A report released by Citibank in 2008 showed that only 42 percent of Filipino respondents live in their own house, either owning one outright or paying off a mortgage. When you compare this rate to China’s 82 percent and Malaysia’s and Singapore’s 61 percent, you may wonder, “Why is it that so few Filipinos own a home compared to their neighbors?”
Perhaps it’s an issue of affordability. The prices of houses and condos may be beyond the reach of average Filipinos. Sadly, there is some truth to this assertion. According to Professor Enrique Soriano III of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business, 22 percent of Filipinos cannot afford to own real estate. He added that at the current slow rate socialized or affordable homes are being produced, today’s backlog of 3.9 million housing units will reach 6.5 million in 2030.
There’s also the issue of difficulty in buying itself, even if one has the means to do so. Buying a home is a complicated matter to begin with, but still many get surprised with the amount of work needed to actually look for one, negotiate with a seller, arrange financing, pay for the necessary government fees and taxes, then have the ownership transferred to his or her own name at a local Registry of Deeds.
Indeed finding the right property, dealing with a broker you can trust, and negotiating with the seller, not to mention the complicated government process you need to sort out are daunting to the average Filipino homebuyer, which dims their prospect of finally owning a home.
And we at ZipMatch aim to provide a solution for that. As we aspire to empower Filipinos with useful information before making that big decision, everything we do is to make sure the process of real estate buying and selling is efficient, fast, and convenient.
What We Do at ZipMatch
More than just a property listings site, ZipMatch functions as a comprehensive online community of licensed brokers, sellers, buyers, property developers, and even banks and other financial institutions.
As a web-based sales and marketing solution, ZipMatch will help brokers and property developers succeed by giving them far-reaching online exposure through our efficient digital marketing. This will provide them with the necessary tools to reach potential homebuyers previously untapped by traditional marketing.
But above all, ZipMatch was conceptualized with the homebuyer in mind. The website’s unique features make the searching and buying real estate easy and efficient for the average homebuyer.
1. Sophisticated Matching System
One of ZipMatch’s strengths is its sophisticated matching system to help homebuyers get matched to the properties that fall within their requirements (type, number of bedrooms, location, price, etc.). Think online dating site for real estate: even if a particular property is not listed, a listing broker will be automatically alerted when a potential buyer is looking for a property similar to his. Buyers then will get the advantage of being contacted directly to a broker without the need to browse through thousands of listings.
2. Listings Are Verified and Not Duplicated
Imagine the inconvenience of having to sift through hundreds of property listings, only to discover that much of them are duplicated. To counter this, ZipMatch goes to great lengths to verify each listing and make sure that none is duplicated. Result? Buyers need not contact 10 different brokers selling the same property, saving time and headache in the process.
3. Smart and Informed Buyers
Our expertise and extensive network will help homebuyers make smart, informed decisions about buying real estate. One way to achieve this is through education. ZipMatch’s News &Advice section features useful articles, from tips to buying preselling properties and decorating, to investing and choosing the right financing options. And as a full-service consultancy, we make sure that we’re on hand to guide homebuyers every step of the way.
4. Sophisticated Maps Features
One of the ZipMatch’s exciting feature is ZipMaps: a smart map tool that lists and displays every available property in Metro Manila, whether for rent, for sale, preselling, or properties buyers can readily move into. Aside from properties, ZipMaps also pins into the map all places that every homebuyer considers before buying a property: schools, hospitals, shopping malls, transport options, banks, and even churches and public parks.
But perhaps being a Filipino-owned real estate website, ZipMatch understands the most pressing concern that every Filipino homebuyer has in mind: which areas are not flood prone. With this in mind, ZipMatch as one of its features introduces a Flood Map of Metro Manila and surrounding provinces. You can now check whether the property you’re keeping an eye on is located in a flood-prone area, giving you the power to make an informed decision to buy a property in a place that will keep your family safe and dry. Indeed, buying a home located in a flood-free area is one of the best investment decisions you can make, because that means your family’s safety is assured.
ZipMatch was conceptualized with one goal in mind: to streamline the tedious process of acquiring real estate in the Philippines, and make it fast, convenient, efficient, and simple, and in the process, become the Philippines’ one-stop shop for everything Filipinos need to know about real estate.
ZipMatch.com is the first comprehensive online community of sellers, developers, brokers, and buyers in the Philippines. ZipMatch offers everything to make your home purchase easy, from finding the right property and broker to tips on how to make money from real estate investment. For more information, visit www.zipmatch.com.
Media Contact:
Rodel Ambas, Jr.
rodel@zipmatch.com
+63917 301 5127
+632 478 9791
