I started in Real Estate when I was 21. Wala nang mas lalabo pa sa featured photo kasi 21 years ago yan haha.
Last Sept 1, 2026, I’m 21 years in. Literally, HALF OF MY LIFE!
I remember walking through Glorietta with Bam, my best friend. I pointed to a girl handing out flyers, and told her “ganyan ang gagawin ko.” She looked at me and said, “Edi wag ka diyan kung ayaw mo.” Or something like that haha.
But I still said yes to trying it. I studied Math and Computer, so I would just go through it, then transfer to another department later on.
I didn’t know anything about the industry. I just said yes and did what the people around me told me to do. Buti nalang mababait sila haha. TYL!
Ms. Michelle was one of the first. She was always light to talk to, always smiling, the kind of aura that draws you in. She told me to bring as many clients as I could to the showroom or the site; she would help me from there. She also said to tell as many people as possible about what I do and what we offer. So I did. I prepared mailers for all my teachers in DLSU, for the titos and titas in Villamor, and I went through my parents’ phone book sending “Hi Tito, Hi Tita” texts one by one. She helped me with my first sale and during that time, wala akong naiintindihan haha.
My groupmate and former Team Lead Mike used to tell me to take every booth manning that others gave away because “baka nandun sa manning yung swerte mo.” Only later did I find out he was the one giving most of them away HAHAHA. Mike hiked, ran, disappeared to go to Boracay for a long time, then comes back with a closed sale. That was my first real glimpse of work-life integration. Pwede pala maglakwatsa, pag balik may benta!
Then there was Lousion, top seller in our group during that time and also from DLSU. This was during the exact stretch when I kept telling myself I was only trying real estate for six months. He said his mindset was simple: give it everything. If it still doesn’t work out, then start over. He said was young; he could always start over. That was exactly what I needed to hear during that time. I used to watch him during booth manning. He would commit to finishing 100 flyers a day and wouldn’t go home until he did. We only had 30-minute queues then 2 hours break. He refused to sit down the entire 30 minutes of his queue. “You only get half an hour at the booth, make it count.” So even when no one was passing by, I didn’t sit down either.
Looking back, 21 year old me got one thing right without fully understanding it: I said yes to whatever needed to be done, and I never complained. I didn’t do it because I had to. I just did it.
So two weeks in, I made my first sale. Six months in, I closed six na. Then around 2006 I went almost three or four months without a single sale. I remember thinking maybe this just wasn’t for me. Time to explore other departments na.
Then I sold a parking slot. Small but enough to make me say, okay, let’s try again.
Years later, after I became overall number one in Alveo, Allen and I broke up. I did what felt right at the time: I went to Singapore to try the “working abroad” experience I had always wondered about. I was also wondering about being a teacher but Singapore was pulling me.
Allen and I found our way back to each other, of course. He is now 22 years into the industry himself, and he is someone I still think about often, even though we are together every day HAHAHA. He inspires me: the way he strategizes, keeps moving, keeps improving. He just gets better at what he does every day. Watching him build for over two decades, up close, changes how I think about my own.
Becoming a mom of two gave me a new lens too. When I think about Mateo and Marko, what I feel most is gratitude that God provides more than the basics. They have options. Instead of just water, they get to choose juice, or hot chocolate, or milk tea. That is what I want for them: the ability to choose. Where to eat this Sunday. Where to study for college. Where to travel next.
And that is exactly how I think about my clients now. They each have their own real estate journey, their own version of what they want for themselves and their families. and I am happy I get to be there and help them.
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At 25, if you asked me what I was doing this for, it was about me: my quota, my awards, my incentives, my goal for the year.
At 30 I was a manager with a team, and by most measures that was success. But my heart was somewhere else: in my solo international roadshows, my own small-group presentations, the networking events, the events I sponsored myself. I liked being close to my clients more.
Now my quota for myself is different: how much I have helped, how well I have guided someone through their own real estate goals.
So if you ask me today what I actually sell, my honest answer is not a project or a unit.
It is a question: What are you looking for?
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People assume the hardest part of this job is to get a sale itself. It isn’t.
Para sa akin, the hard part is everything after. I want my clients to actually be comfortable in the home they chose. The repairs, the cleaning, the pest control, the move-in, the documentation. All the behind the scenes work that has to happen so they feel at home. So they feel that the transaction was smooth.
The real challenge is building a system so that serving clients never starts to feel like a hassle. Because the moment that mindset creeps in, that is where the real problem begins. Even after 21 years, that is still what I am working to perfect.
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I still think about our two friends I sold to in Nuvali in 2008 2009. Back then I didn’t ask them the questions I ask clients now. I just told them, dapat meron kayo sa Nuvali. Good thing they listened haha.
What I see now that I didn’t see then: their entire family life revolves around that property. Their kids’ schools. What they do on weekends. A whole life built on top of one decision I helped them make when none of us fully knew what we were doing yet. I am happy that, in whatever small way, I got to be part of that.
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If I am honest about how it feels to hit 21 years, gratitude talaga.
Who would have thought it would already be 21 years. Grabe, parang kelan lang.
If someone asked me honestly why I am still doing this after 21 years, it is this:
As I help my clients with their real estate goals, they help me with ours too.
For the next 21, I am excited for whoever’s journey I get to walk with next. And if they are not ready yet, I will be here when they are.
