Step-by-Step: How Foreigners Buy a Condo in the Philippines in 2026

Buying a condominium in the Philippines as a foreigner is a defined, paperwork-driven process. You can own the unit outright as long as the project stays within the 40 percent foreign-ownership cap, and the transaction follows the same sequence whether you buy ready-built or pre-selling. Here is the process, step by step, with the checks that belong at each stage.

Step 1: Confirm you are buying something a foreigner can own

Foreigners can own condominium units, not land. Before anything else, confirm the property is a registered condominium under the Condominium Act (Republic Act No. 4726), and that foreign ownership in the project is still below the 40 percent cap on total floor area. Ask the developer or the condominium corporation for written confirmation of the current foreign-ownership percentage. A transfer that breaches the cap is void, and the Register of Deeds will not register it.

Step 2: Verify the people and the project

Two verifications protect you from most fraud. Confirm the broker or salesperson holds a current license from the Professional Regulation Commission under the Real Estate Service Act. And for any developer project, confirm the DHSUD License to Sell and Certificate of Registration directly with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, not from a photocopy the seller hands you. Under Presidential Decree 957, no condominium project may be sold without a License to Sell.

Step 3: Verify the title

For a ready unit, obtain a Certified True Copy of the Condominium Certificate of Title (CCT) from the Register of Deeds, through your own lawyer rather than the seller. Confirm the registered owner matches the seller, check for annotations such as mortgages or liens, and confirm association dues are current. For pre-selling, there is no CCT yet, so the developer's track record and license carry the weight.

Step 4: Reservation and the contract

You pay a reservation fee to take the unit off the market. Do not treat this as routine: pay it only after the verifications above, because pressure to "reserve today" before you have checked the license and title is the most common setup for a scam. You then sign a Contract to Sell for pre-selling or staged purchases, or move toward a Deed of Absolute Sale for a ready unit bought outright. Read the payment schedule, turnover date, default and refund terms, and what happens if the developer is late.

Step 5: Pay through traceable channels

Pay into the developer's or seller's verified corporate account, never in cash to an individual. Keep every official receipt. For pre-selling you will typically pay a down payment over months followed by the balance on turnover, often through bank financing or in-house terms.

Step 6: Settle the transfer taxes

On a resale purchase, the tax bill is split by custom but negotiable. The seller normally pays the capital gains tax (6 percent of the higher of selling price or zonal value, where the unit is a capital asset). The buyer normally pays the documentary stamp tax (1.5 percent), the local transfer tax (about 0.5 to 0.75 percent), and registration fees (a sliding scale around 0.25 to 0.5 percent). When buying a new unit directly from a VAT-registered developer, the developer handles its own income taxes, and VAT at 12 percent may apply to units above the current price threshold, so confirm whether the quoted price includes it.

Step 7: Register the transfer and get the title in your name

After taxes are paid, the Bureau of Internal Revenue issues a Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR). With the CAR, the deed, and the tax clearances, the transfer is registered at the Register of Deeds, which issues a new Condominium Certificate of Title in your name. Update the tax declaration with the local assessor's office so future real property tax is billed to you.

Step 8: Plan for the holding costs

Once you own the unit, budget for annual real property tax (about 2 percent of assessed value in Metro Manila, 1 percent in the provinces, plus the special education fund levy) and monthly condominium association dues. If you rent the unit out, rental income is taxable.

The throughline: verify before you pay

Every step above is built around one principle, which is that money should move only after verification, never before. Confirm the foreign-ownership headroom, the license, and the title first; reserve and pay second. For pre-selling, where you are buying a promise rather than a finished unit, the developer's record of actually delivering is the most important single factor, and independent delivery records, such as those compiled on Bektu, let you check it before you sign. Engage your own Philippine lawyer for the due diligence and the deed. This article is general information, not legal advice.