Are you a freelancer, Upworker, or any internet-driven income worker? Are you wanting to loan to purchase a house and lot for your family?
One good thing is that freelancers can avail of housing loans even without a permanent or stable job or business permit to present to the Government Agency. Let me help you by sharing my experience of success in availing of a loan.
I bought a house from a local subdivision for my parents because I wanted them to stop renting when they get old. I also look at this as my investment. I searched for an avenue where I could borrow money or apply for a loan.
Here are some requirements you could present to PAGIBIG and the housing developer that will most likely be accepted (I used some for my application and it worked).
If you work in freelancer platforms, ask for your employer a Certificate of Employment and back it up with your certificate of earnings from Upwork.
I also recommend that you establish a long-time relationship with a local bank – and not just any bank. Select a “home branch” where you open your account, grow your savings, establish a relationship with the manager. Once they see you as “trustworthy” (meaning, you have no unpaid loans, you are responsible for what you borrow, you don’t abscond).
(1) PAGIBIG HOUSING LOAN
Here is a sample of a certificate of employment I asked for from my online freelance employer. (Note: I was the virtual assistant and website manager back then)
1. Certificate of Earnings
• From the Freelancer’s Marketplace such as Upwork.
• Ask certificate of earnings from your client.
• Back it up with COE from the platform: See if there’s an automated PDF document of your earnings which will certify your authenticity as a credit-worthy citizen.
• At Upwork, you can go to Reports>More Reports>Certificate of Earnings. It will generate a special document for you to print.
• When I presented this to the PAGIBIG assessor, she delightfully approved it and said that they approve this kind of loan for a maximum of P550,000. (This may depend on the monthly earnings that you receive)
• I also presented this document to the housing company, and they delightfully accepted it. They said that there are also many freelancers who used this method to avail of loans. The developer has an in-house PAGIBIG agent, and I did not need to traverse between their office and the developers.’ Save time. Save energy. Nice progress.
2. Bank Statement
• This is also strong proof that will help them decide you are credit-worthy. If you have online access to your bank (such as BDO or BPI) you can access your bank statements online and print them at your own convenience. Save yourself from the hassles of traveling to the bank, or waiting for a holiday to pass by.
• For BPI, just login> more options> view account details> view statement of account. It will give you 4 options of time ranges wherein you can generate a PDF document of your financial in-and-outs for the last 12 months.
Also remember that no matter how big your savings are, if you have bad loans, and a credit history, you may have a hard time especially with bank credit cards or loans. But with PAGIBIG, since it is generally for public welfare, all they need are proof of income, and that you are not blacklisted in PAGIBIG, and that you have no other PAGIBIG housing loans that will put them into inquiry reassessing your capacity to pay.
3. Phone Plan Bills and other Proof-establishing Documents
•Just bring in the rest of your papers that can testify you are an authentic income-generating citizen.
Approvals of loans may differ from one PAGIBIG office to another. You could try to transfer the salesperson, maybe it’s the personnel who is not approving (I experienced this in banks where some tellers/managers approve certain applications, some do not).
4. No PAGIBIG?
In the case you have no PAGIBIG (just like me), you can pay lumpsome for 24 months so you will be qualified for a housing loan.
(2) BANK HOUSING LOAN
Below are the requirements are given by BDO to me for a housing loan. If your requirements as a freelancer is applicable, you may try to submit them to your city’s bank housing loan office.
As requested, please see list of standard documentary requirements for your housing loan referrals:
- Completely filled up & signed application form
- Two (2) unexpired valid Ids (driver’s license,SSS,passport,TIN,etc)-both spouses
- Proof of billing (Residence)
- Marriage contract (if applicable)
- Employment Letter/Contract indicating monthly income
- Latest 3mos payslips (updated)
- SPA (to be prepared by BDO upon submission of requirements)-if based abroad
- Proof of Dual Citizenship or Oath of Allegiance (if applicable)
- AIF Info Sheet **Authorized representative
- Two (2) unexpired valid Ids (driver’s license,SSS,passport,TIN,etc) – authorized rep
- For Refinancing/Take-out Loan/Developer
- Updated/Latest SOA from Developer