For foreigners: How not to Get Scammed when buying a condo

For foreigners: How not to Get Scammed when buying a condo

Don’t buy pre-selling properties.
Pre-selling properties offer tempting discounted prices to prospective buyers. Unfortunately, the discount is oftentimes not enough to cover the problems you will get once you start paying, or during turnover of your unit.

Some of the horror stories shared to us were units that had substandard construction, original plans being changed causing units to have a different, disgusting layouts.

Another disadvantage of pre-selling units is that you are paying for a promise, something intangible: a promise that Megaworld Corporation doesn’t make good on. In some cases, they would promise a high-end product with great amenities and community. Again, this is just a promise. As so many have complained on the Internet, the reality of things are much worse. An example would be this -> http://megaworld-corporation.pissedconsumer.com/thinking-of-investing-avoid-this-company-very-bad-customer-service-20110816255846.html

You can also do your own search and see other people’s nightmare experience once they started paying for or receiving their Megaworld Corporation condo units. Just check out http://manila.coconuts.co/2013/12/09/shoulda-coulda-woulda-collapsed-ceiling-megaworld-bgc-condo and read the article and the comments after.

Always ask for pertinent government permits and documentation.

Every buyer must exercise due diligence when purchasing anything, and that includes condominiums. Megaworld has, on the record, been FINED (only) by HULRB for selling more units than they are allowed to.

Always make sure that Megaworld has all the government permits to build, to sell, and to allow occupancy of the properties they develop. Without these permits, you might as well kiss your “investment” goodbye because the lack of permits means delay, a lot of it.

Always do an ocular of the development  site.

Never, ever buy a condo that you haven’t seen the location and the community around it. Artists’  perspectives, 3D renders, and illustrations are all nice to look at, but without actually experiencing the location and the community, you might end up living beside a squatters community, or along a very congested thoroughfare, or both. If you can’t go there physically, perhaps ask someone to take videos, not photos, of the vicinity and perimeter of the property. And make sure, it’ssomeone you can trust, not the sales agent.

Don’t buy a condo.

This last suggestion may be the hardest to swallow, but the truth is, living in a condo, especially one developed by Megaworld Corporation is not the best thing to do. Although foreigners are not allowed to own property here in the Philippines except for condos, it is best to evaluate why you want to buy one in the Philippines. If you are planning to buy it as investment, heed the warnings. 
The condo boom is currently in the decline because of oversupply, which means prices will now decrease due to the imbalance between supply and demand.

If you MUST buy a condo, look for other developers like Filinvest and Ayala, but stay away from Megaworld Corporation like its the plague. Your sanity may depend on it.