So it seems the stars have aligned! ¹ Sorry Katz, it’s NOT that other thing… yet. Soon, dear… I just didn’t want to talk about it until everything was set in stone; nothing worse than making a statement only to find out later that it didn’t push through.

There are two major practical investments a person would eventually have to worry about one day. One would be the roof over your head (home), and the other would be the wheels under your feet (transportation).

Of course the second is not as important as the first (since there’s always commuting), but for the most part it is a legitimate investment that will make life easier.

Blessing 1

My sister and I have been fortunate enough to not have to worry about the first (home). The reason for the previous post however, was somewhat related to it.

I got a condo in Taguig that was already fully paid last June – the only remaining balance to be settled (for various fees/taxes) upon turnover should have amounted to about 120k+. This was set in stone waaaaay back (before June) – complete with an amendatory agreement.

The building/unit was finished about Sept-Nov. I went through the standard ocular inspection so that I could officially “accept” the unit and finalize everything to get the keys. So when everything was all good and ready, I called the turnover team, and they said I had an outstanding balance of 700k+!!

Without going into details, it took me from then to this January to sort everything out. Even had to threaten with a lawsuit for them to actually take responsibility for their negligence. Now, I’m not a greedy person; the whole purpose of the “threat” was to simply make them fix the issue. Technically, I was advised that I could really go after them for so much more. ² After all, I was doing all the work all this time… something a customer should not be doing. Fortunately for them, I’m not like that (besides, karma usually has a way of hitting people who get too greedy).

Long story short, just last tuesday, I got my keys, and the unit is now officially mine to do as I wish with it. And instead of bickering over those hellish past few months, I’ll just be glad that it’s all over… and that I “won.”

Blessing 2

The next thing that I got was a new car (It should be arriving next week) – which has an interesting story behind it…

I’ve been able to save up to get a new car, but the “purchase” fails my 50% spending policy. ³ ANY purchase I make should always be less than 50% of my total liquid assets I wasn’t comfortable in putting that big a dent on my savings – so I did the math and figured it would be ideal to do an automobile loan. That way I only pay for 30% of the car and the rest in 5 years.

Now the next concern I had was if I really wanted to be legally bound for that long? I could definitely just pay it outright, or within the year or two if I do a shorter loan. But I realized: I don’t change cars as often as I change gadgets, so I’m was pretty sure I was going to use the car for at least that long… which made the decision easier. It will only become a hassle if it was car-jacked before I could settle the balance – and only God knows if that will happen – so might as well not dwell on it.

I had my sights set on a Lancer EX (love at first sight) but wanted to check for promos. So on Monday, the 19th of Jan, I decided to ask the dealer right across the street if they had any promos. Turns there was a promo already underway – and was about to end on February. What’s more was that the car would have a 170k price increase come February.

Taking the hint, I decided to work on getting the car immediately. Even gave the down-payment for the reservation even if no loan was approved yet. The color I wanted was selling like hotcakes, so they advised that there would be a three week wait. On Wednesday, I was informed that a unit was available, what a nice sign 🙂 Now to just wait for a loan to be approved and I’d get the car earlier than I had anticipated.

Boy, was I wrong!

While I’m a freelancer, I do earn enough to pay the monthly amortizations and still be able to buy toys and still save up. The capacity to pay was not in question – so how hard could it be right? Apparently extremely difficult if you’re a freelancer these days! ⁴ Given the US recession, I don’t blame them for being extra picky

Simply put, all banks the dealer sent applications out to declined. How demoralizing! Each day that passed, the dealer texts me that the application for bank x was declined. At the end of the week I was getting desperate – because after the next week, the price of the car would increase to roughly 1.4M!

So the next week comes… crunchtime! At his point I had enlisted the aid of my Dad’s friend that had connections with banks… and as a precautionary measure, I had swallowed my pride and asked an uncle of mine if he was willing to be a co-maker as a last-resort. He agreed – God bless him.

Now it gets really interesting.

Monday 26th:

I had called my bank – which for some reason, I never considered applying from. ⁵ That’s because most of my savings is in dollars and tucked away in a DIFFERENT bank I had asked if there was ever a case that a freelance was granted a loan – just so I knew if I was wasting time or not. They had advised me that it was possible. The rest of that day was spent personally discussing with an officer on what I could provide that would have the best chance of approval.

