An insider’s guide to intelligent home-buying

UNITS at The Grove are designed with quality finishes.

Glossy print ads, towering billboards, flashy endorsements by top movie stars and those well-designed showrooms often make buying and investing in the real estate sector highly enticing, more exciting and even seemingly lucrative.

While some of the perks may actually be enjoyed upon turnover of a unit or a house, there are, however, also a number of unpleasant stories from buyers, which then ground us all to a sad and sordid reality of empty promises.

Considering that buying a property means putting a lifetime of savings into a single basket, how do we know if we are indeed getting our money’s worth?

Upscale property developer Rockwell Land Corp., one of the most trusted premier real-estate developers in the country, shares with Inquirer Property 10 things that buyers should ask their real-estate developer.

This insider’s guide into the smallest of details can make the biggest differences in your everyday life.

1 “What amenities do you have? Can I use it anytime I want?”

According to Rockwell Land VP for sales and marketing Valerie Soliven, the first thing buyers should understand is that amenities are for sharing, and as such, you want to make sure that they are well-maintained, clean and orderly. Buyers have to make sure that they have the option to use these when they feel like it. Avoid overcrowded amenities that are made available only depending on your scheduled time of use.

2 “What is the elevator waiting time?”

Since we all live a fast-paced lifestyle, it is expected that the provision for elevators in a development can and should be a major concern. The elevators should be strategically planned to keep tenants’ waiting time short, and give them faster access to their units.

THE GROVE by Rockwell is created for the young achiever and start-up families.

3 “How many units are there per floor?”

Just by looking at the buildings from the ground up, one won’t realize there are usually more units packed into a single floor—which means, you have more neighbors to deal with. The number of residents in a floor dictates the comfort that you feel when considering personal space.

4 “What kind of demising walls stand in between units?”

Most developers will not voluntarily tell you that their demising walls (walls that divide your unit from your neighbors’) are made of gypsum board and base boards only, thus resulting to practically hearing anything and everything that your neighbor is doing, and vice versa. Buyers should be assured that walls are made of concrete masonry unit (cmu), which not only minimizes noise but also lasts longer and is resistant to patching and deterioration.

5 “What should I expect from the project’s turnover?”

Developers should be able to deliver the unit on time and that as much as possible, no repairs would be needed to be done on building components like plumbing and electricity.

6 “How is the quality of the finishes? Who are the contractors and subcontractors of the project?”

Finishes should be easy to maintain and last for longer use, Soliven said. The developer should also follow a stringent quality control with the contractors and subcontractors, as well as for the product and quality of service that they have.

7 “Does the area of the condominium flood? How was the developer prepared for this?”

THE GROVE will echo the beauty and functionality of Rockwell Center in Makati.

A very basic misconception about condominium living is that floods are never a problem since units are several floors above ground. However, one must still scrutinize the steps taken and functionality considered when the developer was designing your home.

8 “How much back-up power is guaranteed and what areas are covered?”

With the current talks about power crisis in certain parts of the country, back-up power has to be a major consideration of most homebuyers. It is common among many developments that back-up power is just assured for common areas of the property or the provision for electricity is only good for one or two socket outlets in your unit.

9 “How much water supply is available in case of emergency?”

According to Soliven, this is a feature that is provisional to particular emergencies, and yet is an undeniable need when an unexpected event does occur. A reservoir of water for dire circumstances is a very welcome point indeed, she adds.

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10 “How credible is the developer behind the project?”

A good indication of how your future home will look like is echoed by the developer’s past projects. It would be wise if homebuyers could look at the developer’s project portfolio, and at the same time examine and evaluate its present condition.