You’ve heard both titles are real.
That’s true, and it’s not the useful part.
The useful part is what’s actually printed on each one.
Most buyers never read either document past the front page.
The back page is where the real answers live.
This page shows you what to look for.
The short answer
Both are real titles. Both register with the government, both transfer the same way, and a bank will lend against either one. Neither is the weaker document. I’ve made that case in full in what you actually own when you buy a condo unit, so this page won’t repeat it.
What actually differs is what’s printed on the page, and that’s worth knowing before you rely on either document.
A land title describes a piece of ground. A condominium title describes a space inside a building that stands on somebody else’s.
It isn’t your fault if nobody’s shown you the difference. Most people are handed a photocopy of the front page and told that’s the title.
What’s different on the page
| Land title | Condominium title | |
|---|---|---|
| What it identifies | A lot, by technical description | A unit, by floor and number |
| The area shown | Land area | Floor area of the unit |
| What else it names | The registered owner | The owner, and a percentage interest in the building’s common areas |
That percentage interest is the line most owners never read. It’s what your dues and, in most buildings, your voting weight are based on. The mechanics of how it’s set, and what a real one looks like on an actual tower, are in the post linked above.
Read the back, not just the front
The front tells you who owns what. The back is where the complications live.
Both kinds of title carry annotations: mortgages, liens, adverse claims, court notices, restrictions. A title with a mortgage annotated on it is still a valid title, and the mortgage still exists.
So when you ask to see one, ask for a certified true copy from the Registry of Deeds. Get one dated recently, not a photocopy of the front. Which registry holds it depends on where the property sits. Cebu City, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and the province each keep their own, so a title for a unit in one city won’t turn up at another’s office.
For a preselling project, ask to see the mother title too. That’s the land title the whole project stands on, held before individual unit titles are issued from it. It tells you who actually owns the ground the building is going up on.
If it’s preselling, there is no condominium title yet. There can’t be. The unit doesn’t exist as a registered space until the building is finished, turned over, and the paperwork is processed. What you hold until then is a contract. That’s normal, and it isn’t a reason to avoid preselling. What matters is whether your contract says clearly when the title comes, in whose name, and who pays to get it there. Ask for that clause before you reserve, and read it yourself.
What I think
Both documents are titles in the full sense, and treating one as second-best costs people good decisions. What I’d actually weigh instead is whether you’ve read the real document, or just trusted what somebody told you it says.
So here’s the test: could you say right now what the back of your title carries, or what your contract says about when the title arrives? If not, that’s worth fixing before you rely on either document.
Buyers discussing “rights only” purchases, a unit reserved with no title behind it yet, generally land on the same advice: insist on the title. Unless you have the time, money and standing to defend a claim in court, it’s not worth the risk.
For a finished unit, I walk you through the actual title myself, not a summary of it. Before a project appears among the preselling projects I represent, I've checked its license to sell. If preselling itself is new to you, start with what a preselling property is and how it differs from RFO.
Questions
Can I see the title before I buy?
For a finished unit, yes, and you should. Ask for a certified true copy from the Registry of Deeds rather than a photocopy, and read the annotations on the back. For a preselling unit there’s no title yet, so read the contract clause instead.
What’s a mother title?
The land title the whole project stands on, held before individual unit titles are issued from it. Ask to see it for a preselling project; it’s how you confirm who actually owns the ground.
There’s a mortgage annotated on the title. Is that a problem?
It’s a fact to deal with, not a reason to walk away. Developers routinely mortgage a project to fund construction, and units get released from it as they sell. Get clarity in writing on when your unit gets released, and take that specific question to a lawyer.
What if the seller only shows me a photocopy?
Ask for a certified true copy instead. A photocopy can hide what’s annotated on the back, and that’s the half of the document that actually carries the risk.
The one thing to take with you
Both documents are real titles. What’s printed on each one is what actually protects you, not which kind it is.
For a finished unit, get a certified true copy and read both sides. For a preselling unit, get the clause that says when your title arrives and who pays to get it there.
Keep whichever one you get. You’ll want it again at turnover, and again when you sell.
If you’re looking at a title or a contract clause and can’t tell what it means, send me a message on Messenger. You don’t have to be my client for that.
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