Tag Archives: house building

The Bathtub Saga

I just posted a picture of a completed and functioning bathtub in the house that we are building , jets and all, and there were enough oohs and ahs that it was time to tell the complete and bizarre story.

There were only a few things I had to have in our new house; two really. One was a separate shop which is heading toward completion and the other was a bathtub. I have always liked bathtubs and had one in most of the places I owned or rented over the years, but none of the places we have lived here in the Philippines had one and I deeply missed it. Also, as age is creeping in, I find my desire to simply lay in warm water has increased exponentially. At my age it’s better than almost anything. In fact when I go to a pool or into the ocean here I rarely bother to swim; mostly I lay or sit with a smile on my face.

In short the tub was pretty damn important. Before Janet and I started building our house we saw a nice modern bathtub in Citi Hardware that we both liked and wanted. Coincidentally when our contractor presented us with sketches of the proposed house the master bathroom sketch included that very same tub. So we agreed that was the tub for us; one less thing to worry about. Yeah, right!

Three months after the house construction started we were in Citi Hardware and I noticed that particular tub was not on display. We asked the salesman and were told that not only were they out of that model, no Citi Hardware in the country had one left and they had no idea when or if they would get more.

We were annoyed and the salesman went off to confirm what he’d told us. I went around the corner and saw the same tub made by the same manufacture. The only difference was it had jets and was only a tiny bit more expensive. I had no interest in jets but what the hell. We messaged our contractor. A couple hours later he messaged back that he had ordered the tub.

Of course I was dumb and naive at that time. I still thought like an American and assumed “ordered” meant that it had been paid for or a deposit put down or something like that. Um, not quite.

A few weeks later I got another message from the contractor, “The tub is in.” Great, I thought.

Two weeks later we were again in Citi Hardware looking for other items and I happened to see a tub in its box sitting on the floor of the bathtub area. I said proudly to the salesman who was helping us, “I think that is my tub!” He replied, “The tub has not been paid for, Sir, and has been here for two weeks. If it’s not paid for soon, it might get sold to someone else.”

Hearing this Janet and I were pissed at our contractor. While I was tempted to just buy the tub right then, I thought (naive moron that I was) that I should make the contractor do it; that was his responsibility. He acknowledged that he didn’t have the cash. We met him an hour later, gave him the cash with the instructions to get it done! Later that afternoon I got the bad news. “The tub has been sold and there are no more to be bought at any Citi Hardware!” I was furious and ranted and raved. I went online and started looking for comparable tubs. Oh did I mention the real problem? They had already cut the hole in the concrete for the tub pipes so I needed a tub with the dimensions and set up of the one we’d lost.

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Janet tried to calm me down. “Let’s go to Citi tomorrow and see if there is anything else we can find out.”

The next morning we went to Citi Hardware. As we entered the warehouse-style store, the salesman we’d been dealing with saw us and immediately turned ashen. He apologised profusely, explaining that another salesman had sold the tub. I told him, “I understand. It was my contractor’s fault for not buying the tub and you told me that it could get sold. Can you contact the vendor and see if any more might be coming?” He went off to do that and Janet and I stood in the bathtub section wondering what to do. I walked around the corner and came face to face with the display model of the tub that we had lost, the very tub I was told was not available anywhere in the Philippines. “Janettttt,” I yelled. We examined the tub for cracks and imperfections.

The salesman returned and I pointed to the tub. “What’s wrong with this one?” “Nothing, Sir.” “Does it have its motor and jets?” “Yes Sir. It’s brand new. It’s only been out for display for a little while.” “Then why can’t I buy this one?” I asked trying to remain patient. “You can, Sir.” “Well then why…” I ran out of words.

Janet took over. “So what discount will you give us for a display model?” The salesman went to check and then told us 5%. “So how will you prove to us that the tub is in perfect working order?” I asked. No problem. They took it outside the store, filled it with water, plugged it in and showed me that the jets worked.

I called my contractor with the news. “I will come over in a couple of hours and pay for it,” he said. “No way,” I said. “I’m paying for it now.”

This is how easy it is to get a tub with jets in the Philippines!

How Much Cash for a House in the Philippines?

Here’s an addendum to my interminable series, Why the Hell Would You Buy a Lot in the Philippines. The most common question I get asked is – how much?

Now, if you’ve followed this blog much you will notice that I try very hard not to talk specifics about money. I suppose it’s the generation in which I was raised, where you weren’t supposed to talk about money. When my son was a kid and even as a teenager, he frequently tried to find out how much I earned.  I never told him. He’s a young software/hardware engineer now and I suspect it won’t be long before he earns more than I ever did. I will continue not to tell him what I made – but now out of embarrassment!

But I understand why people are asking how much. Maybe you are considering building a house for your retirement in the Philippines, or a house for your wife’s family, or a shack on the beach. Maybe you already live here and are genuinely curious what it would cost. And maybe you’re looking for a loan from me lol!

While Janet and I still won’t be telling you exactly what we spent, I will try here to give you some details to help you make a determination of what it might cost you.

The overall theme here is that range of home costs are determined in ways not dissimilar from the way you might determine it in your home country. The old saying “location, location, location” applies to the Philippines, just as it does to your Western country.

