Rising seafarers’ earnings power fledgling developer

THERE ARE around 400,000 Filipino seafarers deployed around the world, a significant workforce considering this is already a third of the 1.2 million strong international merchant marine force.

Their remittances have a very big impact on the Philippine economy that their families’ purchasing power here cannot be underestimated.

Among those who were able to tap this group of overseas Filipino workers included ACM Homes, a fast-growing and profitable residential housing developer that has sold 8,000 socially priced and affordable units since 1992.

“As early as the ’90s, we have been tapping this group considering they have significantly higher wage—an average $1,000 monthly—when compared to their land-based counterparts. From offering only socialized housing in our early years we have now product lines with packages between P300,000 and P3.5 million,” said ACM co-founder and president Tonette de Guzman.

The 18-year-old company has already developed 15 projects covering approximately 100 hectares in Cavite and Batangas where it has become a leading real estate player in its segment.

As former expat, De Guzman said she knew what their main market needs.

“In collaboration with the Philippine Transmarine Carriers, we have succeeded in offering its seafarer members convenient financing schemes as well as homes that tailor-fit to their income levels,” De Guzman explained.

Marketing alliance

It was in 2007 when ACM Homes forged a strategic marketing alliance with PTC, one of the country’s largest crew management companies.

“This enabled the company to exclusively tap nearly 35,000 officers and crew to fulfill their aspirations of having their own homes,” disclosed De Guzman who said their company’s revenues grew by 35 percent per annum from 2005 to 2009.
Expertise
For its part, PTC partnered with ACM on the strength of the latter’s expertise in the OFW market and belief in transforming housing projects into living communities.

It tapped ACM to fulfill its corporate social responsibility program, one of which has the aim of ensuring that their seafarer members’ hard-earned wages are earmarked for quality homes that will appreciate in value and represent a sound investment over time.

“Studies have shown that purchasing a home motivates many OFWs to perform better and to remain engaged at work. With our firm’s keen understanding of this market, this gave us a sustainable edge,” shared Carol Osteria, ACM co-founder and CFO.

From 1992 up to the end of the decade, ACM grew on the strength of the quality of its developments and “strong backroom support that takes care of the buyers’ financing needs,” related Osteria (to this day, close to 35 percent of the company’s 130-person workforce is dedicated to assisting buyers meet the requirements of government agencies and banks for financing).

Joint ventures

Osteria shared that even if their company’s Cavite land bank is good for the next five years, the company intends to expand from Southern Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao, looking to form joint ventures in these parts of the country.

She clarified that these days ACM’s market are no longer confined to seafarers as their homebuyers already include land-based OFWs, local employees, professionals and entrepreneurs.

The company was founded by De Guzman, Osteria and another partner, Mia Gentugaya who used the names’ first letters to christen their company.

The three related that they wanted to help easen up the country’s housing backlog that now stand at 4 million, according to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council that said it could only provide 1 million homes a year.