Pagibig Financing

Pag-IBIG Fund, Housing Loans, Mortgage, Membership, Foreclosures, etc

Getting a Loan? First Consider Getting A Pre-Qualification.

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This is a very common scenario: Juan thinks he likes the house shown to him by the real estate broker. On impulse, he pays for a reservation fee to hold the property in his favour without even considering how much he has to cover for the down payment. A few days later thinks about mortgage financing.

Can you spot what’s wrong with Juan’s approach to buying?

Most likely than not, this will eventually lead him to losing his reservation fee… down the drain. Poor Juan, he never even knew what he is getting into.

Of course, Juan is not alone. I’ve seen many, many cases like this happen over and over again. I don’t know if it is the excitement of buying a house or just plain ignorance that caused them to be trapped into the deal.

For most of us, real estate is one of the most expensive investments we can make. That is why, many properties are bought in instalments, usually using mortgage loans with a little down payment.

Before you buy a piece of real estate, it helps if know the following:

  1. The Amount of Down Payment you can comfortably shell out.
  2. The Loan Amount you can comfortably shoulder.

Of the two, the second one is far more important because a mortgage loan entails a longer payment period and will probably take toll on your household budget.

The Loan Pre-Qualification Process

Pre-Qualification is an assessment process used to determine how much loan you can get. It can be either informal or formal.

An Informal Pre-Qualification can be done by you or by any real estate agent. This is a really quick-and-dirty method of determining how much you can afford based on the following factors:

  • Your income
  • Outstanding Debt

Since the person doing an informal pre-qualification is not really committed in giving you the loan, what usually happens is the whole process becomes simply an exercise in fantasy. That is, you could bloat your income or lower down your current debt. An ball park figure might come out giving you an idea of how much loan you can afford or you might be granted.

On the other hand, if you are really serious in buying a property, you should get a Formal Pre-Qualification. This process takes a little longer. At the very least, it involves the following:

  • Going to the office of a lending institution (Bank, Pag-IBIG)
  • Having you sign a Loan Application Form
  • You lay down your financial life on paper (your income, other assets, liabilities, outstanding loans, etc)
  • You may be asked some personal questions
  • Submitting some form of income documents
  • Checking On your Credit History

No Guarantee Of Getting A Loan

Take note that getting pre-qualified is not a guarantee that the lending institution will also grant you the loan that you can possibly afford. That involves an entirely different set of assessments.

The fact of the matter is you can pre-qualify yourself if you know the parameters used by the lender in the pre-qualification process.

