BUYING PROPERTIES AND/OR CONSTRUCTING YOUR HOUSE

Regarding property and estate administration in The caribbean. We  citizens and expats find ourselves at the mercy of a deed recording system and bureaucracy that is completely dysfunctional and dated, with no checks and balances by the county clerk's office to block or catch these notary and investor criminal masterminds, that rob us of our peace and precious time," You're rolling the dice either way.
Hire a private investigator and you're betting that the investigator's fee will turn up sufficient assets to turn a profit on that investment (without saying how valuable to you the peace of mind of knowing that there's nothing out there would be).
Don't hire an investigator and you're betting that you can figure it out for yourself.
I'd go with a local PI at the earliest
Opportunity.

Anthony Ward wrote:

Regarding property and estate administration in The caribbean. We  citizens and expats find ourselves at the mercy of a deed recording system and bureaucracy that is completely dysfunctional and dated, with no checks and balances by the county clerk's office to block or catch these notary and investor criminal masterminds, that rob us of our peace and precious time," You're rolling the dice either way.
Hire a private investigator and you're betting that the investigator's fee will turn up sufficient assets to turn a profit on that investment (without saying how valuable to you the peace of mind of knowing that there's nothing out there would be).
Don't hire an investigator and you're betting that you can figure it out for yourself.
I'd go with a local PI at the earliest
Opportunity.

thats a good info from the carribean. thanks much. here in the philippines, we are more democratic... if you trust the right person then there will be no problems at all.

Thanks for your earl responce,
Corruption exists in all levels of the government, especially among high-level civil servants, according to the US Department of State Investment Climate Statement 2013. Companies generally have little confidence in the Philippine judicial system, and this is due to the allegedly incompetent court personnel, corruption and long delays of court cases. The problem you seem to have is not a secret government, it's a government with secrets. Check your international corruption rating on the web, it's there in black and white.

Anthony Ward wrote:

Thanks for your earl responce,
Corruption exists in all levels of the government, especially among high-level civil servants, according to the US Department of State Investment Climate Statement 2013. Companies generally have little confidence in the Philippine judicial system, and this is due to the allegedly incompetent court personnel, corruption and long delays of court cases. The problem you seem to have is not a secret government, it's a government with secrets. Check your international corruption rating on the web, it's there in black and white.

with the present administration, i believe it is decreasing. corruption is everywhere.... its a matter of how do u fight for your rights to overcome this corruption. and we are off the topic by the way.. hahahaha... this forum is for EB members who might have problem in acquiring properties in the philippines or who wants to build a house in here

professor cebu wrote:

BUYING LAND OR CONSTRUCTING YOUR HOUSE should not be a problem. If you are a foreigner, this should not be a problem. Buying properties or constructing your house should be less hassle if you only know how. Owning or constructing should be as easy as one two three. You just need to know how to do it and that's why im here. 

Buying land or constructing a house is not as easy as one two three.  (In the Philippines' there's actually an idiom, "you've been one-two-three'd".  It means you've been tricked or scammed. For example: "The gullible guy had been one-two-three'd into buying a fixer-upper for the price of a mansion.")

I'm a  dual citizenship Filipino-American, born and raised in the Philippines, and a naturalized American citizen. Even for a citizen, one still has to go several steps to get a land title to his / her name. With us, there were problems that need to be dealt with, such as a tax issue between the developer and the previous owner, among many other things.

Constructing would be somewhat easy if you're willing to pay the hefty premium of a reliable contractor.  If you're on a budget, you'd have be hands-on.  It's very hard to do that.  I know, because I'm building a house on a budget.  I have an architect who checks in on the construction progress and gives instructions to workers / foremen at the beginning of the day. Then, my dad visits the site several times during the day to see what materials are needed and to make sure the workers aren't slacking.  If I decided to get a contractor, I would have to get a PhP 5 million loan to build the house and install finishings.

