OFWs find dream homes

MANILA, Philippines - For many OFW’s young professional and wage earners, buying their dream home is the ultimate purchase. After years of saving hard earned money, the decision to invest on a property is a major acquisition that requires much thought. But how do they decide on where to put down their money?

For a bank employee Edwin Garbin, buying his own home meant no longer paying rent. Since he moved to Manila from Davao 16 years ago, he has been renting and transferring to different apartments where they stayed uncomfortably

He didn’t hesitate to invest his savings on a unit at Grand 21 Place Condominium in Kapitolyo, Pasig City when he decided to finally buy their own. He found the idea of living in a medium-rise condominium much more agreeable than in a high-rise one.

Lumilyn Vinluan Gahol was working in Yokohama when she started paying amortization for her unit at Grand Place 21 Condominium. When she bought the unit in 2005, she wasn’t so sure whether the investment was worth it. But when she came home and the unit was turned over to her, she found everything to her liking.

Grand 21 Place Condominium is one of the first medium-rise condominiums developed by PTR Properties Inc. It is a five-story residential building with just 35 residential units.

PTR Properties specializes in medium-rise developments in the Kapitolyo area in Pasig City. All its projects have a shorter completion time than high-rise buildings, so that the units are turned over to the owners in just around two years time.

Apart from Grand 21 Place, PTR Properties also developed the Fifth at Rafael Condominium, a seven-story building with 66 residential units and a spacious garden deck. It is now completing One Capitol Condominium, a 10-story building with 114 residential units, for turnover in April 2010, while it recently launched TwoSeven Residences, another 10-story building also with 114 residential units.

Garbin says he didn’t hesitate on investing in a unit at Grand Place 21 because it had a number of plus factors that he liked. He found the location and amenities of the condominium to be agreeable, while the design and make of the building was also impressive.

“It was enough for me and my family to live comfortably,” he says. “We are content here. We are happy and living peacefully.”

He says a medium-rise condominium is low maintenance compared to a taller and higher building. On most days, he takes the stairs because he finds it a healthier alternative to taking the elevator. “It counts as my daily exercise,” he adds.

Likewise, the less number of floors also means that he could easily bring his family to safety in case of a fire or an earthquake.

Gahol says the location of Grand 21 Place proved to be heaven-sent especially during the flooding caused by Typhoon Ondoy. “Kapitolyo was spared from the floods, and that convinced me to invest in other projects by PTR Properties in the future,” she explains.

Apart from its flood-free location, Kapitolyo is centrally located within Metro Manila. She says she is just 15 minutes away from her office, and on weekends she can easily drive to Tagaytay via the nearby C-5 Road.

 For details on developments by PTR Properties Inc., visit its website at www.ptrproperties.com or call 638-2727.