My Offer Is Philippine Retirement On $800 A Month

[Mr Lee]

JJR I like your idea and it might work, yet I have another possible suggestion for the use of some but not all of the land. If the land is accessible by good roads or can be made that way, and you have answered the question of power, it can be done, just costly, possibly an expat community, where expats can rent the land for long term leases with renew options built in, and they build whatever type of home on the lot you provide. The rents should bring in a steady stream of income and possibly even get someone or many someones to manage the land for you while living in their own home, built to their own standards. Rent based on lot size and not on the type of home, so if a person wanted a small farm of their own, they could rent a larger home lot. Just a thought and besides that, getting a builder to work with you and offer some home layouts might work out as well.

[Art2ro]

BTW, what do mean by your topic title, "My Offer Is Philippine Retirement On $800 A Month"? $800 for what, when, where and maybe how? I would also like to see the bigger picture since your photo gallery only shows off the nicer beautiful scenery on your 40 hectors of farm land. Too bad about the coffee bean plants that are no longer! Show us an aerial view in relation to accessible roads within/outside of the property, resident’s homes, facilities/farm equipment etc and quantity of fruit trees on the property. You mentioned that there are caretakers on your property. So, what do they do? You say that hired help is available, but why is it that you don’t profit from the mango harvest? No electricity on the property? Portable generators costs to run! Who’s willing to pay for the expensive gas? What about running water and sewage? And why just a foreign national to manage your property? Why not a Fil/Am or one of your relatives who have some sort of business sense?Your farm land has a lot of potential, but it’s a huge undertaking with lots of potential headaches too, let alone a huge capital start up investment!

Edited October 22, 2011 by Art2ro

[JJReyes]

The following is my response to the latest posts. 7. joeatmanila - To help the Agri-Tourism business get started, the Department of Tourism is offering certification for U-Pick farms. The requirements include having a parking area, male/female toilets and picnic tables constructed with indigenous materials. I think they are referring to "Bahay Kubo" picnic tables. In exchange for certification, DT will help publicize the farm location. It could mean something simple like adding your informationto a directory. The nipa hut idea is a good one. 8. Kuya Lee - Thank you for the suggestion. It is an improvement to another concept. We have community gardens on empty lots owned by the City and County of Honolulu. Residents can rent a plot to plant vegetables. The difficulty is two legged "cockroaches" come at night to harvest the vegetables. If the plot of land at the farm is sufficiently large to build a house and plant vegetables, it could attract expats and become a retirement community. Tanay A picture is the main road. It is concrete. Tanay B is next to the farm entrance. It is gravel. There are power lines so it won't be a problem if the retirement village is near the entrance. Access from Manila to the farm location is either through Ortigas Avenue or through the Marcos Highway. 9. Art2ro - The title comes from another current topic, "Living on $800." Since housing costs are typically 30% to 35% of your total budget, the offer of free accommodations is the equivalent of someone with $1,200 per month for expenses. My apologies for the limited number of pictures. After receiving text messages asking family members to rush to the hospital because my brother was expected to die within hours, I had to cut the farm trip short. He passed away around 7:30pm. The remainder of my time in Manila was spent attending the wake and funeral services. There was no opportunity to return to the farm. I am okay about the coffee trees. Philippine Barako coffee sucks. I had to drink it out of courtesy to my father. My preference is a milder blend. Part of the reason I need to put together a feasibility study group is for them to visit the farm. What farm equipment is available? What is the condition of the family house? How many of the original 1,000 mango trees are still remaining? What about the calamansi and orange orchards? Where is the location of the rambutan trees? Where are the coconuts? In Hawaii, we have a safety issue. All the flowers are removed to prevent coconut trees from growing nuts. The reason is one fell and killed a tourist. The liability settlement was in the millions. The caretakers are salaried employees and their main job is to keep away potential squatters. I spent entire summers at the farm and the portable generator was on for only about 4 hours at night. Everyone went to sleep early. My father was awake by 4:00am for the simple joy of watching the dawn and sunrise over the mountains. There is a small spring about 20 feet above the house. Water for the toilets, basins and shower is gravity fed. The water from the main spring in the picture has a better taste. That is the source for the drinking water. Sewage system is septic tank. I am also a Fil-Am and consider myself as part of the expat community because a Fil-Am is straddling between two cultures. Yes, a Fil-Am is welcomed to join. The nephews and nieces are well educated with good career paths. They are city folks with no desire for rural life. My brother who just passed away was the family member responsible for the farm. He did it on a part time basis. Until his illness, he was a senior executive with the Israeli company involved with the construction of the Manila Light Rail system. Why no profits? That's a very interesting question and the reason for my wanting to convert the farm to an Agri-Tourism business. The answer is "Supply Chain Analysis" or how mangoes get from the grower to retail stores to end users (customers). A study by a university researcher indicates that growers receive only 5% to 10% of the purchase price. One of the project possibilities is for the feasibility study group to eventually develop sufficient business expertise to help poor farmers realize higher incomes from mangoes. Yes. There will be lots of potential headaches. That's part of life and what will make the end results of this project tastes sweeter. It could also be a total disaster. Either way, doing it is part of the fun. Aloha - JJR

[Art2ro]

JJR, Why no profits? Your words, "that's a very interesting question and the reason for my wanting to convert the farm to an Agri-Tourism business where visitors pick their own mangoes and or what ever other fruits are available". The answer is "Supply Chain Analysis" or how mangoes get from the grower to retail stores to end users (customers). A study by a university researcher indicates that growers receive only 5% to 10% of the purchase price. One of the project possibilities is for the feasibility study group to eventually develop sufficient business expertise to help poor farmers realize higher incomes from mangoes. IMHO an Agri-Tourism business is not a way to go, because you just answered your own question I highlighted in red. Just keep it simple and emulate what a successful mango plantation farmer does that makes a profit year in and year out by hiring an expert mango farmer and hire the necessary seasonal pickers for the harvesting! It’ll take an investment capital on your part to start your mango business by providing the necessary equipment and housing for the picker’s room and board only during the harvest season and the cooperation of your family, relatives and their friends not to undermine your authority in starting up your family's business for your and their benefit in the future, because your family, other relatives of theirs and their friends could be your obstacle not knowing it! It's the Filipino mentality you have to be aware of, because they are good about spending your hard earn money and not theirs and maybe that's why your father's land never made a profit all those years!

