Nothing is as elusive as living the BGC dream of being able to take residence in the said high-end town but, being one of the richest towns in The Philippines, residence there must cost, right? Well, if it’s a condominium residency, there will be money to pay but for good reason. So what will buying a condo in the Fort Bonifacio actually constitute of? Here’s the main breakdown of expenses.
Mortgage
More commonly known as amortization, this is what you’re paying to own a unit. These payments are made to either of 3 institutions, depending on the site development’s options: direct payments to the developers, bank loan, or PAG-IBIG loan, the latter being more commonly used in housing rather than condominium. Basically, for bank and PAG-IBIG loan, the bank or PAG-IBIG pays the property in full then you pay them in increments that can be divided up to monthly payments within 20-30, depending on how much your budget can accommodate, but with interest. In direct payments, you pay in increments too but for a shorter period of time (say 2-5 years) which means you will have to be paying a relatively greater sum of money but for lesser to no interest.
Tax
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Because it’s a property, you will have to, by law, pay real property tax. The computation of this is based on how much a property will cost which means that a condo in The Fort Bonifacio will cost more than, say, a condo unit in Marikina. This is paid for annually by you.
Utilities
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Just for clarification: the portion on utilities does not include your personal home upkeep like electricity, water, or internet connection. By utilities, we mean the shared services that is common for everyone’s use like parking space, amenities, trash collection, cable and security.
Maintenance
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This is probably the second most important payment you make apart from the amortization. Maintenance is a never ending payment you make (monthly or annually, depending on the condo-unit owners’ association) to keep the surroundings and utilities clean. No one else will be willing to clean the corridors, stairs, pool, and everything else if no one’s willing to pay maintenance.
Upkeep and Upgrades
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And, aside from maintenance, the building must always be in its optimum operational capacity. Upkeep includes the building’s paintjob, future repairs, power generation and other operational needs while the upgrades are funds that are also saved up for future use but for improvements rather than to keep the building in good working condition; things like anti-UV window tints, new playground or gym equipment, and additional CCTV cameras, to name a few.
Insurance
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The insurance that you will pay for, if provided by the developer, might include coverage to the common surroundings and your own unit as a part of the whole building. To get better coverage, try to go for a more dynamic insurance from outside of the development but whatever you do, do not forgo getting insurance.
One last thing is that a condominium unit, after having been sold to an entity, will no longer generate profit for the developer—aside from the amortization, all the other dues you pay, like insurances, maintenances, and utilities, are directly received by third party providers of said service and the developers get no cut. Fair enough, right?
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