The advantage of getting a formal pre-qualification is once you apply for a loan, the processing time will be a bit shorter since some preliminary steps have already been done in evaluating you as a loan applicant. The trick is to apply for a loan immediately as soon as you got pre-qualified. If you delay it, then you have to undergo another set of evaluations and a new set of fresh documents will be asked of you.

~~~

This article on Loan Pre-Qualification is written by Carlos Velasco.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. cover po ba ng housing loan yung mga binebenta lang na bahay na hindi naman dumadaan sa mga real estate company? Ito po yung direct to the owner na mabibili.

    • Hi Nelson,

      That is beyond the scope of this website, but there are documents to check:

      1. Business Registration and Permits — the first one to check
      2. Registration with HLURB
      3. License to Sell / Development Permit — of the project they are selling (may not be released yet during pre-selling period)
      4. Of course, registration with BIR — they should be able to give you an OR for all of your transactions that involve the use of money

  3. Pwede po ba e re-finance yong bahay at lupa ko. Di pa Titled yong lupa

  4. I paid full downpayment of 30 percent value of a real estate. Then the developer said “I will have nothing to worry about extra payments in the future since my DP has been settled, I need only to pay for the monthly mortgage” so I signed a contract.
    After 6 months I was told I need to pay 150,000 more because the Pag-Ibig assessment was lower than the real estate value of the developer. They also argued that the loan amount that I applied for was assessed to be lower. I have a Pag-Ibig POP account.

    My question is, which price should be followed? Pag-Ibig assessment or Developers pricing? Should I pay the 150k?

  5. May Idea po kayo how much monthly contribution sa Pag Ibig,para makapag avail ng loan ng 3million i do have a commercial lot,(pwde ko po gawin collateral? planning to put up a Business Blg,low interest rate po kase sa pag ibig kesa sa bank. Thank you

    • Jenny,

      Please be informed that Pag-IBIG Housing Loan is only for residential purpose; that is, your 3M loan should be for use in constructing or buying a residential unit. To be granted a 3M loan, or any loan amount for that matter, you need to show them some proof of your capacity to pay.

  6. itatanong ko lang po kung pwede akong mgloan ng House Improvement. Pero nkapangalan sa father ko ang bahay at lupa,more than 2 years napo akong member sa pagibig at dito ako sa abroad ng-pamember,kung halimbawang pwede akong maka avail ng house improvement,mgkano ang posibleng mailoan at ilan taon kong babayaran? at kung ano mga requirements? im looking 4ward for ur reply!thnx!

    • Hi Fe,

      One of the requirements is that the Land title must be in the name of the member who is applying for the loan.

  7. Meron po akong nabili thru Sale of Rights under National Housing Authority (NHA) programs pero nag-apply na po ako ng condonation with them (NHA), pwede ko po bang ipasok sa housing program ng pag-ibig kasi hindi pa po ako na-bill ng NHA for the monthly amortization saka voluntary payment po ang sa NHA gusto ko po kasi na salary deduction. Pagibig member po ako for five (5) years. Thank you and more power.

  8. panu po pag may history ng credit card n late payments. magiging criteria b yan ng checking nu?

    • Irene,

      Pag-IBIG may not be able to look into that one yet. Thanks to our backward technology. 😉

      But if you have a history of late payments, you should consider fixing that one first before embarking on a new problem.

  9. ah ok thanks. nope actually it is ok already. my concern is what if this will also one of the factor for checking credit credibility, in this i can ask for the certification for the credit card company.

  10. Hi another question, wer can we get this “Approved Membership Status Verification Slip (MSVS) – original copy”

  12. hello
    ask q lng po gusto po nming mg loan s pag ibig pero dp kmi member, ofw po ung husband q, pwede po bng aq nlng mgpmember pra sknya? anu po bng dpt ang requirements pra mging member cya kc nsa ibang bansa po cia… slmat

  13. hi, juz want to ask because b4 i left phil. i avial the 1st loan at pag ibig which is amounting to almost 4thou pesos only,how much interest im gona pay if i failed to pay for it for almost 3 years?tnx…

    • Aileen,

      The interest rate varies from time to time so to really check the interest rate when you got the loan, please visit the Pag-IBIG office.

  14. I am planning to buy a lot that cost <1M. I also want to build apartment on that lot once it was transferred to me. So i'll be needing around 2M. Is it possible for me to loan and for that much?
    Thanks.

    • Abe,

      Nice question!

      Of course, there is no easy answer with this little information we have. The best thing is for you to visit Pag-IBIG and ask for a pre-qualification. There are a lot of factors to be considered in order for Pag-IBIG to even give you a rough estimate on the loanable amount and the loan term.

      Hint: You may also visit your favorite bank for pre-qualification.

