Two Big Parties with Realtors

This week promises to be extra memorable for me.  After going to church for the  Feast of the Immaculate Conception  tomorrow,  Dec.   8,  I am  going to  2 big parties! 



Date Place with Maita: Manila Hotel (http://hechoayer.wordpress.com/)

 On Thursday, Dec.  9,  the Manila Hotel will be filled with fellow  realtors  for the oath-taking of the 2011  PAREB (Philippine Association of Realtors Boards)  new officers and Christmas Party.  Glad to know that 2010  President Manny Bocaling   and 2011  President Atty. Ariel Martinez are both from PMRB.   My date for the night (and I must say any other night) --  is of course Maita.   I already made our reservations last month and we are excited to celebrate and meet up with our colleagues  from various realtor  boards.  

On Friday, Dec 10,  I will definitely  be at the Clubhouse of Urdaneta Village in Makati for the  Pasay- Makati Realtors Board PMRB  Party.  Preparations have been frenetic-- for the past few weeks I having been seeing the email and text messages  -- from  Nelson Arquiza, Rene Castillo,  Sweetie Gardiner-Manez , Marlene Galeos, Glad Ramos, and Raymond Tiongson.  This is party going to be a Homecoming of sorts  for past  members of PMRB so a big attendance is expected. 

I will come in  red with something Michael Jackson to go with it -- as specified by Marlene. Now  that's  certainly a  different  party  twist.

Real Estate Broker Registration at PRC

Exactly a week ago,  I -- together with some fellow members from the Pasay Makati Realtors Board-- went to the office of the Philippine Regulation Commission  along Morayta, Manila.  We finally filed  for our real estate broker registration! 

Highlights of our  trip to  PRC:

• Process Guide.   We were  fortunate to have  a step-by-step guide  from   Manny Bocaling, 2010 PAREB President, on how to go about with our registration.  The guide was  a big help -- among other things, it  reminded us of the items  to bring, the windows to approach and the time to allocate for  the process. 
• Less than 3 hours.   That is  about the time we  spent inside the PRC compound.  We arrived at  PRC shortly before 9 and we were already out  before 12 noon.   This included  the time for photocopying some documents that we forgot to make copies of, the leisurely merienda at one of the kiosks  inside the PRC compound and the waiting time for our fellow  PMRB brokers to  finish their application -- one of us actually brought the wrong envelope of documents,  thet fellow broker had to return home somewhere at The Fort and still managed to catch up with us at PRC!
• Van ride.    Thanks to 2011  PMRB President Nelson Arquiza who provided an Urvan that morning with driver even.  There were 11 of us when we left  Metroclub-- our meeting place--  at  8 a.m.  The trip was comfortable and lively--  just what  one can expect when you have a vanful of animated  real estate brokers!
• Pictorial.    This was considered a "mass-filing" event, so there were cameras, and I mean lots of camera phones,  courtesy of course of our fellow brokers. There was even a video recorder.   Marlene Galeos took the "official shots" some of which I posted here.

Before we headed back for Metroclub, we stopped by for lunch at  Golden Fortune Seafood Restaurant along T. M. Kalaw.  Gilbert Yupangco made excellent dish recommendations and I was glad he did.



At Metroclub, after reviewing our documents prior to trip to PRC

 


At Metroclub Makati, before boarding the Urvan

 


At the line on the 3rd Floor Window at PRC




After the registration process, at the PRC Office Lobby




All smiles after a hearty meal at Golden Fortune Seafood Restaurant.
Lunch recommendation and photo courtesy of Gilbert Yupangco. 


Conclusion: the actual registration process was not tedious at all.  What was time-consuming was the  completion of  all the required documents which included among other things-- a Ps 20,000 surety bond from a PRC accredited company, the original NSO copy  of  birth certificate and  NBI clearance.

BTW, we were told   by a  PRC  employee (the one at the 3rd floor window)  that we could expect our  registration approval after 3 months. Yes, that would be February of 2011-- perhaps in time for the Chinese New Year.  Anyway, I can go about with our real estate practice as I already have an official PRC claim stub for a 3-year registration card. That will do for now.

FLASH:  The list of  488 real estate brokers who can take oath this November was just released by PRC. Click here.

SWEETIE GARDINER-MANEZ: Former TV Host



Photo by Marlene Galeos

 She was Pasay -Makati Realtors Board (PMRB)’s bet to the 2010 Most Popular Lady Realtor contest, a yearly search organized by the Philippine Association of the Realtors Board or PAREB.

Being in the limelight looks like a breeze for Sweetie, and this is not a surprise to her friends and colleagues. As a student at St. Paul’s College-Manila, Sweetie already became comfortable being on stage. She was after all a Vicor/Blackgold dancer.

Sweetie was also in the hotel business and in TV show hosting at RJ-TV before she became a real estate developer and broker.

She credits her dad for giving her that break in real estate -- it came when her dad and his co-Rotarian put up a real estate company where she served as treasurer.

Currently at PMRB, she is Director for Public Relations and her  role suits her  perfectly well.