Selling your home in the Philippines

Get your documents in order first

Buyers and their banks ask for papers before they talk price. Have them ready before you list: the original TCT or CCT, the latest real property tax (RPT) receipts and tax declaration, and a government ID matching the name on the title. If you are selling for someone else, you need a notarised Special Power of Attorney (SPA) naming you.

Your listing can go live while you gather papers, but a buyer's lawyer pulling a certified true copy will find anything left undisclosed — settle mortgages, arrears and annotations before you accept offers.

• Original owner's duplicate TCT/CCT — the basis of every certified true copy pull.
• Latest RPT receipts and the current tax declaration from the assessor.
• Valid ID matching the titled name; SPA if you sign for the owner.
• For condos: the management office's clearance that dues are current.

Price from evidence, not hope

The asking price buyers take seriously sits within reach of comparable sales. The estimate tool shows the median ₱/m² for your city and type, your listing page reports how your ask compares, and the sold feed shows what similar homes actually closed at. Overpricing does not just slow the sale — the listing ages publicly and invites lowball offers.

What the seller pays at closing

By convention the seller shoulders the 6% Capital Gains Tax on the higher of price or zonal value, plus any unpaid real property tax up to closing — but convention is negotiable, so put the split in writing before earnest money moves. The buyer typically pays documentary stamp tax, transfer tax and registration; an itemised list lives in the closing-costs guide.

CGT is due to the BIR within 30 days of the notarised deed — the Certificate Authorizing Registration is what lets the Registry of Deeds issue the buyer's new title, so delays there delay the whole transfer.

From listing to signed deed

A clean sequence: publish with honest photos and a real floor area, answer enquiries inside a day (the panel tracks your response time), agree the price and terms in writing, take earnest money only against a signed acknowledgement, then notarise the deed of absolute sale and work through the BIR–assessor–Registry of Deeds transfer trail. The agent panel carries each step — replies, viewings, offers and the sold status that notifies every watcher when you close.