Availability of financing would depend on which
type is conveniently adapted by developer. Some developers are
superior on one financing scheme and appear to be disadvantageous
on other types of scheme. It is ideal that you contact us for
more detailed information of each developer’s financing
scheme offer and we can disclose to you the advantages as well
as the disadvantages.
2. How much is the down payment?
This would depend on the developer concerned. Normally, developers
offer easy down payment such as 20%. (Others go as low as 10%)
if the project is pre-selling. Pre-selling is an offer to sell
when the construction of the Subdivision or Project is on-going
and your unit will be scheduled for construction upon full down
payment and will be completed at a time frame disclosed to you.
Some developers offer one year to pay for the down payment of
20% for on-going projects and the monthly amortization for the
balance will only take effect after the full payment of this down
payment.
3. Do I have to pay Value Added Tax? (VAT)
Under the law, all prices shall include the VAT and should not
be indicated separately in the pricing, thus, the prices quoted
herein will not necessarily require you to pay for the VAT.
4. How much is the lowest price available
in the area? The smallest lot available? Availability
of lowest price and smallest size may change everyday. It is ideal
that you contact us thru email so we can send you a subdivision
map showing availability of lots of different sizes as well as
the lowest price in the area.
5. How much is the monthly amortization?
This would depend on the amount of loan approved, the rate of
interest, and the terms of payment you have chosen. The most common
is the diminishing balance method. This is ideal and equitable
to the borrower because the interest will only be applied to the
remaining balance of the loan. For this type of financing, you
can refer to the "Important Facts to Know" in this website
and click on the “monthly mortgage amortization”.
Using the factor table, you can compute the monthly amortization
by simply multiplying the loan amount with a factor. This will
be explained in detail with examples in the link.
If the interest is fixed, you simply multiply the loan amount
by the interest charge per annum and add the interest on each
year to the principal and divide by the total number of months
the loan has to be paid, and you will get the monthly amortization
; or you may contact us and we’ll e glad to compute it for
you.
6. How much is the monthly association dues?
This would depend on the Subdivision you have chosen. Association
dues are usually very minimal which would normally range between
P300.00 to P500.00 per month. This represents your share of the
maintenance of the subdivision which includes salaries of the
guards, garbage disposal, repair and maintenance of amenities
and facilities. But the developer does not impose this on the
residents. Once the project is completed, the residents shall
form a homeowners association and you being one of the members/officers,
will be among those who will govern the subdivision and determine
how much association dues to impose on each homeowner.
Condominium maintenance fees are usually higher
and are based on the floor area of the unit occupied. You may
contact us for a more specific amount of maintenance fee for each
condominium.
7. Is it possible to avail of a loan with Pag-ibig? What
if I’m not yet a member? How much can
I loan and what is the maximum amount of loan?
An existing Pag-ibig policy requires that you
have paid at least 24 monthly contributions before you can avail
of any housing loan, but a new amendment to this policy opens
the gate to non members to apply for membership and then avail
of the loan right away by just paying the 24 monthly contributions
at one time. For example, if you want to avail of P1,000,000.00
loan, your required monthly contribution for this is P800.00 and
by just paying P19,200.00 at one time, you shall be entitled to
a 1 million loan.
The amount of loan you can avail of will depend
on four requisites:
8. Are these units presented on the website
already built? Or still undergoing construction?
Some are already built while others are undergoing
construction. But most of the projects have model houses that
you can personally inspect while the actual unit will be built
at a specific location of your choice to be completed within the
time frame agreed upon by you and the developer. Many of the lands
presented on the site are ready to build with a house of your
own design. Please contact us for the most current status of each
project.
9. Can a foreigner own real estate properties in the Philippines?
Foreigners do enjoy absolute ownership of a condominium
unit. Ownership is evidenced by Condominium Certificate of Title
(CCT).
The ownership of land and house and lot are allowed only to Filipinos
and foreigners who are formerly natural born Filipino Citizens.
