its a daily random phenomenon) place in the search engine results (SER). Beautiful. Just shows that we are getting some great online ranking.

Let's not forget though, this blog is for you my fellow homo sapiens and not for these search engine robots.

Cheers. (here is the link where the Somareb blogsite comes up)

http://technorati.com/posts/tag/Brittany+Corporation

Single Property Website now out

Its another great milestone for your local online Real Estate agent Lescab. Today your online listing website is launched.

Click this link www.somaremosaic.realivent.com

True to my mission, this tool is another open and free program that delivers high quality features (like property photos, description and email to a friend). This new website will be up 24 x 7 x 365 for all to see and be informed of the latest updates on their favorite Brittany Corporation projects.

I'd love to hear your comments. Also for other real estate agents who would like the same tools working for them, let me know and I would be glad to give you a lift! Oh and by the way, this website is intended initially for Mosaic Condominium (studio type) project of Brittany Corporation.
Enjoy!

9/10, 90%, nine out of ten

Statistics, we all are. For the last 2 months I have been keenly (and painfully!) observing Filipino agents Real Estate sites and have found out this generalization : all of them ask information from you before you really get some pretty good (fresh) information that you want. Sure they can give you information : information that is fresh a year (maybe even 2years) ago. Its about time we - as Filipino Real estate agents become information search engines and not just information gatekeepers. In the end, let us give our prospects a choice whom they will choose to do business with.

Let us give them facts and fresh updates and give them the chance to make an informed decision.

I'd also like to work with other agents as when my current prospects don't like my listings, i'd be happy to refer them to deserving agents. Working together is good for the industry and yes, we can coexist and still become very profitable in our business.

I'd be happy to hear any comments from agents - or better yet reach me and let us synergize.

Cheers!

Vista Land, largest homebuilder...

Here is another juicy article that I scanned today at one of Philippine's broadsheets; Vista Land is now the biggest homebuilder in Asia. Such a bold and dangerous claim. Let us quickly look why the daring claim. Vista Land being the holding arm of Brittany Corporation, Crown Asia, Camella Homes and Communities Philippines has a total combined area projects of ... 1,077 hectares generously scattered all over the Philippine Real Estate archipelago. The other major reason is how Vista Land has a complete spectrum of projects for the different income classes of your average Juan dela Cruz. Take your pick - 12 master planned Brittany projects, 20 large scale themed projects from Crown Asia, 19 projects from socialized housing developer Camella Homes (which by the way debuted last year in the condominium arena with its Pacific Residences in Taguig) and 23 projects from Communities Philippines scattered over Pangasinan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Batangas, Iloilo, Cebu, Leyte, CDO and Davao.

The author would become your lens for these projects - let us see how Vista Land combines quality with quantity and come up with the most livable breathing space for every Juan dela Cruz wanting to have some piece of land in his native home land.

Yours truly a Featured writer today at Newsvine.com

The world is watching. This is how we are today, no boundaries and virtually no walls. Not even time differences are making a difference now. A funny yet heartwarming thing happened today as I did my morning ritual of sipping herb tea while I scan for news worth reading. I remembered that multi national company (read it from a major daily last night) who had moulds in their powder milk. When I read that news, I just had to bring it to the worldwide stage. I felt sorry for those mother and baby tandems that save all they can just to buy a small can of powder milk. Only to find out that moulds came ahead of them feasting on the powder milk.

Well - I think I got my 15 minutes today. The article I wrote at Newsvine.com (a social networking site seeding realtime news as they come) made me as one of 5 featured writers for the day. - A writer's bliss while doing my share to tell the world socially relevant news.

Feel free to comment on the powder milk ala moulds. Check out the link below to see the article at newsvine.com

http://www.newsvine.com/health

Brittany Corporation gearing up

Now the stage is set, Brittany Corporation officially joins the big boys of Ayala and Megaworld in big bucks business. Recently news articles have been regularly (for the past 1 and a half months) coming out about their holding company that was recently incorporated. This is Vista Land, and this company will take care of managing all of the Villar Group of Companies property projects.
Flagship projects include the 30 storey Mosaic Condominium in the heart of Makati Central Business District (CBD), the 42 storey Avant Condominium project in the skylines of The Fort and the Marfori Condominiums at the famous "B-bay" (Brittany Bay) in Sucat Paranaque. I think Brittany is starting to beef up its ranks and is preparing to do battle in getting a lionshare of the OFW market. Come to think of it, all projects (I've seen it first hand) of Brittany are masterplanned communities. So in effect, the commitment to develop well-planned communities is a by word for Brittany Corporation stalwarts.
Here is a tip: Vista Land will be listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on June 25, 2007. With the pace and vision of its major proponents, stocks of it will definitely appreciate sooner than one would expect.
Expect to see more positive news for Brittany and yes, you can be assured you can get the freshest updates here on this blog. Stay tuned...

Ford Sta Rosa wins South African market

As I ate dinner with my mother in law last night at a local food chain here in Sta Rosa, this was the business news headline. Indeed it is worth it. Ford Philippines has just bagged a contract to supply flexible fuel engines to the South African market - a booming 600,000 units a year average. It bested Ford factories in China, Mexico and Spain. Whoa! Now this will definitely trickle down to more jobs (steady jobs at that!) and more economic activity here for the Sta Rosa locals. Make way for the Detroit state of the Philippines! Now this again fortifies Sta Rosa as the in place to be. Brittany's Georgia Club is located at the heart of Sta Rosa - its charming South American home themes surrounded by age old trees will be a perfect home for those who want to be closer to their home with the benefits of a suburban lifestyle. Kudos to Ford Philippines.

Mosaic condominium - built with you in mind.

