Makati On $1000?

[TheMason]

My advice is to look for a place in Mandaluyong City. Its only 10-15 minutes away from the Makati CBD and rent will easily be 5-10k cheaper per month. I think you'd be stretching things if you lived in an upscale area of Makati on your budget. Besides, Makati is full or rich assholes and expats. Its not really all that great a place to live IMO.

[Matthew23]

Hey thanks everyone for your time.

I'm looking at about 6 months to begin with and i'll come home if its not right or looking into ways of staying on longer.

When i was in Manlia a few weeks ago i stayed in Makati, Malate and Mandaluyong. (also went down to legaspi and naga for a few days which was great fun) I know id like to stay around this area, but its hard to know where to look for a place to stay for so long. Would you say Mandaluyong is as safe as Makati? Where would you think the safest place to live alone in manila would be?

I must sound so nieve, i assure you i'm just being extremely overly cautious. I feel like a young solo foreigner like myself, its not a matter of if but when i get into strife when i'm staying for so long. Just trying to minimise the damage, >_<

Thanks All. <3 <3 <3

[TheMason]

If you're that concerned about safety, think about renting a condo in a tower attached to an SM or Robinson's. The rent will be higher, but you'll have direct access to all the shopping and day to day stuff you'll need in the mall. Once you go out of your condo tower, I don't think there's much difference between Makati and Mandaluyong.

I spent time living in a condo right at Boni and EDSA in Mandaluyong. It was a great place. It was right at the foot of the LRT station and there was a Robinson's right across the street. They were building a condo tower at that Robinson's several years ago, I think its probably completed by now. I felt safe enough there, but the LRT was always an adventure. I took taxis at night, never the LRT. Rent was 22k for a short term rental on a 45 sqm 1 bedroom condo. Electricity ran another 4k per month. If you're staying long term, you can get better rates on reantals.

I also stayed in a place called California Dream in Mandaluyong. This wasn't a condo tower though, it was a typical Pinoy subdivision row home. Rent there was 17k for a 60sqm 2 bedroom row home. It was an older subdivision but it was OK.

I also lived in a condo tower in Ermita on J Bocobo street right near Taft and United Nations. That place was OK. We were about 300 meters from Robinson's. The neighborhood was a dump, but I never really had any issues walking around during the day. I don't go out much at night, but it is the red light district so there were always shady looking people around. Rent there was 9k for about a 17 sqm studio. It was SMALL, but definitely doable for a single student.

My advice is to spend a few days in each part of Manila you are considering and look for condo towers. All of them will have places to rent. Also stop in at any 7-11 and pick up one of the 'for sale' newspapers. I forget the name of it, but it had red and black print on the cover and was a newsprint magazine. It was full of rental units all over Manila. If nothing else, you'll get a good idea of the prices and what's reasonable to expect on your budget.

[Matthew23]

Wow thanks Mason, some really useful information right there.

[luke]

Got this from a friend:

It's like a hotel room. Seems to be managed by an Aussi company. Maybe you can check with them directly about other condo's and prices for long-term rentals.

Success

[TN88]

In short: yes, you can do it on 1000 (1200 that you mention, even better). Will it be alot of fun? Probably not. Which Uni are you going to (why not choose a safe area near Uni - traffic in Manila is horrendous)?

It seems your reason for choosing Makati is safety. Yes, Manila is not the safest place but its not Baghdad either. There are other places perfectly safe e.g. Eastwood. Here a furnished studio condo (in a safe area and safe building) for a 6 month period runs 20-25000 pr month + 2500 electricity/water/gas (depending of course on how much you run the A/C etc.). Internet is 800. That leaves you about 15000 or 500 a day for food/transport etc. Quite manageable (most Pinoys your age has considerably less) but not much room for fun (the extra 200 USD i.e. 8000 pesos a month would mean a nice difference). You could also consider sharing a condo.

[Matthew23]

Ill be studying a course online from Australia. Just want to do it in the philippines instead. :P

Thanks guys. Cheers for the link luke, will get back to you on that success. :)

[Thomas]

Ill be studying a course online from Australia. Just want to do it in the philippines instead. :P

Thanks guys. Cheers for the link luke, will get back to you on that success. :)

Why not living where it cost much less then? :)

I mean somewhere where Internet is ok.

[Beachboy]

Maybe you can check with them directly about other condo's and prices for long-term rentals.

The real estate listing Sulit.com.ph is listing openings at the Beacon Makati (the Facebook Link in Luke's post) P15K monthly for a studio and P22K monthly for 1 bedroom. It looks like an up-scale condo, but of course check it out in person ...

I'm also interested in the Makati area... please post the results of your search .. I'd like to know what you discover. Good luck. Thnx.

Edited September 28, 2012 by Beachboy

[Matthew23]

Thanks yeah, Any Makati links would be muchly appreciated also. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that i'm not going to organise anything until i get there.