My Place and yours

Let me reconstruct my consumerist history last month. The reissued “Exile on Main Street” with songs dug from the vaults by Mick Jagger and mythic references to Sophia Loren — check. The latest issue of Mojo magazine with Tom Waits (the curator of broken-down Americana) as guest editor — check. A couple of Takashi Miike DVDs ordered from Amazon — check. New chirpy strings for a hardly-played guitar, more of a dust-gatherer than a Fender Stratocaster — check. New denims the kind The Horrors wear around their drainpipe legs — check. Beer and coffee enough to drown a ship of fools — check. Such are the purchases this month for this fleshy dot in a universe of earning and spending and dreaming to do everything all over again.

Money, hell, it disappears faster than Batman in a darkened Gotham alleyway. It goes to cigarettes, cornflakes, cinema and a cornucopia of consumer delights, but nothing funneled into ultimately acquiring a home, a place you could call your own. Most of the young ones in the workforce live with their parents, rent glorified condo closets in business districts in Makati or Ortigas, or live in houses in galaxies far, far away. Too expensive, too unattainable for them to own spacious condominium units in prime locations within reach of the office, the park, the LRT/MRT stations, or the malls. Just a dream, to steal a line from an ancient song by Introvoys. Well, dream no more.

There is a breakthrough community project by SM Development Corporation (SMDC) — a developer of affordable primary homes and condominium residences — that allows the young ones in the workforce to purchase a place of their own. Soon to rise in the throbbing South Triangle area of Quezon City is the My Place condominium, a “new concept in independent living that offers innovative ‘design-your-own’ units and first-rate amenities in a surprisingly affordable package.”

Strap yourself up before you read this: For as long as P7,000 a month (approximately the monthly cost of buying two designer coffee drinks a day, buying barrelfuls of beer at your favorite hangouts such as Penguin on Kamagong Street or B-Side on Malugay with your World Cup friends), young workers can already fulfill their dreams of owning their condo units. Plus, they could decorate their units the way they want it. The SMDC condo has its “My Place, My Design” units, which allow owners “the freedom to assert their individuality through their personal touches in the interior design.” They will have free reign in choosing everything from floor tiles to beds to wall palettes.  

Go cutesy with pastels, frills and Tokidoki figurines; go gothic with black, McFarlane toys (Tortured Souls, Clive Barker’s Infernal Parade) and H.R. Giger and H.P. Lovecraft books on shelves; or go minimalist with grays, clean lines and abstracts that owe everything to Rothko or Josef Albers. Go bonkers. Go nuts. It’s your own space, anyway.

“This has always been the mission of Henry Sy Jr. — to democratize housing ownership,” SM Investment Corporation (SMIC) corporate marketing communications Nita Claravall. “We want to be able to provide quality homes for young and not-so-young people in the workforce who are earning well and yet think they can’t afford their own place.”

So SMDC is building a place that’s well-located; it’s near the ABS-CBN complex, situated between Panay and Mother Ignacia Avenues, a stone’s throw from Timog and Tomas Morato and all those cafes, restaurants, clubs and galleries like Kaida and Tala. Claravall asks what do the young ones spend on? Coffee concoctions? Fancy dinners? Gadgets and gimmicks? Out-of-town trips? The trick is to cut down on those cash-sucking activities and sorties, and channel a significant amount toward acquiring one’s own condo unit.

“We are very excited to be able to help (in this regard),” says Claravall. “It’s time to make that very important move to get your own place.”

Here’s the step-by-step process in purchasing SMDC condo units:

1. Interested buyers should talk to a property specialist and confirm the specific unit they want to get.

2. The buyers need to fill up a reservation agreement form to confirm purchase and give pertinent information

3. They need to fill up the form and pay the 25k reservation fee (minimum requirement: present at least one valid ID — any government-issued IDs will do). If married, the spouse must also submit one government-issued ID. They also need to submit a marriage certificate.

4. After payment of the reservation fee, the agent will book the sale.

5. Buyers will get a copy of their payment schedule from agent.

6. Monthly payments will start 30 days after booking of sale.

7. Buyers will issue post-dated checks based on their payment schedule.

8. SMDC will prepare contract to sell. (Document to be given to the buyers, which will prove that they already own the property.)

The Space Between

We ask Claravall how the heck did SMDC manage to pare down costs to such an extent that condo owners need only to unload P7,000 a month? 

“That is SM’s secret (laughs). Well, in a way, because of its largeness, it is able to do things for you. It is able to get economies of scale that will redound to (the) benefit (of consumers), basically. We got (celebrity endorser) Kim Chiu because she’s a young, up-and-coming achiever.”

SMDC project director Imee Landicho explains, “At My Place, independent living is actually well within the reach of every young professional. There’s no need for young, hardworking professionals to compromise their lifestyle. My Place gives them a viable investment option while, at the same time, giving them the freedom to set their own directions.”

The other SMDC executives would be quick to say that My Place is designed for young people’s 24/7 lifestyle. It will have non-stop Wi-Fi service for those who need to stay connected. And it will have its own Save More Supermarket for last-minute groceries.

Heck, My Place even has a swimming pool, a jogging path, and a Chillscape Garden Lounge — a sanctuary of sorts in the middle of this metropolis and its soup of sounds and stories.

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My Place will be completed in the first half of 2013. For information, call the SMDC hotline at 858-0300, or SMS 0917-5005151.