Hoop Addict

Last month I trooped on over to the local government office to pay our family’s real estate taxes. We usually pay on the first month of the year in order to avail of the 20% discount that the local government offers to early birds. But the day came as a shock to me as I found out with the property assessment form given to us that the property taxes in the City of Davao went up by almost 200%. If your property has been classified as either commercial or residential then expect the prices to go up by that much or more depending on the area. Our real estate taxes went up by about 1300%.
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I had a very interesting morning… I rushed out of the house after hearing a helicopter nearby… I usually don’t gawk at helicopters when they flyby but this one I had to make an exception because it sounded close. And when I got out it was indeed close.

Turns out that a military helicopter landed right infront of my house. There’s an open field infront of my house owned by my neighbor, huge enough I guess to accomodate a helicopter.
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A few weeks back somebody submitted an entry to the online directory that I run. The directory is for the city of Davao. Normally I would have accepted his entry, except that it was an SEO company located in another country.

After one day I got an email from this guy, he was pissed off on why it was taking such a long time for his entry to appear on the site. Caps and exclamation points in his email showed how aggravated he was.

I replied to him kindly, Thanked him for his submission, then explained to him that it was because he was from another city in another country that I couldn’t approve his submission. All entities in the directory must reside in the city of Davao.

That’s why I’m happy to be Asian sometimes, because we are so tolerant of other people’s rudeness.

A retired public servant and soon to be real estate broker suggested that a specific forum channel be put up to answer questions that people might have regarding real estate. And with that the Davao real estate q & a forum was born (here).

It’s quite an interesting and informative forum really. I never knew the intricacies of real estate taxation that the local government imposes on land, housing and commercial establishments till I read the articles posted there.

Quite an important thing to have knowledge of when you plan to put up a house or building in the Philippines. Also posted there the reason why you have to transfer right away any properties that you have bought to your name, because some unscrupulous sellers report a lost title and resell the property.

If people ask me what the best hotel in Davao City is, I always say that it is the Marco Polo Hotel. Not surprising too that the hotel has garnered a lot of awards.

Whenever you entertain your guests there you will never be embarrassed. No other hotel in the City can compare to the splendor and grandeur it projects. Of course the drawback is that the place is very pricey so be ready to spend a princely sum there.
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Further developments in the problem of home loan foreclosure being faced by the Davao real estate sector right now.

The City Mayor thinks that the President of the Philippines is the only one who can solve this problem now.

What’s clear to me is the problem in Davao City. I wonder if there are other cities in the Philippines facing the same problem of a possible meltdown in the home loan mortgage industry?

I can’t help but flash a smile with the application requirements for Officers in the Philippine Army. More specifically the part that says:

With Pleasing personality and high scholastic records

Bravado and toughness with a smile

After reading this article it hit me like this is Davao City’s own version of a subprime loan bailout.

A few weeks back the government already approved a bailout package for defaulting home loans so that homeowners wouldn’t be left out on the street.
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Found it interesting that a patent office opened up in Davao City. Well satellite office really, since all Intellectual property filings will still be processed and approved in Manila.

Despite that, its nice to know that there is a place in Mindanao where people can easily file their patent designs and register their copyrights and trademarks without ever having to go to Manila.
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I loved sketching when i was kid… when I was young my parents noticed my inclination for drawing so they shipped me off to one of those summer classes where they teach you how to be an artist on canvass…
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