Oct
27
My house in the Philippines?
Filed Under Adjustments, Getting Started, Houses, Mike, Renting
In an earlier post I mentioned some houses seem to be getting costly, this
likely is true but is far from the rule in the Philippines. In fact I have been
told 3 times, twice by email some of the more costly listings I have found are
geared at foreigners that don’t do their homework. Ever since my school days
ended I have always been good at doing my homework thankfully. …
Still pondering the city I will move to but an area high on the current list
is Marilao Bulacan, Philippines.
Mainly this post will be of photos of this particular house for but I will
share some of the things I have learned from LiP, Philfaqs.com and friends.
- Beaches are not plentiful in the area
- Fitness centers are in the area | Hey! Okay, maybe I don’t visit them
often but I usually always sign a yearly contract with one. - Swimming pools, good restaurants and movie theaters are all over. The
theaters in the Philippines are said to be much nicer then those in America. - Manila is the biggest city in the Philippines and has all the amenities
as most other big cities in the world. - Good health care is right around the corner and very inexpensive.
- Cable television and high speed Internet is readily available.
- Plenty of stores and malls.
The photos below are of a house that was / is for rent as of February of
2008.
210 SQ Meters (my American friends will better understand that it is
2,260 SQ Feet)
1 car garage - grotto (cool) - small garden - front lawn - dirty kitchen
(this is standard for me but it must have a meaning that I am unaware of) -
laundry room - maids room - marble floors in the sala (what is a sala?) - AC -
French doors - bar.. and the other normal stuff.
Ready for this next statement? Are you sure?
OK — the cost is PHP8,000
/month. (my American friends will better understand that the cost with the
current exchange rate is $163.94 /month. Actually I don’t think they will
understand that after all.)
Okay, so the below grotto is nothing to brag about.
I wish to thank my good friend Alma for finding this. Wish
moving in next week were possible. The good news is that this is the average
cost of house rentals in the area. You can find cheaper and more costly but
either way you get a lot of bang for your American buck. It is becoming more
clear why myself and so many other Americans are moving to the Philippines?
Savor the birdies,
Mike
Comments
11 Responses to “My house in the Philippines?”
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Hello Mike, I have to lol, I think I’m still a friend of Bob’s..? Any how, I built a house there in Davao City going on 6 years now, Got to LOV it! Are you moving to Davao? From where are you in the States? I also live in Fairfield California, that 45 miles East of Oakland Calif.. Presently in Calif. as I speak. Wife however is in Davao, living the good life!! We are selling our house, too big for us Seniors!! Lol, It’s been real fun there. We lov Davao, yes maybe an earthquake, but no Typhones!! Especially like the rest of the Philippines. I like the Mansoon rains, they cool everything off and blow thru fairly fast.After selling our big house we will find a Condo in Davao. I have too much to keep landscaped, and more fruit than I can eat. When we where younger, it was fun, now its more like a job!! Afterall We are Retired!! Time to relax and travel. If you know someone that maybe interested in a house to buy take them here…(www.ed.unboxyourself.com) It has the whole story and photo’s. If you find someone please let us know so we can give you a finders fee!! OK Lov to hear back from ya, Friends call me O’Bie
P.S. Give the wife a call when ya get a chance, I know she’ll lov to hear from Statsiders. my e-mail..(obieoneobie_1@yahoo.com)
Hello Ed ~ To be honest I have already seen myself moving to Davao and many other cities, seems my mind changes daily. This will continue to be the case until I actually make a visit. Am I really this impressionable? Looked at your site and I want to move in! Not likely to move soon enough to do you any good.
Grew up in Illinois, lived in many suburbs and a few years in Chicago. This is the reason I am a Chicago Bears fan, sane or not. When is the last time you were in the Davao, hope you can get back to your wife soon!
Currently I am not aware of anyone other then myself who would have a need for you home but I will post it on this site as well if you would like. I am not worried about a finders fee, just want you to relax and enjoy the traveling. Have you considered renting? If so how much monthly?
Let me know, O’Bie!
Cheers,
Mike
I retired in nothern luzon 14 years ago after getting diabled at work in Canada, I just could,t afford to live in my own country any more and came here on my meager pension. Even though prices of certain things have risen recently here, I can still live here very well indead. I have a Filipina wife and a seven year old daughter, own our own luxury house outright with five adjasent beachfront lots and the best sunsets in the Philippines. we don’t pay rent, hire a nanny fulltime for 30 bucks US a month, 30 US for electricity, and another 30 for highspeed broadband internet plus satalite TV. We sell ourcoconuts once per month, and are still able to live on an income of just under 400 bucks from pension. Wy wife works but most of her salary goes to her relatives in Manila, they are so very poor. Doctors, hospitals, and medications only cost a fraction of what they charge in other countries,but it has beme my biggest problem now. I had such major brain surgery thet now a big portion of my skull is made out of fiberglass, and it wiped us out financially. Might have to go back to Canada just for the free medical care. Will have to sell out place soon or at least rent it out until it’s sold. Our house is more expensive than some but it was designed by a very good engineer to withstand hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamies. All windows are tempered glass a.d roof is very thick poured concrete with ceramic tiles on top to keep it cool.
