Home is your perfect ‘Mine’

If you can type “mine” for an online seller’s blouse as if your life depended on it, why not scale up and say “mine” to a home of your own?

Avida Land’s Homepossible Live zeroed in on that idea on Nov. 12, when Rex Mendoza, Rampver Financials president and CEO, and Joyce Pring, celebrity host and influencer, shared their insights on the perfect Christmas present people can give themselves.

Pring pointed out that “things like self-reflection and figuring out where you want to be in life, especially financially, are very critical around this time of the year,” while Mendoza shared some common difficulties such as bonuses that make “one-day millionaires” and debt traps.
“It’s wrong,” he added. “Part of that (bonus), you’d want to enjoy; but part of that you can set aside for your future.”

That future can certainly include homeownership, but certain guidelines have to be followed.
1. Invest in assets that your future older self
will thank you for doing“How many things did you buy in the past that you actually feel remorse about? How many things have you bought that you’re thanking yourself for doing years ago?” asked Mendoza. Don’t spend on passing fads and, instead, look for “something that will last, something that will make a positive impact on my life and the life of my loved ones.”
Pring agreed: “I’m 28 now but my first property investment I bought when I was 23… I’m thanking my younger self for buying that property many years ago because its value appreciated. I get to have passive income because of it.”

2 . Start earlyThe pandemic lockdowns allowed many young people to save. Mendoza hoped that the experience would encourage them to start saving and investing: “We will have to switch our consumer mindset and make it an investor mindset.”
“My kids started Grade 5… That’s why when they graduated…, they were able to buy real estate,” he added. “Time is one of the greatest assets you’re going to have as a young person. Think about the compounding power of money.”
He further said that today’s youngsters were lucky because some investment options start for as low as P50 whereas, back then, portfolios needed millions.

3. Real estate is one of the most ideal long-term investments
Mendoza noted that real estate can deliver yields, as well as options: “You rent it out, you get cashflows. If you don’t rent it out, you hold on to it, there is appreciation.”
Finally, “real estate accords you the option of leverage. Many of the investments you put your money on, you put full price… In real estate, you just give the downpayment but, technically, the property is yours,” he said.
Just seek properties in strategic locations or partner with developers like Ayala Land and subsidiary Avida Land who “can make a location by putting everything there” to ensure success for your investment, he noted.

4. Financial wellness is a balancing act between the present and the future
“Financial wellness is having security and the financial freedom of choice today, while in the present, and in the future,” said Mendoza. That means striking a balance between present needs and wants, and goals.
“When you start thinking that way, it becomes a habit. You become more responsible… It becomes automatic in your brain to say, ‘I know that even the short term goal can also affect my long term goal’,” said Pring. That allows you to spend within your means, or say no to impulse or expensive buys.

5. Never, ever let a crisis go to waste.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has created a buyer’s market in the real estate industry, Mendoza noted that many are getting cold feet. That would be a mistake since, “as soon as we recover, most of those deals will be off the table.”

Many Filipinos have the readiness for real estate investment, noted Mendoza. If people miss the chance presented by the pandemic, no other opening might present itself.
Avida Land, for its part, is ready to serve young people, here or abroad. Avida, already with 60,000-plus homes built in almost 30 years, is ready to help young Filipinos say “mine” to real estate—the best present to unbox this Christmas.

By Vaughn Alviar