If a foreigner is married or related to (for example) a Filipina,
the title shall indicate the Filipina name “married to (name
of a foreigner)”. Whatever happens along the way, there
are ways to get back the money invested by the foreigner.
10. As a foreigner, can I apply for loan with your local
bank even if I’m not permanently residing in the Philippines?
How much is the interest rate?
There are banks who do not allow if you are permanently
residing abroad but there are banks who will. For example ChinaBank
allows provided that you submit the needed documentary requirements
and the credit check will be though phone. The rate is between
10.5% to 14% interest depending on the bank of your choice and
also depends on the number of years fixing. Yearly fixing offers
lower
interest than a 3-year or 5-year fixing.
11. How can we make a reservation?
If you are abroad, you may appoint somebody you know here, a friend
or relative whom you can trust and send to him the money for the
reservation through any courier. A notarized special power of
attorney is required duly authenticated by the nearest consul
in your area. Since it normally takes one month for the authentication,
you may fax the notarized copy just to process the reservation.
The authenticated copy will follow later. If you choose to pay
not though somebody, you may pay “bank to bank” direct
to the developer’s account. We can send you the bank account
of the developer as well as the developer’s contact numbers
for your confirmation of the authenticity of these numbers and
personalities. As soon as you make the deposit, please notify
us right away so we can trace the incoming deposit and immediately
issue an official receipt. The copy of the O.R. shall be attached
to an email right away while the original shall be sent via post
mail.
12. Do these projects have title on the land?
All of these projects have title on the land and in cases of new
project development, most developers only have a mother title.
Although some projects do not have individual titles yet and shall
be titled upon full payment of the land. your protection shall
be based on the sales contract between you and the developer.,
On the other hand, there are developers who as a matter of policy,
do not sell land unless it has individual title. It’s ideal
that you contact us to give you a more detailed information of
each developer.
13. How much is the monthly maintenance fee of your condominium?
It depends on the type of condominium. Hilton Cebu for example
charges P45.00 per square meter floor area per month, so for a
100 square meter floor area, that would be P4,500.00 per month.
Citylights Gardens charges slightly higher with P50.00 per square
meter per month. Other condos with much lesser amenities also
charge less.
14. If I buy a house and lot for construction, how long
will it be completed?
This will depend on the specific developer of subdivision you
have chosen to buy from. The fastest developer here like Crown
Asia and Nexland Inc. can finish a house construction in 6 months
while others would take about 12 to 18 months to finish depending
also on how large the project is and the type of facilities/amenities
to be built.
15. How much is the lowest price single detached house
and lot in Cebu City?
Where is it located? Is it accessible to public transportation?
The Verona model of Lacittadella located in Talamban, Cebu City
is the lowest price single detached as of this date at
a price of P2,928,791 It is readily accessible to public transportation
(just one ride from downtown Cebu.)
16. Do you have a house and lot ready for occupancy?
Yes, as of December 1, 2005, available ready for occupancy are
South Point Manor in Banawa, Bella Terra Townhomes in Lahug, Vista
Pueblo in Beverly Hills, Pacific Grand Townhomes in Mactan, Pacific
Grand Villas in Mactan,
17. Do you have ready for occupancy condo?
Yes, as of December 1, 2005, available ready for occupancy are
North Singson Flats, Maryville Condominium, Hilton Cebu Resort
& Towers, and just 2 months to finish is the Lancaster Cebu
Resort Residences.
18. How does in-house financing compare with pag-ibig
and banks?
The advantages of in-house financing are:
1) Simplicity of documents required. You need
not be subjected to thorough background/credit check as compared
to banks or pag-ibig. A Filipino wife who has no or inadequate
income for herself can be approved for in-house housing loan if
she has a husband such as a foreigner who can support the monthly
amortization. Since the title does not bear the name SPOUSES …..
but only the name of the Filipina married to ….. (foreigner’s
name), banks do not approve loan nor Pag-ibig if the wife does
not have enough income to pay for the monthly amortization.
2) Maceda Law or R.A. 6656 – mandates the developer to refund
50% of your payments if you have paid at least 2 years installment
even if you are delinquent. Refund is not applicable in mortgage
with banks or Pag-ibig.