Then the familiar excruciating wait. Remember, price increases already the next week – so that gave me exactly 4 more business days to get this sorted out.

Tuesday 27th:

Dad’s friend meets up with me with a plethora of forms to fill up; and he gathers information to pass to the banks (for his contacts to generate the required “support documentation.”)

To be perfectly honest, I really wanted my main bank to approve the loan so I wouldn’t have to go this route. While techincally, the “documents” via this alternate route will be legitimate, the process is similar to “fixers” in LTO. As a matter of pride, I really wanted to get the loan approved fair and square… to “stand with my own two feet” as it were. This was going to be a big investment for me, and I wanted it to be something I could be proud of.

I probably would’ve even preferred the co-maker option over this, but again, the last thing I wanted to do was legally bind someone to a responsibility that was supposed to have been mine alone – even if it was just out of formality.

Wednesday 28th:

My bank calls in the morning: DECLINED. I complained at this point… I asked them to have the agent handling my application explain to me what criteria I had failed. It was a good thing I pursued this because apparently, the information that reached credit assessment was all wrong… they totally glossed over the fact that I had an excellent credit standing; I paid bills on time, had multiple accounts and was a preferred banking customer. Instead, I was registered as having “no previous bank affiliations” As soon as they saw the word “freelance” they had made a decision without looking at my particular circumstance – BOO >:-(

More bad news: the dealer had to let go of my reserved unit because someone was willing to purchase on the spot. Grrr them! Actually, I was fine with them letting go, a sale is a sale and at that time, namimiligro pa yung loan ko, I didn’t mind waiting for another unit if it had to come to that, but what pissed me off is finding out that the price applied depended on the delivery date of a unit… which meant it was sure to reach Feb – and would be 170k more expensive!

It’s time to multi-task…

While dogging the bank, I called in a favor from another uncle of mine who had a cousin in Mitsubishi ⁶ And by “in” I mean is part of the brass and explain my situation… I asked if it was possible to at least not have them put on the price increase should the new unit arrive on Feb. After all I had reserved it. Para saan pa yung reservation fee kung pede lang nila i-disregard like they did di ba?

Some good news though; was able to talk to a senior manager in the auto-loans dept of my bank; she was very warm and motherly. She listened patiently to all the nuances of my “situation.” I guess I convinced her with my wit and charm, ⁷ It was pretty much the only thing I was left with – short of total emasculation because at this point (late in the afternoon) she had told me that she would personally handle it.

She called about 4 hours later (early evening)… saying that I was approved! 4 fucking hours from 0 to 100 – that’s gotta be some kind of processing speed record! Are you impressed yet? Hang on… it gets better!

Thursday (yesterday) 29th:

I get a text from my salesman at the dealership:

Gud am, sir ok na, mer0n n kay0ng unit, sikat na sikat ako d2, lakas ng baker nyo! sir kaya kayang gawin p.0. ngaun, para ma invoice na, tnx talaga!

So the morning was spent at the bank signing documents and that afternoon, I was at the dealer… finalizing the purchase 🙂 The car is still at the plant undergoing Q.A. but the most important thing is that we got the transaction finalized before February hit. So even if it arrives next week, it was already considered paid for during the promo period.

I won’t say who the “cousin” was… but I’ll say this: The manager who talked to me when I was paying for it said that it’s a good thing I knew the guy (my uncle’s cousin) – every branch wanted that color unit – which was “officially” out of stock. One call from him and they had a unit available even before I was at the bank to sign the loan documents 🙂

So the stars indeed have aligned… almost gave me a heart attack in the process, but they fucking aligned alright.

Lesson to be learned

I’ve always said this in different ways (and on different occasions) but the gist has always been the same… and hopefully this “sharing” drives that truth home:

If you really want something… get your ass moving and do everything in your power to get it. The world doesn’t owe us any favors, and it has nothing to do with deserving it or not… it’s all about hard work and perseverance. People get the breaks they get because they try and try until they finally get them… that’s exactly what happened with me these past few months.

I had every reason to give up, and if I was superstitious, I also had every sign to give up ⁸ failed applications, car out of stock, price increase, etc. And people had no reason to help me along the way, but until you bite the bullet and take that chance… you’ll never know.

Like I said in another post:

What would you do when your life isn’t going as planned? Do you move mountains to change it – or would you like some cheese with your whine?

And I guess my sharing makes crystal clear what my answer would be to that question.

Your move 😉