Age 27 is already late. There have been others who have made their first real estate investments at much younger ages. But considering the circumstances I was in, I consider it an achievement that I had my first real estate investment when I was 27.

If my parents who live in the province understood me then, I could have been an owner of a prime condo in Makati now. In the late 1970s, when I was still a college student, a condo unit in one of the older condo buildings near the corner of the Buendia and South Superhighway cost only 40,000 pesos. But there are things that really are not to be.

In the late 1980s, I read that SM will build another mall near Crossing. I was getting interested in real estate then. My sister and her husband bought a house and lot in Fairview with the help of an SSS housing loan, so I thought I can get a loan and buy my property too. I scanned classified ads, and looked at houses for sale near the prospective SM site. They were all beyond by means, however.

I soon saw a small housing development in Rosario, Pasig. I looked at the map, and it was near the SM site, although in reality, they're one jeepney ride apart. And since the developer was selling lots only, I thought a lot, rather than a house-and-lot, was something that I could afford.

The 100-square-meter lot cost 150,000 pesos and the seller required a down payment of 45,000 pesos. This time, I was able to persuade my parents to help me get a 45,000-peso loan from a rural bank whose managers are known by them. I told them I can get a housing loan worth 200,000 pesos from Pag-ibig to repay them, pay the balance, and fence the lot.

The 200,000-peso loan was not to be. It took me more than a year and much pain to process the loan and to scrounge money to pay the developer while the loan is being processed.

Anyway, to make this story short, this lot that I bought for 150,000 pesos was sold nearly 20 years later for $1.6 million. It was sad selling this property, but money was needed at the time it was sold. It saved something very important. I know that I can buy another property again, with God's help.