Buying A Property

[Paul77]

I expect i'll be buying a property in the Philippine's sometime next year, can i ask the best way to transfer a large amount of money across to get the best possible rate of exchange as well.

Also i take it if i buy a property with my wife it would be owned 50/50 and in both our names?

One last thing, i'm back in the UK now for a few weeks but when leaving Manila airport i was pretty surprised at immigration to find because i had an ACR card i had to pay extra fees on leaving the country which came to 2880 php, did anyone else experience that and if not maybe that is a warning to others to have the money with you at the airport to pay.

[tiger31]

any property you purchase will have to be in your wifes sole name as foreigners are not allowed to own property unless its a condo. Yes the fees for the ACR card are correct you have to pay for one on your second extension, I am on my 3rd card basically they are useless just another revenue earner i,ve never been asked to produce mine in nearly 3 years, hopes this helps. As for money transfers, can,t help you there, as a warning though if you do transfer money and leave it in your account for more than 12 months without using your account the bank will close your account and keep your money its their policy well BDO and metrobank is anyway. I would keep my money in u.k until you really need it .remember if you do buy a house it can take on average 2 years to sell it, the more the house is worth the harder it is to find a buyer here.

[sars_notd_virus]

I expect i'll be buying a property in the Philippine's sometime next year,can i ask the best way to transfer a large amount of money across to get the best possible rate of exchange aswell.

The only possible and safe way is to have a bank account in the Philippines and one here in Europe/UK so you can do a bank to bank transfer via online banking ie PNB / BPI make sure that the bank you use in the Philippines is an ''online'' bank.

Also i take it if i buy a property with my wife it would be owned 50/50 and in both our names?

I assumed you are a foreigner?

''By law, foreigners don't have the right to acquire land in the Philippines. Only Filipino citizens can own land (there have been many proposals to amend this law but of this writing, the law remains unchanged.) The simplest way for a foreigner to acquire real estate properties is to have a Filipino spouse purchase a property in his/her name...meaning, your wife can include your name in the clause for deed of sale ie..maria married to paul77 etc but it doesn't mean that you own 50% of the property, ...there are
Exceptions:


Corporations or partnerships that is at least 60% Filipino owned are entitled to acquire land in the Philippines. An exception to this rule, is foreign acquisition of a Philippine real estate in the following cases:

* Acquisition before the 1935 constitution.

* Acquisition thru hereditary succession if the foreign acquire is a legal or natural heir. This means that when you are married to a Filipino citizen and your husband/wife dies, you as the natural heir will become the legal owner of his/her property. The same is true for the children. Every natural child (legitimate or illegitimate) can inherit the property of his/her Filipino father/mother even if he/she is not a Filipino citizen.

* Purchase of not more than 40% interest in a condominium project.

Purchase by a former natural-born Filipino citizen subject to the limitations prescribed by law. (natural born Filipinos who acquired foreign citizenship is entitled to own up to 1,000 square meter of residential land, and 1 hectare of agricultural or farm land)

* Filipinos who are married to aliens who retain their Filipino citizenship, unless by their act or omission they have renounced their Filipino citizenship.
Owning of houses or buildings is legal as long as the foreigner does not own the land on which the house is build.

Setting up a corporation with 40% of the stocks in the foreigner's name and 60% to Filipinos is a good alternative. There must be a minimum of 5 stockholders, and foreigner can have the Filipino stockholders sign blank transfer of the stocks for security.

reference:
http://real-estate-guide.philsite.ne...a_close_button

One last thing, i'm back in the UK now for a few weeks but when leaving Manila airport i was pretty surprised at immigration to find because i had an ACR card i had to pay extra fees on leaving the country which came to 2880 php, did anyone else experience that and if not maybe that is a warning to others to have the money with you at the airport to pay.

Departure tax?? It used to be P2170 five years ago ..I am not surprised its gone up??
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...4171038AAUS78l

good luck with everything you plan to do. keep us posted !! thanks

[stevewool]

make sure you know what you are doing before investing a big amount in a property, when you thought it would be 50/50

[Paul77]

Some excellent advice,thanks
I have a BDO account at the moment so transfer money to that from my UK bank,it was just that i was left wondering for a large transfer if i could get a better deal,not sure if BPI is better exchange rate generally or not?

If we had a child and my wife died would i get the property or our child?

500php of the fee at the airport was for express lane.
Can i ask when i go back to Manila in a couple of weeks are there any fees to pay going back in the country because i have ACR? and from reading above i take it everytime i leave Manila airport i'll be paying these ACR fees from now on?

[jake]

If we had a child and my wife died would i get the property or our child?

Your child would own the property, as their mother is filipino.

Is your ACR card tourist or resident? There are no fees going back into the country

[Paul77]

Your child would own the property, as there mother is filipino.

Is your ACR card tourist or resident? There are no fees going back into the country

Thanks for info. My ACR is probationary residency

[grahamw48]

My opinion ?

Don't buy property there unless you're a seasoned expat with a rock solid marriage and plenty of money.

Horror stories abound.

[fred]

Your child would own the property, as their mother is filipino.

Is your ACR card tourist or resident? There are no fees going back into the country

Jake..
There are hereditary laws here dictated by the R.P constitution that give us entitlement to land and the properties on it..
Refer to Sars post above..