If you can post this for me on your sight I can pay you commision or whatever you want within reason. Thanks
Hi Roger ~ Send me email with what you want posted and I will do so for you. I am not concerned with any commission or anything, just hope you can rent/sell your place.
Thanks mike. I’m new to computers so pleare bear with me. A friend set up a web page for me, but I want spread the word and don’t quite know how to go about it. I’ve recently had major brain surgery, so learning what to do has been difficult. Any help you can give will be very much appreciated. I have tons of other photos if anyone is interrested. Our house and 5 lots are right on the beach and twenty minits from Candon City where they have very large supermarket, modern hospitals, university, and everything you are likely to need. This is peaceful barangy and I’m sure going to miss this place, but I must return to Canada for medical reasons. Let me know if you need any more info. Cheers! Roger Mogg
Hi Roger ~ Are you willing to rent the house? If so what are the terms?
Hi Mike and thanks for you email. My wife and I have been arguing about renting out our place, and have decided that we will not rent out at this time. My wife has heard too many stories of friends who have rented out and had their places trashed badly. For me it’s getting ver hard to travel so I don’t want to keep fkying bach and forth, couldn’t afford to anyway. I would much rather sell the place but the market is in a slump worldwide right now. I can still try, thats all I cad do. If you or your friends need to know anything about buying land and/or house/appartment I would be happy to share my knowlege on the subject. Cheers and have a nice day
i know this reply is long overdue but i just found your website and thought maybe i should help you with regards to your moving in to the Philippines. I am Filipino and currently in Manila but will go to SFO tomorrow but i will be back here for the holidays. I am also considering the idea of moving to Melbourne, Australia next year to further my studies and i’ve also done my research about the city but hearing it from someone who actually lives in that place will be essential too.
I saw the pictures above and Php 8K is indeed cheap (sala is a receiving area, by the way) but consider the location, location and location. I have never been to Bulacan but i know it is too far from the Metro. I rented an apartment for 3 years before deciding to buy my own condominium unit. I would suggest you look for apartments/condos in places such as Bonifacio Global City, Makati, Greenhills or Ortigas. Those Places are within Metro Manila. Cost of living varies from city to city (just like in the US). Cebu and Davao are great places with relatively low-cost of living compared to say, Makati or Global City. There are numbers of condominiums who have strips of restaurants, bookstores, cinemas just right outside the doorstep. Communicating with your family in the US will not be a problem. People are generally hospitable and polite. Respect them and they will respect you. English is widely spoken and written. Malls, bars and lounges are usually packed. Here in the PI, Life is beautiful if you know how to live.
you may want to check out these sites:
http://www.centurycity.com.ph
http://www.etoncity.com.ph
http://www.megaworldcorp.com
http://www.smresidences.com
http://www.timberlandheights.com
if you like golf:
http://www.tagaytayhighlands.com
hope this helps
Hi Roger ~ Sorry about the delay, have you sold it yet? I can certainly understand wanting to sell but won’t that be very difficult to do considering only native can buy?
Hi ~ Spring.. thanks very much for your comments and advice. Of the locations you mentioned I have heard of a few, will have to research the others. How did you find this site? Generally I write more often than what has happened over the last few weeks, I will get back on schedule and I am hopeful you will be a regular visitor and willing to continue with advice.
Hi again Mike. I doubt that my house will get sold to a local, people here just don’t have any real money. There are some who go work abroad for many years and retire here wealthy, they certainly buy houses like mine, but foreigners can buy lands here too. Technically, only a Filipino can own residential lands, but there are ways arround this. If you know of any Filipino that you can trust, (in my case my wife) you simply register it in their name. Or the other route to take is have a business on your property, it is legal for foreigners to own land for a business. Many just stick a cheap bamboo hut on their land and call the place a resort. Even if you get no customers all year, this makes the ownership legal under Philippine law. What will make our house a little hard to sell, is the method of construction. This is probably one of the strongest buildings in the country, massively overbuilt to withstand earthquakes, tsunamies, typhoons and anything else the gods can throw at us. We have not yet sold the place but are starting to get interrest in our place, mostly Hong Kong Chinese. If the place does sell I will inform you, so you can delete from your blog. Cheers Roger