MA. Lucylyn Whysall used to work thousands of miles up in the sky before she found herself back on the ground.
Starting 2018, she will lead the Cebu Real Estate Boards Inc. (CEREB), an organization composed of Cebu-based real estate brokers and appraisers. A former flight attendant for domestic and international airlines for 10 years, Whysall found a thriving career as a real estate broker in 2008, serving clients who bought luxury properties through her brokerage firm, High Peak International.
Jumping from the airline industry to real estate service was an easy feat for the lady broker, she fondly recalled.
“It was easy because I had the network. On my first year, I also made my first sale in Maria Luisa,” the broker told SunStar Cebu, in an interview on Thursday during her induction as president together with CEREB’s new set of officers.
However, joining the real estate practice came out of a misfortune.
Married to an expat, Whysall had a property in Boracay Island, which she had to leave for a long time while she stayed abroad. When she had to get the property back, occupants would no longer leave the place.
“We had no broker then (when we purchased the property.) From them, I learned that it is important to know and understand the law,” Whysall said, referring to the value of real estate brokers in property transactions.
Under Republic Act 9646 or the Philippine Real Estate Service Act Law, a real estate broker is a duly registered and licensed person who, “for a professional fee, commission or other valuable consideration, acts as an agent of a party in a real estate transaction to offer, advertise, solicit, list, promote, mediate, negotiate or effect the meeting of the minds on the sale, purchase, exchange, mortgage, lease or joint venture, or other similar transactions on real estate or any interest.” In short, the law requires homebuyers to buy properties from licensed real estate brokers.
CEREB, as an organization, has been advocating to the buying public to only transact with licensed real estate professionals to ensure accountability for any matter related to the purchase of property, especially at a time when there remain unlicensed dealers doing “colorum” activities anywhere in the country.
One can check the broker’s accreditation with the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) or Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), or simply ask for the broker’s PRC ID.
She is bullish on Cebu’s real estate sector, saying it will continue to attract more investors buyers.