Edited October 23, 2011 by Art2ro

[JJReyes]

10. Art2ro - The Philippine mango industry are mostly small growers. The system relies on negotiating a price with a sprayer/contractor before flowering is induced. If the grower needs the money immediately, it could be a tree rental agreement with the sprayer/contractor paying P1,000 per tree. A retail value of P20,000 means the grower received 5%. If the harvest is larger or mango prices are higher, the value could be P40,000. The grower does not receive any additional money. The extra money from a good harvest goes to the sprayer/contractor. However, the opposite could happen and the crop is destroyed by an early typhoon. The sprayer/contractor is the person who suffers the loss. Another typical agreement is shared risk between the grower and sprayer/contractor. Assuming a retail value of P20,000 per tree, the farm gate price is 40% or P8,000. The grower receives 25% or P2,000 and the sprayer/contractor receives 75% or P6,000. The grower's share of the retail price for mangoes is 10%. In my proposed "U-Pick Mangoes" Agri-Tourism business, the P20,000 assumption remains the same. The marketing, advertising and promotion costs increases to get families visiting the farm. Some of the harvest expenses such as picking, washing, grading, packaging, shipping, etc. are reduced. Assuming we offer visiting families a 50% discount compared to the retail market price for mangoes, the gross farm income increases to P10,000 per tree. This is an improvement over the more typical P1,000 or P2,000 per tree. Farm income has increased 5x or 10x. (The above numbers are arbritary and used for illustration only.) The family farm was marginally profitable. The reserves from good harvest years covered losses whenever typhoons destroyed the crop. Then the municipality decided to double the land tax in 2011. It went for us from P375,000 to P750,000. Losses are now guaranteed if your income is only P1,000 or P2,000 per tree. We practice good farming by keeping half of the trees dormant. The question is, "Why double the land tax in 2011? My own theory is Metro Manila's current growth is towards the South along the South Expressway towards Laguna, Batangas and Cavite. Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Henry Sy, Johnny Gokongwei and other large developers are buying blocks of property (400 to 1,000 hectares) causing prices to skyrocket. Our location is in the East pass Antipolo. Most of the municipality is prime agricultural land. Location is approximately 40 to 70 kilometers from Metro Manila. Double the land tax, impose large penalties for delayed payments and farmers start to go under. This creates opportunities for land development corporations to purchase land for future development at a cheap price. Anyway, it is just a theory, but it caused my blood to boil and triggered my fighting spirit. Besides, an income of P10,000 per tree makes Agri-Tourism highly profitable. There are also other ways to generate additional income in the future. Kuya Lee suggested a retirement village. JJR

[Art2ro]

JJR,​ :th_thholysheep:P750,000 land tax is outrageous on 40 hectors of farm land! Is that correct? Who in your family pays that yearly? Your farm land doesn't even produce that kind of profit to cover the land tax! Looks like mango farming won't be a profitable proposition! Ever think of just selling your land to a big land developer for big bucks, where you and your relatives can just live off the interest from the profit after taxes? Or each to their own what they do with their own money? Lee's suggestion of a retirement village sounds promising, but that takes a huge investment capital, time and patience! Well, good luck with your future endeavors!

[JJReyes]

11. Art2ro - Thank you. Your questions and comments have been very helpful. I should know within the next nine months whether assuming responsbility for the farm was the right decision or not.

[piglett]

11. Art2ro - Thank you. Your questions and comments have been very helpful. I should know within the next nine months whether assuming responsbility for the farm was the right decision or not.

you need a guy with a good head on his shoulders who grew up on a farm.someone with a college background who really understands how & why things grow would be a huge plus IMHOsounds like a sweet deal for the rite guy with a pinay wife.i'm just a truck driver & jack of all trades so i don't think i would make the cuthowever i would love to come rent your guest house for a few weeks at some point (if you have one)looks like a great place. my wife could cook up some fish & rice & i could wash it down with RedHorse : ) piglett

[JJReyes]

12. piglett - I will keep you in mind. We may add a few "bahay kubo" dwellings as rentals. By the way, someone informed me that a major river a few kilometers from the farm is an "in" place for Manila city dwellers to go camping, biking, hiking, spelunking and exploring. During WWII, Daraitan was the base camp of Gen. Augustin Marking and his Filipina-Irish American lover, Col. Yay Panlilio. She was a journalist, a US Army intelligence officer and guerilla leader in her own right. Col. Yay wrote a book about the Phiippine guerilla movement, "The Crucible." There was a follow-up book a few years later, "Where a Country Begins." Residents of Barangay Daraitan construct simple bamboo huts with cogon grass roofs along the river. They rent for P100 per day during the summer. They are required to tear them down later. The bloggers don't mention it, but I pretty sure the toilet is a honey bucket. JJR

[FlyAway]

I wonder if apples would grow there? About 30 minutes drive from my house is a place called "Apple Hill". Several "U-Pick" farms there for various types of apples. Very popular with Filipino's to. I recently went there with a group and they all had a blast at it. I never thought of it under the term "Eco tourism" but I guess that is what we were doing. There are several winery's there as well. Good luck to you. Sounds like a very exciting business adventure.