# Where to live



## liberty9133 (Jan 10, 2011)

I am coming over in Feb. to look for places to bring my elderly(87) mother who is infirm, needing a great deal of assistance. Therefore, I need to find suitable accomodations for her. Including
1. as nice a climate as possible
2 3br with 2 full bath and maid quarters under 14000PHP(If funished, 22000)
3 close to good hospitals
4 a good expat acitve community
5 live in caretaker ?(Cost?)
6 easy transportation
Any help would be appreciated. I have some guidance but, considering all the islands, it gets very confusing.
What should I avoid if those are my current needs?
What does a retirement visa look like. I have read that we now have to post a $20000 usd bond? Can that be right?
Thanks,
John


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

*Mothers move to the Philippines*



liberty9133 said:


> I am coming over in Feb. to look for places to bring my elderly(87) mother who is infirm, needing a great deal of assistance. Therefore, I need to find suitable accomodations for her. Including
> 1. as nice a climate as possible
> 2 3br with 2 full bath and maid quarters under 14000PHP(If funished, 22000)
> 3 close to good hospitals
> ...


*Hi John,*

*Welcome to the site.*

*I've lived here in the Philippines for about eight years now. From what I know of life here and experience dealing with everyday life I would have to say that the Philippines as a whole would not meet your needs or that of an aged person that would be dependant on others for care. The overall cost of life here is about 1/3rd of most places in the states. But the things you mention such as transportation is anything but easy to put it mildly.*
*Manila would be the only place that would have 1st class medical care available. But transportation to and from is a horrible experience. If an ambulance is ever needed, the responce time can be an hour or more. Traffic prevents faster movement most of the time. Advanced life support would be limited to very few hospitals and only in Manila. Also Medicare/Medicaid is not usable here under any condition and a cash deposit is most always required before anyone will be admited to any hospital---even in an emergencey situation!*

*In my opinion your mother could and would be in danger from not only doctors that may or may not know enough but also by anyone hired to give personal care at home. In short, moving her here would put her at *extreme risk.* I love the Philippines and most aspects of living here but the foregoing is my honest opinion.*

*The cost and procedure of obtaining a retirement visa for her I know nothing about. I would suggest you visit with the closest Philippine embassy there in the states. They are located in Washington DC, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. There may be others but not sure.*
*The Philippine embassy in Los Angeles is located on Wilshire Blvd.*

*I hope this helps a little and again I would advise against moving your mother here or to any other 3rd world country.*


*Gene...*


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## Phil_expat (Jan 3, 2011)

Gene, very well written! My 87 year old mother wanted to move to the Philippines with me. I told her live here is not right for her. Besides what you wrote, she could never adapt to riding a trike. Socially she would have no friends since all the people here are old men and younger women. She has very good heath insurance in the USA but none in the Philippines. It would be a mistake for me or anyone else to bring there age mother to the Philippines.


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

*Living Conditions*



Phil_expat said:


> Gene, very well written! My 87 year old mother wanted to move to the Philippines with me. I told her live here is not right for her. Besides what you wrote, she could never adapt to riding a trike. Socially she would have no friends since all the people here are old men and younger women. She has very good heath insurance in the USA but none in the Philippines. It would be a mistake for me or anyone else to bring there age mother to the Philippines.


There may be some places with older, single expats in Manila. Likely areas would most probably be in the high rise condos such as at or above Robinsons mall in Ermita. The last I heard is many of the condos in that property are for rent as the original owner was just unable to sell all of them. There are many more high rise condos with the same problem in selling. So I would suppose that would make renting a more affordable option.
But for a person of far advanced years, still not advisable to make the move.
Also, Manila has a lot of pollution in the air a good part of the time and that too could effect the health of an elderly person.
Aside from the more expensive resort islands, I think my favorite place is Subic Bay. Modern and nice with most everything available.


