Now that we have the property we wanted, the next step would also be the stressful. That is the payment. haha. At first I thought that those ‘RENT TO OWN’ schemes means you can move in even without any cash out, I was wrong. Just like those commercialized subdivision, wherein you have to pay for a certain amount for equity, PAG-IBIG also requires you to pay the seller a percentage of the sell price before they will grant you the loan. I was suprised by this declaration by our agent. I thought the PAGIBIG loan will pay everything for the house and lot we are buying.
It’s a blessing that the company where my husband is working has a tie up with a bank wherein there employees are allowed to apply for a loan. And we are lucky that the exchange rate for the currency is high. 1kd = Php 180 at the time we are buying our house. I think at first we gave a 30% downpayment to the seller of the house. After that the agent did all the ‘dirty works’ involved in the loan application in Pag Ibig.
Actually we have two choices in terms of source of money. Since the husband is an OFW and his salary is a little bit higher than usual we don’t have difficulty in the application. We can either get the loan through bank or through PAGIBIG. Why did we choose the later? Well, for one it’s I think our right to use it. It’s one of the tools that is available from the government to aid their citizen. Second, I think their interest rate is lower and year of payment is longer as compared to banks. And lastly, which the agent pointed out to us. If something untoward happens to the borrower ( ie. death), the loan is written off, the house is given to the dependents. In short, there is security.
I came to know all about this through our real estate agent. She patiently discussed with me the ins and outs of buying the house. She also was the one who processed the necessary documents for the housing loan, which includes :
- Power of Attorney (since the husband is in Kuwait)
- Passport of the husband
- Contract of the husband
- Copy of the remittance slip
- Marriage contract
- Certificate of the sale
Truth is, what we only did was to attend the seminar/counseling in Pag Ibig and the rest was handled by the agent. Oh, we spend a day or two at the Pagibig Overseas Program in Gil Puyat because we realized it is much faster if we avail of the housing loan through the POP program. More on this later.
