# Rent or Buy A Place To Live



## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

andersgoh said:


> Actually, I would not want to do that, but I do have a girlfriend that I would want to be with forever; but things can change that you may not anticipate.....


If you don't plan or need to get married, foreigners are allowed to own condominiums, I would pay your girl friend and one of her male family members to work out the negotiations unless another expat can recommend a realtor, I don't talk or deal with them, not anymore---long story but it ended badly. 

The condo usually requires almost a 50% down payment and then payments from 2-4 years they start out in my area at 999,000 Peso's, Manila is going to be much higher or anywhere close to Manila, it all looks the same to me and it's very crowded.


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## andersgoh (Sep 20, 2013)

CaptainLarsen said:


> I understand the concerns that some have, things can and do go wrong for some people. I personally do not have those concerns, but as added security, my son is also on all my leases. That way it is not enough to whack me to get my properties  He does not live here, visits a couple of times a year though, and have strict instructions to only deal with a big-city lawyer should something happen to me and never directly with the other parties. I think we are covered. Good luck and happy house hunting.


I am now in bacolod until November 9. I am thinking about coming back after the first of the year because I will be retired then.

I want to get the 6 mo visa and then find a place to rent first to see how things go for a whike. Can anyone recommend some good rental complexes for expat retirees. I want to see some places to get an idea of what I can expect to get in a rental as well as price. Would love to get some input on this from current expats living in Bacolod.


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## overmyer (Aug 15, 2013)

andersgoh said:


> I am now in bacolod until November 9. I am thinking about coming back after the first of the year because I will be retired then.
> 
> I want to get the 6 mo visa and then find a place to rent first to see how things go for a whike. Can anyone recommend some good rental complexes for expat retirees. I want to see some places to get an idea of what I can expect to get in a rental as well as price. Would love to get some input on this from current expats living in Bacolod.


There are a lot of apt and house rentals. I recommend that you pick up a copy of the local paper, The Visayan Daily Star (p11-12 depending on the street vendor) and check the classifieds.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Lots of mixed up thinking going on here about land ownership. As a foriegner you can not own land in the Philippines. Every scam has been tried and they don't work. You can own a building but keep all of the receipts. The big problem arises when you need to move the building off the land that you don't own, unless it's on wheels, and then where would you move it too. You may think you could reclaim the value of the building from the land owner and even get a court order to such, but that relies on the land owner have any money, which they probably have not. Also you can't lease from your wife as the Philippine family code considders husband and wife to be a single unit, and you can't lease from yourself. The dummy corporation law stops you from setting up a corporation to own the land in your own name. Also building on leased land will likely result in the land owner getting a nice new house once they have broken the lease after seeing their new prospective property.

Just forget all about owning land, build for your wife never your girlfriend. And if you think you have beaten the system don't be too sure because you haven't, you have just been scammed.


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## marilyn555 (Oct 5, 2013)

When i first got here, me and my partner were thinking about owning a condo/apart in Makati, we did research and make some enquiries~
talked to bank officers and we were told we can loan the amount up to 50-70%

but.....This is one of the sales person told me >.< 
"Hi Ma'am Marilyn, as I have discussed your concern with my Manager, and he told me that you cannot avail the bank loan and need to pay in cash the whole amount of the Condominium."

After receiving what the sales person told me, both of us back out...I mean we would love to own one, but throwing all our money in is not what we wanted =.=
oh, both of us are expats~:tongue:


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

*Double standards*

I tried to buy a Borako motorcyle as they adverstised the mall, didn't work they went from 2000 Peso's down payment to 10,000 Pesos and no deals, yea!!! nothing you can do about it they won't back down same with condo's...keep checking around.


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## JimnNila143 (Jul 23, 2013)

The bottom line is in order for a land purchase to work your wife/partner has to be the owner of said land. A foreigner can own a building on said land but the wife/partner has to own the land. It is best for your Filipina wife/partner negotiate the land purchase and deal directly with the builder when building the building/house. Never deal with a real estate agent, they are only out to screw you out of your pesos. Usually a purchase is 1/3 down and you have X amount of pesos to pay monthly for X amount of years. Also, as far as bank loans, you have to be younger than the age of 55 to get a home owner loan.


