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.

KNOW THE TRUTH

Megaworld Corporation Customer Service Issues

Another major issue with Megaworld Corporation is its customer service, or lack thereof.
As Megaworld is great with marketing and sales and promising you everything, including a McDonald’s branch, their after sales support and customer service is a totally different story.
Their aftersales customer service is so bad, people have taken to the internet to complain for example:

“To all MEGAWORLD prospective BUYERS,
After all the disappointments that i underwent buying from MEGAWORLD , or their affiliate company, EASTWOOD – PLEASE LANG
HUMANAP na kayong ibang mabibili, Sayang ang pera ninyo. Pagkatapos mong mag amortize ng ilang taon,at ililipat mo na ang CTC. DELIQUENT PALA SA REALTY TAX at gusto pa ipabayad sa iyo. Anong gagawin ko ? My Goodness……” – source: comment #26

 And here’s another one:

“I feel so bad for choosing Megaworld. I just bought a unit from them and Im staying here now. Sobrang daming reklamo. Sub-standard talaga lahat ng gawa nila. We have the worst water proofing here. Almost all the unit owners are complaining. Nagbubula lahat ng pintura from the window side. The windows are also sub-standard. Pinapasukan ng tubig. A lot of owners from the top floor are complaining that their roofs fell down due to the water na naipon pag umuulan. So bad the water leaks and water proofing. Warning lang talaga eto to all the buyers!!!. Megaworld just wants to make money from all of you! They dont care. Buti pa DMCI and Ayala. I think Megaworld just wants to destroy their name completely. This should go out to the media soon!!!. Im so dissappointed. All the unit owners are feeling the same here.
(sorry i cant mention my place for security reasons)” – source: comment #32

 And another from http://www.pissedconsumer.com/reviews-by-company/megaworld-corporation/thinking-of-investing-avoid-this-company-very-bad-customer-service-20110816255846.html:

“I purchased a unit from them and it has been a terrible experience. We had to sign the contract 3 times because they could not locate where these signed contracts land. Dealing with their billing is a nightmare, constantly asking for the same documents over and over again. I have been passed on from on agent to the other because of turnovers.

It’s been 8 months today since I originally purchased a unit and my issues are still unresolved I just continue to be passed on from one associate to the other.”

From dee
“Very bad customer service. I agree with above review. They pass you around different departments for turnover. I am also living abroad and thought this would be a great investment.

We bought our unit during preselling period. Everything went well then, we paid in full. They send us the contract to buy and sell, we signed it and then sent it back, they sent our original copy over with notary. The project is now finished. And we wait for the turnover. The delay is now 1 year and 3 months from what was written and promised in the CTBS.

I went back to Manila to discuss this issue with them directly as you can’t call or email anyone anymore. When we were discussing payment and such all emails were replied to instantly, but now nothing. I rode their elevator and went to 3 different departments, talked to 3 different people. I thought all is well, I now I have their direct emails and contact details. I WAS SO WRONG.

Now, I have to pay a lawyer and see if they will at least listen to someone who has the power to sue them.”

 The Internet is filled with similar horror stories of Megaworld Corporations’ infamous customer service.
Do your research before getting involved with Megaworld Corporation: you’ll save yourself a lot of hurt.

Megaworld Condos: Not worth your hard-earned money

Megaworld Corporation’s major failure is in its inability to provide a quality product.

There had been a lot of complaints from customers who cannot tolerate the pathetic quality of the condo units when they were turned over to the owners. Some of the worst cases are those falling ceilings due to the water damage brought about by poor plumbing. And to make it worse and add insult to injury, Megaworld doesn’t take responsibility for it: they blame their contractors and make the owners pay for the damages.

image source: http://manila.coconuts.co/2013/12/09/shoulda-coulda-woulda-collapsed-ceiling-megaworld-bgc-condo

There have been complaints of owners having to pay even more just to have their units remodeled so it can be livable.

Although Megaworld Corporation is trying its best to make it appear that they are a dependable company, that is farther from the truth.

The main problem with them? Substandard and poor quality condominium units. The most common problems are the thin walls, poor paint jobs, leaking pipes from above.
As members of  commenter in Pinoy Exchange posted, and we quote:

“Madami kelangan ipa-repair kasi hindi maganda ang pagkakagawa. May mga structural defects as a few posters have mentioned. Pansin ko din na hindi maganda ang quality ng mga ginamit. Mukhang en grande sa labas, pero parang low cost housing sa loob.” – source: comment #44

 Ang napansin ko pangit sa One Orchard at ibang condo ng MegaWorld. Wala natural light or hangin sa loob. Kulob na kulob. Maganda yung ginawa nung Tivoli Gardens. Every 3rd floor may opening sila. kaya natural light and air nakapasok.- source: comment #72

In the website Pissedconsumer.com, a reviewer/owner properly sums his/her problem with her Megaworld condo unit:

The air conditioner condensing unit or compressor on the belagio 3 units are installed inside the living room and inside the bedroom. When i inspected my unit I thought there were two coffins in my unit.I asked the building engineer and his explanation is that there is no place to put the compressor outside.I think this a building code violation, belagio 3 owners should unite and find a solution to this problem.If you are an investor do not invest in this company, their advertising is fantastic but their product is bulok or rotten.- source: comment by  belagio 3 owner

There are more stories shared online, but what has Megaworld Corporation done to fix these problems? Nothing. The sadder truth is, their Head of Communication, Harold Geronimo, is hell bent and spending a good amount of money to make Megaworld Corporation look awesome online. They have even bragged about investing 15 Billion pesos on new projects, but why can’t they just fix the defective products first?

Let the buyers beware of Megaworld Corporation.

Megaworld Corporation: A Company Thriving through Fraud and Deceit

Megaworld Corporation is one of the biggest if not the biggest realty developer in the Philippines.
But its rise to the top was not all good and dainty as its marketing people would want you to believe.
So many people have come to realize that the dream homes and lifestyle that this company sells is all but a lure to the nightmare of having to live in a condo unit that doesn’t match the hard earned money that you bought it for.
Join us as we reveal the truth about Megaworld Corporation.