We are talking about moving to the Philippines

[fototek1]

My Filipina wife and I are currently living near Boston MA in the United States. I am 45 she is 35. We have been saving for years and planned to retire in 6 years and spend half the year here and half the year in Philippines. In December I was laid off from a well paying job and its been a frustrating experience trying to find a job that can replace the lost income. Over the past few weeks we have started to talk about selling everything here in the US (which is a difficult thought) and permanently moving to the Philippines. My wife's family is middle class and we have never had to provide support ( just thought I would add this tidbit). I know I will need new hobbies and friends if we do relocate (My current hobbies will not transfer to Philippines..competitive long range rifle competition, snowshoeing, woodworking) . My current plan is to try to keep our house here for a year while living there. When we move there we will construct a 12 room hotel for income. What advice do you all have to offer? 

[Dave Hounddriver]

30 minutes ago, fototek1 said:

When we move there we will construct a 12 room hotel for income. What advice do you all have to offer? 

With a wife who is used to western standards, as are you, don't even think about it unless you have enough money to support yourselves to the tune of US$2,500 a month plus.  Just MHO.  You will find you want more than that.

[Jake]

47 minutes ago, fototek1 said:

What advice do you all have to offer? 

Hello Fototek, sorry to hear about your job.  Something that was beyond your control, like me when my job at Qualcomm (San Diego) was outsourced to China.  But looks like you have a good and solid plan for the Philippines.  Always visualize that goal and adjust accordingly along the way.

In the meantime, our advice to you is to continue reading and posting questions within this fine forum. Believe me, I have learned from the veteran expats through their trial and tribulation.  And I'm Filipino.  

At the upper right corner, you will see our internal search engine.  For example type in "hobbies" and you will get 8 pages on the subject.

Good luck to you sir!  Respectfully Jake

Edited February 12, 2017 by Jake

[Jake]

17 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

With a wife who is used to western standards, as are you, don't even think about it unless you have enough money to support yourselves to the tune of US$2,500 a month plus.  Just MHO.  You will find you want more than that.

Right on Dave!  This is a big one.  You're not in Kansas anymore......you gotta downgrade your lifestyle by realizing the life of luxury needs to be seriously analyzed. Back to the basics works for me.

Edited February 12, 2017 by Jake

[scott h]

Foto, welcome to the forum. I agree with Dave about the income. One thing you forgot to mention is where you are thinking of relocating. That would greatly influence your "hotel" idea.

These are my first off the cuff thoughts. Here in metro manila, most of these small hotels are what us yanks would describe as "hot sheet" motels. Places where you can rent a rooms for increments of 3-6 hours. I have seen some small hotels out in the provinces, but usually clustered around some sort of tourist attraction (Add to dictionary, or Lake Taal). Now if your wife is from a coastal town and her family owns property on or near the beach, boy you are all set.

As for hobbies and such. This is what I always tell my friends back home about living here. You really have to be comfortable in your own skin. If a guy is the type that likes to drop by the local watering hole for a brew and a talk on the way home or the type that likes to get with his buds on a Sunday morning to watch the football game. He might want to rethink. The truth is, expats are pretty thin on the ground here. Some areas have get gatherings every month or so, but, at least in my area, few guys just get in the car and go over to joe's house for a beer.

Anyway welcome to the forum again, browse around, use the search engine as suggested, get the feel of the country and ask more questions.

Oh you haven't mentioned if you have ever visited the Philippines before

[Kuya John]

Welcome to the forum fototek1,

Hobbies, well you could always try for a place with the Filipino Bob Sleigh Team

Hope all goes well with your plans, good luck for the future.....JB

Edited February 12, 2017 by Kuya John
spelling

[Mike J]

7 hours ago, fototek1 said:

(My current hobbies will not transfer to Philippines..competitive long range rifle competition, snowshoeing, woodworking)

I would not be too quick to discount woodworking as a hobby.   Here is a picture of a cabinet I built to hang in the dirty kitchen of our rental property.  Built with marine mahogany plywood, solid mahogany, and split bamboo, 72x24x12 deep.  I really enjoyed turning big boards into small boards and like the way it turned out.  Ask 10 people how much it will cost to live in the Philippines and you will get 10 different answers.  That being said, Hounddriver is correct that the cost to mimic a USA lifestyle will be relatively expensive.  Plan carefully and proceed slowly with caution if you plan on investing money here.  In my opinion you have chosen the ideal forum to ask for advice.  The people who post here are straight shooters and will always try to give the best possible advice.

 

[Jack Peterson]

32 minutes ago, Mike J said:

I would not be too quick to discount woodworking as a hobby.

 Member DaveWe makes Guitars, A hobby he brought with him that I just know he could turn into a business

Anyway  

[robert k]

I found that I had no choice but to do some woodworking. I wanted a box built from boards and not plywood and basically everyone I talked to told me it had to be made out of plywood. I didn't want plywood. I went around and started buying tools and materials and did the job myself. I was willing to pay someone as much as it cost me, tools included to build the box the way I wanted but nobody wanted to do it my way. My filipina friend wasn't quite sure why I wanted the box built the way I wanted it until the end when I lifted the box to shoulder height and threw it down to test it.

[fototek1]

Thank you all for the quick responses. I will supply some more information. The hotel will be the type that is rented by the 3 hour block of time in a strategic location in Bulacan (few hours north of Manila). The idea of the Hotel comes from father in-law who owns 4 "Hotels" and is to provide our annuity income . . Neither my wife or i are into the us of these types of hotels but I do not have an issue using the business to make money. The father in-law wants his daughter back in the Philippines so he gave her a gasoline station (but he still takes the profits from the lease until she moves home).  

I wish it was not illegal to own a gun and load ammunition in the Philippines. I could easily make this my business. Open a gun shop, reload ammo, teach shooting, start competitions. 

We actually live a simple life here in the US although we have a big house (It's paid for, no mortgage). We both drive mid level Honda Accords ($24,000 cars). We have enough cash on hand to live here in the US for 10 years without working plus a healthy 401k. My wife is the accountant for the city we live in but doesnt even pay half what I made. We could just squeak by on her salary   

As for woodworking, I have built most of the furniture in our house, a canoe, jewelry boxes, doors, cabinets, bee hives and fancy mirrors. I do it because I am not good at doing nothing. I take pride in what I am able to do and the payment is seeing how it impresses others. I am not flashy with the cars, jewlry and clothes, but I do like to show off my skills . My wood shop takes up a 4 car garage and is really high end. 

Jake, my job was in telcom as well.