Are you trying to sell foreigners property?  Are you a local?  Because I don't know why you're saying it's easy to buy and construct.  And if you're going to do dealings "under the table" to make things as "easy as one two three", expats might not be comfortable with that.

i say so coz i am one of those who know how to and i have already did it... so far no one complained.

and yes, i have locals and foreign clients...  need not to explain it in details thanks for the comments

Beware, a con manis essentially a salesman--a remarkably good one--who excels at making people feel special and understood. A con man validates the victim's desire to believe he has an edge on other people. Something special. To get a good idea of his value, check with some of his clients. If he/ she is willing to shear that information....

professor cebu wrote:

BUYING LAND OR CONSTRUCTING YOUR HOUSE should not be a problem. If you are a foreigner, this should not be a problem. Buying properties or constructing your house should be less hassle if you only know how. Owning or constructing should be as easy as one two three. You just need to know how to do it and that's why im here. 

So what exactly are you offering? 

Legal advice?  If so, what's the name of your law firm? Are you an attorney?

Real Estate?  Are you are real estate agent / broker / developer?  Might as well cite here the name of your brokerage or construction firm / development corporation.

House construction?  Are you a general contractor? An architect? Or an engineer?  What's the name of your company?

Or are you a middle man to a law firm, a real estate firm, or a general contractor, or to several law firms, real estate firms and general contractors?

To me, your post is starting to sound like an ad, with a very generalized ad title and description, because if it gets specific, it will be moderated.

You say you can help, yet you do not show your credentials.  You say you are in Cebu, that you are from Australia.  Were you born and / or raised in Australia then moved here?  Here's the thing: If I went to Singapore, say for a weekend vacation, and came back to the Philippines, I can say that I came from Singapore, because literally, that's true.

I have friends who have been tricked / scammed / robbed, or "budul-budul", into fake pearl oyster feed, fake gold, fake cash, and fake miracle healing oil, ranging in the amount of PhP 3 million to PhP50.

Why did you move here?  And what did you do to adjust to life here? Enlighten us.

FilAmericanMom wrote:

professor cebu wrote:

BUYING LAND OR CONSTRUCTING YOUR HOUSE should not be a problem. If you are a foreigner, this should not be a problem. Buying properties or constructing your house should be less hassle if you only know how. Owning or constructing should be as easy as one two three. You just need to know how to do it and that's why im here. 

So what exactly are you offering? 

Legal advice?  If so, what's the name of your law firm? Are you an attorney?

Real Estate?  Are you are real estate agent / broker / developer?  Might as well cite here the name of your brokerage or construction firm / development corporation.

House construction?  Are you a general contractor? An architect? Or an engineer?  What's the name of your company?

Or are you a middle man to a law firm, a real estate firm, or a general contractor, or to several law firms, real estate firms and general contractors?

To me, your post is starting to sound like an ad, with a very generalized ad title and description, because if it gets specific, it will be moderated.

You say you can help, yet you do not show your credentials.  You say you are in Cebu, that you are from Australia.  Were you born and / or raised in Australia then moved here?  Here's the thing: If I went to Singapore, say for a weekend vacation, and came back to the Philippines, I can say that I came from Singapore, because literally, that's true.

I have friends who have been tricked / scammed / robbed, or "budul-budul", into fake pearl oyster feed, fake gold, fake cash, and fake miracle healing oil, ranging in the amount of PhP 3 million to PhP50.

Why did you move here?  And what did you do to adjust to life here? Enlighten us.

thanks for your interest. i feel sad for your friends but they should have exercised due diligence in transacting with other people. however, i have no obligation to answer all your questions. if you want to, you can come to cebu and ill show you all my credentials. sorry and have a productive weeks ahead. thanks

Well THAT'S one of the most ambiguous replies I've read in a long time!
(And from a "Professor" too ) If buying, building, owning or conducting property transactions were indeed easy for expats in the Philippines - then there wouldn't be any blogs/forums on the subject!
The very fact that there ARE so many concerns being voiced answers its own question. One word?

...MINEFIELD...

(Moderated: no free ad on the forum pls)

I know this bit of info is a bit late:

July 27, 2014 - August 24, 2014 is the Chinese ghost month.  It's bad luck to start construction of a house or purchase a new home / real estate.