Quote Originally Posted by swordsman View Post
so those info about disputes or court cases on the property(if ever there is one) can also be obtained from the Registry of Deeds?
when you do get a copy of the title, you should go to the registry of deeds where it is registered and verify the title. they will give you a certified trued copy then you will see if there are notices (legally called annotations) that are inscribed on the title. possible annotations could be a mortgage, adverse claim, notice of pending litigation (lis pendens), etc. a clean title will have no annotations except possibly the deed of restrictions placed by the original developer.

you should take caution because you are dealing with someone who is not the owner. it's easy to make an SPA. if possible, ask for some more identification documents from the owner himself such as passport and other IDs and try to get to talk to him/her personally. just be more diligent, and don't presume anything. the flip side to this is that it may be fraud and you're dealing with someone who was only entrusted with the copy of the title.

if you are purchasing on installment basis from the seller, then the maceda law (ra 6552). but if you are paying for it with a loan from a bank then that will not apply and you will be covered by general banking act.

on other points, condominiums are set up as corporations and each unit owner owns an aggregate share of the corporation. all corporations have a life span of 50 years, but may be extended. automatic reversion to the developer sounds contrary to public policy.

capital gains tax is based on either the zonal valuation, tax declaration or selling price, whichever is highest. it is 6% of gross because it presumes a capital gain. the flip side to this is if it were based on actual gain, the gain would be taxed 32-35% as income tax. just imagine if you held property for a decade and the price had tripled then that 6% may not be so bad sounding after all.

it's true that cap gains tax is supposed to be on the part of the seller, but most sellers try to pass this onto the buyer. if buyer agrees then no problem.