We need not be intimidated by the process of owning a house. This is also for those who are coming out of renting their home spaces. Giving your chance to own yourself a nice home poses a lot of what if and several other questions. If you’re a first-time homeowner and you still have some questions in your mind you need answers to, Bria homes is here to guide you through the process and provide you with an article of frequently asked questions from new homeowners.
Owning a home is exciting as it sounds but it is also a big responsibility. We have our dream houses and places to live; whether it’s a tiny house or a mansion. However, to achieve these things, we need to know first how to get it or what are the processes in order for you to acquire your future living spaces.
1. What are some resources I can look into for tips?
In the Age of Information, there are various readily available resources you can look into for tips and tricks for home renovation, cleaning, and as well as technical aspects of maintaining and acquiring a new home.
For a first-time homeowner, you might be clueless as to what to do first or how to move along in this big commitment in your life journey. Our very own Bria Homes website provides the latest news and updates when it comes to taking care of your home.
May be it from maximizing small spaces, taking care of your home during volcanic eruption, home gardening, creating passive income through your own house and lot and even guiding you to real estate investing.
2. What are the bills I need to take into account?
A frequently asked question of first-time homeowners usually includes bills payments and other utilities expense. If you’re coming from a place of renting a condo or any rentable place, it’s not much of a difference of what you’re paying when it comes to the utilities, but you do get to save up more because you’re not paying any rent money anymore.
Your rent money usually goes to the owner of the property however, with being a homeowner, your place is completely your own and you pay no rent money (unless it’s rent to own, which in turn, the rent money would still be beneficial).
If you lived in the condo before, you might not be familiar with the homeowners association fee and real property tax, so that’s the first thing you need to take into account. Along with that, include the usual bills such as electricity, water, gas for cooking and the new necessity: internet connectivity. Let’s not forget the most important thing which is insurance.
3. Are there other bills I need to consider that are not “necessities”?
If you feel like your affordable house and lot feels incomplete, bills may include a cable for your television, internet/WiFi, and/or phone and telecommunication service subscriptions.
You may need to have a set budget for maintenance fees as well for plumbing and electricity lines.
4. Should I get insurance for my new home?
Yes! Insurance is that one thing you never forget to acquire because it is a smart investment and an automatic choice. It guarantees security if ever something happens that is completely undesirable and out of your control. Insurances of properties include fire, typhoon, earthquake shock, and other catastrophic events. These insurances depend on which House Banking Loan you enrolled into, or what PAG-IBIG home loan you acquired.
When you choose a home loan, you usually have this insurance inserted into the loans you pay. For PAG-IBIG, they have a Non-Life insurance claim here. You see the affordable house and lot for sale and you grab the opportunity to purchase it. This should mean that you value it, therefore you don’t want to waste all your hard-earned money for paying the fee and/or loans.
Additionally, looking into insurance’s inclusions in loans not only protects your dream Bria Homes house but also you and your loved ones who live with you.
5. Do I need an agent and continue contact with an agent?
However possible it may be, It would be difficult to acquire a house on your own without an agent (Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, 2016) because you’re basically doing all the paperwork and communications all by yourself. In Bria homes, we train our agents well and will assist you in your realty queries and needs.
You can most definitely continue contact with your agent in case there are errors in paperwork and or property problems. Great agents will help you with post-purchase processes, which in turn relieves some burden because you may be moving in at this point.
6. Are there realtor fees after all the buying?
Usually and most of the time, there should be no realtors fees billed to you. Even most international countries apply this concept like in America. According to Perney (2018), the seller pays the realtor the fees. So basically, it’s not yours to pay for directly. Your agent’s expertise is all for building a good relationship with you to help you in your new home and the financial & technical paperwork to it, as well as suggesting which house and a lot is perfect for you.
7. Should I get another house after owning this one?
Ideally, you should enjoy your home first and get a feel for it before deciding what steps you need to take on, in terms of your adulting journey. Furthermore, you have to find out your budget constraints, your vision of what the 2nd home will be for, or the overall reason why you’re moving/selling/getting the house. Moreover, here is where you can make use of the communication between you and your agent. You can ask the agent for some tips for acquiring a second home.
All in all, it boils down to the reasons why you want a second home. It might be for real estate investment or provisioning a bigger space for a growing family. Consequently, budgeting is your friend here and what should have an emphasis on.
8. Does owning a home have tax benefits here in the Philippines?
Sadly, there are no tax incentives here in the Philippines (Parallag, 2021). Though it is still in the process of lobbying, we currently do not have tax benefits for being a homeowner. We can hope for one, in the far future! However, if you would be a homeowner in the US, there would be tax benefits such as real estate taxes deduction and for mortgage as well. Additionally, there are loan discount points, capital gains benefits, and origination fees deductions. These are all cited by AllBusiness Editors, (n.d.).
9. Is my decision of buying and owning a house better than renting?
Generally speaking, being a homeowner would be the better option because the property would be in your name and in your possession and. Plus, there would be no rent money. However, this could be a case-to-case basis in which budget and financial stability is taken into account.
One of the most frequently asked questions of first-time homeowners is always checking if you made the right decisions. Your decisions for the property would be entirely based on your preference, freely done and modified without much constraints. Moreover, having a home is a big and almost a lifetime commitment, but a huge asset to your life because you have provided yourself with a dwelling place for security and this investment gives more than what you’ve paid for.
10. What are the terms of payments?
The terms of payments for owning a home and continuously paying for your home would be through PAG-IBIG housing loan or through a Bank Housing Loan. It depends on which loan you enrolled in and acquired. This depends from bank to bank. Your monthly pay depends on your contract for the loan. Usually, it’s on a monthly basis. You can pay through over-the-counter, Bayad Centers, or other collecting partners such as 7-11 CliQQ in your nearest area.
