Renting v Owning

[davewe]

I mostly stumbled over them. As I was looking for rentals I always seemed to find guys who were building or knew other developers who were building. The next thing we knew we were looking at houses being built, getting prices, etc. In the end we decided to stay the course (rent 1st). 

Of course once I get serious I will look harder at who is legit and who might not be. I suspect that in most of the cases there is a Filipina wife involved in the business .

[Jack Peterson]

Just now, davewe said:

I suspect that in most of the cases there is a Filipina wife involved in the business .

Of course dave there would have to be unless you went to a Corporation and that would be most unwise, When you are Ready we can help you with the Build 

[davewe]

8 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

Of course dave there would have to be unless you went to a Corporation and that would be most unwise, When you are Ready we can help you with the Build 

I assume you can help put together the beer budget lol

But yes, I would certainly seek your advise when we get to that point.

Edited September 5, 2017 by davewe

[sonjack2847]

17 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

I didn't really know there were Western developers.  How did you find them?

OMW mostly it is word of mouth you might try asking expats in your area if they know of anybody.I will say this though make sure you get a contract with exactly what is to be done,how it is to be done and obviously the cost.cross all the ts and dot the is.I know of an expat in Dalaguete who had a house build done and the builder (German) never put in a sesspit.

[sonjack2847]

5 hours ago, mogo51 said:

In the past I have read quite a few posts on similar topics to this.  This is just my experience after a very recent arrival.

We quickly realized that Filipinos are  not good at maintaining their own properties, let alone rentals.  This is not a surprising position as Thais are very similar.  However, where I lived Pattaya, many properties were owned by 'Farangs' and were well kept.  But you could always tell the local owned.

The property we rented at Marand Resort Bauang, left much to be desired, under equipped lacking basic necessities (at least by my standards anyway).  We moved only to find the next place no better, even though the promises were there that certain things would be done, - they were not.

Quite unexpectedly, we came across a property for sale.  We both had already discussed that we were very happy living here in Bauang and it suited both our needs ie. closeness to her family (not too close), near beach, good shopping areas and still reasonably quiet.  One minus, is poor road facilities and bad traffic congestion in San Fernando.  Have now found the back way into there and much better. The small town of Bauang has a great market and people are friendly and helpful in the main.

Anyway back to the property.  Owned by a Filipino youngish woman whose husband died 2 years ago.  Has got herself into financial trouble and needed to sell.  We viewed the property through a friend and liked it - only downside its a  townhouse.  I made an offer well below the market price (which I had established prior) and it was accepted.  There is also a very good payment plan attached which makes it an even better deal.  I will not go into other personal details. We were sent to a local solicitor who has handled western clients for over 15 years and well regarded.  All searches completed and property clear.  The guy who told me about the property, also lives opposite and actually built the complex, 9 units, half occupied by Aussies, 2 European, 1 Filipino.

3brooms, 2 bath, lovely kitchen/dining area and bedrooms good size, not the small dog boxes we have seen about.in a nice area near the beach.  So here we are after only a couple of months moving into our own home mid month.  We are both happy and excited to have something of our own together after 6 years.Furniture expedition completed and delivery in 10 days.

The deal I  negotiated made the decision a 'no brainer' and only brought forward what I intended to do within the next 12 to 24 months anyway, so better than paying rent IMO under these circumstances.

 

 

I still haven`t started to build after 6 years my plans keep changing.Good on yah Ron.

[stevewool]

7 hours ago, mogo51 said:

In the past I have read quite a few posts on similar topics to this.  This is just my experience after a very recent arrival.

We quickly realized that Filipinos are  not good at maintaining their own properties, let alone rentals.  This is not a surprising position as Thais are very similar.  However, where I lived Pattaya, many properties were owned by 'Farangs' and were well kept.  But you could always tell the local owned.

The property we rented at Marand Resort Bauang, left much to be desired, under equipped lacking basic necessities (at least by my standards anyway).  We moved only to find the next place no better, even though the promises were there that certain things would be done, - they were not.

