Others take pleasure in building multi-billion peso gated enclaves while a few take pride in creating environmentally sustainable properties that deliver the ultimate in modern luxury living.
But for PA Properties chair Romarico “Bing” Alvarez, great satisfaction comes from handing over to families living on limited incomes, quality and affordable housing. While absent are palatial clubhouses, wide roads flanked by luxury SUVs, and palm trees, for Alvarez, these newly built communities promote opportunities for personal growth and economic independence.
“Each of these houses turned over means their new owners will no longer have to rent or be forced to live in squalid conditions. Building houses in this price range—around P1 million or even much lower—is a labor-intensive investment, requiring large numbers of construction workers. But on the other hand, we are creating more jobs. A spurt in activity in this housing price range unleashes a chain reaction in other allied industries, creating a multiplier effect that impacts the economy. Remember, no less than 60 industries are linked to construction and housing sector,” Alvarez explained.
He related that getting into this line of work started not because PA Properties began in San Pedro, Laguna, at a time where there are more farmlands than industrial parks.
“It was 1993 and I was given the task by my father to take care of a family-owned 2.3ha farmland that was converted into a residential subdivision—St. Joseph Village 1—which was named after St. Joseph the Worker, our family’s patron saint. I was amazed that the 200 housing units we offered in that project were sold-out in less than four months after it was launched,” Alvarez.
This gave Alvarez, a former medical representative, an epiphany to continue building more communities that target families with limited or modest income. “We priced our units from around P400,000 to up to around P4 million for the house-and-lot packages and around P1 million to around P3 million for the mid-rise condominium units. These are the price ranges that most low- and middle-income families could afford and within what the government wants to support through Pag-Ibig.”
In recent years, Pag-Ibig (Home Development Mutual Fund) increased the loanable amount for members from P3 million to P6 million for those with a monthly income of about P15,000. Even the interest rate of the monthly housing loan amortization has also been lowered from 10 percent to 7.985 percent. Indeed, these developments are encouraging for families wanting to buy their first house or those who are no longer satisfied with just renting.
At the same time, PA Properties also developed strategic tie-ups with various banks and other financial institutions which have been very instrumental in providing Alvarez that much needed fund to sustain his mission. With this, PA Properties was not only able to forge better financing facilities but also made available to their homebuyers more funding mechanisms at better interest rates and easy payment plans.
While the company has become a major player in Laguna and Cavite, PA Properties has also established presence in Metro Manila, Batangas, Bulacan and Pampanga.
“Expect us to be in more places in the next few years as we reach out to families wanting to become more self sufficient.”