Guide and Procedures In Buying Properties In Philippines

The moment we decided to acquire this land, the next question was how was the procedure and all the costs to be incurred in terms of papers, attorneys fees, taxes, etc...

We trusted my father to work it out for us! In fact, he already contacted a lawyer who happened to be my grandfather's friend. First advantage, would less likely for us to pay extra money (this is what we called as "under the table" to be able to get done). Second, rest assured that all documentations we or my father is going to sign all legal. Correct me if I am wrong, but I didn't mean to say that the rest are unreliable! Our main concern is, get everything done without worrying anything, in short...

We never bought any property direct from the seller before, so we need to know exactly who's paying what? We acquired a house and lot four years ago, but it was through real estate agent, all we had to do was to pay and the rest was theirs.

Below is the detailed list of fees, percentage and who's paying what.

There should be some legalities to be taken into consideration before finally transferring ownerships in both parties! Talking about ownership, my husband is quite worried really if POSSIBLE TO BE NAMED AS CONJUGAL PROPERTY "MR. & MRS SELLS", and the like. This will be the next thing we should know.

Legal Procedures in transfer of title (land and apartments)

1. Owner and Buyer agree on sale of a piece of land. Through a lawyer, a Deed of Absolute Sale (DOAS) is created and notarized.
2. A Land Tax Declaration is secured from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and submitted to the city or municipal Assessor’s office.
3. Buyer pays real estate tax to the City Treasurer’s Office.
4. The Assessors office assesses the market value of the property.
5. Transfer taxes are paid by the buyer to the Assessors Office.
6. Capital Gains Tax and Documentary Stamp tax are paid to BIR.
7. The Registry of Deeds (RD) cancels old title and issues a new one in the name of the buyer.
8. The buyer, now the new owner, obtains a photocopy of the new title and requests tax declaration from the Assessors office.

Ownership is evidenced by the Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) in the case of single houses and raw land, and The Land Registration Act requires the owners of property to register titles with the Registry of Deeds. The titles must be registered in the same province as the property. However, the records are inaccurate in such that overlapping might exist. There is a proliferation of fake and double titles. The completion of survey of all the lands in the country, mandated by the 1903 Public Land Law, is nowhere in sight.

The whole process of registering property may take around 33 days to complete eight procedures.

Value Added Tax

According to RA 9337, the following sales of property are VAT-Exempt

1. Sale of real properties not primarily held for sale to customers or held for lease in the ordinary course of trade or business;
2. Sale of real properties utilized for low-cost housing as defined by R.A. No. 7279, otherwise known as the “Urban Development Housing Act of 1992” and other related laws, such as R.A. No. 7835 and R.A. No. 8763 wherein the price ceiling per unit is P750,000.00 or as may from time to time be determined by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA);
3. Sale of real properties utilized for socialized housing as defined under R.A. No. 8763, wherein the price ceiling per unit is P225,000.00 or as may from time to time be determined by the HUDCC and the NEDA and other related laws;
4. Residential lot valued at one million five hundred thousand pesos (P1,500,000) and below, house and lot, and other residential dwellings valued at two million five hundred thousand pesos (P2,500,000) and below: provided, that not later than January 31, 2009 and every three (3) years thereafter, the amounts herein stated shall be adjusted to their present values using the Consumer Price Index, as published by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

SOURCE: Global Property Guide
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