Philippine Condo Living

Living in Philippine Condos offers an alternative lifestyle especially if you are a young professional who wants to have a place to call your own or if you have a family and you want to have a secure and spacious living space that is affordable and more convenient than buying a conventional home.

Living in Condos, especially in Philippines offers different types of lifestyle and living conditions. It is cheaper than buying a conventional home or buying lot then built a house later on. Philippine condos offer you amenities like 24-hours maximum security, well guarded parking space, swimming pool and others that an individual cannot enjoy in any other type of home dwellings.

There are many condominiums that is available in Philippine Real Estate, like in Makati, Pasig, Taguig and Muntinlupa also in provinces like Baguio and Tagaytay of which can satisfy your needs and requirements. However, whatever type of condo you opt to buy, you should bear in mind that Condo Living in the City is different than living in a conventional home environment that you might accustom to live.

The difference between living in Philippine Condominiums and in Conventional Home is the dual nature that comes with every condo unit home ownership. A condo homeowner shares the responsibility over the operating and maintenance cost of shared spaces in the property such as lobby, passageways, elevators and other essential parts of the Condominium complex.

A condo unit is also cheaper than owning a single detached home which may take you years to save for before owning it. Living in a condo unit, you will also be able to enjoy the amenities and shared facilities like the gym, pool, function rooms, children center, gardens and others that common in condominium complexes. Also, as a condo homeowner, you became a part of unique community and take part in any decision making activity.

If high-rise living appeals to you, finding the right property is easy. There are many Condominiums featured in Philippine Real Estate agencies. These properties can range from luxurious Philippine condos with elegant designs and spacious greenery which provide you with healthy environment to grow and proper to affordable med-rise condo units.

One of the best firms which is considered in the Philippine real estate is Buy Philippine Homes. It is a diversified firm licensed to broker and manage properties in Cities and Provinces such as condominiums as well as townhouses, house and lots, lot only, farm lot and commercial properties.

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Finding Real Estate Property

Moving to a new place requires a lot of planning and it needs to be done effectively. A thorough research should be done while finding an appropriate property, with all the basic amenities and utilities. It makes the moving experience a pleasant, efficient and effective one. Searching a property should meet your lifestyle and at the same time, it should be within the budget. There are various property locator service providers that help you to find a property which suits your needs. Now you can find even the property listings that are available on web like http://www.buyphilippinehomes.com/

With the number of properties growing each year, perspective residents have a huge variety to choose from. With property prices continuing to climb however, you'd want to make sure the property you choose is exactly what you want, because you'll probably be paying a fair proportion of your income on either rent or repayments. There are many other things to consider depending on your requirements. A professional or retiree may be looking for a building that contains a higher proportion of owner occupiers and has good sound insulation, whereas a younger person may be happy to live in a building with a higher proportion of students and won't be as bothered by the noise from parties or other loud behavior in the building. Price is also a major factor and generally you'll get what you pay for.

What you want from a property will vary from one person to the next, but if you cover the main items of quality, parking, facilities and security, you'll be well on your way to finding the perfect property.

Home Ownership is now just a click away Buy Philippine Homes is a website dedicated for home buyers and sellers.Buying / Selling a property can now be simplified through online marketing. One can acquire a Philippine property without leaving ones home, let alone ones country of residence. Buyers can be provided with complete details of the property and assist buyer with the process of the purchase and documentations as well. For more information, visit us at http://www.buyphilippinehomes.com

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Baguio - The Ideal Place for your Retirement

Retiring is good thing for most people, it’s a time that comes after years and years of hard work and slavery to a job. It is something that most people at the age of 58 and 59 begin to look forward and anticipated for a long time. Having the time to spend with your family and indulge in your passions, without the stress of worrying what your boss thinks or worrying about how you’re going to survive if you lose your job...

