Janet has purchased not one, but two lots in the year since we moved to the Philippines. You notice I don’t say that we’ve purchased two lots, since as most people know a foreigner cannot own real estate in the Philippines.
Now, whether you are living as an expat in the Philippines or are living in your home country with a Filipina wife and considering purchasing property in the Philippines, let’s face it – you can do whatever the hell you want – you don’t need my permission. But a lot of people have strong views on this, so let’s dig into them.
A lot of guys are very passionate about only renting in the Philippines. After all, outside of the two main metro areas in the country, apartment and home rentals are generally cheap. Our rental home in Valencia is probably 1/4 – 1/3 of the price a similar house would rent for in our previous home in Portland. On the flip side you could probably purchase a home here for the same percentage compared to a comparable Portland house.
There are a few reasons you probably should not buy property in the Philippines:
- You’re on death’s door. Let’s face it – a 70-year old in poor health moves here – he’s got no reason to buy anything more expensive than a case of San Miguel Pilsen.
- You’re not committed to the Philippines or the city or town you live in. This requires more self-awareness than most of us expats have. Have you moved to the Philippines for good or just until your neighbor sings karaoke too loud or your Viagra supply runs out? Since high end property is difficult to sell here, such a guy should again stick to investing in San Miguel.
- Are you committed to your girl and she to you? Since only Philippines citizens can own property, in all likelihood your girl will own the lot. Sure sure, you can technically own the house on top of the lot, lease the lot for 99 years from your girl, set up a corporation, and a million other schemes expats claim are foolproof. To quote Oscar Schindler in Schindler’s List, when the Jewish investors who lent him money wanted a contract, “Enforced by what court?” Once again if you’re not 100% committed to your girl and she to you – stick to investing in San Miguel.
- You don’t have a pot to piss in. A mortgage is not easy to get here for a jobless expat and even if you could get one, mortgage rates are high. Therefore most expats who buy or build houses here use this weird, old fashioned thing called cash. If you don’t have any – rent’s the way to go.
- You think Camella houses look great and are a fine value proposition. In this case you’ve already invested in too much San Miguel.
Therefore viagra australia price purchased this whenever the presence of high blood pressure, sexual dysfunction, strokes or heart attack. In order cialis http://amerikabulteni.com/2017/05/24/star-wars-40-yasinda/ fact, the use of olive oil can increase the levels of testosterone by 17.5 percent in only three weeks’ time. viagra no rx Meat is moreover heightened in zinc, which raises sperm and testosterone processing. To combat it the drug Tadalafil is that people who are already on a drug dosage based on nitrates or experience blood pressure problems should avoid its usage. buying cialis in spain
So why did Janet, from a poor family, dream of owning property; a dream that long predated her marriage to me. Her parents rented the lot she grew up on. Because it was a rented lot with the associated fear that someday they’d get kicked off, they built a simple native home; no permanent, concrete structure on a rented lot.
So her dream, like that of many Filipinos was about the family; that they’d live in a real house on a real piece of property that she’d own. While in the U.S. she saved and saved (I’m very proud of her) to accomplish her dream.
Why did I want to buy or build a home for Janet and I? Because I am old fashioned enough (or just plain old enough) to believe that that’s the best way to live. Also because I delusionally hope to have enough years left to live in a bit of a dream house. And also still because I want to leave Janet a nice home after I am gone; a place she can do whatever she wishes. And besides, I built up enough equity from the last house I had in the U.S. to pull it all off.
So those are our reasons. There are no right or wrong reasons. Well, actually there are right and wrong reasons; it’s my blog so by definition my reasons are right 🙂
More about the drama surrounding how we bought those two properties and lived to tell the tale in Part 2 of this saga.
looking forward to part ll
Thanks Kent!
Thanks Dave ! My wife wants us to relocate there, like TOMORROW (can’t stand New England winters) but I’m not quite ready to sell the house, guns, drums, and Mini yet. Open to it in the future though.
Your posts are very helpful !
Best to you, Janet, and the family ….
Thanks Mike! But don’t wait too long. Those winters aren’t getting any warmer!
