It took a while to write a follow-up content about my plans of buying a property (sorry about that!). In my previous blog post, I shared with you the terminologies and factors that a homebuyer must know before diving into monthly payments and signing agreements, and eventually owning a house.
Unfortunately, the transaction with my real-estate agent-cum-friend has fallen through. There was a misunderstanding about how much downpayment needs to be paid monthly, and because of that, I decided to cancel the transaction and am requesting a refund of my reservation fee.
As I await the refund, I decided to search for other properties, and luckily enough, I found another property that meets my criteria. So, I decided to inquire about the property.
I decided to go and pursue paying for the property, so I shelled out for the reservation fee (Php3,000). I have to wait around 30-40 days after paying the RF (the shortcut reference to “reservation fee”) to give my real estate agent ample time to process the necessary documents to formalize my acquisition of a unit and schedule a virtual homebuyer orientation.
Just a heads up: If you are close to the 30th or 40th day since the payment of your reservation fee and have yet to be informed of the homebuyer orientation schedule, better follow up with your real estate agent. Not knowing what and when is the next step will leave you in the dark and time and days will pass by with you being unaware if you are still close to getting the property or the transaction has already been forfeited (as per other homeowners, yes, this happens.)
Curious to know which property I decided to get? It is a 44-sqm townhouse built by APEC Homes. I picked the community that they are developing in Tanauan, Batangas called “Grandview Heights”. A 44-sqm, two-story property that is at a range of Php900,000 to Php1,000,000 total contract price. Unfortunately, this property does not have an extra lot for parking space, but I don’t mind as I don’t have a vehicle and not planning to get one either.
Here’s a virtual unit tripping I found on Youtube:
Paid the reservation fee — check! Homebuyer orientation — here we go…
What happened during the (my) homebuyer orientation?
A staff from the APEC Homes’ office scheduled a Facebook video call (together with other APEC Homes homebuyers) and walked me through the next steps to take (i.e. the confirmation of my selected unit, the additional must-know charges, etc.) I was presented soft copies of documents that I need to affix my signature on, such as the reservation agreement, the monthly amortization agreement, and the conformity agreement. These documents itemize, break down, and formalize in print the amount that I have to pay monthly for the downpayment and estimated monthly amortization.
I opted to pay for the downpayment in a 30-month installment, and because of this, I have to comply with the assigned schedule of paying it monthly (every 14th of the month).
My monthly DP deposit started on July 14th and just recently I paid for the second month on August 14th. Yey!
Hopefully, I will be able to finish these payments without any issues. It will take a long time to complete the payment and to see the official unit that I will be owning (it’s a presell property, so nothing has been built yet) but crossing my fingers that all goes well. 🙂
“checklist” by Alan Cleaver is licensed under CC BY 2.0
