MANILA, Philippines-If there's one gift that you can give yourself for the next year, nothing could be perhaps sweeter than owning a home. Given the economic uncertainties that have underpinned this year (which may possibly spill into 2012), having your own home, invariably the most serious investment one can make in a lifetime, would mean that you will not be saddled by undue expenses, such as killer rent. You have that peace of mind that no matter what happens; you have secured the roof over your head and those of the people you love.
According to Engr. Edna Sutter, executive vice president and chief operating officer of DDC Land Inc., there are three important things you should consider before procuring your own home: it should be located within a safe, orderly and stress-free community; it should be affordable; and it should be at once durable and beautiful.
A well-appointed community, durable structure and beautiful design are sold as a premium by developers. How then will these features harmoniously tie-up with affordability? DDC Land, known for its Sta. Rosa Garden Villas project in Laguna, has addressed this issue by getting their own equipment and situating a batching plant in the project site which will then churn the building materials that will be used for the houses. By doing so, they cut the middleman supplier and do away with transport cost; the savings are then reverted to homeowners as discounts for the units.
A typical duplex or quadruplex unit in a DDC Land community costs around P950, 000-an attractive offer since similar unit cuts easily run up to a million pesos. "As people came to know about the good points about Sta. Rosa Garden Villas, even those who could afford to pay as much as P2.5 million for a unit are coming to us, saying, 'if we can buy something of this quality in a good community for less than a million, why pay P2.5 million?"'
One of the fears of a prospective homeowner looking into purchasing a unit in a community that triumphs its affordability is that it may become vulnerable to safety issues and rapid disintegration as soon as the residents are comfortably ensconced in their houses. It's just a matter of instilling discipline among the residents, mentions Engr. Sutter.
"Among the earlier batches of residents, discipline has become a way of life," she says. "It has become easy for them to comply with village rules and guidelines as these were set specifically for their benefit. Of course, there was initial resistance to the village guidelines, but when the homeowners realized that these were for their benefit, they began to appreciate them and there was improved compliance."
A sense of orderliness characterizes Sta. Rosa Garden Villas, now on its sixth phase of development. Sitting on 70 hectares, the project is home to 8,000 homeowners, a number which is expected to balloon as soon as Garden Plaza-a mall with a Save More supermarket, food chains, retail shops, among others-gets completed by next year. Now, homeowners don't even have to motor outside their community for their shopping and leisure.
Asked why DDC Land has drummed up their projects just now, Engr. Sutter says that their communities have, for the long time, done the talking for them. "We've kept quiet for so long," she says. "We just kept on putting into action some of our concepts for the benefit of the Garden Villas residents, including the legacy we'd like to leave especially to family start-ups: quality home."
Call DDC Land at 551-8888 or visit their office at Unit 101 Marbella I Condominium, 2223 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City for details.
