Introducing Directory of Philippine Real Estate Professionals
For many years in my real estate practice, I have always been looking for list of duly licensed practitioners either in print or in the internet. But even DTI at that time, do not have an online list. We even have to request for photocopy of their log book, hand-written entries at that. With widespread use of internet, I was hoping our government will have at least an online list. Sadly, until RESA law there was none. Good thing the HLURB has one. At least you can check the names though incomplete as many are still in the process of registering with PRC.
As an advocate of anti-colorum, I would like to deal only with fellow licensed practitioners. Now that I work mostly online, it should be easy to check the ones that are licensed if there is a list online. Still, we only have the HLURB and with PRC but only if you know their birthdays. What if I want to look for a broker from Butuan City or Ilocos?How will I know who are practitioners there? Being a member of one of PAREB’s local board, I probably won’t have a hard time locating one. The PAREB-RBR is the only board printing a directory but not on regular basis and limited copies. Its mostly for the use of the real estate industy and hardly available to general public. Then what about sellers who want to sell their property through a local practitioner and they are abroad? Where do they look for one? What about buyers who are probably looking to buy in those areas and want to deal with local brokers? Where will they look for if there is no list available on the internet.?
I, myself having a website of my own (www.greenhuts.net ) to sell my properties, I would encounter sellers outside of my areas of concentration who want to sell their properties asking my help to sell their properties. But being not familiar with those areas, it will be hard for me to show or even talk about the place if I have not been there, not to mention the cost of going there. I get as far as Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, Cebu or even Negros. Sometimes, I am able to refer them but most of the time, I can’t find anyone to refer them to.
This idea of directory have been in my mind for over 10 years. I think I started compiling the list as early as 1992. At that time, desktops are still foreign to many and even the use of internet became widespread only around 1995. When I bought a pc in 1998, one of my first projects was to encode the list of real estate brokers. Yearly, I will add to my list including new brokers as there were two examinations a year. We used it to recruit more members at that time with PLAREB. Then came Asian crisis, so I thought of ‘retirement’ and move to the province. While in the province, I discovered more about internet and initially thought of having a website where you can find brokers online. But the site didnt push through except that my niece was able to get a good grade presenting the project for her thesis.
My idea of directory refuse to die even as we have been migrated to PRC. With the RESA law in effect, we should be more strict with colorums. And yet, more than half of those who advertise on the internet are colorums. They still can get away with it because we still don’t have the AIPO supposedly to implement in full the RESA (RA.9646) law. I just hope this website will be a way for general public to be aware of dealing only with real estate professionals and avoid those unlicensed or unregistered agents or brokers.
For those who want to check they are dealing with licensed brokers, they can visit : http://philrealestatedirectory.com. The list include only Real Estate Brokers, Appraisers and Real Estate Consultants. We are still completing the contents but the names of all real estate professionals who registered with PRC since last year up to the latest release of approved without examination are already included. You will find that we still have the old names from DTI list. Registration under grandfather’s clause of RA 9646 are still ongoing until end of 2011. The names with PRC dates are the ones who have registered and those with old license must have not renewed yet, passed away, migrated to other countries or moved to other industry.
We plan to add more list for allied industry as real estate industry is composed of many other professionals not just brokers and appraisers. We would like this to be a one stop shop for professionals in the real estate industry. Later, we will add list of builders, contractors, developers, real estate lawyers, interior designers,, banks who offers home loans among other that the buyers, sellers and practitioners ourselves will need.