When you are at your retirement age,one of the most important thing to consider is the place where you can settle at your retirement, a place where you can relax and enjoy with your loved ones -- where is the best place to retire?? I suggest, BAGUIO. Baguio is a city on the Cordillera mountain range in the middle of the island of Luzon, in the Philippines. Due to its cool mountain weather, beautiful sceneries and peaceful atmosphere, Baguio is considered as the summer capital of the Philippines. It is also called the City of Pines because of many pine trees planted all over the city.See yourself playing golf, enjoying a horse back ride, planting your own farm or just simply sitting down at your veranda beside your loved ones enjoying this beautiful environment that Baguio is offering you. Truly a relaxing place to spend every minute of your day.

Buy Philippine Homes, the leading Philippine Real Estate firm has a wide range of list of Philippine properties specialy in Baguio City. House and lot, Baguio condominiums, Baguio rest house, Baguio vacation houses, farm houses in Baguio and even for rent houses in Baguio... We are willing to help you find your Dream Retirement Home.

For more information about Buy Philippine Homes regarding Baguio Real Estate please check on our website: http://buyphilippinehomes.com

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Guidelines on Settlement of Estates

WHAT IS AN ESTATE?

• An Estate is comprised of the real and personal properties of a decedent.
• A life insurance policy or a pre-need plan or a mutual fund placement is considered personal property.

WHEN IS THE SETTLEMENT OF AN ESTATE REQUIRED? The settlement of an estate is required by Sun Life under the following circumstances:

1. The beneficiary who will receive the proceeds under a life insurance policy or pre-need plan is an Estate.
2. The owner of the life insurance policy or pre-need plan or mutual fund placement has become an Estate and needs to transact business with the company.

HOW IS AN ESTATE SETTLED? An Estate may be settled judicially or extra judicially:

I.    EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT.

• “Extrajudicial” means “outside of court.”
• The heirs do not have to go to court to partition the properties left
• by the decedent.
• There are two (2) kinds of extrajudicial settlement:

A.    COMMON REQUIREMENTS FOR AN EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT TO BE VALID:

1. The decedent died intestate, i.e., without a valid will;
2. The estate has no outstanding debts at the time of the extrajudicial settlement;
3. The heir/s are all of age, or the minor heirs are represented by their judicial guardians or legal representatives;
4. The extrajudicial settlement is made in a public instrument, stipulation or affidavit duly filed with the Register of Deeds;
5. The fact of such extrajudicial settlement must be published in a newspaper of general circulation once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks; and
6. The parties to the extrajudicial settlement shall file a bond with the Register of Deeds in an amount equivalent to the value of the personal property involved.

This bond should be filed simultaneously with the extrajudicial settlement instrument(document). Such bond will answer for the payment of any just claim at any time within two (2) years after the settlement and distribution of an estate.

B.    WHO MAY EXECUTE AN EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT?

1. THE SOLE HEIR. The one and only heir may adjudicate the entire estate to himself by means of an affidavit (called an “Affidavit of Self-Adjudication”) filed in the Register of Deeds of the place where the decedent resided.
2. THE HEIRS* AGREEING AMONG THEMSELVES. The heirs may divide the estate among themselves by means of a notarized instrument filed in the Register of Deeds.

The steps to follow are:

a.    Prepare a “Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate and Adjudication of Estate” to be signed by all of the
       heirs, which must contain the following information:

• That the decedent left no will;
• That the decedent left no debt;
• Each heir’s relationship to the decedent (e.g. spouse, son, daughter, father, mother etc.);
• That they are the decedent’s only surviving heirs;
• An enumeration and a brief description of the decedent‘s properties, both real and personal, which the heirs are now dividing among themselves. The decedent’s Sun Life Financial life insurance policy; pre-need plan number; or mutual fund.

