Philippines Forum

lancelotlinc
Joined 2014
Posts: 204

6 years ago

Property Ownership

6 years ago

I'm a Kano and wife is Filipina. We've been married six years now and both of us live in US. We have several children who were born in US and we plan to make them joint citizens. I am a software engineer and think methodically, any process-related advice would help me tremendously. I will not need to work in PH, just enjoy the slow pace.

Here is my query : within a few years, we shall move to Cebu or Boracay and rent for a while. Once we find a nice place to live, we want to build a house. I am familiar with how land ownership works in US : we make offer, we sign contract, we pay money, we hire a land title company, and we close the deal. In Philippines, I understand this process is different.

Are there land title insurance companies in Philippines ? If not, how does one guarantee a clean and clear title to the land ?

I know that foreign nationals are not able to own land. Our plan is to put land in wife name. In US, sometimes people form an LLC or other corporate entity and list the ownership of the land in the corp, then divide shares of the corp to the human owners. Is this path viable in PH ?

How does property taxation work in PH ?

For an existing house, how to see the deal close smoothly ? For example, if I plop down P12 mil for a property, when do I know the deal is golden to let loose of the cash ?

If I buy bare land, and want to construct a building, are the architecture firms similar to what I have experienced in US; meaning that they design the construction and turn over the design to a general contractor ?

Thanks in advance for comments. Would prefer not to read comments from Brits or others who don't like living in the Phils. { GaryD }

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