26 Best Developments to Live in the Philippines (3rd of a 4 part series)

US$ Peso exchange rate today: (Indicative rates)
Buying: Php 45.45
Selling : Php 46.00

Take a tip - your $ has been steadily increasing in its value again. After the election and SONA of GMA - it looks like things are beginning to become 'normal' again. And don't look where the stock market is headed...

Now to continue our list of the 26 Best Developments to Live in the Philippines.

17. La Posada (Loc : Sucat Paranaque, Theme : Neo Victorian - like San Fran homes, Pricing :$178,000 - $345,000). Notes... A clubhouse with a full view of Laguna Lake. This is one of Brittany's flagship projects.

18. Courtyards of Portofino (Loc : Las Pinas - Cavite - Laguna - Muntinlupa link road, Theme : Italian Community, Pricing : $206,700 - $600,000) Yup its not a typo error, homes are pricey. This is the place to be if you want elegance and exclusivity. I will be posting some pictures in my upcoming posts. Portofino is conveniently located South of Manila (SOMA), it is also a flagship project of Britanny Corporation's high end communities.

19. Pelham Quadruplexes at The Legacy, Montgomery (Loc : E Rodriguez Sr. Ave Quezon City, Pricing : $238,000 - $272,000) This project by Ayala has units designed for big families. Each 3 storey unit has at least 1,937 sq ft. With 4 bedrooms, a maid's area 3 t & b's. It is only 15 minutes to Greenhills Shopping Area - one of the best places to shop in Manila.

20. Victorianne (Loc : Sucat Paranaque City, View : Laguna Bay, Pricing : $138,000 - $149,000). Inpired by the infamous SF 'postcard row.' It is strategically located between Makati and Alabang and have the Laguna Bay as its backdrop. Conveniently located South of Manila (SOMA), and is another flagship project of Britanny Corporation.

My dear readers, on the last part of this series (# 20-26 of the list) you will get to know the best places to live in Cavite, Batangas and all the way up to Bataan. Now you have the idea and certainly you can make a well informed decision where to invest your hard earned buck here in the Philippines with the help of your lens to the Philippine Real Estate - your South of Manila Real Estate Blogger (SOMAREB).

Vista Land up by 5

US$ Peso exchange rate today: (Indicative rates)
Buying: Php 45.40
Selling : Php 45.95


From the SONA we jump over to Manny Villar. Nope I won't say that he just won convincingly the Senate presidency (huh) but his holding firm Vista Land has just experienced its first increase in share value by 5cents. (http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0727&282007/headlines02.html).

Hey good news for your $ today. Buying was up by .65 cents! Hurry up on those remittances to Juan dela Cruz.

To continue on with my 26 Best Developments in the Philippine Real Estate

13. Mayfield Park Residences (Loc : Rosario, Pasig City. View : Pasig and Ortigas skyline, Pricing :$49,000 - $98,000). Notes... They have a koi pond. Here is a link to a sample koi pond (for lack of words to describe it) http://images.google.com.ph/imgres?imgurl=http://www.shooterdog.com/pondbridge3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.shooterdog.com/pond.htm&h=536&w=800&sz=100&tbnid=MaGqI0YyTziRiM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkoi%2Bpond%2Bpicture%26um%3D1&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2

14. Woodsville Viverde Mansions (Loc : Merville, Paranaque City, Pricing : $23,000 - $56,000) Available units : studio, 1 br and 2 br. Designed for start up families and conveniently located South of Makati (SOMA). www.robinsonsproperties.com.ph

15. One Serendra and Two Serendra (Loc : Bonifacio Global City, View : Makati skyline, Pricing : $138,000 - $435,000).

16. Ayala Westgrove Heights (Loc : Silang Cavite, lots start at $89,000). Hey these guys have a 6 hectare park with lagoon. www.ayalalandpremier.com

Next week I will be bringing more of these list of the 26 Best Developments to live in the Philippines.

Special thanks to Eric Newman (www.ericnewman.com) for his picture of a koi pond, cheers!

SOMA on SONA

US$ Peso exchange rate today: (Indicative rates)
Buying: Php 44.75
Selling : Php 45.30

Sona lasted 56 minutes. 48 hours later, a massive brownout hit Luzon - lasting for 3 hours. The speech for the State of the Nation (SONA) It was more like, stating the names. It was a 4,600 word text with half of it being names. Enough of that.