3) Interest charges remain constant no matter what happens to
the economy. If contracted to 16%, it shall remain at that throughout
the period of the contract. Bank interest rates on the other hand
are floating. In times of crises, it can shoot up.
The prime advantage however with Bank financing and Pag-ibig are
that of lower interest rates which range from 10.5% to 14% per
annum but there are also fees such as processing fees and appraisal
fees which are not existing in the in-house financing.
19. Do I have to pay for the capital gains tax? What
sort of fees shall I pay for the transfer of title?
You don’t have to pay for the capital gains tax. All developers/sellers
are required to pay this or an equivalent of creditable withholding
tax. The transfer tax however will be on your account which is
usually ½ of 1% as well as registration fee which is also
about ½ of 1%.
20. Are there hidden charges?
There are no hidden charges. All charges will be disclosed to
you before you sign any contract.
21. Can a foreigner be allowed to be a mortgagee or a
lender to a Filipino offering his real estate property as collateral
for loan?
Yes, a foreigner is allowed with the same rights and privileges
of a Filipino.
22. What is the procedure of buying a property when I don’t
have the time yet to come over to the Philippines?
You can purchase without necessarily coming over.
First, you select from this site the specific property you are
interested in. We can send you an updated map of the subdivision
(and in the case of a condo, its floor plan) From the map, you
can choose the specific location you want to reserve. Upon receipt
of your payment “bank to bank”, or through your SPA,
the unit of your choice will be reserved for you in 30 days. Within
this 30 day period, all documents required will have to be submitted
and a contract shall be signed. The original shall be sent to
you for your original signatures and to be sent back for notarization
here. After notarization and after receiving your down payment
“bank to bank”, one of the notarized copies shall
be sent to you again for your copy. The reservation is always
deductible to your down payment.
For your monthly amortizations, there are two possibilities:
(1) There are developers who require issuance of post dated checks
for at least one year. In this case, your SPA here is required
to open a bank checking account here in your name and post dated
checks shall be submitted to the developer. Before each check
becomes due, you can fund this check by again, depositing the
money bank to bank. Or, you may want to come over personally,
open a bank account here, and issue post dated checks to the developer.
(2) When a developer allows, you may just at
your own option, send the monthly amortization bank to bank direct
to the developers account.
23. For house and lot package, can we inspect while construction
is going on? Can we suggest changes in plans such as color and
designs?
Very few subdivisions disallow this. Normally,
these are the one who develop large projects and cannot allow
delays due to changes of plans. There are developers who are moderate
about this and entertains changes in plans by sitting with the
buyer one time and agree on changes of plans. But majority entertain
changes by buyers from time to time and without much restrictions.
24. Is the reservation refundable? Is it deductible from
the selling price?
Reservation which is usually a very small amount
ranging from P10,000.00 and up will entitle you to 30 days hold
of your unit in your favor. Since the developer refuses to sell
this to anyone interested within the period of reservation, the
reservation is equitably not refundable. All reservations are
deductible to the selling price.
25. What are the deed of restrictions to the use of the
unit?
Deed of Restriction would differ from one subdivision to another.
Generally, your use is restricted for the well being of all homeowners
such as the height of the house is limited to prevent the blocking
by neighboring houses of a nice view. It also limits the use to
residential purpose and disallows livestock, poultry, the building
of factory. Also, it covers easement on each side etc. The Deed
of Restriction for each project is made available to you upon
request before signing any contract.
26. What is the assurance that the project will be finished?
The first step is to choose a credible Developer with proven track
record of developing projects that are finished on time. We can
help screen out these developers and recommend to you those whom
you can trust. We are accredited by virtually all developers in
Cebu, and being not exclusive in any one of them, we can disclose
everything for you positive or negative about the developer.
If the contract is already signed and payments
already made and still eventually, the project is not completed
on time, we can impose a provision of law in the Philippines that
if the Principal/developer fails to complete the project on time,
100% of all payments shall be refunded less penalty interest plus
interest legal rate.
