Real Estate Agents Cebu City

[MikeyD]

Does anyone know of a good real estate agent/agency in the Cebu City area?  We met one a couple of weeks ago and they were only able to show us 3 or 4 houses that met our criteria and it seemed like they couldn't or wouldn't show us more.  We need to see a variety of houses before even considering purchasing one.  Maybe there isn't really a MLS here similar to the US and/or the agent we talked to doesn't subscribe.  Or maybe we just have to contact several agents and see what houses they can show us.  We have been searching some of the online sites as well.  We are just working our way through figuring out how all of this works here.  Any insights/experiences/suggestions are appreciated.

[gbmmbg]

There is no MLS in the philippines. I found the best way to find a house is to ask the guards in the subdivision you want to move into. They seem to know what houses are up for sale and welcome to Cebu.

 

 

[Jollygoodfellow]

2 hours ago, MikeyD said:

Does anyone know of a good real estate agent/agency in the Cebu City area?

Yes. I just asked my agent friend if he had houses and he does. He is a really nice guy that lives in my tower. So if you want I can connect you.

Also, a member in the previous post says there is no MLS but I have to respectfully disagree. 

[OnMyWay]

3 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Also, a member in the previous post says there is no MLS but I have to respectfully disagree. 

Details?

[Jollygoodfellow]

9 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

Details?

Google is your friend. 

[Old55]

Philippines real estate is nothing like US. 

Anytime a rich foreigner is involved the prices usually go up sometimes substantially. Prices are all over the place in some cases a property will be for sale for years at a ridiculous price.

Sales prices are almost never published there is no way to actually know what the market value is. Agents may only have a couple houses and are secretive about them in fear another agent may take it. Many houses are sold by owners by word of mouth or a placard on the property. 

Often properties are sometimes not properly titled you MUST know about how this works its common to be sold a contested even fake deed.

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Google is your friend. 

There are a few websites with MLS in the name, but perhaps you are referring to MLS.Com.PH?  That is a far cry from the Multiple Listing Service we have in the US.

https://www.mls.com/

MLS.COM.PH appears to just be another real estate website, but they restrict their listing to accredited agents.  They have about 395 single family residential listings for the entire country.  Most of them have only 1 picture and to get more info, you have to request it from the agent.

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by OnMyWay

[OnMyWay]

8 minutes ago, Old55 said:

Sales prices are almost never published there is no way to actually know what the market value is.

I don't know of any way but I'm sure some locals know how to dig the price that was reported to the government.  The likelihood that that figure is accurate is slim.

[Jollygoodfellow]

2 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

There are a few websites with MLS in the name, but perhaps you are referring to MLS.Com.PH?  That is a far cry from the Multiple Listing Service we have in the US.

https://www.mls.com/

MLS.COM.PH appears to just be another real estate website, but they restrict their listing to accredited agents.  They have about 395 single family residential listings for the entire country.  Most of them have only 1 picture and to get more info, you have to request it from the agent.

 

I understand what you are saying and I was not referring to any particular website. Maybe a miss communication of the meaning of MLS but If I go back a year or so another friend who left his RE wife for a ladyboy had a huge list of properties to look through which was for REA,s to see. Anyway, I don't care much at all but I know I can help the OP with more than one of my contacts if he so well chooses to engage. 

Just to add, yes it makes a difference as to where in the Philippines you are as to what is available to see, knowledge base such as listings. Province ETC would be more word of mouth of course. 

[Gator]

8 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I don't know of any way but I'm sure some locals know how to dig the price that was reported to the government.  The likelihood that that figure is accurate is slim.

Wouldn’t the BIR have the tax assessed value? I don’t know if it’s public record or not. And I also don’t know how accurate it is in gauging the real value of the property. What I do know is they can adjust that number based on how they are feeling that day or how much of a donation you make towards their Red Horse fund. 
 

Case in point: The property my wife and bought in Cebu was assessed by the BIR at 3.3m. The last time they they actually sent someone out to “survey” (asses) the land was over 10 years ago. The current ACV of the property, based on recent sales reported by the bamboo telegraph, was closer to 1.5m. The BIR told the wife they increased the value because the taxes have not been paid nor was the estate tax ever paid. So they raised it to get more pesos out of the owners or future buyers. After a bit of negotiation and some pasalobong the value was reduced to the ACV. 
 

Bottom line….the BIR’s assessed value may not always be accurate, but it still might be worth checking. You might be able to get the assessed value of some of the neighboring properties / houses as well (provided they are of similar size and condition) to use as a baseline. If anything you can see if the taxes have been paid and are current (strongly recommended to check that).