Gene…


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## filmguy (Jan 19, 2011)

I would not want to count on any of the cities in the PI for emergency situations, that being said I have been living part time in the philippines for 5 years and have been coming here since 1979. I chose Baguio because of the following reasons.
1. the weather (never gets hot or humid)
2. has 2 hospitals don't know if they are any good because I have not had to use them I would want to be stabalized and sent back to the states if it were me and possible
3. nice SM mall to keep my wife busy (she has a black belt in shopping)
4. we have all the usuall fast food places Mcdonalds KFC ect.
Golf courses bowling alleys movie theaters
5. lots of expats some permanent some come and go
6. The only downside is there are no commercial flights so its a 5 hour drive from manila I heard there are private flights but I have not found any yet.
I love Baguio and the interesting combination of pine trees and palms


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

*Living Here*



filmguy said:


> I would not want to count on any of the cities in the PI for emergency situations, that being said I have been living part time in the philippines for 5 years and have been coming here since 1979. I chose Baguio because of the following reasons.
> 1. the weather (never gets hot or humid)
> 2. has 2 hospitals don't know if they are any good because I have not had to use them I would want to be stabalized and sent back to the states if it were me and possible
> 3. nice SM mall to keep my wife busy (she has a black belt in shopping)
> ...


Hi Filmguy,

Welcome to the site. From you handle I assume you work or worked in the film industry??? My dad worked over 30 years for Technicolor in Hollywood.

You picked a beautiful place to live. We've been up there a number of times and like you,love the weather---especially during summer. Was reading in the local online news just yesterday though that many locals are staying warm around bonfires due to the unusual cold now.

I have always liked your SM mall there with the top that looks like a giant tent. When you get down to Angeles, be sure to try the new Marquee Mall. My wife and I almost live there it seems and love the place.

My understanding is that commercial flights were stopped into and out of Baguio for safety reasons and airlines here figure its too risky with current navagation aids for landing in bad weather and low visibility.


Gene...


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## filmguy (Jan 19, 2011)

I sure will,my wife never leaves a mall un-shopped.


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

*Google*



filmguy said:


> I sure will,my wife never leaves a mall un-shopped.


Tim,

I did the Google thing. Cool for sure!!! Did you ever go to the old Tiny Naylors restaurant on Sherman Way and Sepulveda. Blvd? My friends and I use to spend lots of time there--half the night in fact drinking coffee and shooting the bull. I'm told Tiny's in gone now but good memories from there.


Gene...


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## filmguy (Jan 19, 2011)

many times but my resturant was Bobs on Van nuys blvd. Just today I had a Bobs burger from Burbank on riverside


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

*Burgers*



filmguy said:


> many times but my resturant was Bobs on Van nuys blvd. Just today I had a Bobs burger from Burbank on riverside


Dont remember one on Riverside but know there use to be one on Lankershim when I was quite young.

If you ever get up to Visalia (north of Bakersfield) try Mearl's Drive In on Mooney Blvd. Its a 1950's drive in and the best burgers etc in the world!!!


Gene...


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## filmguy (Jan 19, 2011)

You are probably thinking of the same one its on riverside and pass its been there since the 30s and has been made a national landmark. Only in LA would a burger joint become a national landmark. It's very close to Lankershim.Do you come back to the states or are you in the PI most of the year? We come here to work then go home where we are in the process of building our house in Baguio. I bought 2500 square meters. about 1700 of it is flat great view of the mountains. Anyway we come and go as my schedule is not my own.


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

*Burgers And Fries*



filmguy said:


> You are probably thinking of the same one its on riverside and pass its been there since the 30s and has been made a national landmark. Only in LA would a burger joint become a national landmark. It's very close to Lankershim.Do you come back to the states or are you in the PI most of the year? We come here to work then go home where we are in the process of building our house in Baguio. I bought 2500 square meters. about 1700 of it is flat great view of the mountains. Anyway we come and go as my schedule is not my own.