    • Roderick,

      It’s about two weeks to a months. But it depends on many factors. To be safe, when you apply a loan, ask the staff for an estimated time frame to follow-up. Then follow-up via phone from that time on.

    • Accin,

      As of now, Pag-IBIG will not be able to look at that yet. But if the record of the borrower is really questionable at the Credit Card company, do you think the behavior would be changed if gets a Pag-IBIG Loan?

  18. hi, we have existing housing loan but can only avail thru in house and bank financing (we’re on going payment on DP), gusto ko po sanang gamitin yung pag ibig housing loan ko since i’ve been member for 13 yrs already, Is there anyway that I can still avail housing loan or any other loans para I could use to pay / add on my principal to reduce my monthly amort?

  19. hi, gud morning.
    nga-apply po aq ng housing loan q thru filmal realty sa pag-ibig.
    kaya lng po ngkaroon ng issue ang globe asaitique.
    possible po b na individual n lang mag-apply?
    sinasabi kac ng tag-filmal mahihirapan aq mg-apply.
    inooffer n lng is in house financing. which is mas mataas ang interest rate.
    sino po b ang dapat kung kausapin about sa issue n e2.
    na-aalarm n po aq kc malaking pera n nabitiwan q.
    nsa labas p namn ng pinas ang asawa q. ang pagkkaalam nya ay maloloan take out n kmi sa pag-ibig.
    un pala iniipit pa ng taga-globe asiatique.

  21. kapag nag-apply ng housing loan kelangan po ba makita ng pag-ibig staff na sinisimulan ko na ang house construction sa nabili kong lupa, bago pa ako magkaroon ng PDC galing pag-ibig?

  22. Hi Zenith,

    Only members are illegible for housing loan. Please check the article under Membership category for the answer to your other questions.

  24. Hi Melanie,

    Did you ask your agent what he means by “mahihirapan” kang mag-apply ng loan sa Pag-IBIG?

    Maybe he is right and he knows what’s really going on with the company and the project.

  26. puwede po ba akong maghulog nang minsanan sa pagibig membership fund for the total of 12 mos.? depende po ba ang halagang ihuhulog sa tinatanggap na sahod? at kung puwede po na once ihuhulog yung 12 mos. membership, puwede rin po ba na mag-loan kaagad, for housing project??
    thank you po sa answer ninyo..

  27. me and my husband is planning to get a a house. which one is better, loan through bank financing or through PAG IBIG?
    how true po ang sabi nila na pag sa PAG IBIG, as part of insurance, pag nwala ung member na nag loan (knock on wood)automatically the house will become as good as paid na but through bank its different?

    • Hi Mysty,

      “Better” here means a lot of things. For some Pag-IBIG is good because it offers long term financing. For others Bank Loan is much better due to their competitive rate and to have a good business relationship with the bank.

      If you are covered by Mortgage Redemption Insurance, then it is good as paid if that happens.

  28. halimbawa member ako ng pag ibig,nkapag loan ako…sa di inaasahang pangyayari,nmatay ako?sino magbabayad ng naiwan kong utang sa pag ibig?

    • Erick,

      Of course, you don’t want that happening to you. 😉

      If that happens, your housing loan is already fully paid. That’s the purpose of Mortgage Redemption Insurance.

  29. ask ko narin po..kung mag member po ba ako at piliin ko ung maximum na contributions ,at pag nareach ko na ung 2 years pwede npo b ako mag loan ng multi purpose loan,na pwedeng gamitin sa pabahay at negosyo?for example 2million..ano po requirements para ma availko?tnx po

  33. meron po kming pending loan mag asawa,pareho po kming unemployed when we got that loan a few years back at nd rin po nmin nahulugan ung aming contribution.Now ofw n po cya & I plan to pay our loan & continue d contribution.will the record of having an unpaid loan before be a factor in availing a housing loan in the future.

  34. Hi Mam,
    Nakakuha po ako ng bahay sa GlobeAsiatique at nabayaran ko na yung kabuuan ng halaga ng property (Inhouse loan). Isat kalahating taon ko ng nabayaran yung property pero hanggang ngayon di pa rin naiproprocess yung transfer of title. Tinawagan ko ang pagibig hotline dahil nakita ko sa likod ng title na kopya ko na under mortgage yung property (Incumbrance)sa pagibig. Paano po nangyari na nakapasok ang property sa pagibig pati ang pangalan ko ng wala naman akong pinipirmahang documento. Globe Asiatique buy back the property from Pagibig. Sino po ba yung pwedeng tumulong sa akin. 1.4 million yung halaga ng bahay at kung susumahin mo yung 5 taon na binabayaran ko yung inhouse at the rate of 18% pumapatak na po ng more than 2.5 million yung bahay. I hope pagibig can help me on this issue.

  35. kung nasa maximum contribution po ako at gusto ko mag loan ng multipurpose ..ex:2 million ,ang meron lng po ako 300 sqm na resedential lot at maliit na bussiness…may chance po ba na ma avail ko ung 2million??

    tnx po……….

  36. ask ko lng po kung member nko pwede din b mag member asawa ko?pano kung nkapg loan xa?pwede pba ako mag loan?tnx po

  37. kpag na avail kopo ung multi purpose loan pwede po ba gamitin pang pabahay at png business?kc my bussiness po kmi,gusto po namin na mag ka branch

