THE MACTAN NEWTOWN
The Mactan Newtown is the first Megaworld township development outside of Metro Manila with its own beachfront.

This 30-hectare mega-community combines high-end office towers, luxury condominiums, leisure amenities, retail shops, upscale hotels, and school – The Newtown School of Excellence, supervised by the Lasallian Schools Supervision Services Association Inc. (LASSSAI).

The township also features a Cyberpark, which is home to several office buildings like the recently completed One World Center that now houses international BPO company Results Manila and Enfra USA. Other BPO office in the township is Two World Center, Eight Newtown Boulevard, and Pacific Garden Tower.

The company will have at least five to ten more office towers in the township by 2021, offering around 150,000 square meters of office spaces that can accommodate an estimated 45,000 workers in the information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector.

Boasting a redefined living experience in a township masterpiece, the company also brings a condominium lifestyle highlighted by the spectacular views of the historic Mactan Shrine, Magellan Bay, and the Hilutungan Channel.

Soon to rise in the township are five hotels, including two by the beachfront.

The company is also building its own exclusive, world-class beach club and sports facilities at the beachfront property formerly known as Portofino Beach.

These will be done in partnership with Landmark, Inc., the landowner of the said property.

Things You Should Know:

1. Do research your target market

Location is very important when investing in a property. A good location can create a big impact/leverage your asset.
In Mactan Newtown, all basic needs and wants of the people are provided like grocery stores, supermarkets, malls, banks, a school, international and local restaurants, convenience stores, etc.

Mactan Newtown Beach is also a walking distance and 15-minutes away from the Mactan International Airport, which it makes it good for tourist to stay in.

To sum it all, Mactan Newtown is location-wise.

2. Be aware of your investment budget

Once you have identified the location and your target market, your next step is to determine how much money you are willing to invest. The bigger the amount you spend, the higher the return on investment you should expect.

Your budget extends beyond the cost of the condo unit. You also need to budget for the possible renovation of the unit, as well as the costs of the furniture that you will put inside.

If you are looking to get a decent return on investment from your property, you need to manage your budget against your expected rental income.

Although you can use the prevailing market rate in the area as a guide for expecting your rental income, there is no guarantee that you can get it because tenants normally negotiate and compare your unit with your other competitors in the building.

It is always advantageous if you can manage to lower your investment budget. The lower your investment cash outlay, the higher the chances that you will get a good return on investment.

3. Understand your return on investment

If you put your money now in the money market, how much are you going to make per year?

If you are going to take out your savings from the bank and invest in a condo rental property, you should make at least higher than what you are currently earning from the bank.

If the interest rate is rising to six percent, you can target a return on investment of at least eight percent or higher depending on the premium you want.

If you are buying a brand new condominium, the first thing you need to determine is your expected return on investment.

How much return on investment would the property generate based on the selling price and market rental rate in the area? Will the return maximize your investment considering all the risks?

The key to achieving a high returns is when you have low investment outlays. If buying a brand new condo fails to meet your criteria, you may also consider buying a secondhand condo unit in a very good location, where you have room to negotiate for lower costs.

4. Make options to leverage

There is nothing wrong with investing using your cash, but if you can borrow to buy a condo rental property, you can maximize your cash investment.

With financial leverage, you can possibly buy two or three condo properties for the budget of one unit.

For example, if your budget is P2 million to buy a single condo unit that you plan to rent out, you can buy two condo units by paying P1 million for each as 50 percent down payment and borrow the balance from the bank.

You can also buy three condo units by paying one-third of the price as down payment and borrowing the rest from the bank.

When you borrow to finance a condo unit, the bank actually helps you do extra due diligence to make sure that the title of the property you are acquiring is clean.

5.Understand the terms of your loan

When you decide to finance your investment by borrowing, you can shop for the right bank that can give you the best deal. The ideal loan deal that you want to get is the one that can give you the lowest monthly amortization possible.

You want your monthly rental to be at least equal to your monthly amortization so you don’t have to cash out anything, but it would be better if your monthly rental is higher than your amortization so that the extra cash will be your income.

Your monthly amortization is a function of the term of the loan and the interest rate. The longer the number of years that you need to pay the loan and the lower the interest rate, the lower the amortization will be.

Normally, banks will give a maximum of 15 years for a condo unit and an interest rate that can be subject to annual re-pricing or fixed for a number of years.

Credits: Henry Ong