Let us go back to Real Estate news, the National Statistical Coordination Board just revealed that the property sector has recorded one of the fastest growth among monitored industries in recent months. So high are the expectations that this coming July 26 to 29 2007, a Real Estate Festival will be held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

26 Best Developments to Live in the Philippines - part 3

US$ Peso exchange rate today: (Indicative rates)
Buying: Php 44.55
Selling : Php 45.10

A brief moment to thank the growing reader base of this blog www.somareb.blogspot.com
Surely, I will continue to serve as your best lense for SOMA projects here in Manila by providing you with the freshest updates everytime. I have also added (as you may notice for the past week now) the key buying / selling indicative rates for your buck to the peso. That way, you get straight clean information - less the advertisement.

I will be bringing you the 9th to 12th spot (again not in any preferred order or ranking) of the 26 Best Developments to Live in the Philippines - thanks to Real Living publications.

9. One Orchard Road (Loc : Eastwood City Libis, View : Antipolo Mountain Range and Ortigas skyline, Pricing :$55,600 - $197,777)

10. The Residences at Greenbelt (Loc : Greenbelt Ayala Center Makati City, View : Makati skyline, San Lorenzo Vill and Manila Bay, Pricing : $111,200 - $667,000)

11. St. Francis Towers (Loc : Near EDSA Shang Plaza Hotel, Ortigas Center, View : Ortigas skyline, Pricing : $72,000 - $334,000)

12. WH Taft Residences (Loc : Taft Ave., Malate Manila, View : Roxas Blvd and Manila Bay, Pricing : $41,000 - 76,000)

Footnote : State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the Philippine President will be on Monday July 23, 2007 (Philippine time). Is it just coincidence or what? 1.) Kidnapped Italian priest Fr Bossi rescued today and Philippines' Human Security Act / enacted today. You tell me.

Happy weekend to all my kababayans...

26 Best Developments to Live in the Philippines - part 2

US$ Peso exchange rate today: (Indicative rates)
Buying: Php 44.85
Selling : Php 45.35

Take note my OFW readers, your $ is going down in value for the past 2 months now excluding the pre-election months.

Getting back now to our list ...
5. Makati Executive Tower 2 (Loc : Dela Rosa St cor P. Medina St, Makati City, View : Makati skyline, Pricing :$19,200 - $24,900 for studio type units only. 1 to 3 br available too)

6. Grand Soho Makati (Loc : Buendia Ave, near Jupiter St, View : Makati skyline, Pricing : $43,000 - $280,000) www.gsmcondo.com

7. Lee Gardens (Loc : Lee St cor Shaw Blvd, Mandaluyong City, View : North Tower, Greenhills Shopping Center, Wack Wack Golf and country club, Ortigas skyline, Manila Bay, Makati skyline, Pricing : $41,000 - $84,500 for studio type units only, 1 to 3 br available also)

8. Mezza Residences (Loc : 1475 Aurora Blvd. corner Araneta Ave., View : Sta. Mesa area, Pricing : $22,300 to $111,112. With Zen garden and meditation area and reflexology path)

take note that Mezza Residences although quite lacking in the panoramic scheme of things, makes up for its unique Zen feature area. Wow.

Well I will stop here so that you can have time to compare these projects. Again as your lens here in the Philippines, feel free to drop me an email or comment and I will gladly send you more info as much as I can. Till then !

Buying Real Estate in the Philippines? Take this warning.

US$ Peso exchange rate today: (Indicative rates)
Buying: Php 45.75
Selling : Php 46.25


Early this week, VP Kabayan Noli de Castro together with the Dept of Justice broke news that they were putting up a 'watchdog' task force that: (read carefully) will receive and evaluate complaints against erring subdivision and condominium owners, developers, operators and sellers engaging in unsound, criminal and unlawful practices in the real estate condominium and subdivision business. It's about time!

According to my grapevine, properties and structures being offered by these erring developers are often left unfinished and the buyers are NOT refunded their downpayment when they reject the units or when they complain to the developers.

Your lens will give you fresh updates on this task force as things develop here on my end.

Abangan ang susunod na kabanata ...

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!

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!

What to Expect

Hello online world! As I sit on my favorite portion of the house, I will be regularly writing with passion and soulful content on topics that will include mainly Real estate and Filipino recipes - nothing more. If you are expecting musings, forget it. If you don't like that combination either, well this blog ain't for your eyeballs. And hey you can even call my attention if I am veering away from this declared mission of mine. You can only expect bite sized postings of all Brittany Real Estate South of Manila Projects sprinkled with posts of rich Filipino recipes. If you couldn't help contributing your own secret Filipino recipe or your version of that delectable sisig - then yes you are welcome to blog away with me.

Lastly, no advertisements on this blog too.