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

*Strange Way Of Doing Things*



JimnNila143 said:


> The bottom line is in order for a land purchase to work your wife/partner has to be the owner of said land. A foreigner can own a building on said land but the wife/partner has to own the land. It is best for your Filipina wife/partner negotiate the land purchase and deal directly with the builder when building the building/house. Never deal with a real estate agent, they are only out to screw you out of your pesos. Usually a purchase is 1/3 down and you have X amount of pesos to pay monthly for X amount of years. Also, as far as bank loans, you have to be younger than the age of 55 to get a home owner loan.





mcalleyboy said:


> I tried to buy a Borako motorcyle as they adverstised the mall, didn't work they went from 2000 Peso's down payment to 10,000 Pesos and no deals, yea!!! nothing you can do about it they won't back down same with condo's...keep checking around.





marilyn555 said:


> When i first got here, me and my partner were thinking about owning a condo/apart in Makati, we did research and make some enquiries~
> talked to bank officers and we were told we can loan the amount up to 50-70%
> 
> but.....This is one of the sales person told me >.<
> ...


Absolutely true on all counts. Goofy deal---people that actually (for the most part) have the money to buy and make good on credit are denied while those that are born here and often have the most difficult time paying or default on loans of all kinds are approved. To say it is "crab mentality" or even gross discrimination would be an absurd under statement and is a system that is designed to fail :bump2:...


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

That's the plan for us as my Wife owns a lot with a house that she has rented out now in Mindanarrio (suburb of Iloilo) while we are in the US. When we return to the ROP, we will either tear down that house and build new or since it is very close to the new Megaworld, it may be more advantagous to sell it and buy some property further out near Pavia or something. We will just have to make an evaluation when we go back there. At least we have enough cash on hand that we won't have to deal with credit as we probably couldn't get it anyway as I am74 and she is 63.

Fred


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

fmartin_gila said:


> That's the plan for us as my Wife owns a lot with a house that she has rented out now in Mindanarrio (suburb of Iloilo) while we are in the US. When we return to the ROP, we will either tear down that house and build new or since it is very close to the new Megaworld, it may be more advantagous to sell it and buy some property further out near Pavia or something. We will just have to make an evaluation when we go back there. At least we have enough cash on hand that we won't have to deal with credit as we probably couldn't get it anyway as I am74 and she is 63.
> 
> Fred


Sounds like you two have a good plan. How long do you have to wait before you can get moved back over here. I know cash is important but tell ya what; I took an early retirement 10 years ago at 51yrs. I committed financial suicide in doing so to move here then, but have never regretted it. There are a few things I miss from the States but can not imagine ever leaving here again...


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## Phil_expat (Jan 3, 2011)

My friends have used many schemes to own land: A) create a corporation that is 60% Philippine owned that buy the land. B) Put it in wife/GF name and have her sign a lease that is in your name. C) in her name and she sign a mortgage that she owes you an amount equal to the valve of the property. D) a wealthy Filipino (half American) friend will buy the land in his name, sign a 50 year lease in your name and give you a bill of sale that he sign with no date or name of the buyer. You fill those in so you can sell it.
The validity all these schemes have weaknesses of laws that can change and ruling of an unfriendly court. Is it worth it? A friend of mine has built many homes for expats and said he would build mine but his advice is it is better to rent and not buy. The only reason I am considering buying is security for my family not for personal gains.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

lykabatalla said:


> hi mccaleyboy!
> 
> I understand your concern, I am a licensed real estate broker in the Philippines. I can help you if you would like to continue to buy/ lease a property in the here. Please feel free to call me at +639175616187.
> 
> ...



I'll remain a squatter and if we for some reason I get kicked out this place (rural area, family has been here since 1942) I'll go squat somewhere else or rent a hole in the wall for 1,000 pesos a month, no money to be made here I also don't sign contracts anymore that's a US and European thing and main reason why I come here to get away from professionals, contracts, lawyers and opportunist. No thanks! This is the Philippines and I will have "My way".


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