Buying land with no Philippines bank account.

This is a good post. My wife and I sold our home in the US, and with some of the equity, we had a house built with property she inherited from her family. I read that I could lease the property for 25 years, and own the title of the house my wife and I had built. So I hired a reputable  attorney from Angeles City Philippines (trust me I did a complete background check on him). He charged me 1000ph ($20.00) to confirm my findings and advise us. Money well spent. I asked him how much for his legal services for him to document the lease and title of the house under my name. He told me approximately 6000ph (An additional $110.00) providing we had all require documents. We do. I am not worry about my step brothers, I am worry about the inlaws I never met. In the event that my wife leaves this earth before I do, I do not want some nephew or grandaughter I never met telling this old man the land is now their inheritance. I will be too old and tired to fight the legal system in a 3rd world country as a foreignor by then. I believe you can nip it in the bud now.

Will update when process is completed and official.

Lonely Wolf NY

Only an observation but if the land is in your wifes name you cannot lease the land from her but you can own the buildings, leasing land from spouse is illegal in the Philippines and your attorney should have told you that. We got around that law as we are a same sex couple and not recognized here.

Also my name is on the title like a mortgage, the buildings are in my name and I pay the local municipal fees for buildings and 2 lots.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

@bigpearl Thanks Bigpearl. Will bring this up with the attorney. Maybe I misunderstood. Thanks for the update.

Only an observation but if the land is in your wifes name you cannot lease the land from her but you can own the buildings, leasing land from spouse is illegal in the Philippines and your attorney should have told you that. We got around that law as we are a same sex couple and not recognized here.
Also my name is on the title like a mortgage, the buildings are in my name and I pay the local municipal fees for buildings and 2 lots.
OMO.

Cheers, Steve.
-@bigpearl

Thanks for this Steve.  I am looking into ways I can lease and you have added new info for me.  So a foreigner could be on title as a lender with interest in the property?  I appreciate you sharing this.

Donald

I looked into this for years before we purchased here and feel every thing we did is legal and binding.

A lot can be gleaned from expat sites, google and of course a decent lawyer. I have read many expats (married) have their name on the title as the spouse of the Filipina that owns the lot, I suppose that gives some credence in a legal event such as wills and heirs etc.

For me as I am deemed a single man here in PH so was easy to lease from my better half but there was a lot of work went into the sale contract (owning the buildings and improvements, my obligations to the owner) and even more in the lease and my last will and testament in Australia,,,, the most difficult thing was to encumber the title with the long term lease in my name, took around 3 years  and only I or my executor can release that, my understanding from the mouth piece.

For your question, lender with interest in the property? An encumbered title/mortgage. I suppose that would depend on your personal situation and what you are trying to achieve.

I have read on expat sites that some married guys borrow some money from the/a bank/pay the loan year after year and if the fit hits the shan with their wife then it takes 2 signatures to release the mortgage in case of a property sale. A safe guard? Others can chime in that are better experienced.

Good luck Donald.

Cheers, Steve.

Sorry to hijack your post, but I have the exact same question, only for selling.

Say I want to sell a Condominium in Philippines. But I am a foreigner, so I have no account that can receive PHP (only can recieve USD to my Philippines bank account).

Does anyone know how you would go about selling real-estate via a broker, but getting paid in USD. Or is there a way around this when you are selling property?

@bigpearl As always, thanks Steve.  I appreciate learning from your experience.

BTW, I am still salivating over your clean tall wall design and SS modern gate.  Beautiful.

Donald

@bigpearl Thanks Bigpearl. Will bring this up with the attorney. Maybe I misunderstood. Thanks for the update.
-@Guest8964

Only my understanding of the law here is that you cannot lease legally from your wife as Philippines law considers you the same entity, not going to happen legally and if done illegally? Could spell trouble big time if things go south.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Only an observation but if the land is in your wifes name you cannot lease the land from her but you can own the buildings, leasing land from spouse is illegal in the Philippines and your attorney should have told you that. We got around that law as we are a same sex couple and not recognized here.
Also my name is on the title like a mortgage, the buildings are in my name and I pay the local municipal fees for buildings and 2 lots.
OMO.

Cheers, Steve.
-@bigpearl
Thanks for this Steve. I am looking into ways I can lease and you have added new info for me. So a foreigner could be on title as a lender with interest in the property? I appreciate you sharing this.

Donald
-@AlbertaDonuts

Very late reply Don, missed your post here some months ago, as said if you lease it has to be at arms length (can/do you trust that person) and as far as far as being on any legal title here as a lender (mortgagee) you would need to be a licensed lender, I fought for the legal side and right to have my lease registered on the title/s as an encumbrance and little more, protecting my derriere.

As for our gate and pump house S/S door that was easy and cheap, finally the guy is coming back tomorrow (fingers crossed) to do some mods and measure up for a gate to the beach but only 4 ft high.

Biggest cost here is steel, cement, gravel and sands. From memory Ben told me a couple of weeks ago that we have spent around P 1M on labour and P 2.2 on materials including the S/S stuff but also 100K of tools and equipment, electrical etc. Only a few more M to go, will be worth the 16/18 month build.

Cheers, Steve.

Buying property while married is easy and all property acquired while married is conjugal property...50/50.  Trying to enforce this might be an issue, but that is the law.  We have purchased 4 properties so far and sign documents to purchase our next property tomorrow....provincial properties are cheaper and if you are healthy, much better to live outside of big cities....I live in a small fishing village and few foreigners live around here. While I do understand that foreigners want to live together, it just is not the way I enjoy my life here.  Good luck to all who do buy property. 

Btw....there is a law that allows naturalization to become a phillipines citizen after being married and living here over 10 years.  This might solve some problems of those wanting to buy land here.

I believe it's only 5 years for naturalization if you are married, 10 years for singles and all the rules that go with it.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

I believe it's only 5 years for naturalization if you are married, 10 years for singles and all the rules that go with it.
OMO.

Cheers, Steve.
-@bigpearl

All the rules that go with it includes speaking either Spanish or English  plus a Philippines language, not any easy task for us older folks.  In addition one must denounce our other citizenship, foreigners  cannot be dual citizens.

Yep.

Cheers, Steve.

@bigpearl Your place looks amazing and well worth it.  My place may be a bit more modest but still my castle.  I have decided on a pool with ocean view but our chats have made me regularly reconsider.... Until I own or lease I can still change my mind.  And I am not even a woman.  I may get in trouble for that last comment.

Cheers,

Donald

@AlbertaDonuts Hi Donald are you from Alberta? 🇨🇦

@AlbertaDonuts Hi Donald are you from Alberta? 🇨🇦
-@Réal Marchand

Check his stats.  From Calgary

@AlbertaDonuts I have an account  with BDO, as a permanent resident  no problem