  38. contribution kopo 1450 monthly,maaavail korin po ba ung maximum loanable amount n 3million?or depende din po sa income?tnx po

  39. May i know how much monthly ang payment if in case na avail ko ang 3M na loan? How do we get the Mortgage Redemption Insurance?

  40. Hi ask ko lng po, may condo po kc ung tita ko na na foreclose amounting 700thou pero nkabayad na sya ng 300thou, gusto ko po sna ipagpatuloy un under my name,and i would like to get a pag-ibig loan for that, pwd po bang icontinue yung nabayaran nya, pero ako na ang bagong owner, pero kukunin ko po sya thru pag-ibig member po kc ako for 10yrs na. Maicontinue ko pa ba ung nabayaran nya,under my name na.kc nkita ko po ung unit nsa acquired assets na ng pag-ibig with a new price (higher price). thanks po looking forward for your reply.

  43. Im a young working professional for about a year now and i want to apply for a housing loan. what are the chances of me qualifying for it?

  44. gud day po, ask ko lang sana about sa loan ng partner ko, 5yrs ago nag loan sia hindi po hinulugan ng company,balak po nmin mag housing loan,pano po kaya ang pa process nun eh my loan pa po sia at mgkano n po kya un nw?tnx po..

  45. hello po. ask ko lang po kasi gusto ko magpply ng housing loan. may developer na po and im about to pay the reservation fee but would it be better if malaman ko muna kung magkano iggrant sakin na amount for housing loan? 3yrs na po akong member. I still have existing salary loan, nasa 3k plus lang naman.. just want to seek your advice kung ano mas mabuting step.. nasa 840k ang contract price, sabi ng developer 745k ang loanable amount,. possible po kaya na magrant ako ng ganung amount?

    your response will be greatly appreciated.
    thank you po.

  47. Lorie,

    First you need to understand that the loan is not the obligation of your partner’s employer. He is the borrower and he should be the one to pay for it.

    What usually happens is that the loan payment is through a series of salary deductions. This requires that you notify the company that you have a loan with Pag-IBIG.

  49. Hi Birdie,

    Pag-IBIG never guarantees that your loan will be approved. As for the refund from the developer, it depends on them. Please check with your developer.

  50. Hi admin,

    Say I have 7 years remaining in my housing loan at 5900 pesos per month (7% interest considered) and i want to pre-terminate it now, how much lumpsome amount shall i pay? are there no pretermination fees for pagibig? can i expect savings from this? thanks

    • Marlon,

      There is no pre-termination fee and Pag-IBIG will even like it if you can pay early. The amount due will be the balance on your loan. And yes, you can save on the Interest payments.

  51. Do you have a list of those properties which are foreclosed or in a verge of being foreclosed and now for sale? Thanks.

  52. I applied for a multi-ourpose loan mid-october. As per my employer, it will take some more weeks or months, as pag-IBIG consolidates my contributions from previous employers. Does this take really that long? I hope you can help to expedite.

  53. hello po tanong ko po kung pwedi ba akong maka loan ng multi purpose loan,ofw po ako nagbayad na po ako nong july 2010 hanggang june2012 sa halagang 10$ a month so kailan po ba akung pweding mag loan ng multi purpose loan?

  55. hi admin…member po ako ng pag ibig 2yrs now ang tanong ko po ay kung pwede po akong mag loan ng house kahit d pa ako nakakabalik sa abroad at ano po ang mga requirement para maka pag loan po ako gustong gusto ko po talaga mag loan ng bahay thanks po….

  56. Dear Admin,

    I am an OFW, my husband is Pag-ibig member for more than 10 yrs. now, can we avail of housing loan considering my income not only his income?

    Please advice. Thank you.

    Gene

  57. Dear Admin

    I am an OFW, my monthly salary is 30,000 pesos.. I plan to buy a lot in my hometown then make a loan from Pag-ibig. Am I entitled to loan an amount of 700,000 pesos to make a house? Thanks..

  58. 2 years n ako member ng pag ibig, magbabakasyon ako ng 45 days, kaya ko bang makuha ang pera within my vacation period?

  59. Hello po ask ko lang po kung pwede bawasan ang monthly contribution. First payment ko po last Nov. 2010 P1000 per month gusto ko po sana bawasan ng P500, posible po ba? para sana macontinue ko ang monthly payment ko. Thanks po

  61. where can i see the list of your branches? I want to check the number of my contributions

  62. hello, i just want to ask for the requirements for availing the POP… My husband is in Middle East and a member of pag-ibig… I will be the one to process in his behalf….thanks in advance

  63. Hi,

    Is it possible to reduce the monthly amortization? For example, I pay 6k monthly, can I reduce it to 5k per month?

  65. ask ko lang po kung totoo po ba na may narerefund sa mga past loans?ung mga nagreconstruct daw po nag loan

  66. hi…ask lng sana kng ano totoo..nag follow up kasi ako ng pag ibig ko kng na transfer na ba yungname ko…angpayment kasi dun sa pasig tapos request d2 sa davao mga 1 week na request ko…nung nag follow up ako sabi nla na 3 weeks po daw bago malaman..totoo ba un na 3 weeks?