11. What are the benefits of owning a home?
According to Moneymax PH (2014), owning a home in the Philippines has benefited such as security (as always!), benefits for equity, a sense of owning something, value appreciation for when you decide to sell your house in the future, and almost unrestrained customization to your preference of the interior and exterior. Furthermore, owning a home improves the credit score. With a shelter, you achieve security and share it with your loved ones.
Think of it this way, you buy a house through a loan and your loan investment would eventually pay off because the property is yours to keep as opposed to renting in which rent money could be as big as your loan (Moneymax PH, 2014).
12. What are other things should I consider aside from utilities for the first time?
One thing that you should consider is moving in costs and cleaning costs. If you bought a pre-owned house, you would want a deep clean for it for a fresh new start. There are a lot of cleaning services available on InstagramInstagram such as GoodWork.ph (@goodwork.ph), or you can do it yourself as your first adulting experience for the house.
It’s kind of like building a ritual or a routine for your newly obtained dwelling place. For moving in costs, of course, you would have to transfer in your interior furniture, bed, and clothes. Moving trucks can be hired nowadays with just the click of a button online.
13. Should I consider rent to own on my list?
Though rare in other countries as in the U.S. (Hiscock, 2019), rent-to-own properties have been popping up here in the Philippines. On the contrary, rent-to-own properties here are on the low-cost level. It’s a good investment if you will be living in that rent-to-own space in the next 10-20 years, which is one of the questions you should ask yourself if you’re going to acquire this type of investment (de Jesus, 2018).
14. Are there any home hacks that I need to know?
There are a number of house hacks blogs and vlogs out there that are informative and straight to the point. They will give you tips and tricks as to how to maintain your house if you know little to nothing about it. Some hacks would say that you need HVAC (heater, ventilation, and cooling systems) in check and maintained by your designated personnel so there would not be any problems (Hiron-Barrie, 2020).
Another hack is that you should always check your roof in case there would be future leaks because there are 20 storms on an average here in the Philippines. Lastly, another important thing you should know is some hacks in preventing pests! Pests are common locally such as rats, cockroaches, and anay. So, better to clean out darker corners and store left-over food properly and clean regularly.
15. Are there things I need to set up after settling in my new house?
A good way to start is setting up emergency routes and kits, some extinguishers, and alarms in case of break-ins. Here is a list from Mueller (2019) of the Moving.Com blog:
– child/pet-proof everything
– Check the water pressure, water valve, and fuse box
– Double-check utilities such as water, electricity, internet, etc.
– Clean the house (deep clean)
– Meet the neighbors!
– There are a lot more blogs out there about this; You’ll never know, maybe once you have settled in your space after a year or two, you’ll be the one making these kinds of blogs!
Relaxing into the new home
There is a difference, be it financially or physically, when renting out and transitioning into a fully-owned home so it might get overwhelming to adjust to the space. May this article help you enjoy your new home and help answer your queries. Bria homes is here to assist you in any way we can.
Sources
AllBusiness Editors. (n.d.). 7 Frequently Asked Questions by First-Time Home Buyers. all Business. Retrieved August 21, 2021, from https://www.allbusiness.com/frequently-asked-questions-by-first-time-home-buyers-93866-1.html
Arnold, C. (2019, February 20). 7 Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Buying Your First Home. Arnold Property. https://arnoldproperty.com.au/7-answers-to-the-most-frequently-asked-questions-about-buying-your-first-home/
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. (2016, March 1). FIRST-TIME HOME BUYING HELP: 10 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS! Berkshire Hathaway. https://www.thepreferredrealty.com/blog/article/first-time-home-buying-help-10-frequently-asked-questions-and-answers/
de Jesus, M. (2018, February 15). 8 Important Questions to Ask Before You Get a Rent-to-Own Home. Real Living. https://www.realliving.com.ph/real-estate/money-matters/8-important-questions-to-ask-before-you-get-a-rent-to-own-home-a247-20180215
Hiscock, K., & Hiscock, K. (2021). Top Frequently Asked Questions From Home Buyers. Rochester Real Estate Blog. Retrieved August 21, 2021, from https://www.rochesterrealestateblog.com/top-frequently-asked-questions-home-buyers/
Moneymax PH. (2014, April 18). Buying or renting a house? Here are the pros and cons. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/business/buying-renting-house-pros-cons
Mueller, L. (2019, October 22). 10 Important Things to Do When Moving into a New Home. Moving.com. https://www.moving.com/tips/10-important-things-to-do-when-moving-into-a-new-home/
Parallag, F. (2021, July 2). Philippines Individual – Other tax credits and incentives. PWC Worldwide Tax Summaries. https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/philippines/individual/other-tax-credits-and-incentives
Perney, J. (2018). FAQs for First Time Home Buyers. Amerifirst Home Mortgage. https://www.amerifirst.com/amerifirst-blog/faqs-for-first-time-home-buyers
BRIA Homes is a subsidiary of GOLDEN MV Holdings, Inc., one of the largest real estate companies in the country. BRIA Homes is primed to bring quality and affordable house and lot packages and condominium units closer to ordinary Filipino families. This is the goal that drives every single employee in the company, for which the ultimate fulfillment is seeing a client happily moving into BRIA’s homes.
To know more, visit their website at www.bria.com.ph, like and follow “Bria Homes, Inc.” on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Spotify, Viber Community, Telegram Channel, Kakao Talk, LINE and WhatsApp, or call 0939-887-9637.
Written by Adrianne Jane Patinio
