Building a Home in Davao

[Gandang Smile]

5 hours ago, hk blues said:

My only concern with the sit tight strategy is that if and when the market recovers, will it ever achieve close to 20M anyway?  You paid 10M, maybe 4 years ago I'm guesstimating, so where is the justification for 20M?  Even with a good wind behind you a 100% R.O.I.in 5 or 6 years is extremely good. And as we know there will be no good wind behind us here anytime soon. I don't mean to be disrespectful b.t.w. just realistic.  

Good luck with making the best of what you have - at least at 10M investment you have some chance to get out with something to show for it.

 

Well, that's exactly the point. Everybody in the Philippines is being brainwashed to "buy the unit while it's hot", at the lowest possible price, maybe off-plan, because there will be an opportunity to sell at 60, 70, 100% higher. This is what has been happening with some properties in some parts of the Philippines.

I heard that Azuela Cove, the first Ayala Premier development south of Cebu, had around 35 units on their first towers, all priced at around 37M (!). They got all snapped up in less than a year. Rumour has it all the big families in Davao rushed to have one, as a status symbol. From what I understand, the Ayala name really makes these sorts of miracles.

I haven't seen Azuela Cove so I have no idea about the quality but one thing I know is the condos in front of Aeon, Abreeza Place and Abreeza Residences, under the Alveo (mid-level) brand, had exactly the same sales price/sqm as Aeon Towers when I bought my unit. True, they have window-type air con, underwheling amenities and the finishings are mediocre.

Yet, they got completed a full 2 years before Aeon and, in terms of rental, that is easily 1.8/2M in profit. We are all sitting on arguably the best condo in Davao, but one that is difficult to rent and impossible to sell.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2020 by Gandang Smile

[Viking]

Hey guys, this topic is about Tommys housebuild 

[RBM]

6 hours ago, Viking said:

Hey guys, this topic is about Tommys housebuild 

Yes and we are waiting the next update Tommy....Cold beers on the terrace I suspect.

[hk blues]

7 hours ago, RBM said:

Yes and we are waiting the next update Tommy....Cold beers on the terrace I suspect.

He might be digging a tunnel to smuggle in that Tanduay seeing there is a ban now! 

[Tommy T.]

2 hours ago, hk blues said:

He might be digging a tunnel to smuggle in that Tanduay seeing there is a ban now! 

Who told you???!!!

[Tommy T.]

16 hours ago, Viking said:

Hey guys, this topic is about Tommys housebuild 

No problem! This topic, to me, is about our house building and ownership and whatever anyone wants to say about any of it. My part is just trying to relate our experiences and, hopefully, our sharing might assist others to decide whether or not to build and possibly what that might entail for them. Maybe some can learn lessons from our mistakes and successes? I am the last person to ever be offended by straying off topic since I am a chronic violator.

@RBM... Cold beers on one of the two terraces are good, but so are cold Tanduays in the air/conned library/office. It's time for a dose of decadence and we are stepping up to the plate. Hopefully we will be as done as possible with the house project (I will NEVER say "totally" done!) and relax. We are still effectively supervising a small crew, plying them with food and soft drinks regularly and treating them like extended family. They are good kids and always helpful to us. Two of them enjoyed riding my motorcycle into town to buy some supplies for the construction.

The sparky was beaming when he opened and closed the electric gate successfully for the first time. The cement for the base was still a bit weak so he stopped to repack it and give it a day to set. He was like a kid with the remote... So I snatched it from him and told him we will play with it tomorrow - all with laughs...

We still need to get some more furniture and build some basic storage spaces for all the stuff we have. Today we organized the last possessions from the apartment, stowed a bunch for longer term and placed others for ongoing use. I still have to try out the nice, big oven and make some cookies or brownies. I still need to buy my Lazyboy chair too.

L is lobbying heavily for a TV and I agree that we should get one very soon. A landscaper will be hired for consultation and initial work so we can get a start on planting trees, decorative plants, veggies and flowers. Even some grass (no...not THAT kind!).

So that's all I know... Too bad you guys don't stop by for a beer, while it's still free!.

[Tommy T.]

So, we've been living in the new home for two and a half weeks...

It has hardly been relaxing. Most days we have had two to 8 guys finishing up the place. There are so many little details and a few bigger ones. We have been whittling down our shopping list for utility and comfort.

Unfortunately, some of the earlier work made messes - like the varnish overspray - yuck! They have spent a lot of time fixing those up. A few things were actually ruined or damaged due to their using strong chemicals to clean some things. They use them quite liberally and we have to try to stay on top of the work to try to stop damages before they begin.

However, generally things are progressing.

 

Two days ago one of the masons constructed bumper for the car - similar to what you see in parking lots. This so we could safely back the cars in without hitting the wall or making it impossible to access the back hatches.

