In Search of a Place Called 'Our Home'

I have now reached a point in my life when I'm finally telling myself, it's time to make preparations for settling down. Well, no official plans for the wedding yet since I haven't even proposed, but I'd like to believe that it's almost a sure thing that I will be wed to Roselle within the next 18 months. We've already put up our wedding fund and we've reached an agreement that we'll be staying at our family's house. Still, we won't stay there forever (I don't really see myself spending 5 more years at our family's house once I get married) so as early as now, we needed to find a place to really settle down. And it was Roselle who started the ball rolling.

I believe it's no coincidence that we started seriously looking for our own place at the same time that she's going to start working for a new company. Yes, she starts at Accenture tomorrow, but yesterday, we went home hunting. We've agreed that, if possible, we should purchase a vacant lot so we'll have a free hand in designing the house that we really want. A house and lot is also an option but the priority is the vacant lot. Aside from allowing us to design it on our own, it's much cheaper as well. The problem is, there are no more vacant lots in Metro Manila, specifically in the Makati/Mandaluyong/San Juan area. Or so we thought.

A supervisor from JG Summit has told Roselle of a lot in Comembo Makati that was 100 sq/mtrs and cost a mere P385,000. Considering it's in Makati, it's a real steal. The marketing was fantastic. Just a jeepney ride away from Market Market in Fort Bonifacio, very accessible from Makati/Pasig/Mandaluyong, and it was a corner lot. I had visions of a corner lot with nothing but weeds growing on it and slowly erecting a house on it. So yesterday, the supervisor brought us to the site. It was very generous and thoughtful of him and I thank him for that. However, the lot was a huge disappointment. First, Comembo was like Pateros. Narrow streets, cramped houses, lots of tricycles and jeepneys, noisy, well, you get the picture. Second, it wasn't a corner lot. It was actually a lot in a corner. The lot was situated at the corner of an intersection that was T-shaped. In short, it was in the spot where the perpendicular roads intersected. And third, it wasn't a vacant lot, it was just vacant. There was an existing structure on it but nobody's living there anymore. I felt very depressed when I saw it. The environment just wasn't a place where I would feel comfortable. Too crowded, too noisy.

Last night, after a sumptuous dinner at Italianni's (pakonswelo na lang, hehe), we decided to have a look around Roselle's neighborhood. There was an Ayala Homes village one block away so, after leaving our bags at Roselle's apartment, we went on a stroll. It was a nice, quiet neighborhood, very secure (there was a guard at the gate), with a basketball court and multi-purpose hall, and looked like it was never going to get flooded since the village was built on high ground. We managed to locate some people who could give us some info on the place, and we were pleasantly surprised because these people entertained us even though it was 9:30 in the evening. After a lengthy discussion of our needs and the very strategic location of Ayala Homes, they brought us to an old house that was for sale. Just like the other houses there, it had an area of 64 sqr mtrs. Then they told us it was being sold for P1.3M. My jaw dropped. That was P20,312.50/sqr mtr!!! It was just not humanly possible for us to obtain that kind of amount whether through Pag-Ibig or through banks. Another dead end. Nevertheless, yesterday's lot hunting was very fulfilling. We're now a little wiser.

Just this afternoon, Roselle told me to buy a Buy and Sell broadsheet from 7/11. What I bought instead was a Property Finder magazine. A bit pricey at P25 but it's adding a lot of data to me. Most of the properties were still beyond our reach but I did find some properties worth investigating. I then had a sudden insight: this magazine must have a website. I consulted my friend google, and lo and behold, it indeed have a website. I spent the most part of the afternoon poring over the magazine and the website (thank God for this very quiet Sunday afternoon) and I realized, there are A LOT of properties that we can seriously consider. Now I have to sit down with Roselle and discuss everything I've learned today. I see myself doing a lot of the leg work on this because she has to attend to her studies and she still has to adjust to her new work but that's okay. There's this excitement inside me that's just so hard to contain. ^_^

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While conducting my research this afternoon, I noticed something very peculiar. It was a subdivision called Greenwoods in Pasig. I have a personal bias of trying locate properties in Pasig because that would be near my family's home and at the same time, it's not too far from Makati. I know Roselle likes Mandaluyong though. Anyways, I found out that the lots in Greenwoods are sold at a minimum of P4,500/sqr mtr. That's very cheap considering it's a subdivision in Metro Manila. However, what turns me off is the fact that, as of 5 years ago, the area was very prone to floods. The waters can become knee-deep and therefore impassable to light vehicles. I'd like to know if that's the case until now. I noticed though that a lot of people were selling their homes in Greenwoods. I just don't know if that should concern me. I can't help but think that they're leaving because the place is still prone to floods. Nevertheless, the smallest lots are 136 sqr mtrs and at P4,500/sqr mtr, that's only P612,000 and is an amount we can loan from Pag-Ibig.