Buying
Buying a house in the Philippines without a broker
The licensing law exempts anyone selling their own property, so an owner may lawfully sell to you with no broker and no licence.
Where private sellers actually list in the Philippines
Each of these is a separate pool. A saved search on one tells you nothing about the others, so set up alerts on every one you intend to use.
- Anyone.com Listed by the owner
Homes listed by the people who own them, in one searchable place rather than scattered across group posts and roadside signs. You deal with the owner directly, and the notarised deed and registration then happen exactly as they must.
More than 31 million active listings across 31 markets, agent-represented and owner-listed together. Lamudi carries mostly developer and broker stock.
Search owner-listed homes ↗ - Facebook Marketplace and local groups Owners can list
Buyer filter Search the city or barangay name with for sale by owner or direct owner
This is the honest answer to where Filipino owners actually sell, and it is not a portal. Provincial and city buy-and-sell groups carry more owner-listed property than every property site combined. Nothing is verified, no title is shown, and you will be doing all the checking yourself.
- Carousell Property Owners can list
Buyer filter No owner filter. Search direct owner, which sellers write into the title themselves
Absorbed Property24 Philippines in 2022 and is the main classifieds route where an individual can post freely. Be realistic about the scale: a national search on owner terms returns on the order of a hundred results, which for a country of this size tells you the searchable owner market is very small.
- Lamudi Owners can list
Buyer filter None found
Describes itself as carrying developers, brokers and private owners, but it monetises listing packages and is overwhelmingly developer and broker stock, much of it pre-selling condominiums. Useful for the market picture rather than for finding an owner.
- Property listings in local papers and on site Owners can list
Buyer filter Not applicable
Worth saying plainly because it is still true here: a sign on the gate and word through a local lawyer or barangay office reaches sellers no website has. If you are buying in a specific area, ask locally.
How many homes this really covers
The searchable owner market here is genuinely small. A national keyword search on the main classifieds site returns around a hundred owner-listed properties, and the real private market lives in Facebook groups where it cannot be filtered, sorted or verified. The property portals are built for developers selling pre-selling condominiums, not for one family selling to another. Expect to do local legwork rather than portal work.
The Real Estate Service Act, section 28
Practising real estate service in the Philippines needs a licence from the Professional Regulation Commission, and brokering without one is an offence. But section 28 exempts a person, natural or juridical, performing those acts with reference to their own property. So a homeowner may lawfully advertise, show and sell their own house with no licence and no broker, and you may lawfully buy it from them. The exemption does not extend to real estate developers, who must use licensed people. If anyone tells you a private sale needs a broker to be legal, this is the provision that says otherwise.
In force since 30 June 2009. Read the legislation
Buying one, step by step
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Get a certified true copy of the title before anything else
From the Registry of Deeds, not from the seller. It shows the registered owner and any annotations, liens or adverse claims. This is the step that prevents almost every Philippine property horror story, and it costs very little.
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Check the tax declaration and real property tax clearance
From the assessor's and treasurer's offices. They confirm what is declared, who is paying and whether anything is owed. Arrears follow the property.
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Verify who is actually selling
Match the name on the title to a government ID. Where the owner has died, an extrajudicial settlement is needed before anyone can sell, and where the seller is married, the spouse's consent is required. Both are common reasons a sale unwinds later.
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Have a lawyer prepare the deed of absolute sale
It has to be notarised, and the notary is not drafting it for your protection. A lawyer's fee here is small against the price and this is where your conditions belong.
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Pay the taxes in the right order
The seller's capital gains tax and your documentary stamp tax go to the tax bureau, which issues the certificate authorising registration. Without that certificate the Registry will not act, so the sequence matters more than the amounts.
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Register the sale and get the new title issued
Transfer tax to the local government, then registration at the Registry of Deeds. You are not the owner until the new title carries your name, whatever the notarised deed says.
Check before any money moves
- A certified true copy of the title from the Registry of Deeds, with its annotations page
- Documentary stamp tax at 1.5 percent of the price or zonal value, whichever is higher, which is the buyer's
- Transfer tax to the local government, capped at half a percent in provinces and three quarters in Metro Manila cities
- The tax declaration, real property tax clearance and any arrears attached to the property
- Spousal consent where the seller is married, and an extrajudicial settlement where an owner has died
- For a subdivision or condominium, the developer's licence to sell and the association's dues and arrears
Selling one instead? See where to list a home yourself in the Philippines , or the full guide to selling without an agent in the Philippines .
Common questions
Is it legal to buy directly from an owner in the Philippines?
Yes. The licensing law requires a licence to practise real estate service, and then exempts anyone dealing with their own property. An owner may advertise and sell their own house without a broker or a licence. Only developers are outside that exemption.
Where do owners actually advertise?
Facebook groups and Marketplace, overwhelmingly. Carousell carries some, though a national owner search returns only around a hundred results. Lamudi is mostly developer and broker stock. If you want owner-sold property, expect to search locally rather than through a portal.
What does a buyer pay on top of the price?
Documentary stamp tax at 1.5 percent, transfer tax at up to three quarters of a percent in Metro Manila, and the registration fee, so roughly ₱135,000 to ₱140,000 on a ₱5,000,000 purchase before your lawyer. The seller separately owes capital gains tax at 6 percent.
Does notarising the deed make me the owner?
No, and this misunderstanding costs people property. Notarisation makes the deed a public instrument and valid between the two of you. Ownership passes only on registration with the Registry of Deeds and the issue of a new title in your name.
Do I need a lawyer if there is no broker?
No law requires one, which is the reason to hire one. Nobody in the transaction is checking title on your behalf: the notary is not, and the Registry records rather than investigates. A lawyer doing the title check is the cheapest protection available.
Sources
Every legal, tax, and process claim on this page traces to one of these. We re-check them on a schedule and date the page when anything changes.
- Real Estate Service Act of 2009, including the section 28 exemptionsProfessional Regulation Commission · prc.gov.ph
- Capital gains tax and documentary stamp tax on property salesBureau of Internal Revenue · bir.gov.ph
- Land registration and certified true copies of titleLand Registration Authority · lra.gov.ph
- Property24 Philippines folds into CarousellMalaya Business Insight · malaya.com.ph