The risky business of buying a home

By Arch Gilbert C. Yu

Speech delivered by Arch. Gilbert C. Yu

“One man's DREAM is to HOUSE THOUSANDS WISELY”

I am excited with the emotion and feeling of gratitude occupying my whole heart!

Gratitude for all of you who have given us your absolute trust and confidence. Who without hesitation believe in our ideas, and in so doing give us this opportunity to do something new, innovative and most of all something good for our society.

I remember, during the launching of PENHURST PARKPLACE, I said: The construction and housing industry have a problem, and a big one at such. Homebuyers say they can't afford, while sellers, despite high prices and high mark up, still go bankrupt!

This is crisis, if no one shall come forward with a solution to straighten the stalemate, then our industry will never recover, mush less expect another property boom. Quite fortunately, we people in the industry understand that when there is a problem, WE HAVE TO DEPEND ON OURSELVES TO SOLVE OUR PROBLEM! We in the industry will stand up to save our own future.

The present methods of building homes and selling it to buyers is full of flaws, it is outmoded! It's inefficient, overpriced, over-borrowed, and it is selling mortgaged properties with no protection to buyer! It is driven by the speculation in a created artificial market, on non-existing demand intentionally created by unethical middlemen who are out to make quick money.

Because of greed, one just forgets that the main purpose of building homes is to house people. IT SHOULD NOT BE TREATED AS COMMODITY to make speculative profit upon!

If hoarding staple like rice and corn to create shortage is evil and illegal, then creating artificial market demand for housing to raise prices and take advantage of homebuyers is also evil and wrong!

As architects and as a leading development consultant firm, realizing what is happening in the industry, having moral and social obligation to help house our people, we hereby took our responsibility and duty to bring you and the industry this reform, introducing to you the BUILD TO OWN SYSTEM. To lower the prices of decent homes with nothing mortgaged, to make it affordable to the emerging new generation and their families.

Gone will be the days of overpricing, large completed buildings left standing and unoccupied, while homeless people remain homeless.

The BUILD TO OWN SYSTEM provides you with an alternative to the monopolized old system. It allows technical people like architects, engineers, contractors, and suppliers to serve directly to the consumer, instead of serving the middlemen who then sell it to you.

The new system will respect other legitimate professionals like the realtors and property brokers, who work very hard to bring opportunity and information to buyers. They deserve proper compensation.

Land developers like the Bonifacio Land will also benefit, because more people can afford to live here now! While before only a few super rich can afford it. You will sell more land.

I look today as HISTORICAL, because we are changing by reforming an accepted norm of practice. But here in this world nothing is absolute. Change is progress. Old and defective systems that benefit a few must give way to the new that benefit the majority.

My congratulations goes out to those who dare to change and choose the new system!