How I made money using my Pag-IBIG Fund Entitlement

In early 1998, I was 27, single and only a contractual employee then when I thought of buying a low cost house using my membership with Pag-IBIG Fund. It was my first time to acquire a property and I was totally inexperienced in that regard. As a contractual employee, I was not receiving a substantial salary but I still had room for a P1,700.00 monthly amortization. And so after weighing the pros and cons (the former by far outweighed the latter), I took the risk and proceeded to getting a loan. The house I got was a 30 sq. m. house on a 60 sq. m. lot priced at P180,000.00. It was a core house, which means no ceiling, no partitions and no painting. Many people refer to it as a 'matchbox' house. All it had were basic amenities like a kitchen and a toilet. 

As soon as the power and water supply were made available, I started introducing some improvements to the house using a portion of my savings. First, I extended one area of the house to accommodate a kitchen and a dining area. Then, I had the roof and the house painted. The house was ready for occupancy and I was ready to move in. But then I realized that there was really no need for me to move in. I was staying then with co-employees in a convenient staff house provided by the company. And so I decided to have the house rented for P1,500.00 a month in the months that followed.

In mid 1999, with my absorption as a regular employee of my company and with the rental income still coming in, I decided to buy the adjacent 60 sq. m. corner lot from the owner of the subdivision on an installment basis. The adjacent lot cost P72,000.00 payable in one year at 16% interest. The one year payment for the extra lot ate up a big chunk of my monthly salary and my bonuses and it meant a lot of sacrifices on my part.

In the summer of 2000, just as the payment for the adjacent lot was completed, the family that was renting my house decided to buy the property from me including the adjacent lot that I bought. Wow, I sold my very first house! I made a considerable profit from the sale and I felt really good reaping the fruit of my sacrifices! This was when the idea of build and sell or build then sell hit me big time. I wanted to do it again.