Buying Real Estate in Quezon City - A Great Investment
I've been hearing a lot about how Quezon City was still mostly "talahiban" (rolling meadows) and largely uninhabited about four and a half decades ago.
I can remember one particular old lady (who used to own an eatery near the BIR branch office on Quezon Avenue) tell me that beyond her eatery (as she pointed towards northeast) it was mostly vacant lots and grasslands.
Truthfully speaking, I am kind of divided on whether I should believe in the stories I've heard or not.
I've seen a few pictures of different places in Quezon City that were supposed to have been taken around that time and I can see an abundance of man-made structures scattered all over the landscape.
One image that got stuck in my mind is an aerial shot of the Quezon Memorial Circle.
The only place that was vacant in the picture is the Circle itself, save for the Quezon Monument and some pathways.
Outside of the circle, buildings and other man-made structures dot the landscape in just about every direction.
Although the structures are not as dense as they are now, what I saw in the picture is definitely not something I would consider even close to being deserted.
Aside from that, Quezon City was, at the time, the nation's capital, so it was kind of hard for me to picture it the way that it supposedly was according to the stories I've heard.
But despite the fact that I'm having doubts about Quezon City being as desolate as they say it was, I was able to gather data indicating that the city only had a population of 754,452 in 1970.
That's only about a quarter of its current population! And for added comparison, the city's population was 397,990 in 1960.
For me, these numbers are convincing proof of how "roomy" Quezon City was during those times.
Actually, we can still see just how roomy the city was during those times.
If you'd go around the Projects area, you'll see some old properties/houses there that are so big that its kind of hard to believe that they were used to be part of the city government's low-cost housing projects.
The individual properties are so big that some developers and investors are buying them off the market and subdividing them into smaller pieces of property.
I've personally seen this being done in a couple of subdivisions in Project 6 (which used to be know as "Low-Cost Housing Project No.
6").
As for the cost...
consider this.
Back in 1939, the Philippine government bought (from the prominent Tuason family) the land that would eventually form part of present day Quezon City for five centavos per square meter.
Nowadays, zonal values of residential real properties (non-condominuim) in Quezon City goes for as high as P40,000 per square meter (such as the properties along Quezon Avenue).
And if I'm not mistaken, real properties are always sold for much more than their zonal values.
And now, with the developments that the city is currently and soon to be undergoing, we can expect the monetary values of properties in some parts of the city to shoot through the roof just a few years from now.
If you get an opportunity to purchase a piece of real estate in Quezon City (or any other progressive city for that matter), go for it, unless the piece of real estate you're being offered is located in very close proximity to a dump site, a fault line, or something that could make habitation unpleasant or dangerous.
Putting your money into real estate is, in many ways, better than saving your money in the bank.
Real estate can't be stolen (except in some really rare and extraordinary cases).
Real estate can't go bankrupt.
Real estate don't expire, degenerate, or decay.
Real estate almost NEVER depreciate in value.
And when real estate appreciates in value, it's usually much more than what you will earn from banks over the same period of time.
The only drawback in putting your money in real estate is that it's not liquid.
Meaning, you can't turn it into spendable cash immediately.
But I think this is just a minor setback especially if you want your money to work for you.
It's actually the same with banks if you want higher interest rates, as in the case of time deposits and money markets.
So, if you've got some spare income or if you have some bank savings that you're not going to be using any time soon, why don't you invest some of it in real estate.
Doing so will not only earn you more, but you will also have something to hand down to your kids and grand kids later on.
I can remember one particular old lady (who used to own an eatery near the BIR branch office on Quezon Avenue) tell me that beyond her eatery (as she pointed towards northeast) it was mostly vacant lots and grasslands.
Truthfully speaking, I am kind of divided on whether I should believe in the stories I've heard or not.
I've seen a few pictures of different places in Quezon City that were supposed to have been taken around that time and I can see an abundance of man-made structures scattered all over the landscape.
One image that got stuck in my mind is an aerial shot of the Quezon Memorial Circle.
The only place that was vacant in the picture is the Circle itself, save for the Quezon Monument and some pathways.
Outside of the circle, buildings and other man-made structures dot the landscape in just about every direction.
Although the structures are not as dense as they are now, what I saw in the picture is definitely not something I would consider even close to being deserted.
Aside from that, Quezon City was, at the time, the nation's capital, so it was kind of hard for me to picture it the way that it supposedly was according to the stories I've heard.
But despite the fact that I'm having doubts about Quezon City being as desolate as they say it was, I was able to gather data indicating that the city only had a population of 754,452 in 1970.
That's only about a quarter of its current population! And for added comparison, the city's population was 397,990 in 1960.
For me, these numbers are convincing proof of how "roomy" Quezon City was during those times.
Actually, we can still see just how roomy the city was during those times.
If you'd go around the Projects area, you'll see some old properties/houses there that are so big that its kind of hard to believe that they were used to be part of the city government's low-cost housing projects.
The individual properties are so big that some developers and investors are buying them off the market and subdividing them into smaller pieces of property.
I've personally seen this being done in a couple of subdivisions in Project 6 (which used to be know as "Low-Cost Housing Project No.
6").
As for the cost...
consider this.
Back in 1939, the Philippine government bought (from the prominent Tuason family) the land that would eventually form part of present day Quezon City for five centavos per square meter.
Nowadays, zonal values of residential real properties (non-condominuim) in Quezon City goes for as high as P40,000 per square meter (such as the properties along Quezon Avenue).
And if I'm not mistaken, real properties are always sold for much more than their zonal values.
And now, with the developments that the city is currently and soon to be undergoing, we can expect the monetary values of properties in some parts of the city to shoot through the roof just a few years from now.
If you get an opportunity to purchase a piece of real estate in Quezon City (or any other progressive city for that matter), go for it, unless the piece of real estate you're being offered is located in very close proximity to a dump site, a fault line, or something that could make habitation unpleasant or dangerous.
Putting your money into real estate is, in many ways, better than saving your money in the bank.
Real estate can't be stolen (except in some really rare and extraordinary cases).
Real estate can't go bankrupt.
Real estate don't expire, degenerate, or decay.
Real estate almost NEVER depreciate in value.
And when real estate appreciates in value, it's usually much more than what you will earn from banks over the same period of time.
The only drawback in putting your money in real estate is that it's not liquid.
Meaning, you can't turn it into spendable cash immediately.
But I think this is just a minor setback especially if you want your money to work for you.
It's actually the same with banks if you want higher interest rates, as in the case of time deposits and money markets.
So, if you've got some spare income or if you have some bank savings that you're not going to be using any time soon, why don't you invest some of it in real estate.
Doing so will not only earn you more, but you will also have something to hand down to your kids and grand kids later on.
