Where to Live

[stevewool]

Being on holidays for a few weeks and you think i could live here , but living there is so different then just a few weeks i am sure.

There has been lots of threads about living here and there and even different languages in those places too, so it could be difficult for your partner to mix in the new place you would like to call home.

A gated community is that the way to go, maybe if you have a great budget and the rest of the people living in that area have that budget too and everyone wants the place to be safe and clean, the only gated places i have been to was nice at first but a year or so later its just like the place they had left , cockerels, broken cars , and dogs roaming the streets, yet when you go through the security gates there are signs saying all these things are not allowed.

Maybe when looking at some places that sound cheap inside a gated place they are cheap for that reason, they get people out of the so called slums into a nice house but they still bring all there tat with them .

[BrettGC]

Steve, I have the same concerns as you with regards to gated subdivisions in PI.  I often wonder if there is any such thing as a body corporate, owners association, or similar to enforce the rules and if there is, where are the owners' body corporate fees going?  

Over the course of 3 years I saw my ex's subd. near Nepo Mall in Angeles go from pristine to basically something I wouldn't live in.  Internally I'm sure all the residences were fine but the grounds were another matter.  She was renting so didn't have a say in anything.

I believe Dave H is in a newer complex in Dumaguete so I'd be interested to hear his thoughts.  

[Jack Peterson]

36 minutes ago, BrettGC said:

  I often wonder if there is any such thing as a body corporate, owners association, or similar to enforce the rules and if there is,

Oh Yes ! and they can be a PITA Dave "H"can add more to this I am Sure 

[hk blues]

I'm in a gated community. It's relatively new - probably about 5 years old now. It's not as nice as it was, as more and more new people move in, obviously you're going to get the odd rotten apple, and it only takes one as we well know. 

The HOA seem toothless, at least seem unwilling to pull the trigger but they do ensure it doesn't go off the scale.

Whilst it's not what it should be, nor what it promises to be, it's still better than nothing. Let's be brutally honest - a high proportion of people here really are selfish and don't entertain the concept of being a good neighbour. It's probably more about how less bad they are than how good.

[sonjack2847]

2 hours ago, stevewool said:

Being on holidays for a few weeks and you think i could live here , but living there is so different then just a few weeks i am sure.

There has been lots of threads about living here and there and even different languages in those places too, so it could be difficult for your partner to mix in the new place you would like to call home.

A gated community is that the way to go, maybe if you have a great budget and the rest of the people living in that area have that budget too and everyone wants the place to be safe and clean, the only gated places i have been to was nice at first but a year or so later its just like the place they had left , cockerels, broken cars , and dogs roaming the streets, yet when you go through the security gates there are signs saying all these things are not allowed.

Maybe when looking at some places that sound cheap inside a gated place they are cheap for that reason, they get people out of the so called slums into a nice house but they still bring all there tat with them .

I have read of one time when the rules concerning roosters were enforced and that was when a local lady complained.I have seen gated communities go downhill as you describe.

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, BrettGC said:

Dave H is in a newer complex in Dumaguete so I'd be interested to hear his thoughts.

Oh yes, Jack has heard my thoughts a time or two so I may as well share.  I am in a subdivision with one developer building all the units.  So long as they are still building and selling units they ARE the H.O.A.  They rule with much tougher regulations than the normal toothless  H.O.A's because they want to get the units built and sold and they don't want a bunch of rule breakers ruining sales for them.

That said, they cannot enforce all the rules as everyone who lives here loves to break rules.  But they do get on top of some of the worst offenders.  I had a run in with them where they threatened to turn off my water supply if I did not tear down my carport.  I had to bring in a lawyer to talk to their lawyer and we ended up finding a compromise but they do have some teeth.

I am not sure if I will like it or not when the developer leaves and turns thing over to a H.O.A.  I suspect I will miss the guards that actually do their job, as I heard normal subdivision guards are useless but ours are tip top.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on a Sunday evening.  Anything else 

[Dr. Shiva]

How to recognize subdivisions which are well managed? Especially after some years? And is it a difference between high class, middle class and low class subd. in the quality of the people living there? Better people means also less mess (hopefully).

Or better go for a condo because several stuff which is doable in a subd. is not possible in a condo. Keeping a cockrel will not work in a condo.

[Clermont]

I have written my thoughts on gated subdivisions and body corpse running them, before. A friend of my wife's children bought houses in a subdivision and they pay into a body corp to keep out the crap like some posts describe. A waste of time and money, Suri Suri stores in nearly every house, garages built rite out to the boundary with another room on top of the garage and cars parked on the street anywhere. It was a beautiful subdivision when they were building and selling, now it is a common area. That turned me off gated areas and body corps. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

12 hours ago, Dr. Shiva said:

How to recognize subdivisions which are well managed?

I think the point is that changes from year to year so even if one is well managed today, the head of the H.O.A. could get voted out tomorrow and it could turn into a slum overnight.  My thoughts on the matter:  If that is important to you then buy in a small, high end subdivision where there are not too many residents and they are like minded.  That may or may not work but I'd give it the best chance of success, IMHO.

[BrettGC]

So I take it HOA's or similar in The Philippines aren't covered by corporate governance laws and local state regulations on bi-laws like they are in many countries in the West?  In the Australian example body corporates are registered organisations and their structure, behaviour etc is governed by law and when it comes to the extreme are enforced in The Magistrates courts.