Buying A house in the Philippines

Everybody has a dream of having their own space that they can call "Home" well who doesn't want that. I spent my childhood growing up in Paranaque City, although my Nanay is from Samar we really didn't get the chance to visit her hometown due to budget constrain and travel distance but we are not gonna talk about that now, maybe on my next blog. Today let me share with you what are the things I went thru when I bought my very first House. 

Determination is the key in achieving goals in life, same as when you are saving money for your "purchase of a lifetime", saving for a down payment is not enough you have to save more than what you think is enough, why? because there's a long list of documentations that you need to prepare in order for your purchase to be successful.

Sophia model house

1. Reality vs Fantasy

There are a lot of houses that looks really nice, spacious, secured and very tempting bear in mind that those properties can be very expensive, so expensive that in long run your finances might failed you and you will end up being broke and failed to buy the property, this normally happens to some people that prematurely push their purchase, in short get the one that your budget can afford not the one that you think you can afford get it? it's like reality vs fantasy. 

Sample computation only

2. Location

If you are like me that grew up in the city south of Metro Manila you should know how traffic and pollution can be annoying most of the time and you want to escape that and start a life in a more nature feels like kinda environment go ahead and start searching in the area of Laguna, Cavite, Tagaytay or Batangas.



3. Paper works
Yey! you are very excited to buy your dream house you got the money the perfect location and the  "End Block" unit that you've wanting for so long. Now braised yourself as here comes the paper works or so called list of requirements that you need to submit to your developer. 

Following are the requirements needed for your Pag ibig Housing Loan application:

* Job contract  -with contract validity for  OFW

* Passport  - for OFW

* Special Power of Attorney - for OFW outside the Philippines

* Marriage Contract 

* 4 pcs 1x1 id pic -

* Certificate of Employment with Compensation

* Atleast 2 Valid id's of your husband

* Atleast 2 Valid govt id under married name -

* Tin Number 

* 24 months Pag-ibig Fund contributions  - lumpsum

* Housing Loan Application form


* Special Power of Attorney

If both buyer  are currently staying overseas they need to appoint someone to act on their behalf or to be their SPA, original copy will come from your Realty Agent and this needs to be send to Attorney in your country of residence for Notary, attached with Passport of both Husband and Wife. Send it to The Philippine Embassy for Certificate Authentication after.

* Job Contract 

Indicates your monthly salary, to be notarized and send to The Philippine Embassy for Certificate Authentication

 

 Those are just initial requirements given that you are married to a Filipino Citizen, if not there will be additional papers such as: 
  

* Affidavit of Pharaphernal 

This affidavit contains your  Exclusivity or Separate Property ownership to be signed by your Non- Filipino Citizen Spouse,  to be notarized by the Atty in your country of residence and  afterwards you have to send it to The Philippine Embassy for Certificate of  Authentication. 



While you are doing all the paper works, simultaneously you are paying your monthly equity to your Developer. *Monthly Equity  can be paid in installment or upfront cash it's your choice. I choose to pay mine in installment Php 9,900.00 a month payable in 10 months. 


After paying your monthly equity construction of your house will commence as well as the submission of your Pag-ibig Fund house Loan.  It took about eight months before my loan was approved.
 

Allow me to share with you how I kept tracked of payments that I made the day I placed Reservation for the house that I bought under Pag-ibig fund House Loan.

In September 2016  my Pag- ibig House Loan was finally take - out and  we are ecstatic, In October 2016 my sister head back to the developer to pay for my RPT- Real Property tax  and in November I started paying my amortization directly to Pag-ibig Fund.

Here are the pictures of the actual turned - over house from HomeMarks  Springtown, Tanza Cavite Ph 2

Front lawn

Side view

 Inside the house is bare  totally naked and dirty my sister requested the developer  to fix all the things that needs fixing and cleaning.  She spent about two weeks for another series of cleaning and brushing inside the house and the backyard as well  before finally moving -in.

                       Our happiest day has arrived, we finally moved-in came March 2017. 

Berjaya Resort , Pulau Tioman

It's another Tioman Island blog right here, this time I'll be writing more about the resort where we spent our six nights seven days!

Welcome to my Berjaya Resort Travel diary!

Let me start by saying that this resort is in the list of RCI Partners and when I was looking for a place to stay in Tioman Malaysia this and another hotel pop out, after all the research that I have done online about this resort I finally decided to stay here.

