From 2008 to 2010, official estimates show that Filipinos will need almost two million new homes for families that are either currently renting, living with their parents, or are just about to start a family. Many will most likely be bought through bank financing.

For those who are in been-there-done-that mode, you probably know how easily a dream home can turn into a nightmare. Johnny Noe Ravalo today tackles several issues that most homebuyers find out only after the move.

Do you build the home yourself, hoping to find a hassle-free contractor, or go for a house ready for its new occupants?
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(My dream house has this morning view. Can you guess where it is?)

I thought I would blog about this separately as I’ve been getting a lot of emails asking for tips on buying real estate.

I found these list of questions very helpful for those who are house or condo hunting. I’m sharing this from Noet Ravalo’s column “Alternatives to low interest-bearing deposits”.

1. Is your expected income sufficient to cover the amortization?
2. How much of an increase in the amortization can your income tolerate?
3. At what loan rate can your income stream handle at the maximum?
4. If rates do go down, can you advance payments?
5. Will there be a penalty?
6. How about pre-termination of the outstanding loan amount?
7. If currency conversions are involved, by how much will the cost-benefit analysis be sensitive to exchange rate movements?
8. What does this mean for the timing of the conversion of the funding as against the timing of the revenue stream?

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Filipinos are still on a home-buying spree, even as the US housing sector still reels from the effects of the subprime mortgage mess. Thanks to money flowing in from Filipinos working overseas, the real estate sector in the Philippines seems to be set for another big year in 2008.

It’s good money flowing in for good reasons. At least, Filipinos are putting their money in something that will last and even appreciate in value, as opposed to appliances, cars and latest mobile phone models. Hello iPod? (Read this article on what families of OFWs do with money wired to them regularly.)

But although buying a home can be pretty straightforward (ok a bit challenging too), buying home insurance can feel like going through a maze. This article from our personal finance section says there are three MUST-ASK questions when buying home insurance (excerpt below):

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Early this year, I ached for a big, flat-screen LCD television set. Yeah, I eventually bought one but a much smaller and more practical unit. Now, I’m aching for something more expensive and a potentially cascading expense: a new home that I can call my very own.

For a long time, I believed financial planning experts who say renting a home is not such a bad thing. You are not tempted to make expensive home improvements, don’t pay real estate tax, are not tied down to a particular place, etcetera etcetera.

This year, however, my eyes have been straying towards those fancy real estate brochures. Must be my age hehe. I am feeling the urge to have my roots firmly planted somewhere. I’ve visited many different sites as I went house hunting. I’m already dizzy with all the different financing packages and payment schemes. No decision yet, until now.

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