Q. My husband and I have a house and lot in the Philippines. We have decided to sell it. The property is under my name. My brother in-law and his family had been staying in the house for almost 20 years now.
They are not renting it and they are aware of our decision to sell the property.
My husband and I are getting older and we need to settle this property while we are still able to do it.
Atty. Wong, I need your advice on how to proceed in selling the house while we are in Canada. Is it safe to get the service of real estate agents in the Philippines to sell the house for us?
Please advice and I am really grateful that you are there to guide us and our kababayans for our legal concerns. Maraming salamat po. MS
ANS:
Yes, definitely you can sell your property in the Philippines despite
Your being physically absent in the country notwithstanding the fact
that your brother-in-law and his family are in possession of your for
the last twenty (20) years.
In the selling of your property and considering that you are
physically absent in the Philippines, this can be effected by the
following:
1. First you have to appoint a trusted agent/representative in the
Philippines. It could be your lawyer or real estate professional,
relatives or family friend of your trust and confidence.
2. The appointment of your agent can be effected by means of
executing a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) in favour of you trusted
agent or representative. In order that this SPA will be recognized in
the Philippines, it is essential that this document (SPA) must be
signed and duly notarized or acknowledged before our Philippine
Consulate in Canada.
3. This SPA should specifically empower and duly authorized the
agent, to sign, executes and delivers the necessary Deed of Absolute Sale
involving the transfer, sale and conveyance of your property in the
Philippines, for and on your behalf.
4. Thus, on the basis on this SPA, your agent/representative(s) may
execute the necessary Deed of Absolute Sale in favour of the buyer,
for and on your behalf. After the signing of the Deed of Absolute
Sale, then the property is deemed considered as conveyed. Of course, this process also entails that you entrust the original duplicate of your land title to your agent who will in turn surrender the said title to the buyer upon the execution of the Deed and receipt of the full payment thereof.
5. As you to your question whether it is safe for you to secure the
services of your real estate agent for the purpose? It’s difficult to
say because as I have said, the matter of appointing your agent or
representative for your SPA is a matter of Complete Trust that
could only be determined by you alone.
6. It is also worth stressing to give your agent/representative an
authority in the SPA to initiate legal proceedings for ejectment in
the event that your brother-in-law his family or whoever is in
possession of your property refuses to vacate and surrender
peacefully their possession of your property.
7. You could also make an arrangement with the prospective buyer(s)
to have the burden or responsibility of ejecting the tenants under
his/her account, including the payment of the corresponding capital
gains tax, documentary stamp tax and other fees. So that in effect
under this arrangement, what you will receive as payment or
consideration or the selling price will be on net basis.
Thank you for writing and looking forward you’ll find the above in order.