Starting this blog a little later than normal since I had a pretty busy morning. Right after work I met up with a representative from SMDC so he could tell me more about the SM Jazz Residences and show me the model units that had at their showroom. But I'll talk about that in a bit.
After one day away from one another, the three of us were reunited at the Sietch. I know, I know, I make it sound like we've been separate for far longer (and at times it even feels that way), but it just feels so good when we're all back home together. We had just enough time for a quick dinner before we all had to head off to wherever, but those two hours at home were pretty much golden. I wouldn't give up that time for anything else.
Tobie had his first day at the new job, which coincidentally enough is less than a block from where Prince's office his. Beyond the boring paperwork, it sounds like they jumped right into the kind of creative work that gets Tobie all motivated and excited. I'm glad to see him happy about work for a change - this job is really sounding pretty good. And given the location, he has the option to meet up with Prince for the odd break or quick meal here and there. And of course the option to head home together to maximize gas versus commuting fares. The possibilities are indeed interesting in different ways. It's funny how things are working out the way they are.
I also cleared out some closet space for Prince to use for his things. While he still has a separate place in Makati to think about, we wanted to make sure that he had the option to leave some of things with us and not feel like such a transient always living out of a bag all the time. This is his home too, after all, and he needs to have clearly defined spaces that are just for him. And it felt really nice preparing those spaces, albeit small ones at this point.
The SM Jazz visit wasn't too bad, although it wasn't particularly thrilling either. The broker that I've been dealing with has been trying to get me to commit to a 2 bedroom unit in Tower D for this past week and it's taken all of my own sales training and expertise to deftly counter his attempts to close. He's not the best salesperson that I've encountered, but he's certainly persistent. Projected turnover is 2Q/3Q 2014, which isn't overly bad given our projections, although personally I'd prefer something a little earlier.
Given it is an SM development, the greater emphasis seems to be the amenities that the building is going to have in the form of a Hypermart at the ground floor, other shops and some call center space. He also stressed how there would be 6 different swimming pools, and I suppose that makes sense given the overall population of the complex.
The model unit that he showed me wasn't precisely the same one we've been discussing. In fact, the unit we've been emailing back and forth about is actually smaller by a few square meters. And despite that shift, I was a bit surprised by how small the bedrooms were in this particular design - like the focus of the unit is to show off the living / dining area to other people and yet have very little space for yourselves. And that just feels wrong from a design perspective. I don't expect a huge spacious bedroom in a 46sqm unit, but I would have appreciated more than this.
To be fair, this is the first unit we've looked at in this recent run of condo oculars, so I need to compare with others to get a better sense of what can be done with the limited floor area. So maybe my reaction is a bit unrealistic. But then again, I don't think I've seen many units where the bedrooms are only just about as long as a queen-size mattress with a rather austere / minimalist bed frame. Yeah, that just doesn't quite rub me the right way.
We're scheduled to check out the Avida Towers San Lorenzo on Monday, so that should give us an interesting point of comparison. Our concerns about potential flooding in bad weather remain, but if the unit itself is much better done then maybe it can work out in the long run. And they do have an alternate route back to EDSA that avoids the more flood-prone parts of Pasong Tamo / Chino Roces, so maybe that will be enough. We'll see.
I guess I want to feel that WOW factor when viewing a prospective home for purchase. I've felt something like that twice now. The first time someone snatched up the unit before we could do anything. The second time was with the Kathleen Place townhouses, but that's another project that's sort of just floating around now.
And as much as we're all going to chip in to pay for the unit and the day-to-day costs of living like utilities and stuff, I kind of feel that the responsibility of finding the actual places for consideration falls to me. Maybe it's because I've been doing this on and off for years now - like it's practically a hobby. A lot of the things that we used to do in our "past lives" tends to somehow connect to something we need to do now, at least based on our experience. And this is really starting to seem like one of those cases.
But I really do feel that we're going to find something soon. Things are all in the right place for this to happen - I can totally feel it. And I'm going to chase this feeling down as far as I can. =)
Tobie had his first day at the new job, which coincidentally enough is less than a block from where Prince's office his. Beyond the boring paperwork, it sounds like they jumped right into the kind of creative work that gets Tobie all motivated and excited. I'm glad to see him happy about work for a change - this job is really sounding pretty good. And given the location, he has the option to meet up with Prince for the odd break or quick meal here and there. And of course the option to head home together to maximize gas versus commuting fares. The possibilities are indeed interesting in different ways. It's funny how things are working out the way they are.
I also cleared out some closet space for Prince to use for his things. While he still has a separate place in Makati to think about, we wanted to make sure that he had the option to leave some of things with us and not feel like such a transient always living out of a bag all the time. This is his home too, after all, and he needs to have clearly defined spaces that are just for him. And it felt really nice preparing those spaces, albeit small ones at this point.
Given it is an SM development, the greater emphasis seems to be the amenities that the building is going to have in the form of a Hypermart at the ground floor, other shops and some call center space. He also stressed how there would be 6 different swimming pools, and I suppose that makes sense given the overall population of the complex.
The model unit that he showed me wasn't precisely the same one we've been discussing. In fact, the unit we've been emailing back and forth about is actually smaller by a few square meters. And despite that shift, I was a bit surprised by how small the bedrooms were in this particular design - like the focus of the unit is to show off the living / dining area to other people and yet have very little space for yourselves. And that just feels wrong from a design perspective. I don't expect a huge spacious bedroom in a 46sqm unit, but I would have appreciated more than this.
We're scheduled to check out the Avida Towers San Lorenzo on Monday, so that should give us an interesting point of comparison. Our concerns about potential flooding in bad weather remain, but if the unit itself is much better done then maybe it can work out in the long run. And they do have an alternate route back to EDSA that avoids the more flood-prone parts of Pasong Tamo / Chino Roces, so maybe that will be enough. We'll see.
And as much as we're all going to chip in to pay for the unit and the day-to-day costs of living like utilities and stuff, I kind of feel that the responsibility of finding the actual places for consideration falls to me. Maybe it's because I've been doing this on and off for years now - like it's practically a hobby. A lot of the things that we used to do in our "past lives" tends to somehow connect to something we need to do now, at least based on our experience. And this is really starting to seem like one of those cases.
But I really do feel that we're going to find something soon. Things are all in the right place for this to happen - I can totally feel it. And I'm going to chase this feeling down as far as I can. =)
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