I am a Canadian resident, and I want to buy a condominium in Manila, Philippines to live in for a few years. Does anyone have any personal experience with this? What steps do I need to take to be sure I cover myself? Should I have representation from here in Canada, or representation from a realtor in Manila?

Hi!

Filipinos as well as foreigners are actually entitled to buy condominium units in the Philippines – but foreigners can’t legally own land (unless they are of dual citizenship).

What you just need to have is a real estate agent and a lawyer to make sure that your rights as a buyer are protected.

The real estate agents are the ones you will usually meet first in making the transaction. The lawyer just checks the document and makes sure that you end up in a deal which is considerably fair and equal to both parties (you and the developer).

A typical lawyer charges about PhP 10,000 (US$ 210) for checking legal documents when buying properties, while the real estate agent gets 1-5% of the total payment you will make to the real estate company.

Usually, big companies such as Ayala Land, Eton Properties Inc., SM Group of Companies, and Metro Pacific Land are reputable and are well-known for doing clean business.

Do check the location of the condominium unit you plan to buy – a large chunk of prime condominium units are located in Manila’s great earthquake fault.

Eastwood City, Katipunan Avenue, White Plains, Blue Ridge, and some parts of Bonifacio Global City are all near the earthquake fault – conversely, condominium units by the bay (Bay City), Makati City, and Quezon City are farther from the fault line. Bear in mind that real estate agents don’t usually mention this.