Yea you're right--only in LA. But its funny, everything popular in the world seems to start there or at least in CA in general. Talk about land marks, I always think about that giant donut on top of the donut place on the west side of the 405 between Westwood and LAX. Seems to always show up in movies.

No I never go back to the states anymore. I started yearly trips here back in 1996 and by 2003 decided to just stay. Nothing to take me back there any longer and too darned expensive for the travel.

Sounds like you are getting a great place set up in Baguio and will be nice when done.
Do you plan to stay here full time after you eventually retire? Dont think I could force myself to leave here again.


Gene...


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## filmguy (Jan 19, 2011)

yup as soon as the house is built I will stay permantly.I can't retire for 2 years but we are trying to figure a way to do it before. We should get together the next time I am in your neighborhood or you are in mine. By the way the name of the donut place is Randys donuts.


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

*Donuts*



filmguy said:


> yup as soon as the house is built I will stay permantly.I can't retire for 2 years but we are trying to figure a way to do it before. We should get together the next time I am in your neighborhood or you are in mine. By the way the name of the donut place is Randys donuts.


Yea-thats it--Randy's. But seems like it or one like it somewhere started as a Winchell's. Maybe I'm wrong but seems that way. Ahh well, with age comes that memory gap...

I know its hard to retire early. I did it long before I should have. Figured I was not young any more and wanted to be able to be married and enjoy the years left living here. Created a financial disaster but I'm glad I made the move and would still do it again.

Sure, that sounds good-would be fun to sit and visit when you're here. Lots of good stories to tell I'm sure. 
I think I sent my email address to you in a private msg here on the site. If not, let me know and will send to you.

When I use to fly here from LAX or SFO I always used Philippine Airlines and would do so again probably. But if you are going stright to Baguio when you get here, there are now many flights on other airlines via Korea and Hong Kong that will bring you right here into Clark rather than Manila. That cuts at least two hours off your travel time to Baguio and no need for hotels and meals in Manila.


Gene...


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## filmguy (Jan 19, 2011)

send the email addy again I never got any pm so far.I have been flying eva air because it's seems to be the cheapest. My wife always flys economy because she gets on the plane and sleeps 12 hours. I couldn't sleep 12 hours on the ground.I fly business because I'm just too damn big. 6'2. Anyway economy on eva air is about 800 round trip certain times of the year so we shoot for that.


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## Guest (Jan 24, 2011)

Hi Filmguy,

I too fell in love with Baguio when I visited a few years ago, in spite of the air quality and traffic. We have friends in La Trinidad. We will be in the Philippines in about 2 or 3 months and hope to settle there for good. Baguio seems to be getting more expensive, I hear. So we will take a look at Tagaytay or nearby areas like Mendez. We stayed at Camp John Hay when we were there and did all of the usual touristy things. I can;t wait to get back. It is also good to know That Bob's is still where it ought to be. We used to live in the Los Feliz area and I grew up in Socal. I miss it. Speaking of Socal food, have you ever been to Zancou chicked? Check it out on Google. It was good reading your post and I hope that all is well with you. Take care.

Mikey48


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## filmguy (Jan 19, 2011)

thx if you need some baguio tips let me know. If I stay in a hotel I always stay at the Starwood next to the pancake house. It's cheap clean easy to get a cab and free wifi in the rooms. Camp John Hay is great just too pricey for me. If you wanted to buy property stay away from the realstate people and buy the baguio midland courier newspaper and go through the ads. Buying direct from the person is cheaper. I got lucky I bought 2500 square meters for 30 thousand dollars. For baguio thats cheap. Now I have property without neighbors on top of me. We are going to build this year. Let's get together when you and I are there at the same time


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## Guest (Jan 25, 2011)

Hi Filmguy,

It's good to hear from you. Yes, The Manor at Camp John Hay is expensive. Just across from there is the Mile Hi Inn. It isn't advertised very much but it is a great bargain. No aircon or wifi but not bad for the money. I had booked a place from here that is called the Concorde, I think. We went there and had enough sense to inspect it first. Thank God we did. To get to the elevator we had to pass a back hallway where some large dogs were barking from behind a plastic curtain and the smell was terrible. The rooms looked like they needed some sprucing up too so we kept on stepping. I really liked hanging out in Burnham Park and the city market. 

