Not entirely,if you read careful, it says,"the end of natural life." If one goes to a notary or lawyer to make this usufructu, he will quickly note, that its a kind of automatic provision. The usufrutu "giver" will be informed that if anything happens "unnaturally" the land would be falling into government property. As anything "gained" through a crime. But i usually do not explicitely say things like this, as it could offend a Filipino/Filipina reading this. Since it it would imply that it is a common occurence that people will kill to get property, which is NOT the case. Just as in the UK or Germany, murder for greed or gain of wealth is rather the extreme exemption in the Philippines.
To add my story to the mix. After living (due to work) in rented accommodation in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Dubai, Norway & a couple of other places, I would never do so in a place I was to settle down & live BUT I do agree with starting off renting while you find where to hang your hat permanently. Long term, renting is just throwing away money & you cant make the place the way you want it to be. We bought a house & lot in a sub division back in 1994 for P3 million. Lived there for 5 years & sold it for double what we paid. Bought a single storey house in Cebu in need of some work for P1.5 million & spent P1.5 million modernising it. We are now back to our original investment of P3 million but 7 years later. That is 7 years of free accommodation the way we wanted it. I have zero doubt that if we decided to move again, we could sell at least for what it cost us not that we will. The key, imho is dont fall for the big land & grand house as so many do, ending up with something impossible to sell in the market. Our land is a comfortable 190 sq M with garden, drive and single storey, 2 bed, 2 bathroom house.
Good advice Uzi, My Yankee neighbour, a mile away, calls "our" home "a nice little house". Not that it is likely to be sold but it would sell. Whereas, IMO, his 5 bed 3000 Sq. Ft. home would linger for years unless a Kano bought it. The place we now plan to build will be smaller with one bedroom and a study. KISS applies in multiples when building in a "poor" Country = Keep It Simple Stupid. Tom PS : I found this picture from your marketing days...
Tom, You have no idea how many times I used that in my career Also the question - 'what is the oldest profession' ? Answer - no not what you think - she had to sell the idea of paying for it 1st
Guenther. You will find this information on many Filipino legal and real estate websites and legal and expat forums.. They cant all be wrong..Surely? RIGHT TO OWN 1. General Rule - Only Filipino Citizens and corporations or partnerships at least 60% of the capital of which is owned by Filipinos are entitled to acquire land in the Philippines. 2. As exception to the general rule, alien acquisition of real estate in the Philippines is allowed in the following cases: a.. Acquisition before the 1935 Constitution; b.. Acquisition thru hereditary succession. If foreign acquiree is a legal heir; This simply means that when the non-Filipino is married to a Filipino citizen and the spouse dies, the non-Filipino as the natural heir will become the legal owner of the property. The same is true for the children. Every natural child (legitimate or illegitimate) can inherit the property of his/her Filipino father/mother even if he/she does not have any Filipino citizenship. http://www.liveindavao.com/foreigners-guide Another good option for some is a 25 year lease in the foreigners name from the land owner of a titled lot..This can be renewed for another 25 years.. Its not a good idea to lease directly from your wife though as Im pretty sure the anti sham laws might have something to say about that!.. I think they may also say something about the "usufructu" arrangement if the wifes natural born heirs can afford a lawyer that has knowledge about previous supreme court rulings based on the anti sham laws.. Sounds a bit dodgy to me!! Sorry! Im not concerned about my property holdings here as they will all go to my kids if I dont sell them first.. I may do that anyway before the Mrs and I get really old so that the kids dont have to pay the huge inheritance tax that would then be due.... A real burden.
The problem is the written and valid laws. I have only those as reference and they state otherwise. I have of course also consulted my lawyer(s) in that. Since 1990 and now in my third marriage i still always hear the same on that subject. But the lawyers i have can't be that bad, as i always kept my properties after the divorce. Due to certain paperwork drafted. Very complex. Now if you find any other law, i'd be glad to accept that and will pass this on to my lawyers as well, which will be equally glad. However,until then the status quo, that a husband can live until the end of his days and then the property is gone, remains. The things you say about the lease are also true. Wife is never a good idea, as husband and wife have conjugal property and its a bit hard to lease from oneself. But usually one buys land in form of a lease from a third party. Info's from forums or "sell" pages i always observe with a grain of salt. Some things get lost in "translation" and"misconception"and the only way to make sure is to have a lawyer sign, seal and attest to it. He has the obligation to inform correctly and is liable for any mistakes as well. But that is self understood of course.
I may say, if you are just starting up to build a family, better to rent at first. From then, you can search for places and can get ideas and maximize your budget. But of course, if you're in the city especially in Quezon City, Makati, etc. rent is more expensive. Also with the worth of a house to build.