Quite unexpectedly, we came across a property for sale.  We both had already discussed that we were very happy living here in Bauang and it suited both our needs ie. closeness to her family (not too close), near beach, good shopping areas and still reasonably quiet.  One minus, is poor road facilities and bad traffic congestion in San Fernando.  Have now found the back way into there and much better. The small town of Bauang has a great market and people are friendly and helpful in the main.

Anyway back to the property.  Owned by a Filipino youngish woman whose husband died 2 years ago.  Has got herself into financial trouble and needed to sell.  We viewed the property through a friend and liked it - only downside its a  townhouse.  I made an offer well below the market price (which I had established prior) and it was accepted.  There is also a very good payment plan attached which makes it an even better deal.  I will not go into other personal details. We were sent to a local solicitor who has handled western clients for over 15 years and well regarded.  All searches completed and property clear.  The guy who told me about the property, also lives opposite and actually built the complex, 9 units, half occupied by Aussies, 2 European, 1 Filipino.

3brooms, 2 bath, lovely kitchen/dining area and bedrooms good size, not the small dog boxes we have seen about.in a nice area near the beach.  So here we are after only a couple of months moving into our own home mid month.  We are both happy and excited to have something of our own together after 6 years.Furniture expedition completed and delivery in 10 days.

The deal I  negotiated made the decision a 'no brainer' and only brought forward what I intended to do within the next 12 to 24 months anyway, so better than paying rent IMO under these circumstances.

 

 

Living the dream gets better the more i read your threads , well done .

[Jack Peterson]

2 hours ago, davewe said:

I assume you can help put together the beer budget lol

But yes, I would certainly seek your advise when we get to that point.

 I can certainly help you spend it  

 When you are ready just shout 

[mogo51]

9 hours ago, davewe said:

Congratulations! We too had a similar decision to make. While we intend to buy or build we both felt more comfortable renting for a year just to get the lay of the land and make sure we knew which town or neighborhood was best for us. We also just did the furniture and appliance thing and "overbought" with an eye on what would work down the road.

One thing that may have changed in my thinking is to buy or build. I always assumed I would buy an existing house, probably from a foreigner getting out of Dodge and needing my cash. I did not want to go the route of supervising construction. But I have seen and spoken with several Western developers and for the price might go that route, giving Janet an opportunity to design her own thing and yell at the crew (instead of me lol).

I have no building expertise Dave and would never try to learn it here in Philippines. 

Just a side story to my start on the topic.  We went to  the house this morning to decide on colour scheme for some painting that we wanted to do to make the house less 'loud', peaceful non obstrusive colours for us which does not include bright green and purple.  So 3 rooms to be changed and kitchen area, bathroom.  When we arrived found the light fittings and air conditioners gone.  Turns out the 'brother' decided he would take them out and put them in Aunty''s house.  Very quick threatening of 'jam off' and later that day, returned and reinstalled???  I just don't understand some of the thinking here at times.  Brother a bit of a stand over type apparently.  Moving settlement date forward and locks will be changed.

 

[mogo51]

4 hours ago, sonjack2847 said:

I still haven`t started to build after 6 years my plans keep changing.Good on yah Ron.

Thanks Kev.  

[BrettGC]

1 minute ago, mogo51 said:

I have no building expertise Dave and would never try to learn it here in Philippines. 

Just a side story to my start on the topic.  We went to  the house this morning to decide on colour scheme for some painting that we wanted to do to make the house less 'loud', peaceful non obstrusive colours for us which does not include bright green and purple.  So 3 rooms to be changed and kitchen area, bathroom.  When we arrived found the light fittings and air conditioners gone.  Turns out the 'brother' decided he would take them out and put them in Aunty''s house.  Very quick threatening of 'jam off' and later that day, returned and reinstalled???  I just don't understand some of the thinking here at times.  Brother a bit of a stand over type apparently.  Moving settlement date forward and locks will be changed.

 

This is the second instance of this I've heard of recently, it happened to a RL mate of mine in Mindoro.  I've even seen it where even a lease is signed based on the inclusions and then half the inclusions are gone; fridge, aircon, TV etc when the tenants move in.