How can an English man buy a property in Philippines?

Two of these answers are very misleading. By marrying a Filipina you still do NOT own the land. What you get is the opportunity to have your name on the title deed as the husband of the wife as owner. And yes , technically the wife needs the husbands permission to sell the land / house, but in effect it is not an absolute requirement. But for sure the husband cannot sell the land at all.

The reason is based on the second wrong answer, a foreigner CAN own property in the Philippines, but NOT land. Hence you CAN own a townhouse, building, or condominium but not the land it is on.

So you can buy a condominium and own it, but not a house and lot. Even you build the house on someone else's land, technically the house is their property, even though you COULD also technically dismantle it and take it away !!

The way foreigners get to own land in the Philippines is to get a Filipino business partner who they trust (!!), since the Filipino is the majority shareholder, a minimum of 60% stake is required before the company is recognised as a Philippine entity, and the business buys the property. A contract is then drawn up to effectively clarify that the land and house is owned by the foreigner. Although you should remember that foreigners cannot own land !! This is ripe for exploitation, unless you can trust your partner.

There are also companies here that will broker deals for you, but again it is you investing and hence risking and they get their big commission / fee at the outset....i.e they are not with you for the long term if things go wrong.

Being a foreigner also, a word to the wise, lots of title deeds are not clean. They have complications of ownership, such as 1 member of the previous owners family selling the full area of land, when he actually only owns a share of it. Corruption in the government offices is rife and forgeries are excellent and it is easy to give an apparently clean title deed to a foreigner or indeed a Filipino. So you pay your money, but may never be really the owner.

Many Attorneys offer to help you sort out title deeds and problems connected with them, but in reality you often pay them for doing nothing...or worse they also get paid by the original owner to make you give up your case against them, or convince you that a title deed is real.

There are many laws in the Phils, but not many are enforced.

But I know an honest Attorney, but only one !!!. I am living in the Phils and am an honest foreigner and I have set up in business with this Attorney for this very reason, to offer an honest, almost no cost service. My email is tebbio123@yahoo.co.uk. Any future help will be transparent and unbiased.

A website for buying property is www.islandproperties.com.

I recently purchased some land which has tripled in UK pound terms over 3 years...so the key is also a bit of local knowledge to know the up and coming locations. If you give me an idea of if you have a specific location in mind or just want an investment, I can maybe give you some advice.

Check out the properties you look at very carefully, a lot of shoddy workmanship here. If you are not in the Phils and want me to view your property and give you an independent assessment, video, photos ( unbiased ) of some potential properties, that is also a possibility.

Please watch also, there are lots of real estate vultures, and only a few good ones. A lot of the apparent private sales are actually agents selling off plan or resales on commission. This is the biggest problem is trust....and knowledge....people are often selling you what they want you to buy, not what you want.....and the prices for condos are NOT always transparent.

There is no legal requirement here, not to be misleading and so there is lots of doublespeak.

A minefield ,but with the advantages of low prices for beach-front land in some beautiful up and coming areas and excellent potential for growth.

Buying Property In Philippines

A foreigner cannot buy/own a property here in the Philippines

my advise don't ,only filipino citizens can own property,your filipna wife can but again i stress don't,rent is very low in the philippines and if you have a problem which is very likely,you can just move,the philippines is a Great place especially for expats,but it does require a lot of adapting and its not everyone's paradise

As provided by the philippine laws, only filipino citizens can acquire properties here.

usually an english man would marry a filipina so he could have the right to buy properties , but of course there are ways how to have it but with a legal arrangements .

the only belongings that foreigners are allowed to purchase in the Philippines is a apartment unit. inspite of the incontrovertible fact that the unit could be presented maximum effectual to a foreinger as much as 40% of the gadgets, meaning 60% of the full gadgets would desire to be owned via means of Filipinos.

if you have a filipina wife you can buy house and lot here in the Philippines and please watch this maybe you like it>>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24pBUahnoG0