New sales unit in Ayala Land woos overseas Pinoys

Ayala Land International Sales Inc. (ALI Sales Inc.) was launched early this year specifically to woo overseas Filipinos, particularly professionals and retirees based in the US and Europe, to invest in diverse projects of the Ayala Group in the country.

Headed by David L. Rafael, ALI Sales Inc. was officially on the road last March visiting several Filipino communities in America and the UK educating them – both personally and through the web– about the diverse project offerings of the Ayala group from high end, middle end and the more affordable development projects available.

Unofficially, the group becomes the bearer of good tidings about the Philippines especially to Filipino professionals who have been born and raised abroad and know virtually nothing positive about their country except what they read in the Internet or watch at foreign news cable channels, Rafael said.

"Ayala has been selling to these markets ever since but there was no concerted and sustained effort to attract them to invest into the country. But with ALI Sales Inc. our mandate is to focus and go all out in winning them over to invest in their native land," Rafael said.

According to Rafael, ALI Sales Inc. is prioritizing the US because statistics show that of the nearly nine million Filipinos overseas, a third or three million is in the US of which half is in California.

Next to the US is the United Kingdom where 120,000 Filipinos, mostly nurses and caregivers with lots of disposable income. Their average monthly pay is 500 pounds or about P100,000, Rafael said.

After the UK are Filipinos based in Canada and Australia, whose professional tenure are usually long and normally prefer to amortize properties for a longer period, unlike their counterparts in Japan, Hong Kong and other Asian countries–whose pay are even lower and employment contracts shorter, Rafael said.

Out of the projected 2005 remittances of $9 billion, easily half will come from the US and the rest spread out through Europe, Asia, North America, Australia and the Middle East, he added.

In the US there are basically four types of overseas Filipinos: the old generation who left 30 to 40 years ago, retire-able, with numerous houses and professional kids. This category is now in the sixties or seventies.

Then, there is the younger generation Filipinos who left the country in the eighties or before and are in their 40s and 50s. They are thinking of what to do when they retire. They are usually doctors, nurses and caregivers.

Next is the E1 L1 visa holder, or those with investors visa or working visa but have chosen to remain in the US either as legitimate or being sponsored by a local company or who went underground. Usually, they left their families in the Philippines

Then, there are the children of older immigrants, who were born and grew up in the US and have no idea about their home country except from what they hear or read from media

"All of these categories are largely influenced by The Filipino Channel (TFC) of ABS-CBN, who are now the targets of ALI Sales Inc.’s selling campaign through our toll- free number or the website," Rafael said.

"Once they see our website or hear our ads from TFC and they call us or send us email, then we start the wooing process. The courtship usually ranges from six months to one year before a deal is clinched," he added.

Basically, ALI Sales Inc. works around different investor types like: those who want to permanently settle in the Philippines upon retiring; those who want to spend six months in the Philippines and six months in the US; those who shuttle to the Philippines twice or thrice a year but would not like to live in expensive hotels nor stay with relatives or friends; and those who just want to invest and earn on the property by renting them out.

Ayala is perhaps the only real property developer that has had extensive experience in property management, through its Ayala Property Management Co., which takes care of everything from maintenance rentals, and other administrative work like payment of taxes and dues at a very modest fee. "This makes property ownership in the Philippines almost worry free for overseas Filipinos," Rafael said.

"For all these investors, the Ayala group has the resources needed to address such peculiar needs," Rafael said citing the group’s available condominiums, house and lots, lots only, farmlots and resort homes developments.

"The Ayala group also has the most diverse project sites, packages and project prices and payment flexibility," he added.

Ayala not only has projects in Metro Manila but in provinces like Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Subic, Antipolo, Negros, Cabanatuan, Tayabas and Cebu.

Another important edge enjoyed by the Ayala group is its reputation as a supplier of reliable, high quality property. –Rose de la Cruz