Buying Houses to rent

[PaulB]

Hello Fonts of All Knowledge. Long time no here!

I hope everyone is well and sorry I have not posted in a while but been a little busy. 

This time next week I shall be back in the Philippines for a couple of weeks and can't wait. The wife and I have just bought 3 x 4 bed houses and intend to rent them out. We already have our home and these are 25 minutes away in our nearest city, Santiago. Also an SM Mall being built just around the corner from them so I hope value may increase over the years.

Having dipped into a lot of businesses in the Philippines I feel the only area that can safeguard your investment and earn you a little bit of income is Property. My plan is to rent these out and maybe over the next 3 years add a couple more to the portfolio. I believe we can get Php 15,000 per month for each house. Being in the Province you can pick up these houses for the same price as a condo unit in Manila but also the rents are lower.See below pictures of the houses. If you know anyone who wants to rent let me know, I shall do basic furnishings also.

I would love to hear Members opinions and those who may have done the same.

 

If any members are near me between 25th May and 4th June please give me a shout and the beer is on me.

 

Paul

Edited May 17, 2019 by PaulB
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[earthdome]

Please report back on your experience renting. As they say, its all about location, location, location. We stayed in an AirBnB on the beach in San Fernando, La Union last fall. The building was 4 years old and originally was going to be apartments. But the owner (an expat's wife) is doing much better with AirBnB in that location. I think he gets 2.5 to 3k pesos per night and has 6 2BR apartments in the building.

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, PaulB said:

Having dipped into a lot of businesses in the Philippines

How did they do?

[Old55]

Thanks for sharing Paul. We are curious about this topic as well.

[sonjack2847]

Having done this as a long distance LL in the past I would say that one thing you have to be certain of is that the agent you get to manage it is honest and reliable. I paid way over the top for maintenance when I rented out my house in the UK. Also, the agent has to make sure that there is no damage left by the tenants who are leaving as they missed quite a bit of this as well.

If you can get these two things sorted then you have a chance of making money. I have told my wife that we should also buy some more rentable properties here so as they have plenty when I pop my clogs. Good luck Paul I hope it works for you.

[PaulB]

13 hours ago, sonjack2847 said:

Having done this as a long distance LL in the past I would say that one thing you have to be certain of is that the agent you get to manage it is honest and reliable. I paid way over the top for maintenance when I rented out my house in the UK. Also, the agent has to make sure that there is no damage left by the tenants who are leaving as they missed quite a bit of this as well.

If you can get these two things sorted then you have a chance of making money. I have told my wife that we should also buy some more rentable properties here so as they have plenty when I pop my clogs. Good luck Paul I hope it works for you.

sonjack2847

As we are in the Provinces I am not sure there are agents to manage rentals so my wife will manage. Rule number 1: we don't accommodate family! Rule number 2: We take 2 months rent as deposit and 1 month rent upfront. Rule number 3: Tenants must ask permission before doing any work to houses. Rule number 4: A check in inspection will be carried out, with photos on iPad and agreed by tenant. Rule number 5: A check out inspection will be conducted and compared to check in report and pictures and deductions made from deposit for any damage. Rule number 6: I will write the lease with attorney and include all of the previous plus the right to terminate lease and keep deposit if any illegal activities are undertaken in the house or if the house is vacant for more than 60 days. 

My job here in Abu Dhabi is to manage a Property Portfolio for an Airline Accommodating over 10,000 employees so I have a little bit of knowledge to hopefully protect the investment. Anyway the actual property investment is more to look after the wife when I am gone as I doubt I will see any of it, except the  rent, in my lifetime.

Will keep you all updated.

 

Paul

[fillipino_wannabe]

I was tempted before but can't see much point in buying here over the UK. rental yields are much better in the north of the UK. House prices of houses outside of Manila have been going down against inflation here for the last decade or so and can't see that changing.

Plus it would give the wife more incentive to suffocate me with a pillow in my sleep.

[Snowy79]

I think your only issue will be renting in the provinces. Wages there are lucky to reach 15k per month for a lot of families.  Splashing a little more or buying just two near a good university may have been a better option. 

[sonjack2847]

9 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

I think your only issue will be renting in the provinces. Wages there are lucky to reach 15k per month for a lot of families.  Splashing a little more or buying just two near a good university may have been a better option. 

An SM Mall is being built around the corner in the near future and 25 minutes from a city so I think it should be ok but only time will tell. Good advice though Snowy.