BUYING GUIDE
Contract to sell vs deed of sale
The two instruments a Philippine property sale moves through — what each binds, and where buyers carry the risk.
2 min read · Last reviewed October 19, 2026 · All guides
Two different promises
A Contract to Sell (CTS) is a promise: the seller agrees to sell once the buyer completes the stated conditions — usually full payment of the price in instalments. Ownership does not pass yet; the CTS is why pre-selling and instalment deals can exist at all.
A Deed of Absolute Sale (DOAS) is the transfer itself: signed and notarised, it conveys ownership, and it is the document the BIR taxes and the Registry of Deeds acts on. You can sign a dozen CTS drafts and own nothing; one notarised DOAS transfers the title.
When each one gets used
Developer sales and instalment deals run CTS first, DOAS at completion — the buyer's protection is the developer's License to Sell and Maceda Law (RA 6552) cancellation refunds. Private cash resales usually skip the CTS entirely: agreed terms, earnest money, straight to the DOAS once due diligence clears.
- CTS — instalments, pre-selling, pending loan release: payment first, title later.
- DOAS — cash resales and completed deals: the notarised instrument that moves the title.
- Contract of sale (rare private variant) — binds the sale itself but still needs the DOAS to transfer.
The risk inside a CTS
Under a CTS you are paying toward a promise, so the clauses matter more than the price: what happens to paid instalments if the developer defaults, whether interest accrues, how delays in turnover are remedied and exactly what triggers cancellation. Maceda Law gives instalment buyers a grace period and a refund floor after two years of payments — read how the contract phrases it.
Pay nothing on a CTS until you have seen the License to Sell for the project (developer deals) or a certified true copy of the title (private deals).
Signing the deed
The DOAS is where lawyers earn their fee: verify every signatory against the title (all heirs, both spouses for conjugal property, the SPA holder), confirm the technical description matches, and insist the notarisation happens before money moves. After signing, the BIR taxes and Registry of Deeds transfer take weeks — keep the notarised original safe; it is your only proof until the new title prints.
This guide is orientation, not legal advice — a Philippine property lawyer reviewing your actual documents is the right spend before any large signature.