* Heirs for purposes of the discussion on extrajudicial settlement, may refer to the following:

1. if the deceased was single without children – surviving parents;
2. if the deceased was single with children– legitimate and illegitimate children only;
3. if the deceased was single with illegitimate children and surviving parents – surviving parents and illegitimate children only;
4. if the deceased was married with children - legal spouse and illegitimate and legitimate children only; and
5. if the deceased was married with illegitimate children – legitimate spouse, surviving parents and illegitimate children. Claimants are encouraged to seek the advice of their own legal counsel.

Placement certificate number must be specifically mentioned; and How the properties are to be divided among the heirs including a specific mention of who will assume ownership and/or all the benefits resulting from the Sun Life Financial life insurance policy; pre-need plan; or mutual fund placement.

b.    Have the “Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement and Adjudication of Estate” notarized before a Notary Public after
       all the heirs have signed it.

c.    Secure a bond from a reputable bonding company acceptable to the Register of Deeds. The amount of the
       bond is equivalent to the value of the personal property included in the extrajudicial settlement.

d.    Register the notarized “Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement and Adjudication of Estate” with the Register of
      Deeds. The bond is simultaneously filed with the “Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement and Adjudication of Estate”.

e.    Publish the “Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement and Adjudication of Estate” in a newspaper of general circulation
       once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.

II.    JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE. 

There are times when resort to court is unavoidable, particularly when the deceased left a will or debts and/or the heirs are in dispute.

A.    COMMON REQUIREMENTS FOR JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT:

1. By means of a petition filed in court.
2. Where filed?

• If the decedent was a resident of the Philippines at the time of his death, the petition must be filed before the Regional Trial Court in the place where he resided at the time of his death.
• If the decedent was a resident of a foreign country at the time of his death, the petition must be filed in any Regional Trial Court in the province where he had estate.

      3. Publication. Notice of the filing of the petition for settlement of estate and the proceedings thereof are
          required to be published in a newspaper of general circulation once a week for three consecutive weeks.

B.    WHEN IS THERE A JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT?

1. SUMMARY SETTLEMENT OF ESTATES OF SMALL VALUE. An estate of small value is worth Ten Thousand Pesos or less, regardless of whether or not the decedent left a will.

The steps to follow are:

• File a petition in court alleging that the estate is of small value.
• Publish a notice of the settlement proceedings in a newspaper of general circulation once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.
• After completion of publication, the court may set the case for hearing and proceed summarily to settle the estate.

     2.  PROBATE OF WILL. If the decedent left a will, such must be probated, i.e., allowed or disallowed. 

The steps to follow are:

• File a petition in court praying for the probate of the will and settlement of estate of the decedent.
• The court will set a time and place for the probate and shall cause notice of such to be published in a newspaper of general circulation once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.
• On the hearing date, the court will proceed with the probate of the will and distribute the estate to the heirs/legatees accordingly.

      3.   DECEDENT LEFT NO WILL. If the decedent left no will, the steps are the same as the above, except that
            the petition will pray for the settlement of the estate of the decedent.

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Multiple Listing Service

What is MLS?

Multiple Listing Service is a service provided for International REALTOR® Members .

• a facility for the orderly correlation and dissemination of listing information so participants may better serve their clients and customers and the public

• a means by which authorized participants make blanket unilateral offers of compensation to other participants or

• a means of enhancing cooperation among participants

• a means by which information is accumulated and disseminated to enable authorized participants to prepare appraisals, analysis, and other valuations of real property for bonafide clients and customers

• a means by which participants engaging in real estate appraisal contribute to common databases

The most basic element of an MLS is that it is a compilation of the currently listed properties for sale or lease in an area. This information can be compiled in hard copy publication or more often today in a computerize and often web-based system.

MLS is more than just a list of properties for sale. There are numerous publications or websites where you can go to find properties for sale, and those aren’t MLS. They’re missing a key element to what makes an MLS unique and that is a unilateral offer of compensation from the listing broker to cooperating brokers who find the buyer. In an MLS, listing brokers agree to pay cooperating brokers a percentage of the sales price or a flat Peso amount if they find the buyer for a property they have listed.

