24/08/2025
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬
Money does not come easy, unless if you won the lottery! That’s why buying a property should never be taken lightly. It is one of the biggest investments a person can make in a lifetime, right up there with choosing a life partner.
We have often encountered situations where clients come to us in tears or fuming with anger after paying a huge amount for a property, only to discover that it cannot be transferred to their names or, worse, that they must go to court to fight for their rights. By then, the stress, expenses, and emotional toll far outweigh what they initially anticipated.
In most cases, these unfortunate buyers are 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬. Many were enticed by the fact that the property carried a title and was offered at a lower price. Others were lured by seemingly convenient installment arrangements, only to later discover that the entire deal was a 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦.
So, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲?
𝟏. 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Beyond asking about the basics such as location, accessibility, lot area, and price, you must first confirm if the seller is truly the registered owner. If not, the seller should present a valid 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 (𝐒𝐏𝐀) authorizing them to sell on the owner’s behalf. Equally important is knowing whether there are occupants or informal settlers on the property, which is why an 𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 is always a must.
After all, no one wants to discover they just bought property from a bogus seller.
𝟐. 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. Once ownership is confirmed, ask for copies of the 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 and 𝐓𝐚𝐱 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Carefully check whether there are liens, encumbrances, or adverse claims attached to it.
At this point, it is wise to engage the services of a trusted lawyer for 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Your legal counsel will not only verify if the title is clean, but also investigate beyond the documents like checking for annotations, delinquent taxes, disputes, history of ownership or discrepancies in the property’s actual area versus what appears on paper. (Many clients skip this step thinking it will save them money, but in reality, professional assistance costs far less than the stress and expenses of resolving a legal battle later on)
𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓: 𝑨 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒓.
𝟑. 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. When it comes to documentation, the 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞 plays a central role. But before drafting, ownership must be clearly established. If the property is owned by a single individual, that person alone signs the deed. If it is owned by spouses, 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧. If it is co-owned by multiple persons, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨-𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭. And if the property is still under the name of a deceased person, the heirs must first execute an 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 and settle estate taxes before the buyer can successfully transfer the property into their name. In some cases, the settlement and the Deed of Absolute Sale can be executed simultaneously.
𝑻𝒊𝒑: 𝑬𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒅.
𝟒. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲. Notarial act means that the parties to the sale must appear and sign the Deed of Sale in the presence of Notary Public.
𝑻𝒊𝒑: 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑷𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕-𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔.
𝟓. 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐬. The required 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 otherwise, penalties will be accrued with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
𝟔. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫. Only after payment of taxes and tax clearance, can the transfer of title be processed at the Registry of Deeds and the Assessor’s Office of the locality where the property is situated.
𝑃𝑟𝑜 𝑇𝑖𝑝: 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑜𝑔𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑓𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠.
𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒚!
