Buying a Home with Good Resale Value

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It may be strange to consider your home’s resale value when you’re thinking about buying it, not selling it.  However, it’s not likely that you’ll be living in the same house for the rest of your life, so it makes sense to factor in its resale value before buying the property.  Homes with good resale value usually have the following features. 

Good location. Homes that are near public transportation areas and have services like supermarkets and schools in the area definitely have high resale value.  It’s good to find out why this area is in demand and to observe if the properties are shifting to commercial establishments. 

Updated features. Homes with outdated features like one bathroom instead of two will take longer to sell than homes with updated features.  Alternately, you can also choose to renovate the house before you decide to resell it.

Natural lighting. Homes with lots of natural lighting make more tranquil and relaxing environments to live in, and also save on electricity costs. 

A view. If the house is located in a scenic area, a room with a view is definitely a plus.

Storage space. Homebuyers wants a lot of closets and additional storage spaces like bodegas.

Although your first objective is still to find a home that’s right for your needs, do consider its resale value before making your final decision, especially if you know you’ll only be staying there for a few years.  Choosing your home carefully now will give you a little more money the next time you need to move out.

The Gym at Two Serendra

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Besides designing and maintaining an environment that pleases the senses, Two Serendra also believes in the importance of healthy living. That’s why a state-of-the-art gym is one of the many amenities geared towards fitness and an active lifestyle. Two Serendra’s gym is equipped with machines from Life Fitness, a world leader in commercial and home fitness equipment. All four walls of the gym are made out of glass so you can have a lovely view of the pool and the tree garden while you do your workout. Besides the gym, residents can also take advantage of the lap pool and underground basketball and badminton courts for all their fitness needs.

For inquiries, call (632) 848-5100 (Metro Manila) or 1-800-1-8485100 (outside Metro Manila), send an e-mail to [email protected], or visit www.twoserendra.com.ph or our Two Serendra blog. Model units can be viewed daily from 9 am to 8 pm at the Serendra Sales Pavilion along 26th Street, Bonifacio Global City.

Kenneth Cobonpue Furniture in Two Serendra

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Cebu-based Kenneth Cobonpue is an internationally-renowned furniture designer best known for his artistic rendering of rattan furniture into functional pieces of art. His most well-known design, the Lolah chair, is completely handmade using the same techniques employed in Asian shipbuilding. His innovative twist in rattan furniture won him several awards in the Philippines and abroad, including the first prize at the Singapore International Design Competition in 2004. In 2005, the Lolah chair earned him Asia’s most prestigious award, the Design for Asia Award of Hong Kong. Besides this, he also designed the Voyage Bed which was purchased by actor Brad Pitt, and furnished the Casino interior of the movie Ocean’s Thirteen.

Serendra Two’s lobby is graced with perfectly-structured pieces of Kenneth Cobonpue’s furniture, including the award-winning Lolah chair. At Serendra, your comfort, convenience, and aesthetic pleasure are guaranteed by well-planned rooms and decor that accentuate the community’s tranquil character. Kenneth Cobonpue’s furniture complements the beauty of leisure that you can only find in Two Serendra.

Two Serendra

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Community Innovations takes the luxury of medium-rise condo living to a whole new level with the completion of Two Serendra. The sprawling, 12-hectare development sits in the middle of Bonifacio Global City, surrounded by tall trees and lush flower gardens. Besides comfortable living in the spacious condo units, you and your family can enjoy the community’s amenities. There’s space to play for children at the library or the indoor and outdoor playgrounds. Fitness freaks can take advantage of the lap pool, fitness gym, basketball and badminton courts, and a resort-style lounge area. Finally, game rooms, and multimedia home entertainment systems can give you endless hours of leisure after a long day at work.

What’s great about Two Serendra is that it’s quiet enough to give you a suburban feel, but not too far from the vibrant pulse of city living. A wide variety of retail and dining establishments are located only a few feet away from home. From low-key coffee shops to fine dining restaurants and bookstores to designer boutiques, Bonifacio High Street has everything you want and need for your metropolitan lifestyle.

Make Two Serendra your new sanctuary in the city and experience the convenience of working where you live and living where you play. For inquiries, call (632) 848-5100 (Metro Manila) or 1-800-1-8485100 (outside Metro Manila), send an e-mail to [email protected], or visit www.twoserendra.com.ph or our Two Serendra blog. Model units can be viewed daily from 9 am to 8 pm at the Serendra Sales Pavilion along 26th Street, Bonifacio Global City.

BIR requires real-estate firms to give advance VAT payments

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The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has caught wind of the booming real estate business in the Philippines and intends to require developers to give advanced payments of value added tax (VAT) on real estate assets. At the moment, real estate developers pay 12% VAT on properties on the 25th of the month after they are sold. The BIR, however, proposes that they pay a 3% VAT annually. If the developer receives a cash payment, the company should remit the 3% on or before the month after a sale, and the 12% on the 25th.

This new regulation will only cover real estate companies and will not cover one-time sales of personal property.

Making the Most Out of Your Money: How to Buy the Best Home

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If you’d like to get the best property for the smallest amount of money, you should place yourself in a position for strong negotiation. Price is not the only thing that you need to negotiate; there’s also other terms like the length of your mortgage that are critical to the seller.

Make sure you sell your old property before you buy a new house. If you’ve found the perfect house but ask the seller to wait until you’ve sold your old one, chances are you’ll lose the house. The seller will figure that this is a risky deal since there’s a high chance you won’t be able to sell your old property. So you’ll be performing a contingency sale, where you pay more money and have little or no say on the terms, effectively reducing the risk factor for the seller.

List down all the things you want and do not want in your new house and use this as a guide when he visits new properties. This will help put things into perspective when you compare houses that seem to offer the same benefits.

Remember that there’s also a difference between “style” and “substance”. Substance are things about the property that cannot be changed, such as the lot size, location, floor plan, and neighborhood. Style are surface details that you can easily change like the windows, wall colors, etc. Get a house with more substance and consider it for its merits, not how pretty it looks.

Finally, never allow anyone, not even your real estate agent, to push you into buying just any house. Make sure you’ve seen enough properties to be able to pick out the best one.