MLS – simply put – is the exchange of property information for sale or lease and offers of compensation that lead to cooperative sales and lease transactions.

MISSION

To empower, support and educate our International REALTOR Members to achieve their goals by providing cutting edge resources that improve and enhance their Real Estate Business to the next level.

VISION

By embracing the acceleration of Information technology change, we lift the professional standards that fosters an environment that guarantees integrity and enlightenment and keeps our International REALTOR Members in the forefront of real estate as the premier source of accurate real estate data.

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Buy Philippine Homes on YouTube

Get a glimpse of your future home and investment with Buy Philippine Homes' YouTube Channel. Browse and watch project profiles and walk-through of our property listing and get connected to your future home and investment with a licensed Real Estate Broker. Don't forget to subscribe and leave your mark! Happy viewing!

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Rules Governing Philippine Citizenship

Republic of the Philippines
Department of Justice
BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION
Manila

MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. AFF-04-01

RULES GOVERNING PHILIPPINE CITIZENSHIP UNDER REPUBLIC ACT R.A. No. 9225 AND ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER (A.O.) NO. 91, SERIES OF 2004.

WHEREAS, R.A. No. 9225 declares that natural-born citizens of the Philippines who become citizens of another country shall be deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship under conditions provided therein;

WHEREAS, A.O. No. 91, Section 1 designated the Bureau of Immigration (BI), in consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of the Civil Registrar-General, National Statistics Office (NSO), as the implementing agency of R.A. No. 9225

WHEREAS, A.O. No. 91, Section 2 authorizes the BI to promulgate and issue rules and regulations to implement R.A. No. 9225 ;

WHEREFORE, by authority of A.O. No. 91 Section 2 in relation to Commonwealth Act. No. 613, Section 3, as amended, the following rules are hereby adopted to carry out the provisions of R.A. No. 9225

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Buying Philippine Real Estate Properties

Buying real estate is more than just finding a place to call home. Investing in Philippine Real Estate Properties has become increasingly popular over the past years and has become a common investment vehicle. Find a property to call your home or invest for your future.

The first major advantage to investing in Philippine real estate is that you are purchasing an extremely expensive product. "It is the best option in protecting your hard earned money. Unlike stocks or bonds which may go down in value and are too risky, properties provide hard assets which you can use or sell or rent out. It’s a productive asset. It is the foundation of wealth, in which will generate cash flow once you invest the right way. The key factors for high returns is when you invest in a property with a good location, good quality of development and from a developer with proven track record of on time delivery and property management to ensure your property will gain high resale value and rental income upon turn over.”

Secondly, “The income you will benefit from buying a good property in the Philippines is called   PROPERTY VALUE. When you invest on a project at pre-selling stage (buying the property while under construction) you have the opportunity to own the property at introductory price, affordable payment terms and more units available to choose from. The value of the property increases as the delivery date draws near. Upon completion, your P3M investment today may escalate to P5M to P6M upon delivery of the project.

Another income you will benefit from real estate properties is called RENTAL INCOME. “Rental from properties is stable source of monthly income. As unit owner, your property generates income every month approximately 1% of your present property value.

Here in Buy Philippine Homes http://buyphilippinehomes.com - your Real Estate Partner for Philippine Property Investment, we can help you… Buy Philippine Homes is the leading Philippine Real Estate website which takes pride on managing major properties all over the Philippines. Buy Philippine Homes contains wide range of searchable location of properties from Manila to Baguio, Luzon, Visayas or even in Mindanao. Buy Philippine Homes is a real estate website that has unique insight on Philippine properties that would be willing to help you find the property that you want to have.

For more information about Buy Philippine Homes please check our website: http://buyphilippinehomes.com

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Buyers Guide: Philippine Real Estate Laws

Filipino Citizens

• Only Filipino citizens and corporations (at least 60% Philippine-owned) are entitled to acquire land in the Philippines.