They have their own boat transfer  - kinda small and scary especially during the rough sea  you gotta have a motion sickness pills or else you cannot make it to the island in your stable mind the boat operate daily is in dock in Tanjung gemok jetty which is a 40 mins taxi ride from Mersing bus terminal,  their boat leave the mainland at 12 noon and will arrive in the island after roughly 2 hours,  from the island to the mainland is 2 hours and it leaves at 3pm , you got to be at the check out counter by 2 pm so you can get into the shuttle bus to the jetty. 

Once you arrived in the Island the Resort has its own shuttle for its guest and you will hear people shouting  "Berjaya?" just nod and they will assist you with your luggage.

  They have a tennis court and a game room which we never tried too bad. 

 

  The Resort is surrounded with flowery plants and a very close to nature feeling.

Blue skies in the morning and very peaceful surroundings and if you are lucky you'll find a family of monkeys trying to find food for breakfast. 😀

 Now let's go and check the chalet, chalet has 4 doors in which the 2 doors can be connected , our is number 384 very close to the resort's entrance, near to the beach front as well and few steps away from the swimming pool.

Your Ultimate Guide in planning your Singapore trip!!

Planning a tour can be crazy especially if we are on a budget, in this article let me share with you my top six tips in planning your Ultimate Singapore Trip!


1. Budget -  it is important to have enough budget when going on a trip as we don't know what wether you will get crazy about shopping ang hopping.  Set a particular amount for the whole trip and try to stick with it during planning and the actual trip.

2. Pax - decide on how many of you going, be it couple or friends? or even a family, the number of people going with you on a trip is crucial as this will determine your budget, this normally applies to those of you that has a bigger family, and you kinda want to bring everybody with you.



3. Season - Now that you have determine the budget and the number of people, let us proceed to our next step, finding out which season you want to go. This is not the  autumn, summer ,winter or fall season if you are thinking of that, what I meant was Peak or off peak season! Travelling can be cheap or super expensive but if you know what you are doing you definitely can save few bucks that u can use for shopping.




The best time to visit Singapore is November to June, during this months few events and holidays are happening like ZOUK Out in Sentosa and streetlights in Orchard in the month of  December.

After Christmas comes Chinese New year in January to February it is a month of celebration of family &  Reunions one of the best time to get to know Chinese Culture.

With so many Festivities happening during these months, don't forget to bring your umbrella and rain coat as the weather  during this time of the year is more on the wet side.

If you intend to do more shopping I highly recommend planning your tour from June to October were in you can catch the famous Singapore Great Sale and you can shop until you drop with huge discounts, who doesn't like that!

Happening in between Just to August

 Another  big event in August is the Singapore National day, now this event is big deal just like any other countries celebrating their Nationhood,  this is  one day event celebrated with magnificent parade & one of a kind fireworks to end the night.

4. Hopping around the island - so  you already got your budget settled, your pax counted and timing determined now moving  on to the tour , how many places you want to see and explore. There are places that you can visit without breaking you pocket. In this section  I will give you some options that you can explore Free - of - charge- .

• Esplanade - if you just want to take a picture of the iconic durian shape Theatre outside
• Merlion Statue  - located few meters away from the Theatre

• The Fullerton Hotel  just behind the iconice merlion

• Bugis Street for some shopping for souveniers and bargains

·       Gardens by the bay

·       Marina bay sands  -attractions inside  might have charges

·       Botanical garden

·       China town

·       Little India

5.  Accommodations -   

in Singapore you can stay in a fancy Hotel as high as $20,000.00 a night  like Marina Bay Sands or as low at $45.00 in a much affordable hotel like Hotel 81for hotel 81 just need to take note of red district. 

There are backpackers as well which is famous with westerners, I recommend to look out for rooms for rent in the heartland they can cheaper and you can get the experience of real Singapore life.

6. Food – most of the time when travel we stick to food that we know and we normally consumed, and that makes fast food as the number 1 choice.

I recommend to try eating in Singapore’s famous food court we call it Hawker centers where you can find good food as low as $2.00 per meal and as high as $20 per dish.  In Hawkers center they normally cook your food as you order, don’t worry there are other options like mixed rice as well  your choice of Vegetable  & meat with rice.  I recommend that you try Chicken Rice , Kway teow, Hokkein Mee, 

I hope this article can help you plan your ultimate tour not just in Singapore but also when you travel the other part of the world. 

Don’t forget to seized the day!