  67. ako po si cel..nakita ko po un site n nagbebenta ng townhouse s bulacan..kumuha po ako kahit d p ko memeber,,im working here in usa..immigrant n po ako.sabi ng realtor pede padaanin s pag-ibig so i told my mom n imemeber nya ko..pinadalhan ko din sya ng spa kasi alang office dito s philippine consul ng pag-ibig. so pumunta nanay ko para iapply me.they gave her application form at sabi i send nila sakin para ako mismo magsign.kaso po i have all the requirements isa lang ang medyo conflict like un passport ko at mga requirements is s tugma coz i divorced here in usa.now im planning to get my affidavit of support n iisang tao lang un nasa passport at mga ids ko…help nyo naman ako.kasi alam ko kaya nga may spa para un nanay ko n magsign para sakin d n pabalik balik p documents…

  68. @monecel:
    Sorry, I don’t quite get what your problem is. But if I may suggest, please get in touch with the broker. He should be able to assist you on this matter.

    @nivrem:
    If you got that reply from the Pag-IBIG Staff who is handling your request, then that should be their official assessment of your case.

    @mariel:
    What do you mean by refund the past loans? 🙂

  69. I acquired a housing loan to a certain developer. After months of paying my D/P my developer told me that my account was transferred to bank finance w/o my consent. But I told them I do not want a bank finance because I am a credit card deliquent many years ago. But since they already forwarded my details to bank finance, I have received many call from credit card collectors but as of this time they are not my priority so I denied myself to them. So I have no choice but to avail the in house finance but still I filed it to Pag-ibig as Individual Filer. To the application form I skipped the Credit Card Portion. But after a week I again receive calls from Citibank…. I was traced again !!! Is ti because of my Pag-ibig Housing loan although I did not fill up that portion?

    I was so nervous… I will pay them but not now.
    Is my Pag-ibig housing loan will be deny because of my Credit Card Standing even though not mention to my Application form?

  70. Hi tanong ko lang po pwede ba mag avail ng house construction loan pero yun lupa po ay wala pa sa pangalan ko dahil may balance pa kame na 100k pwede po ba un apply na din at the same time sa loan para matapos namin yun payment at mapatapos na din yun construction?thanks ang God Bless us!

  71. good days po!im working here in dubai,im planning to pay my 24 months for my membership.ask q lng po sana kung pwd po ako na mka avail ng housing renovation pero ung hawak q lng po sa lupa ay deklarasyon lng.ok lng po ba un.

    thanks

  72. @janet:
    It has to be a land title.

    @rodel:
    The land title must be in your name. Remember also that a Home Improvement Loan is just another loan on top of your
    existing Housing Loan with Pag-IBIG.

    @Yvonne:
    That’s funny. Here’s the thing: Pag-IBIG must not be responsible for all those phone calls. 🙂

  73. Hello po, ask ko po kung paano mag reremember ulit. Member po ako nun kaya lang po nung pumunta ako dito sa US nung 2003 nag resigned po ako as a member. Please advice and more power.

    Thank you.

  75. Meron po akong account na mtagal na nadiscontinue. Most likely mga 3 years din ung con3bution ko nung sa pinas pa ako work… Now im in qatar, Pwede ko pa ba i2loy un account na un? And how can I qualify for loans?

  76. hi ask ko lang paano ko malalaman kung paano ako makakapagloan sa housing loan?.nandito ako ngayon sa abudabi.

  77. If I will pay the reservation fee at the HMDF for the published foreclosed house and lot, mag entertain pa ba ng ibang buyer/borrower ang PAGIBIG for that reserved house and lot? My take home pay is 16,400 and the published amount is 400,000.00.

  78. ask lang ko sir/mam. meron akong lot loan only (na di pa namin nagamit kasi malayo) payable within 15 years. Gusto kong mag avail ng house and lot na ipagbili ng 400,000, bahay ng kapitbahay namin na nasali na sa acquired asset ng PAGIBIG pero may nakatira pa rin.Pwede ba akong mag apply ng housing loan kung babayaran ko ang remaining balance ng lot loan ko? Type ko kasi ang house and lot pero di ko type tirikan ng bahay ang lot na na-loan ko.

  80. Possible po ba na payagan na hindi na magdown payment sa Pag-Ibig pag nag-apply ka for a loan based sa qualifications? Un bang whole land price ung heheramin mo? Or let’s say wala pang 20% ung paunang hulog mo?

    • Hi Eric,

      Most developers don’t usually include such insurance, but you can get one from a third-party insurance company.

      • Di po ba pag in-house financing, direct payment sa developer, which means walang “mortgage”. Follow up question ko po : pwede bang i-require ng developer ang buyer na kumuha ng MRI kung ayaw na ng buyer kumuha nito since dagdag gastos? (Nababayaran naman ng buyer si developer religiously.)

        • Hi Eric,

          Technically, you are right. But check the contents of the Contract to Sell. It should state there that in case of defaults, they can “re-posses” the unit. And that’s even faster than you think.

          As to the MRI, the developers are usually doing away with that part.