Have you found a good Philippines property that you want to buy?
It may be beautiful lot in a strategic location that you imagine will be the lot of your future dream house. It is offered to you by the owner of the lot or a real estate agent. You need to be very careful in dealing with the sellers because there are a lot of scams in the Philippines related to buying property.
Take good care of your hard earned money. Take a look at these things that you need to consider before closing a deal.
1. Price. A P300,000 corner lot in a subdivision may be a good deal for you because it falls within your budget. But you may get it for less than that if you check the prevailing price per square meter in the area. You can do this by hiring an agent who has extensive knowledge of properties in that area or by talking to other lot owners in the area.
2. Transfer Certificate of Title. Make sure that the Transfer Certificate of Title is free from encumbrances. In other words, check if the property is not mortgaged to a bank. You can be sure if the property is clean by going to the Registry of Deeds and requesting for a Certified True Copy of the Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT). You need to get the Title Number and the Owner’s Name first for you to get the Certified True Copy of the TCT.
When you get the TCT, check out the back of the document and see if there is a heading entitled “Encumbrances”. If there is none, it means that the title is clean and is not mortgaged.
3. Actual Property. Does the property that you want to buy match the technical description of the title? Are you sure that the property is really the property being described in the title? Don’t be fooled by scammers! You can hire a licensed geodetic engineer to see if the description of the lot in the title and the actual Philippines property match.
4. Sellers/Owners. Are you sure that the sellers are really the name of the owners in the TCT? If you are dealing with an agent, be sure that you trust this agent and that they are not offering a lot that they don’t have authority to sell.
You should get an Authority to Sell document from the agent which is a document that says that the sellers authorizes the agent to sell on their behalf. Ask for official identification from the sellers and you can also set up a meeting with them so that you’ll be sure that you are dealing with the same persons whose names appear on the Transfer Certificate of Title.
5. Real Estate Taxes. Don’t close the deal without checking if the owners paid for real estate taxes for the lot that you will buy. You need to request for the original copies of receipts of tax payments from the sellers. Make sure that they have been diligently paying for the property taxes.
Finally, you need to read the Deed of Sale of the property. Make sure that you understand everything that is written there. If there is anything that is not clear to you, ask your agent or the sellers. Don’t sign the contract without being 100% sure that you agree to each of the stipulations in the contract.
Follow these guidelines to prevent being scammed when buying your Philippines property.
For listing of properties for sale in the Philippines check out Philippine Real Estate.
This article will help the buyers of the property, knowing all the requirements needed in buying a property will help you to buy a good property it will not give you problems
great post, thanks for sharing
Thanks for posting this article. Your blog will help a lot of buyers in getting information they need before dealing with brokers or sellers. This serves as a useful tip for buyers.