Property: Everything is priced per square meter. I’ve seen lots in the provinces go for 200P/sq. meter and even less. I have also seen lots here in Valencia go for 6000P/sq. meter and more. The cost difference rationales are similar to your home countries. Factors include town or city, lot location, size of lot, beach property, overlooking property, and are the sellers desperate or not, etc.  Additional factors to consider include road location. We found a number of cheap lots in Valencia where there was no direct access to a road, but a contracted right of way. While these lots were invariably much cheaper, in the end we decided we had to have direct road access. So the conclusion is that you can get a cheap lot in the provinces with right of way access or a luxury beach front lot for big bucks.

House Construction: There are many variables here including size, construction style (native, Western or luxury Western), number of stories, and where you are building. Just as with the lot, house building is generally priced based on a price per square meter.  Construction ranges here from about 10k pesos/square meter – 25k pesos/square meter. I’ve known some guys who have done it for less than 10k, but assume that the houses at that price were very simple. Realistically in the Dumaguete area I would estimate 14k and up for a “foreigner home.” There are certainly luxury houses here over the 25k peso range but those probably include items I can’t imagine or high end Western fixtures and finishing.

When calculating the number of square meters for a house in the Philippines, understand that things like patios, balconies, car ports, etc. will be considered part of the total square meters here. In our case, the house we are building in Valencia is 180 square meters plus a 10 square meter balcony on the 2nd floor. So that equals 190 square meters of house. So don’t be surprised when the 180 sq. meter house you designed is priced based on over 200 sq. meters because you have a car port, balcony, etc.

When talking about a “foreigner” house the biggest cost factor (and possibly the biggest headache factor) may well be the finishing. Finishing work in the Philippines is generally considered everything but the actual structure. This means doors, windows, bathroom fixtures, kitchen fixtures and appliances, tile, paint, air conditioners, lighting, etc. The finishing work on a higher end “foreigner” house can be 50% of the project. So you can therefore save money or spend lots more depending on the type and quality of interior finishing you want.

One other factor is whether you hire a contractor or do the job yourself. As I’ve mentioned often, Janet functioned as her own contractor for the house in Alcoy but for our house in Valencia we have a contractor.

If you have a contractor, the finishing work is generally negotiated into the price, but we did interview one contractor who split the job between the basic building of the structure (which the contractor handled) and the finishing work (which the owner took care of). If the contractor is handling everything, you will want to be very specific about your requirements. Don’t expect him to understand that you need 3 AC units and all Moen fixtures.

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Also remember that there are some additional costs that either you will pay or that you may factor into your contract. These costs include blueprints and permitting costs. And of course most people in the Philippines want some sort of fence or wall surrounded their property and a gate to enter. This can add considerably to your cost, depending on the size of your lot.

There’s one other factor to mention, although I am reticent to do so. We all have different notions of what is acceptable housing. I know guys who brag about how inexpensive their house was to build or what a cheap rent they have. I go into the house, look around and think, “you couldn’t pay me to live here.” On the flip side I’ve seen 15-20 million peso mansions and I again shake my head. In short you have to know yourself well enough to know what is necessary for you to have, nice to have, or unnecessary and price and build a home accordingly.

So there you have it. The lot can cost nearly any price and so can the house. It’s the Philippines and you have many options.

BTW, I have been posting videos of the construction process in Valencia. For those interested in following the progress, you can see the videos starting here.

Addendum to the Addendum: While I covered some of the specifics of the two houses being built in other posts in the series, they aren’t here, so I thought I would capture them.

House #1 (Family house): Location – Alcoy, Cebu. Lot size – 500 sq. meters. House size – 70 sq. meters. 4 small bedrooms, 1 bathroom, small porch, 1 small kitchen. The family built a dirty kitchen outside the interior kitchen.

House #2 (Our House): Location – Valencia, Negros Oriental. Lot size – 1355 sq. meters. House size – 180 sq. meters + 10 sq. meter deck on 2nd floor (yes, it’s a 2 story house). 4 bedrooms (including master), 3 bathrooms (including master), living room, dining room, kitchen, sala area on 2nd floor. Concrete and iron wall around the perimeter of the property. In addition there will be a 20 sq. meter shop at the back of the property.

I should add that we agreed with our contractor that all fixtures and amenities should be purchasable in the Dumaguete area. This is significant because I know guys who used imported tiles, plumbing and fixtures. If you require all Western brands or the best there is, you have to realistically expect the price to go up – way up. Now, we will end up with nice tile, bathroom fixtures, etc. but I’m not expecting my contractor to pay for imported Italian marble lol.

2nd Addendum to the Addendum: For those genuinely interested or beginning the process of building a home who need more information or details, feel free to email me through the contact page on this blog or through Facebook, if we’re FB friends.

 

Videos of our House Build in Valencia

I am doing a video series on building our house in Valencia, Negros Oriental. We’ve just begun so come along for If you are going for buying viagra in canada a normal male enhancement supplement, it is always suggested to examine with a physician before purchasing them. Other less common cute-n-tiny.com order cialis side effects which might occur include temporary changes to your vision, blurred vision, and sensitivity to Light, Headache, Facial flushing and Upset stomach. However, during the study, researchers did note the presence of a bacterium called Bartonella Henselae. http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/baby-bats/ ordering levitra online It’s been approved by levitra tabs simply US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) intended for healing pulmonary arterial hypertension. the ride. The 1st video can be seen here: https://youtu.be/9sYod6SB7Ak

There are several more already posted and lots more to come!