A Filipino couple based in the UAE have shown that everyone can restart and invest despite financial troubles as long as you stop only planning and start actually making it happen.
Mark and Michelle Mirandilla have been in the UAE for about 12 years, and the successful investments that they took didn’t come in handy. In fact, they said they had to learn the hard way.
She said while the two of them were earning decently the first time they came to the country, everything changed when their families went through tough times—such as hospitalization, mortgages, delayed salaries, and unemployment.
“These moments made us put up a loan and ripped our credit cards to its maximum limit to compensate the needs of both our families and our own then starting family. Ganoon tayong mga Pilipino eh, tutulong at tutulong hanggang sa abot ng ating makakaya because we love our family. We do not have any regret because we did it out of compassion and love. However, it had a great impact on our finance. We didn’t notice that doing those drowned us in huge debts,” said Michelle.
She said that they reset and re-evaluated their plans in terms of their financial capacity. That’s when they trained themselves on how to be wise on money, even attending Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition (PPIE)—the biggest, longest running and most trusted Philippine business and investment forum in the Middle East and registering at: http://events.ppie.ae/register/.
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“We focused on all means where we can earn money from buy and sell products like soaps, cockroach control pastes, to meat products, tours, properties, etc. PPIE also helped as there were plenty of investment options offered there which allowed us to know more about the ideal properties and real estate developments to invest in. Basically, we did anything that will help us repay all the interests and debts we had because of the mishandled situations in the past,” she said.
Today, Michelle and Mark have about three properties—two condo units at Ayala Land, and one lot. They said they chose Ayala Land because of their well-known low-mid-high range properties, which were well maintained and managed.
“Ayala Land has a wide variety of choices, well-maintained properties, space for nature, and accessibility. The Ayala managers and agents we were in contact with were exceptional people as well,” Michelle said.
Michelle and Marc are still adjusting their finances to recuperate from their mishandling from the past, but they were able to pay the down payment fees of their properties through diligent saving, responsible budgeting, as well as side incomes.
The couple dreams to make a passive income out of their condos so that they can retire comfortably and secure the future of their son. They also want to buy more properties for more chances of generating income.
As for the advice they can give to other Filipinos who want a property of their own, Michelle answers: “Be a risk taker, never stop learning. When you fail, don’t give up, just learn from your mistakes and stand again. Never plan but instead make it happen.”
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The art of restarting: This OFW couple went from drowning in debt to getting multiple properties