Non-Filipinos

• Non-Filipinos can acquire a Philippine real estate property if he/she has a Filipino partner. Either both partners share the property with equal rights, or the partner owns 51% or more and the remainder is owned by the non-Filipino partner.
• Non-Filipinos can likewise acquire Philippine real estate if he/she has a Filipino spouse who can make the purchase.
• Special visas are available for non-Filipinos who want complete and total control of a Philippine real estate property like condominiums and townhouse units. Qualifications for this visa are as follows:
• Applicant must be at least 35 years old.
• Applicant should meet the bank deposit requirements which can be withdrawn at a later date for your investments.
• Owning of houses or buildings is possible as long as the non-Filipino does not own the land on which the house is built.The land can be leased by the foreigner on a long term contract, and the house can be legally his.
• As an exception to this rule, a foreign acquisition of a Philippine real estate is allowed in the following cases:
• Acquisition before the implementation of the 1935 constitution.
• Acquisition through hereditary succession if the foreign acquire is a legal or natural heir. This simply means that when the non-Filipino is married to a Filipino citizen and the spouse dies, the non-Filipino as the natural heir will become the legal owner of the property. The same is true for the children. Every natural child (legitimate or illegitimate) can inherit the property of his/her Filipino father/mother even if he/she does not any Filipino citizenship.
• Purchase of not more than 40% interest in a condominium project.
• Purchase by a former natural-born Filipino citizen subject to the limitations prescribed by law.
• Filipinos who are married to aliens who retain their Filipino citizenship, unless by their act or omission, they have renounced their Filipino citizenship.

Dual Citizens

• Dual citizenship means having two citizenships and passports from two different countries. Dual citizenship allows the citizenship holder full rights of possession of Philippine real property. This is a new law and it is still unclear as to the procedures involved to implement it. Dual citizenship is now available for the following:
• Former Filipino citizens born in the Philippines, who have immigrated to another country and obtained citizenship of that country.
• A foreign spouse married to a Filipino citizen.

Former Filipino Citizens

• Former natural-born Filipino citizens, a.k.a. "balikbayans," are entitled to own a maximum of 1,000 square meters of residential land and one hectare of agricultural or farm land.
• For business purposes, a maximum of 5,000 square meters of urban land or three hectares of rural land is allowed by law. In the case of married couples, one or both of them may avail of the privilege provided that if both avail, the total area acquired shall not exceed the maximum.
• In the case of a transferee already owning an urban or rural land for business or other purposes, he/she shall still be entitled to be a transferee provided that when added to those already owned by him/her shall not exceed the maximum.

Non-Filipino Married to a Filipino Citizen

• If holding title as an individual, a typical situation would be that a foreigner married to a Filipino citizen would hold title in the Filipino spouse's name. The foreign spouse's name cannot be on the Title but can be on the contract to buy the property. In the event of death of the Filipino spouse, the foreign spouse is allowed a reasonable amount of time to dispose of the property and collect the proceeds or the property will pass to any Filipino heirs and or relatives.

Foreign Ownership as a Philippine Corporation

• Foreign nationals or corporations may completely own a condominium or townhouse. To take ownership of a private land, residential house and lot, and commercial building and lot, foreign nationals or corporations should form a Philippine corporation. The corporation is to be 40% foreign-owned (maximum) and 60% Filipino-owned (minimum), and with at least five [5] incorporators. Upon incorporation, a main bank account should be tied to it. A foreign national may be the sole person in the bank account, allowing him/her total control over the funds derived from the corporation and the income or sale of the asset or property.

Foreign Leasing of Philippine Real Estate Property

• A foreign national and or corporation may enter into a lease agreement with Filipino landowners for an initial period of up to 50 years and renewable for another 25 years.

Note: This document is for information purposes only. The user assumes all risks for its use. www.buyphilippinehomes.com assumes no responsibility for such use.

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