Hi Dave. I hope you’re doing good body. I’m a French Canadian guy of 40 years old living with a Filipina in Montreal since a bit more than 10 years. I only stayed 2 months in the Philippines but the culture shock was like a punch in the face. Anyways… I kind of became friend with a French ethnologist who wrote a book about the Filipino culture. I wrote to him by email to talk about his book and we still exchange emails. Now here is what he told me:
He owns a huge house in Ormoc Leyte Visayas. I saw few pictures of it but they were not recent. It’s a super nice big house on a very big lot. It looks like a real paradise on earth BUT… I should say: It USED to look like a paradise on earth because they made A HUGE mistake. His Filipina wife agreed to “””””””lend”””””” a little part of their lot to a man to allow him to grow some rice on it loll. Let’s call him Juan. That was a freaken dumb decision! You give Juan 10 meters but he takes 10 miles. Later on Juan took the right to build himself a house with some scrap on the land of my friend Jean-Michel but the problem is that J-M left the Philippines many years ago to settle back in France and live with with his family (wife and kids). Now guess what happened to the house. First of all you can’t just leave a house away like this for years because there’s always some maintenance to make but like it’s not enough they left a random Filipino like Juan on the land who built himself a house without asking a permission but Jean-Michel is pretty naive if he thinks that Juan is quietly living on that land without creating trouble. My wife told me that according to the “”laws”” of the Philippines, after a certain period a squatter lives on a lot or a house, this land or lot belongs to him. I can bet you all you want that the super awesome house of my friend Jean-Michel Hermans became a huge disgusting zoo/jungle. I would not be surprised to know that there’s actually more than 50 persons living there. The Philippines is not a country for naive people to settle down. It’s never a good idea to buy a house in the Phils when you’re an expat unless:
1- You trust your wife A LOT (like I do) and you are 1000% sure she will never back stab you. Don’t forget that the house is on HER name.
2- You stay in this house for all your life.
I wish you the best Dave. Take care.
That’s an unfortunate story but certainly not unique. Many expats buy a lot, house or build a house and then for one reason or another decide not to live in the Philippines. Selling the property is not easy, especially if you no longer live their. So many guys in such a situation decide to have a relative take care of the house. In fact that is the situation with our rental house and landlords. The house is owned by a Filipina and her European husband who intended to live in the Philippines and changed their mind. They have a large lot and large but aging house. In addition, next to the house they own our rental. The woman moved her mother and a BIL into the main house. They do a great job of taking care of the property plus functioning as our landlords. But they do not have the money to truly maintain the property so each year it ages and gets a bit worse. Eventually it will be nearly unsellable. As you say, the best strategy for any property is to live there.
Exactly sir! It can be very attempting for westerners like us to buy a house there because the prices are cheap compared with what we pay in our country but there are many details we must to think about. I’m pretty sure Jean-Michel bought this house only for the period of time and now it’s “””scrapped””” and good for nothing. The best thing to do before taking such actions is to ask to honest and reliable expats like you who live there since a decent period of time.There are many details that are important to know. Things which we never thought about that can turn into nightmares. It can be a neighbor who do so fiestas until 6am and make a lot of noise.
Cheap? The real estate in the Philippines is WAY more expensive than America! And we cannot buy houses here!
Nonsense! You have to compare apples to apples. In most cities other than Manila (Makati) and some parts of Cebu City, property ownership and home building are significantly less expensive. My home on a far larger lot will cost about 1/4 of the value of my last house in the US and it will be larger. OTOH it is true that there are still some areas in the US where homes are inexpensive, but those areas are outliers and not the norm. If you want to live in any city on the West Coast, as I did, you will be paying many many hundreds of thousands of dollars and in some cities one million plus for a non-luxury home.
I find all of your posts to be very entertaining and informational. I am thinking about moving to the Philippines with my wife someday, and I appreciate the sensible perspective you bring to the table.
Thank you.
Thanks. Visit often and see many places. That’ll help you decide.
What many expats never think of is loss of income to the family when they pass. Then who’s gonna pay the rent? If you are truly in a great and lasting relationship, and you care about your wife and new family,build them something that they can live in, without payments, when you are gone.
Totally agree, Randy. It’s all about options. When I am gone Janet can: live in the house, bring in half her family to live in the house, sell the house, or rent it out for income. What she won’t have to do is pay rent.
Exactly. As my grandmother said, “You can’t take it with you!” My wife has lived in the U.S. for over 30 years and one thing she is certain of is that she does not want to get old and die there when she has family at home who will take care of her. And I can’t blame her one iota. America can be a cold, dark place for the aging as she would only wind up in a nursing home somewhere with no family to visit. So having a home to rest out her days in is paramount. Our home has all the modern conveniences of an western home so she would be comfortable. Now, if only we could import world class medical care to Samar!
You’ve well summarised the pros and cons of house owning in the Phillipines.
I’ve just finished owner building in Legazpi City so have been in full control of build quality, cost and to a lesser extent schedule. Not for the faint hearted but I learnt a lot.
Looking forward to your Part 2 sequel…
Thanks Doug. Janet is essentially owner-building her parent’s house but that’s out of necessity.
It is the white thing to do when you love someone
I guess it comes down to how personally invested you are there, and I don’t mean financially. But at the least, I’ll be spending a couple of years there before I make that decision so some great advice there Dave.
Exactly Brett. You have to be invested in living in the Philippines, as well as the place you’ve chosen. We took a year in Valencia before we decided that Valencia was a good permanent place.
Oh, and I should ad… If anyone has spend a good amount of time in the PI, Dave’s reason #5 is germane!