Buying Your First Property in the Philippines: A Practical Checklist Before You Reserve a Unit

A reservation fee is small compared to the total price of a property, but it's the moment your search turns into a commitment. It's worth slowing down just before that point to work through a short, practical checklist — not because buying property should feel stressful, but because a few minutes of due diligence here saves real problems later.

About the property

• What exactly are you buying? A specific unit number, floor, and building/phase — not just "a unit in this project." Get this in writing before you pay anything.
• What's the actual title status? Ask directly whether the title is clean, whether it's mortgaged to a bank (common for developer land during construction), and when it's expected to transfer to your name.
• What's the real price, all in? Ask for the total contract price, not just the advertised "starting from" figure — unit location, floor, and view often carry premiums that change the final number significantly.
• When was this listing last verified? Prices, availability, and project timelines change. A listing that hasn't been checked recently is more likely to be stale than one updated this week.

About the seller or developer

• Who exactly are you dealing with? A licensed real estate broker, a licensed salesperson working under a broker, or the developer directly — these are different relationships with different accountability. Ask, and don't be shy about it.
• Is the license current? Real estate brokers and salespersons in the Philippines are licensed under the Real Estate Service Act (RA 9646) and regulated by the Professional Regulation Commission. It's reasonable to ask to see this, the same way you'd expect any licensed professional to be able to show credentials.
• For a developer project — is it registered with the appropriate housing authority for the type of development it is? This is a fair, normal question, not an accusatory one.

About your own finances

• Have you actually calculated total cost of ownership, not just the monthly amortization? Association dues, real property tax, and maintenance all continue after the mortgage is paid off — budget for the full picture, not just the loan.
• Have you checked your financing eligibility, even informally, before committing to a down payment schedule you're not certain you can sustain through loan takeout? See our guide on Pag-IBIG vs. bank financing for how that decision works.
• Do you understand your rights if you fall behind on payments? See our explainer on the Maceda Law — it's better to know this before you need it.

The honest bottom line

None of this checklist is about assuming bad faith from every seller or developer — most transactions in the Philippine property market go through without incident. It's about being the kind of buyer who asks specific, informed questions, because specific questions are much harder to answer badly than vague ones. A seller with nothing to hide will welcome them.

Ready to start? Search verified properties or browse licensed professionals to begin with confidence.