Brittany attracts Fil-Am buyers

Brittany Corp., the country’s maverick developer of high-end, master-planned residential communities with design themes inspired by the world’s best destinations, said that as a result of its recently launched marketing campaign in the United States, Filipino-Americans now account for the bulk of its property sales to balikbayans.

Buyers of Brittany properties based in the United States are mostly Filipino-Americans who are either baby boomers in their 50s who left the Philippines in the 1960s-1970s and are looking forward to retirement, or soon to be "middle-agers" in their late 20s to 40s, notably health professionals, who maintain strong ties with friends and relatives back home. These segments of the Fil-Am population are among the best educated and most upwardly mobile ethnic groups in the US, with disposable incomes and savings higher than US averages, said Brittany president and CEO Jing Serrano. A key advantage to Filipino-Americans of buying homes in the Philippines is the much lower cost, since acquisition values here are normally only 30 percent of what equivalent properties would cost in the US.

Even before the campaign, Serrano explained, balikbayans all over the world already accounted for about half of Brittany sales. She added that Brittany’s varied portfolio of developments addresses the range of tastes in the high-end market, including balikbayans, and the firm is not too concerned about targeting concentrations of Filipinos abroad, given its portfolio which reflects a deep understanding of their desires.

However, according to Serrano, Brittany’s value proposition has particular relevance to these two segments of Filipino-Americans, because coupled with their buying power, they are inclined to live in the Philippines to enjoy retirement, or to visit the country regularly during vacations.

"The idea of buying a Brittany home has great appeal to them," said Serrano, "because our design, construction and quality standards are the same as those they are used to in the exclusive American communities where they live. Brittany communities and homes are built for people whom we describe as ‘citizens of the world,’ people who have traveled or lived abroad, and have well-developed tastes. They appreciate what they see in our communities with regard to thematic concepts and executions as well as the overall standards we maintain." Serrano said Filipino-Americans who inspect Brittany communities often remark that they feel just as if they were back in the US, "Para kang nasa States!" She observed, for example, that the courtyard homes in Brittany’s Portofino and Island Park are at par with those found in Las Vegas where they are in fashion.

Over the past 11 years, according to Serrano, Brittany has made it a mission to build upscale residential communities in strategic locations that are not only master-planned but theme-inspired. "This combination sets our communities apart, giving each a character and coherence with respect to design, look and feel. Our communities make new ‘lifescapes’ possible, in which quality of life and its enjoyment are raised to a higher level," she said.

Serrano said Brittany’s communities cater to different lifestyles, as follows:

• Brittany Bay, the company’s flagship project, has a neo-Victorian theme reminiscent of San Francisco architecture;

• CrossWinds is a Swiss-inspired weekend retreat in Tagaytay with thousands of pine trees that complement the cool climate;

• Portofino, Portofino South and Courtyards of Portofino are elegantly Italian-themed communities, just minutes away from the Alabang commercial district;

• La Marea in San Pedro, Laguna is an American-influenced community with a laid-back, green environment;

• Island Park in Dasmariñas, Cavite, is a Caribbean-themed community with a feel of perpetual summer amid the wide-open outdoors; and

• Vita Toscana, also in Cavite off the Coastal Road, is a relaxed community inspired by Italy’s Tuscany region with its unhurried enjoyment of life and warm colors.