Bank Financing For A Home

[brock]

Has anyone went through a bank for a home mortgage? I'm looking at a townhouse in Talisay City, Cebu and submitted an application to BPI. Any pit falls I should know about?

If it is a new townhouse then ask if they have their own financing, that was what my wife and I did when we bought one of our condo units and they usually offer pretty good rates that way. In our case if was 0% interest for two years and one of my friends got 0% interest for three years when he bought his last year. As for pitfalls, just be careful to read every little thing in the mortgage if you get one, and it might be best to get an attorney because we did not get the title until we paid off the loan, so make sure how that works with the bank or developer you will use. Let me add the obvious, you cannot own land, so it would either have to be in your wifes name, daughters name, or the developer sells it without the land, so if that is the case then in any of the above, make sure you are covered for the term you intend to stay there.

"if that is the case then in any of the above, make sure you are covered for the term you intend to stay there. " What do you mean by this statement???The developer can't help me, he wants the full payment within 6 months, so that won't do for me. I will ask him if this townhouse is being sold with the land, I think it is.

If it is being sold with the land, then you wife will be able to call all the shots. Just so you know going into the deal ahead of time. Just know that if something should God forbid happen to your marriage, then you are out the money.

Is there a big thing about the bank keeping the title till the loan is paid off?

IMO, not if the bank is reputable, which BPI usually is, but just like all other things in the Philippines, it could be a long drawn out process to sell without having the title in hand. Also know that there is BPI Savings Bank which is a separate bank from BPI Bank.

I talked to BPI today and the title for our townhouse will be in both our names. Not just my wife's.

I always thought a town house was classed the same as a condo, and so can be owned by a foreigner, ?.

[Mr Lee]

I always thought a town house was classed the same as a condo, and so can be owned by a foreigner, ?.

It depends on if the land is included and I asked him that and he did not know. So yes if the land is a lease then a foreigner can own it, but my wife and I looked at some townhouses in Cebu years back and the land was included. 

[softail]

This is a great discussion and I think Mr Lee has made some great points. If and when my time comes to move to the Philippines I will think long and hard about buying my own home. Sounds like the path to home ownership is a mine field littered with pitfalls to avoid. At least for me I’m not sure it is a path I want to take. I would love to have a beautiful home like Fil/AmArt was so nice to show us but I’m not sure I want to accept the risk involved. I love my wife with all my heart but as so many men know, if and when the marriage is over, the guy is out on the street starting over again and with the way the laws are set up in the PI with regards to foreigners that is especially true.Doug and Sally