It's for those nights when it is a bit dark, I might  have had some beer or Tanduay outside... But I had to laugh when L told me she bought yellow paint for it! I'm not THAT bad when parking. I gently told her that, no, we don't need yellow paint. I did not want this to look like a parking lot at a Wallmart!

Along the same lines, I paid to have several loads of crushed rock brought in to settle into the mud and give the cars some grip. We have almost got stuck a few times and so have some of our vendors' trucks. There is an added bonus in that the large crushed rock encourages drivers to go slowly on bikes, lest they crash and cars too so they won't kick up stones into their car undersides. But there is little traffic anyway on this little dead-end lane.

Starting...

Finished.

Details like finish coats of paint and treatment of bits of rust where earlier coats missed the mark here and there.

We decided to add bullnose step trim to the front stairs to make them easier to see and provide a bit more grip. I found non-skid material to place under carpets and L found non-skid lined rugs too.

The big job two days ago and again today was to move some of the very large rocks into place to frame some garden areas and add interest to the landscape. Hey...they were free, so might as well use them.

One of the smaller ones.

That's the biggest one. It took all eight guys pushing and pulling together.

They are eager to work partly, we believe, because L makes food for them every day since we are here and we still ply them with Tanduay. They moved out from the "small house" after we moved in and then just show up around 7:30-8:00 am to work.

The back yard is visible finally, without all the rubbish, so many rocks, the durian trees, chicken coops, worker dirty kitchen. And we have new gravel laid down for the back gate entrance and also around the back door to prevent all the mud splashing up from some heavy rains. More gravel will minimize our tracking of mud into the home.

The contractor is now eager to finish this up because they will want a final payment, I think. They also have several other projects going on.

Remaining projects - all privately paid by us directly to some of the workers on Sundays - include a lanai off the living room (with roof overhead), shelves in the cr's to compliment the nifty stainless steel-with-mirror medicine cabinets we found at Wilcon. We still need to buy a barbecue but already have one table and chairs for the cold ones on the master bedroom terrace.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Tommy T.

[Jake]

WOW, that backyard looks huge!  From a world class yacht sailor to your new castle, you could build a 40 footer sloop and make it your future dog house.  You know, just in case you fall behind on L's honey do list.  

Also after everything settles down, look for any squatters living within your property.  I'm talking about rodents, critters and insect infestation.  And during this monsoon season, how's the drainage away from the house?  Again, well done Tommy!  
 

[Tommy T.]

3 hours ago, Jake said:

WOW, that backyard looks huge!  From a world class yacht sailor to your new castle, you could build a 40 footer sloop and make it your future dog house.  You know, just in case you fall behind on L's honey do list.  

Also after everything settles down, look for any squatters living within your property.  I'm talking about rodents, critters and insect infestation.  And during this monsoon season, how's the drainage away from the house?  Again, well done Tommy!  
 

Thanks  for the comments, Jake. (Hope you are doing okay there and can still smell your farts!). Total lot size is 660 sq m. The back yard is just less than 440 - or four city lots.

Nah... over and done with sailing and boats. But the house does feel huge to me (about 1,000 sq feet more or less) and I am enjoying the space. I already have a dog house - that work house at the back....complete with dirt floor and tabo powered toilet without seat...perfect. Not had to use it yet.

The workers threw out scraps of food and bones and local dogs stopped by regularly. Now they meet a locked gate. I have seen a rat outside and the boys said there have been rats inside before. But I bought a nice, plastic garbage can with fitted lid and we are careful with our rubbish. The local chickens don't come in and soon won't easily be able to when the back gate is sheeted in with steel.

The first three days you could have spotted me roaming around with Baygon as I went after the ant parades in the house. They still inhabit in a few places, but the swarms are gone. One cockroach so far - a German roach - those are the ones that are difficult to purge. But we don't leave food out so there isn't any action. I will be hospitable and place numerous cockroach and ant hotels to welcome all comers.

Drainage is good. The back gate was allowing a small river to run through it at first during super rains, but a couple months ago, the foreman built up a "speed bump" that would stop a Mack truck in its tracks! He will also construct a simple intercept drain to steer excess runoff past the gate opening and around the fence. Today the boys dug a shallow ditch along the far side of the right-of-way and that will also help. This is not a flood prone area at all, but a slight hillside with a small, intermittent river down about 20-25 feet below our elevation and maybe 100 meters away.

[Snowy79]

Are the bull nose trims on the steps metal?  I rented a house in Oriental Mindoro and coming down the stairs I caught my achilies area on the sharp edge of the one's fitted in the property and it took a shaving off my leg a good five inches long.  A few weeks later my friend who was staying over did the same.  I took a file to them to round the edges off as they were lethal.