Pagibig Financing

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

Bank Financing

Pag-IBIG Financing vs Bank Financing — A Mortgage Loan Comparison

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Do you have any idea how much is the going rate of the Home Loan Program offered by your favorite bank?

As a home buyer, one of the first steps you should take before starting the legwork of searching for your home is to get to know the interest rates currently available in the market. That is, shop for the best home loan first, and then shop for the house.

If you have been visiting this website for quite a while, you should already know the interest rates of a Pag-IBIG Housing Loan.

Did you make any comparison of Pag-IBIG Housing Loan versus the competing Bank Housing Loan? You should. Just because you are a member of the Pag-IBIG Fund doesn’t always mean that it’s the only option you have when financing your home purchase. The banks may offer an even better alternative mortgage loan that really fits your needs.

When it comes to Housing Loans at larger amounts, most banks in the Philippines offer almost the same interest rates as those of the Pag-IBIG Fund. As a matter of fact, banks are even more competitive that most high-end buyers are using them to save on a lot of hassle involved with getting a Pag-IBIG Housing Loan. If that’s the case, why should you even bother getting a Housing Loan from Pag-IBIG?

One site visitor has a keen observation on this matter and she dropped a message that read in part:

Pag-IBIG Financing versus Bank Financing

“What is the advantage of choosing PAGIBIG over banks? I’m looking at the interest and they are almost identical. Your answer might help me choose the lender for my property.”

In this article, we’ll compare the two financing options citing the advantages and the disadvantages of each.

Membership

A Pag-IBIG Housing Loan is only available to Pag-IBIG Fund members. That’s the basic requirement and yet that’s also one of the main reasons most Filipinos can’t get access to the housing loan with the Pag-IBIG Fund. If your membership record with the Pag-IBIG Fund is not very impressive, your loan application may also be affected.

Getting a mortgage loan from a bank, however, doesn’t require any membership at all. You don’t even have to be a depositor at the bank to be considered a housing loan applicant. You can be a depositor at any bank and then apply for the competing bank and you are free to choose which one you think offers the best loan.

(See also : How To Check If You Are Qualified For A Pag-IBIG Housing Loan )

Income Requirements

You are probably aware that a member’s loan amount entitlement has a lot to do with his level of income. Luckily, you don’t have to guess anymore to see which loan amount you can possibly get given your current income. Please check our article that discusses the Income and Loan Entitlement and see which loan bracket you are at.

(See: What to do if you are denied a Pag-IBIG Housing Loan?)

Loan Amount

The minimum loan amount that you may be granted with a Pag-IBIG Housing Loan is P 100k. The maximum is only P 3M – so if your project costs more than that and you are to finance it with Pag-IBIG Housing Loan, don’t even bother getting a Pag-IBIG Housing Loan.

Unlike the Pag-IBIG Fund, a lot of banks will only entertain you if you are loaning at least P 800k for a housing loan. At the flip side, a bank will also not give you a ceiling on the amount of loan that you can take as long as you are capable of paying for the loan and you are not really a risky borrower based on their assessment of your financial documents.

Banks have their qualifying parameters too that they use when evaluating a loan application. And it varies from one bank to another. As a general rule, your gross income should be at least three times greater than your monthly amortization for you to have a good chance of getting the money. You’ll be asked to fill up a detailed Financial Information Sheet and always expect them to verify the accuracy of whatever you put there.

Loan Term

This is perhaps the biggest reason why Pag-IBIG Financing is so popular. A Pag-IBIG Housing Loan is noted for offering a long term loan of 20 to 30 years!

On the average, a bank can offer between 5 to 10 years on their housing loan clients. A 20-year loan is very rare with them.

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“Bank Financing Vs Pag-Ibig Financing — A Mortgage Loan Comparison” is written by Carlos Velasco.

Pag-IBIG Housing Loan Alternatives

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Real Estate Loan is indeed the most popular service available to the Pag-IBIG Fund Members. In terms of the interest rate, it is very competitive (in many cases even lower) compared to the other mortgage loan financing alternatives in the Philippines. (The other Real Estate Financing alternatives will be discussed in the succeeding paragraphs) Another great advantage is the longer payment term of up to 30 years.

Some Uses of the Pag-IBIG Housing Loan

If you have not yet stumbled on it from the other articles, here are some uses of the Pag-IBIG Housing Loan.

  • Lot-Only Property Purchase
  • House-And-Lot Purchase
  • Construction of A Residential Unit
  • Home Improvement
  • Refinancing of Existing Mortgage Loan

Looking at that, it’s hard to imagine how an eligible Pag-IBIG Member should not take advantage of this benefit. Go for it if you have the chance.

Housing Loan Eligibility

But then again, to even qualify for the loan, a member should at least meet the minimum requirements listed below.

  • Must be a member for at least 2 years and has contributed at least 24 months. Take note: no more one-time payment of the 24 months contribution this time.
  • Must not be more than 65 years old at the time of loan application.
  • Must not be more than 70 years old at the date of loan maturity.
  • Must have NO outstanding Pag-IBIG Housing Loan either as principal or as co-borrower.
  • Must have NO outstanding Pag-IBIG Multiple-Purpose Loan in arrears at the time of application.
  • And most importantly, must not have a previous Housing Loan that was foreclosed, cancelled, bought back or subjected to dacion en pago.

For some becoming a member of the Pag-IBIG Fund is already too much of a hassle. There are membership dues to remember; seminars to attend to when applying for a housing loan; the difficulty in sending the monthly dues, etc. Some members have been inactive for a number of years already. Still others are not even eligible for Pag-IBIG Housing Loan.

If this is your case, there are still home financing alternatives for you. Consider the following…

Bank Financing

The first big daddy of Real Estate Financing in the Philippines is, of course, The Bank. They offer a variety of Home Financing Products that you can choose from.

The good thing about Bank Financing is that there are a lot of competitions going on. You should shop around and decide for yourself the best one based on the following factors:

  • Professional Service – How cool is it if your banker treats you like a King? I can tell you don’t get that kind of professional attention in Pag-IBIG.
  • Interest Rate – The lower, the better for you.
  • Payment Method – As painless as possible especially if you are working overseas. Check for the Internet Banking feature.

Tip: When you approach a loan officer, you may want to do away with that expensive Clive Christian Perfume. It will be to your advantage if you wear something that smells like money instead. I hope you know what I mean by that.

Other Similar Financial Institutions to Consider:

  • Credit Cooperatives
  • Money Lenders

In-House Financing

This one is very simple. There are only two parties involved: you, the buyer and the seller, which is usually the Real Estate Developer.

If you are constructing a house, the developer acts as if it were The Bank. It finances the home construction and you, in turn, pay directly to the developer.

Like the Bank Financing, In-House Financing almost always requires that you put a down payment (20% of the selling price or so) and amortize the balance for a given term. This Financing Scheme also bears an interest. The series of monthly amortizations will reflect your payment for the principal amount borrowed plus the interests.

The primary advantage of In-House Financing is its simplicity.

Bank Financing vs In-House Financing

The primary downside, however, is the stiff interest rate that goes with it. At the time of this writing, the going interest rate of many In-House Financing Schemes is in the range of 18% to 21% per annum. Compare that with the going interest rate the banks are charging, which is in the range of 8% to 12%, and you will be in for the shock of your life.

When it comes to Home Financing, simplicity can be very expensive.

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“Pag-IBIG Housing Loan Alternatives” is written by Carlos Velasco.