We will definitely return soon and I would love to meet you. Maybe you can advise me on a good place for dinner. Wouldn't it be cool if some one opened an In & Out Burger there? Stay cool.

Mikey48


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## Guest (Jan 28, 2011)

Hey Filmguy,

May I please ask your name? Mike, of course is Mike and my wife of 18 years is Marci. I would like to send you my personal email address too if it is permitted. I am new to this site so I'm not sure of all the ins and outs. Also, I can comment on EVA air. We have used their evergreen class which is a good bargain. It is in between business and economy class. The seats are considerable roomier than economy which really helps on long flights. My wife has flown on Northwest and Korean but, of course, affordability is always important to us, especially now. Looking forward to the next trip. I hope that like Gene I will find my stay in the Philippines so satisfying that I simply won't want to go back.

Regards,

Mikey48


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## filmguy (Jan 19, 2011)

check you PMs


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## R666 (Feb 23, 2011)

can an expact buy property in phillipines???


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2011)

Hello,

As far as owning property is concerned, I can share only what I've heard. I do not live there yet. I understand that you can purchase a condominium. You may also buy a house but you cannot own the land. If you are married to a Filipina then they can own anything but it will be in their name. Be careful of relatives. There are several expats on this forum who have much more knowledge that I on this and every other subject. Good luck and please forgive any erroneous info I have given. Remember that this is all hearsay and not admissible for good reason. Check with the Philippine consulate for more accurate information. Good luck.

Mikey48


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

*Caution is the best advice*



Mikey48 said:


> Hello,
> 
> As far as owning property is concerned, I can share only what I've heard. I do not live there yet. I understand that you can purchase a condominium. You may also buy a house but you cannot own the land. If you are married to a Filipina then they can own anything but it will be in their name. Be careful of relatives. There are several expats on this forum who have much more knowledge that I on this and every other subject. Good luck and please forgive any erroneous info I have given. Remember that this is all hearsay and not admissible for good reason. Check with the Philippine consulate for more accurate information. Good luck.
> 
> Mikey48


Hi Mikey and welcome to the forum,

You are 100% correct on all counts. Only other idea that I can offer is that some (not all) guys pay for the house and lot, put it in the name of their (legal) wife. Then to insure that arguements etc later on don't cause problems, they have their wife sign a 20 or 30 year lease. Thus problem (hopefully) solved.


Mabuhay,

Gene


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## filmguy (Jan 19, 2011)

The title on my property in Baguio reads It is herby certified that certain land situated in the barrio of Tocmo,.....bounded and describedas follows ........description.... is registerd in accordance with the provisions of the property registration decree in the name of Cherry icasama Cooney a filipino married to tim cooney a united states citizen both of legal age with postal residence and postal address ect. ect.
The reason I did it this way is I know a filipina who was married to a non filipino and thats the way their title was and when they got a divorce his signature was required before she could sell the property. I am not saying that there isn't someone who would forge his name or the corruption being what it is down there someone could get paid but I feel pretty confident with my name on the title. As long as I have the original title it would be hard for someone to sell the property especially with my name on it.


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## Phil_expat (Jan 3, 2011)

A friend of mine owns property in the Philippines. He told me that a non-citizen of the Philippines can legally inherit land. I did check the law and it says the property has to e sold in a reasonable time but does not define what is reasonable. Another friend of mine put his home in his GF name (he wanted to leave it to her in his will). He had her sign a mortgage agreement. His thoughts were if she kicked him out or her family took procession he would get his money back. I have my droughts about both these schemes.


