| Truth be told, there are many considerations to be | | | | Do you have the budget to buy a house? First, make |
| made when buying a home in the Philippines, but | | | | sure you do, because if you don't then it would be |
| these three below should receive the highest priority. | | | | pretty useless at this point. If you don't have cash |
| 1. Location | | | | outright to buy, then think about applying for a |
| As proven by last year's Ondoy flood, not every | | | | housing loan either from a bank, financial institution, or |
| location in the Philippines is well worth your | | | | one of the most popular ones in the Philippines, |
| hard-earned money. If you noticed, there has been | | | | Pagibig. Determine how much you can afford. It's also |
| an onslaught of real estate ads on the net touting to | | | | important that if you are taking a loan, your |
| be "flood free" which before, wasn't really the case | | | | mortgage debt should be less than 28% of your |
| when it comes to advertising your home. Although | | | | monthly income. |
| the flood last year may have washed away the | | | | 3. Know what you're getting into! |
| dreams of these homeowners, it has also proven to | | | | Get involved - many OFWs have had bad |
| be a wake up call to developers who have scaled up | | | | experiences of buying a property without seeing it |
| their efforts to keep their projects as "flood free" or | | | | and end up disappointed when they do see it (and |
| "flood proof" as possible. Location is also important | | | | have no recourse but to accept it since they've |
| depending on what lifestyle you'd like to lead - for | | | | already paid for it), or rely on relatives to decide for |
| example, a family man will choose a house near a | | | | them. From start to finish, be there every step of |
| good school (take for example Ayala Westgrove | | | | the way. Your participation will spell out the success |
| Heights which has St. Scholastica's College | | | | of this real estate purchase. |
| -Westgrove just outside its beautiful gates), while | | | | One more thing - only citizens of the country can |
| the career-driven individual would prefer a high-rise | | | | buy real estate property in the Philippines, except for |
| condominium in the city near where the action is. | | | | condominiums with the condition that 60% of the |
| Location of the property will also reveal the ease or | | | | occupants are Filipinos, and only 40% foreigners. |
| difficulty of accessibility. | | | | What other considerations should Filipinos make when |
| 2. Budget | | | | buying real estate properties? Do share! |