Finance & Legal Real Estate Attorney & Qualified Surveyor

THANK YOU! We are going through SHEER FRUSTRATION here right at this minute discussing this very topic!! I just read everything you wrote out to my wife explaining our likewise position. We did not follow our heads and listened to everyone else when we should have just done as you suggested and as I originally tried to do, bring in an Attorney from the very beginning, we wanted to, but at every turn were met with; "That is not how it is done here"... BULLSHIT!! Every question we asked was met with a lie! Now we have to unravel the BS from the truth.

Effort is our biggest hurdle, no one wants to put in any effort. They all cry how hard it is, even explaining it in simpleton terms, they refuse to listen and only concentrate on all the hard work required running around to gain the correct paperwork, our Attorney put everything down step by step what they need to do to gain Title so we can continue with the purchase, but all I hear is; "Brian this is too hard"...
So I gave her two steps to follow before she (Seller) left today;
01) GET THE TITLE!
02) THEN: SELL THE LOT!
So; NO TITLE - NO MONEY! Goodbye!

I plan not to give up and I will push this even if it kills me (and here that might be highly likely!) until we have the Title in my Wife's name! Step by Step it can be done.

 

Sounds like you used the surveyor that has an office just north of Dauin.

 

Not sure mate but from; "Thank you Po for Payment" to "Sorry my Tax lapse so I need to renew my BIR so I can register" to "Sorry my Laptop was Stolen" to "Sorry you did not pay me to Process your Forms" (after paying him 5,000php) has worn far too thin for me hence why I bought in the Attorney who put me onto his guy who today did the Survey and within hours handed up a Sketch Plan and RECEIPT and has explained to us we will get the correct plan very soon once we add the second part of the lot this coming Monday when we go back to the Attorney. The last guy was certainly an "Xuperionce" <~ from whom I have learnt from, that is for sure!

 

You're right that it can be done. The process can be reasonably workable (but there will be work).
You will end up running around, chasing your tail, all over Dumguete from government office to governement office and back several times. Once I had my car, license and apartment, the only project I had to do was the land deal. So running around and doing some waiting was okay since I had nothing else to do.

I think all deals can be done, but some may have very expensive obstacles to overcome. If you are willing to pay all kinds of related expenses to get everybody else's paperwork and taxes up to speed to acquire a property, then everything is possible.

Based on my extremely limted experience with this one lot purchase and two sub-lot purchases, I recommend that:

1.) Use an attorney. Mine charged no fees when I went to ask questions. He was willing to wait until the deal closed to claim his pay which, I think, was immensley reasonable. I did pay about 5,000 pesos upfront to get his survey team out to define how the right-of-way would show up on the title.

2.) Do whatever legwork is required yourself. Otherwise, it may ever get done, or done correctly.

3.) Work only with titled property and be sure it's clear. Get a certified copy of the title yourself. It's not that expensive and sometimes the clerk will give it to you right away. Other times he will make you wait the 10 days that the law entitles him to make you wait....even though he could pull it up in the computer and print it out in less than 2 minutes. Be like the "city of gentle people."

4.) Make sure your attorney knows that you expect (when the dust settles....a year later!) that you want the new clear title in your name.

5.) There are several taxes and fees that have to be paid at closing. Be sure to work these out ahead of time with the attorney and the seller. One kicker I had was that the sellers wanted me to pay any capital gains taxes that they owed over the sale. I refused that one since the capital gain was theirs and not mine, and they were about to become enriched by the sale with more money than they likely saw in the last 20 years. The other fees and taxes were minimal and arguably the responsibilty of the buyer anyway.

6.) Be ready to wait for the final paperwork to get through. The survey will take a year to be certified by the government and the titles cannot be completed until they have a certified survey. That glitch alone is enough reason to have an attorney work the deal through to your new title(s).

7.) If you purchase a portion of another lot for a right-of-way, get it surveyed and the lot subdivided legally and pay for a new separate title to that sub-lot in your name.

In the Philippines they tend to do things in many different ways that can work if everyone always and forever get along nicely. They do it with extra judicial sales and addenda to titles, but that just muddies the water further and will provide headaches down the road if you ever want to sell. Good luck.

 

I don't think that's possible, unless a Philippine citizen.....maybe you mean his wife's name.

 

You are correct. I suggest that you have the attorney draw up a Special Power of Attorney giving you the ability to make decisions regarding the property in case something happens and your wife cannot.

Also, have the attorney draw up a 25 year lease with option to renew for another 25 giving you control of the land. Work out the details with your spouse and the attorney.

If she balks, rethink the entire situation. Unless you have children together, you will lose the land if she passes before you and has living parents and/or children (who might not be your own). She can leave the land to you, but that is valid only for your lifetime and you would immediately lose all, or a portion, to mandatory heirs. If you do manage to hang on to any of it by inheritance, it must revert to Filipino ownership when you die. (I THINK the lease will protect you from losing control to the heirs since you would have paid the 25 year rent up front. They would have to wait for the expiration to exercise rights of ownership,,,,I THINK. Definitely a question for a lawyer.)

But even if she makes you sole heir, the Philippine law provides for mandatory heirs which take precedence...parents and children for sure. I am not certain about siblings, but I don’t think they are mandatory.

I am not telling you this as anything more than an opportunity to get the real story from a lawyer. I have zero legal training, but have researched and asked questions. Things are different here, as they would be in any country not your own.

 

I have read the advice given to this thread. Some of it is wrong. My wife and I spent 20 years in the Philippine real estate business. We've bought and sold 87 properties. I even wrote a book about buying and selling real estate in the Philippines but I haven't published it yet. The process is filled with land mines, a million tricks and jillion lies. If any English-speaking foreigner has a problem and wants 30 minutes of free advise, I am available pool-side at Dumaguete Studio Apartments.

 

As mentioned in other threads already there are very good real estate books available. There are many traps for everyone in the real estates. This includes even the parts of the government. Even them can getting caught in many traps.

 

When are you going to publish it? The baby ought to be a teenage by now.

Hmmm........a cold beer by a pool sounds nice.