Here are 3 more best reasons why you should consider checking out Mosaic condominium units;

1. For women, Mosaic offers units that answer your need for space...space for your clothes, your shoes, linens. Space for entertaining your friends. A private space in your bedroom to relax with your own thoughts.
2. For men, Mosaic provides units that accommodate a game room (wtg!), a bar, a private study (perfect for your studying child or if you have graduate schooling plans) or den. And lots of shelf space for all your collectibles. And
   
3. For the family, Mosaic has units designed with a family room, for home entertainment and a study room for the kids.

All by design - its your true blue customer-centric developer thinking of you from the ground up.

Real Estate Lingo

While having my Davidoff coffee (thank you Mylene, my sister in law), I chanced upon this short article at 1 of the leading RE mag. I'd like to share them as I learned some new lingo. Being a new RE consultant (just finished my 2 week intensive training at Brittany and just got my id too :) ), here are some lingo that I (and maybe you too) need to be comfortable with;

1. Duplex - In Filipino context, a house that is divided into two separate residences, but is sharing the same structure.
2. High rise condo - A residential building that is 12 storeys high or more (like that of Brittany's Mosaic in Greenbelt and Avant at the Fort).
   
3. Loft - A condominium unit with a double-height ceiling, occasionally with space for a second level (La Marea, Mosaic and Avant condos usually have loft units)
4. Mixed use condo - A residential building that is mixed with commercial establishments on other floors, these can be shops, restos, office spaces or a combination of all three (again Mosaic and Avant Brittany condos are a great example of this)
5. Model unit - A decorated interior space that approximates the size and shows the amenities of the actual residential unit for sale (Brittany's Portofino, Georgia Club and Crosswinds have some of the best model units ready for viewing at Alabang, Sta Rosa and Tagaytay respectively).

Hopefully, with the items above you have learned some basic RE lingos - go ahead and use them!

SoMaREB

Just spend 5 minutes sifting through Google and Technorati looking for your topic of interest and you will be buried neck deep with all kinds of information - both useful and most often - garbage. It is my dedication to the Philippine Real Estate online community to make my blog site as search engine friendly as possible (isn't that everybody's online responsibility?). And at the same time keep humans in mind when writing - the search engines only a close second.

If you have any suggestions on how to get better SEO, be my guest and comment away. Cheers!

5 Tips on Home Hunting

1. Location counts. Unless your not thinking to spend your retirement years in the home you are looking for, then you got to spend time checking out all the facilities and its accessibility for you.
2. Do your homework (about the developers). Every developer has their forte, so be pick according to your heart, and not your pocket. Remember, this will be your nest. So don't rush it honey.
3. Discuss details. Know the house specifications. Bring in an architect / engineer for second opinion. The professional fee they will charge you is nominal compared to you finding out later that you've bought a lemon.
4. While we are on the second opinion topic, bring also your spouse or a family member on your site visits. 2 heads are better than one.
5. Live big. Always be on the look out for that "extra" space. You will never know when you will need it.

Bottomline is: Never rush to buy that dream home of yours, there are tons of projects to choose from.

For Brittany projects, you have the option to live Itallian, Swiss, Carribean or plain lazy South American. Different strokes for different people.

Pay it forward

Having your own Mission - Vision statement in life can be very difficult to come up with. However, when you are plugged in to what is happening around you, when your inner conscience and awareness is open to life's realities, you will be able to also be connected to what you really want to strive for and be remembered for in your life (vision). Now how you will get to that state in your life by what you continuously do everyday (mission) will come out naturally. Having said that, the economic benefits of the author's Real estate engagements will be 'forwarded' to local families in his community - still in the South of Manila (SoMa). It will also be highly appreciated if you will be able to suggest any deserving community that can benefit from such RE transactions of the author. Rest assured that utmost confidentiality will be strictly observed.
Take a tip - Pay it forward.

Mosaic condominium, here's more.

If you can't get enough of Mosaic, here are its Unit Plans;
1. Studio units (floor area of 366 - 484 sq ft)
2. Loft units (floor area of 549 - 1,054 sq ft)
3. 1 bedroom unit (floor area of 689 - 829 sq ft) and
4. 2 bedroom unit (floor area of 1,087 - 1,485 sq ft).

On the 7th floor, a swimming pool will be placed overlooking the Greenbelt Park. It will have kiddie pools, outdoor heated whirlpool spa and infinity lap pool. Its close to Makati Medical Center and Greenbelt Mall. Heck its wifi connected too...

If you need price quotes or a more detailed presentation, I would be glad to show your way around.

More to come...

What you want, what you need. By Design.

Let us get straight to the strong selling points here;

1. Location - heart of Makati, back of Asian Institute of Management (AIM). Its that part of makati where the street is not that busy. Makes for a peaceful immediate surrounding.
2. Customizable units for the Woman , Man and Family clientele. Its definitely built with you in mind.
3. Beacon light at the top - like Batman, you now have a light to call your own.

Name of Project : Mosaic - another master planned condo development.
Questions? I am always an email away. Comments are always encouraged.

South of Manila Communities

Building communities one after another - that is how I describe Brittany Corporation's mission these times. Itallian? Swiss? American South? Bay area? Caribbean? Its all here. When you visit their sites, you will be awed by the distinct feeling each community project will give you. Next post I will be starting to blog away their Italian community - the Portofino. Watch out for it...

Why Brittany

I totally buy the idea of master planned theme estates. It just shows you the dedication of the developer to put in money where their mouth is. In this "developing" country status, Brittany continues to lead the way (to be a maverick developer), to be innovative and to create the "finer" things in life. Indeed, the author has set his sights on one of the project that Brittany is developing - south of Manila. Where? you will soon know :)