Real estate 2.0

Many businesses have gone digital in the past year by either converting their existing processes or embracing new digital solutions to survive and thrive under the so-called new normal.

Increasing work from home arrangements; omnichannel commerce – as in the case of those selling consumer items, who in addition to having physical business locations, are offering goods online; digital content consumption like film studios due to the continued closure of movie houses; use of digital platforms for offering services such as in the fitness industry and other learning activities; and digital solutions like telemedicine and remote diagnostics for the health industry, have proven that the pandemic has accelerated the shift toward digitization (converting to digital form) and digitalization/digital transformation.

Then there are those who are reinventing their businesses or even launching new ones as they realize that business may not go back to what it was before the pandemic or because they have upped their game and want to emerge ahead of their competitors.

There are also some who, even before the pandemic, have seen a need that can only be addressed by going digital.

Flashpoint was developed to address the inefficiency in the secondary market for real estate.

According to Flashpoint chief strategist Carlos Garcia and chief operations officer Catherine Ocariz, in economics, an efficient market is one where prices quickly respond to reflect all available, relevant information.

Carlos has held major positions in real estate, banking, and finance here and abroad, including with the UBS in New York, Ayala Corp. and BDO Capital.

Cathy is a licensed real estate broker who has worked in sales and marketing here and abroad. She has established her own brokerage firm before becoming Philippine managing director for SQFT Global Properties and currently heads the Taguig Real Estate Board.

According to Carlos and Cathy, what is happening in the secondary property market is that four out of five deals fail during advanced negotiations due to disagreements in price expectations (i.e. the huge gap between the asking price and what the prospective buyer is willing to pay). This, they explain, is due to the lack of transparent data for verified done deals. Available information about recent concluded buying and selling activities in order to come up with a fair market value, they warned, is anecdotal at best and outright misleading at worst.

In developed markets, however, there is accessible information at the tax assessor’s office or from online databases that allows prospective buyers and sellers of real property to check concluded transactions which they can use as basis for pegging their offers.

Thus, in the Philippines, Carlos and Cathy point out, the primary challenge that has haunted the local real estate sector is the lack of accessible information.

Quarantine restrictions have also made it difficult, if not impossible, for potential buyers to go around scouting and checking for the best piece of property that suits them.

Flashpoint is a newly launched portal that contains listings of properties for sale or rent in the Philippines. But compared to other online real estate marketplaces, Flashpoint offers listings that have already been vetted by professional and experienced real estate brokers. The people behind the company take the pictures of the property themselves. The site even offers an online tour of the property.Transactions are made entirely online, making the entire purchasing process contactless.

Prospective buyers and lessees have to participate in an online auction, currently scheduled at once a month and conducted over a three-day period, with the minimum bid price at 20 to 30 percent below market price. But there is also an option to make a direct offer to the owner, which the latter can accept or reject.

Flashpoint sells only residential properties at the moment, and mostly to urgent or opportunistic buyers and investors. That is why the purchase price has to be paid in cash. Properties on the website are divided into budget picks and premier.

Flashpoint, through its accredited brokers, can even assist the winning buyers all the way to the transfer of title.

With Flashpoint, online buyers are assured that what they see is what they get. And since the winning price is arrived at competitively, soon, the prices can serve as a reliable source of information for the local secondary property market.

Ill-advised

Business people and other observers are interested in goings on in the political arena, with the next elections a year away. After all, an environment that is conducive to business depends a lot on many factors, including government programs and policies, as well as the people deciding and implementing such policies.

A supposedly united opposition is looking at Vice President and Liberal Party chairperson Lenie Robredo as a presidential contender.

But there are some who are reportedly egging Robredo, a registered voter of Naga City, who is currently having a house built in Magarao, an independent component city of Camarines Sur, to instead aspire for the governorship of CamSur.

Unfortunately, the Comelec will likely disapprove it if Robredo files her candidacy as governor of Magarao because of two precedents. These are the aborted run of former solicitor general Jose Anselmo Cadiz for governor in 2013 and that of Maria Isabel Andaya-Eusebio for Congress in the province’s second district in 2019, both of which involve issues of legal residency.

Both the Constitution and the Local Government Code require that a candidate for governor must be a registered voter and resident of the province where they want to be elected for at least a year immediately preceding the election.

Unfortunately, under the charter of Naga City, which is an independent component city of Camarines Sur, its residents are not qualified to vote for any provincial elective position such as governor. A resident of Naga City must first transfer his or her residence to a local government unit outside Naga City, but within Camarines Sur to run for governor of the province.

As for the required one-year residency in the province of Camarines Sur, the house in Magarao is still being built, which means it is not yet livable and cannot be considered a residence at this point to meet the one-year residency requirement.

In the case of Cadiz, he was declared ineligible to run for governor because he was a resident and registered voter of Naga City. Andaya-Eusebio was also disqualified to run for Congress in CamSur’s second district in 2019 because, according to Comelec, she was not able to prove her intent to live in that place and showed no intent of abandoning her domicile in Pasig City.

In Gallego vs Verra, the Supreme Court ruled that the term “residence,” as used in election law, must satisfy these three conditions: residence or bodily presence, intention to remain there, and intention to abandon the old domicile.

We sincerely hope that the Vice-President chooses her path well, because after all, she is one of the best and winningest contenders for the next presidency.

For comments, e-mail at [email protected]