Which is the practical option?

(First of two parts)

Real estate advertisements are everywhere—in newspapers, magazines, tarpaulins, billboards, television, and now, more so in social media.

Almost every mall, supermarket, airport, and places of events or exhibits, are sure to have information booths promoting real estate projects.

A variety of online portals specializing in real estate marketing like property 24, Lamudi, and bahay.ph, among others have mushroomed over the years to provide interested buyers with an array of developments to choose from.

The deluge of information to a certain degree helps. But it also becomes a big maze of possibilities for prospective investors, and more especially for first time end user buyers.

Assuming they have saved enough money to jump into their first major life investment, which do they buy? A house and lot, or a condominium? Which is more practical to buy between the two?

It is important to note that either of the two is a good investment. But whether that choice is practical or not will depend on how satisfied the buyer would be after the purchase.

And a buyer’s satisfaction often depends on whether the property meets his needs, preferences, budget, and of course, the kind of service he/she is ac- corded by the agent, seller, or company.

Primary considerations

The first consideration of property buyers when looking for a residential unit to be used either as their primary or secondary home is its location.

A condominium or a house and lot should be strategically situated in an area that the buyer must get to appreciate. And the definition of a perfect location rests heavily on the pur- pose for which the buyer intends to buy the property.

A real challenge of real estate agents is finding out what buyers have in mind. Strategic location, to some end-users, may be defined in terms of the property being near their place of work because this would mean great savings in terms of travel time (especially with the traffic situation in most cities).

To others, it would be in terms of proximity to schools (if the primary concern is the convenience and safety of their schooling kids). Secondary considerations in choosing a good location would include accessibility to various modes of transportation, proximity to markets, churches, malls, hospitals, and places of entertainment.

Knowing your customer

Understanding the psyche of buyers today is something that a lot of real estate agents fail to study thoroughly.

Ask any seasoned real estate agent and they would readily tell you that selling is not just about believing and mastering your product, but more importantly about mastering your customer as well. The latter entails having a good grasp of how the buyers think, feel and act.

In the case of Filipinos, there is now a growing trend to purchase condominiums as evidenced by the remarkable rise of buildings in key cities.

But this trend of preference for condominium units is more prevalent and applicable to urban dwellers rather than those residing in the outskirts of cities. The majority of those residing outside Metro Manila continue to prefer the traditional house and lot for a number of reasons as well.

The “practical choice” would thus boil down on the needs and preferences of the buyer.

(To be continued) i

James Aguila is the EVP of SLLI Global Marketing Inc., the newest marketing group of Sta. Lucia Land Inc. and Sta. Lucia Realty Development Inc.