Rally-ing the real estate market

I can tell you all my secrets, but the devil is in the details!"

With that delicious quote, and with a Cheshire cat smile on his face, Rally Martinez gamely replies to my query on what sets him apart from other real estate entrepreneurs, and whether in pitching his service to would-be land developers and property owners, he is constantly revealing the aces up his sleeve.

If the real estate industry and the all-important aspect of marketing and sales can be likened to the fashion industry, then Rally Martinez and his Green Icon outfit, a boutique brand strategic partner, have cornered a niche in the industry. Dealing in the marketing and sales of upmarket high-rise condominiums and mixed-use developments in the Fort Bonifacio area, Rally has gamely taken on the big boys and come up with an enviable track record.

Blessed with a technical background, Rally has a Masters in Civil Engineering, and an MBA to boot (both acquired in the USA). This background has been very crucial in his understanding of how the technical side of things still plays an important role when one is balancing the demands of his four major "constituents": namely, the land owners, the developers, the customers, and his employees. "It’s too easy to favor one group over the other. What I try and bring to the table is a keen understanding of how to sell the product (the building project), while maintaining a grasp of what is possible, from construction to marketing and financial perspectives, and how we can transform those possibilities into a viable vision. In balancing these interests, one has to be guided by the principle that one looks to optimize, and not necessarily maximize, satisfaction. As a ‘real’ partner, I’m out to give my partners a reasonable return on their risk capital. They shouldn’t borrow to raise project equity, as you’re talking of timelines that normally stretch over five years from conceptualization to completion of building."

If the economic upswing of our nation is a reality, then the real estate sector would be one of the prime indicators. Rally expounds, "The way I see it, the recovery really only happened last year. Prior to that, there was still a bearish sentiment. Currently, with sound economic fundamentals and relative political stability, there really is a bullish mood insofar as the real estate industry is concerned, and one can’t discount the effect of the overseas Filipinos in helping to create this mood. They’ve really helped push up demand by at least 50 percent, such that one doesn’t rely purely on local demand, but one even has a mirror demand created by these overseas buyers. In the arena of upmarket offerings, there really are two types of overseas Filipino buyers. One category is the baby boomers who now have a nest egg, and want to split their time between their respective host countries and here. Second are the younger success stories who are partially motivated by re-establishing their roots with a purchase of a luxury condo as a defining statement. For this second group, there’s that element of ‘bragging rights’ to show to their friends and relatives that they’ve arrived. If some 20 to 30 years ago, it was a second home in the Bay Area that a prominent Filipino here would invest in, the reverse is now happening among prominent Filipinos who made their fortune abroad – being in possession of a second home here in Manila. With this type of buyers, having a ‘desirable address’ is very important!"

"And let’s be frank, we all should be happy that they’re making these choices. It is a blessing as the Philippines is still not a favored destination for retail real estate investing. At most, foreigners will look at the industry for tourism, investing in hotels, resorts and related projects."

We then talk about foreigners buying homes in Bangkok, and I bring up the phenomenon of Dubai, where the likes of Tiger Woods, Madonna, and David Beckham have all bought second homes. It shows just how far behind we still are in terms of being an attractive retail real estate option.

The correlation to fashion is really foremost in Rally’s philosophy. While the philosophy is centered on the notion that as long as you build the right relationships, the money will come, the projects are like products of fashion. Geographical location, social comforts and amenities – they all have to add up to the buyer being able to say he’s "arrived" because of the purchase. Timing is important, and it’s here that Rally has really put his stamp on how he runs his business. If others take a full year from conceptualization to commence the pre-selling process, Rally fast-tracks this to six months, so really current looks, comforts, and attitudes are part of the pre-selling plan. "You have to be ahead of the curve and dictate demand. I travel a lot and am constantly on the lookout for the latest innovations to incorporate in our projects."

The quip about the "devil is in the details" has as much to do with the prerequisites for Rally to enter into a partnership with any group. "Pre-selling is a very complicated model; you’re synchronizing several aspects, and it’s the driver for creating the cash flow to support construction. I have to be comfortable with my partners – the landowners and developers – that the money won’t be touched till the project is completed. An escrow account can be created for this purpose. This is a lesson we’ve learned from the go-go days of the past, when funds would be ‘kited’ just because bank financing was so easy to come by. There were very hard lessons learned from that era."

Rally has nothing but praises for his current group of partners at Excel Properties, composed of landowner Gerry Lanuza, and developers Ramon Sy, Ricky Razon, Wilson Sy and Freddie Xerez-Burgos.

This then is what Rally brings to the table – aggressive and innovative marketing. He basically unlocks the investments and holdings of developers and owners, helping them realize their potential. These are owners who would have a hard time approaching Megaworld or Ayala Land because their land-holding of some 2,000 to 4,000 square meters of Fort Bonifacio property is too small for these big boys to consider. He helps provide imaging, identity and imagination to what will rise on these properties. In fact, a new project has already been pipelined, the Infinity at the Fort; a project of Nuvoland Philippines (the developing arm of Menardo Jimenez and Kevin Belmonte) and Silverman Holdings (the Hernandez family as landowners).

Asked to project where the next hot areas would be, Rally readily mentions the Trinoma area of Quezon City as having great potential. It’s where a new Makati could basically rise with exclusive high-rise communities and commercial areas servicing north of Metro Manila. He also appreciates the urban renewal and gentrification of Araneta Center.

Rally may not be your ideal candidate as center of a basketball team, but no doubt about it, he’s casting a long shadow in the Fort Bonifacio area and in the real estate industry.