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## filmguy (Jan 19, 2011)

I have a friend who has a child with his GF. He put the property in the kids name but because the kids a minor he has to have a guardian. He had a lawyer draw up papers that says he is the legal guardian and makes all decisions regarding the property until the kid becomes of age


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## Phil_expat (Jan 3, 2011)

This threads “where to live in the Philippine got me curious. I goggled “best cities to live in the Philippines “and some other variations. I took the top ten and average their position on the list. If a city did not appear on other list I gave it a 14. I was very surprised at the result!
Davao	2.67
Makati 3.67
Iloilo City	5.67
Bacolod 6.33
Quezon 7.33
manila	7.33
Cebu	7.67
Lapu-Lapu 8.00
Marikina	8.67
Marikina 9.00
Las Piñas	9.33
San Fernando	10.00
Baguio 10.67

I always thought Davao was great but did not expect #1 or Baguio would be last!


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## tommyback (Mar 16, 2013)

You cannot live at or on any islands. You can only llive on the highland, like Bague, with a 87 years old mother along because of the climate

Bague has a good hospital. For 1500 dollars you can have care for har and live a good life.
But I don't understand why anyone would bring a 87 years old woman away from her friends and security, really selfish.


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## sysop32 (Mar 17, 2013)

An old post, but here is my own experience regarding owning house and lot.

You can own the house but the land/lot has to be in a filipino name (wife/husbond, partner whatever). As one also stated above, it is possible to put it in your child(rens) name where you act as the legal guardian.

Another solution would be to put up a corporation and let the company lease the house/lot - then it belongs to the company - but the same problem arise since 51% of the company needs to be in filipino hands.

As far as taking your 87+ parent(s) to come live here, that's a really bad idea. Just read the Gene & Viol first comment on that - it's still true even 2 years later.

Every time I hear the ambulance here, I am always joking (in a nice way, of course) that people don't die of their injuries but of old age before they reach the hospital.


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## tommyback (Mar 16, 2013)

Expats can own land in the Philippines w/o being married to a native. There are assigned lots for that, and tax might be higher than for Philippinos. I don't think you need to have residency for that, but if so, if you can afford to lot & house you can afford to pay for your residency. There are different ways of getting residency, dectribed in the Philipino government site. Some years agonyou could get a resideency for about 6000 dollars "no questions asked".


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## Phil_expat (Jan 3, 2011)

tommyback said:


> Expats can own land in the Philippines w/o being married to a native. There are assigned lots for that, and tax might be higher than for Philippinos. I don't think you need to have residency for that, but if so, if you can afford to lot & house you can afford to pay for your residency. There are different ways of getting residency, dectribed in the Philipino government site. Some years agonyou could get a resideency for about 6000 dollars "no questions asked".


I have not heard anything like this before. I am not saying you are wrong but could you please elaborate?


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## tommyback (Mar 16, 2013)

Land can be acquired through a corporation. Corporations can only be, at the maximum, 40% foreign-owned.
Foreigners cannot own private land, but can own property likecondominium units or apartments. They can also buy a house but not the land on which it is built. Leases on land up to 50 years, renewable for another 25 years, are available.
The maximum area that may be acquired for residential purposes is 1,000 square meters of urban land or one hectare of rural land.


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## Phil_expat (Jan 3, 2011)

tommyback said:


> Land can be acquired through a corporation. Corporations can only be, at the maximum, 40% foreign-owned.
> Foreigners cannot own private land, but can own property likecondominium units or apartments. They can also buy a house but not the land on which it is built. Leases on land up to 50 years, renewable for another 25 years, are available.
> The maximum area that may be acquired for residential purposes is 1,000 square meters of urban land or one hectare of rural land.


I agree with this! But you also wrote before “Expats can own land in the Philippines w/o being married to a native.” In the example you just wrote the corporation owns the land. “There are assigned lots for that, and tax might be higher than for Philippinos.” What lots? Where did you get this info? “ Some years agonyou could get a resideency for about 6000 dollars "no questions asked".????


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