My Thank You List for Today

Janette Toral, program director for the blogging course I am taking up at Ateneo de Manila, invited me to join this writing contest on “Thank You Day Philippines.“ It required my submitting a photo entry with a short write-up. Prize is a box of Toblerone. To read more about the contest, go to http://www.thankyoudayphilippines.com

Though I like Toblerone, I sent in an entry not for the prize, but for the experience of it. Then I thought that perhaps I could also list down things that I am thankful for as a realtor. Here are some that  came to mind:

1. RESA Law (Real Estate Service Act). Starting this 2010, real estate brokers licenses will now be issued by the Philippine Regulation Commission. Brokers are now in the same “licensed” league of doctors, lawyers, accountants and engineers and other regulated professions.

2. Local Realtor Boards. I belong to (PMRB) Pasay Makati Realtors Board while Maita, to Muntinlupa Realtors Board. It is good to deal with fellow brokers who belong to realtor boards: we adhere to the same code of ethics and we have recourse in case there are professional conflicts or differences to be addressed.

3. PAREB (Philippine Association of Realtor Boards). Given the nationwide reach of PAREB, we brokers can network with colleagues from other regions. We can all tap in to its active MLS or multi-listing service. And given its current affiliation with the National Association of Realtors –USA, we can use the designation “REALTOR.”

4. Noynoy Aquino. Others can say what they want, but Noynoy’s promise of change is confidence-boosting for business and economy. One just has to drive along the streets of  Makati CBD, Ortigas and Bonifacio Global City to see the renewed level of construction activity. We brokers have a lot of selling to do.

5. St. Joseph. I am glad to know that we brokers have a patron saint to call on. St. Joseph-- the carpenter and guardian of the Redeemer-- built and kept a house then for the Holy Family. He too can help us today, if we believe.

Let me close by gently asking this question: “What are you thankful for today?”

HOW I GOT HERE

With my wife, Realtor® Maita Herce-Siquijor

I am not entirely new to real estate practice. For one, I am married to Maita who  has been  a real estate broker for more than  10 years now.

Actually,  I got my  real estate broker's license   in 1996,  Only my family knew  this story.  When I was courting Maita in 1994, she decided to take up the Comprehensive Real Estate Seminar or CRESAR-- an 8-weekend course that prepared a candidate for the licensing exam.

To be with Maita, I also enrolled in the same course. I sat through the lectures and  really studied the course materials.

 We both passed the licensing exams.  Eventually, we applied for our licenses.  She pursued her real estate practice while I went on to move up on the proverbial   corporate ladder in the pharmaceutical industry.

Since then, I have referred to Maita a number of  my office mates for  their real estate requirements.  I am glad that Maita was able to successfully close deals  for them.

Up until 2009, I did not see  the need for me to  renew  my real estate license.  I was just  happy to give Maita referrals.  But now that we have put up La Maisonette Manila, Inc. -- a general real estate brokerage-- there is that obvious benefit for me to get my license renewed.

With the enactment of the Real Estate Service Act in 2009,  the licensing authority for real estate brokers was shifted from the Department of Trade and Industry to the Philippine Regulation  Commission.  One of the requirements for me to  renew my license was to take up 24 units of Continuing Professional Education units or CPEs.

CPEs are offered by local realtor boards.  Maita belongs to the Muntinlupa Realtors Board or MUNREB.  Sometime  July 2009, she received an email  from  Pasay Makati Realtors Board or PMRB that  a course on CPE would be offered.  Maita forwarded the email to me and I looked up PMRB on the net. The course lecturer was Atty. Ariel Martinez,  whom I have met in one of the seminars on estate planning.   I wanted to sign up for the course but there was a conflict in my schedule.    I called up the PMRB secretariat and spoke to Tere Santana who advised me that  there was another CPE course to be offered by the Paranaque Las Pinas Realtors Board or PLAREB.   To cut the story short, I attended the course organized by PLAREB that was conducted by Mr. Cesar Santos, another prominent real estate lecturer.

In  August 2009, I decided to apply  for membership with  the Pasay Makati Realtors Board.   Maita and I agreed that it would be better for me to sign up with another board so that we could expand our business  network,  I chose PMRB because I knew Atty. Ariel Martinez and because I actually grew up in Pasay City.

Maita is very proficient in the use of the net  for her real estate practice.  She has a Masters Degree in E-learning from University of Sheffield in UK.   But instead of me taking her time away to teach me concepts on e-commence and blogging, I decided to sign up for  a blogging course at Ateneo de Manila   One Saturday in   October 2009, I went back to my alma mater and  found myself again in a classroom.  The program director was Janette Toral, one of the most influential names in  blogging and e-commerce in the country.

To comply with   one of our course requirements, I put up this blog.  And that's how I got here-- literally and figuratively speaking.