Anyone know a good real estate agent in Lipa, Batangas

[Snowy79]

I think word of mouth goes a long way to selling property in the Philippines as from experience over 50% of the properties I see on line for sale are no longer available, they just don't update the web sites. The next is getting a proper licensed Real Estate agent as many don't appear qualified.

You've probably a better chance buying or selling via a forum like this and just pay for it, chances are it'll be a fraction of the cost of a Real Estate agent plus you'll be dealing with Foregners who may have the same taste in house design as yourself.

Do disrespect meant as we all have our own taste but many of the foreigner properties I've seen for sale look very dated in design and way too big. A lot no doubt were build as someone's dream home having retired and lots of money so they go big which straight away takes the price away from many locals, then for many foreigners they think if they are going to spend that much money they might as well build to their own design. 

[Tommy T.]

Yeah...I know we are wandering off topic again - as I always do... but I will add a few more thoughts...

In the area of our new home, there are a number of fairly large and nice homes, all owned by Filipinos. They may not be up to our quality standards (L and mine), but they are big and at least look nice.

Meanwhile, there are new apartment and condo buildings going up all over this area - it is a bit surprising to me to see this. And as I mentioned in a post or two in some other topic a while ago, prices seemed very high for even tiny condos when we were looking last year. I'm talking 5 mln and up for 2 bedroom condos (and the bedrooms were just big enough for maybe a double bed, but no nightstands and not much closet space).

And, just today, we spent over 30k just for curtain rods for the house. L is now looking to find the "perfect" curtains... I cringe to see the price tag for those!

And RBM is correct that our home is at the high end too. The windows alone are extremely expensive - and we are still battling with the provider because the windows are nice but the installation is awful. But that can be read about in my build topic...

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

I will just add that the cost for building our home is similar or possibly higher than what I would expect to pay in USA. And a lot of the workmanship is shoddier for that cost.

My experience is very much different, Tom.  I was able to buy a very similar size house here 5 years ago for 1/3 of what I sold my house in the UK for in 2004.  Location of both was not so different - quality of build was not comparable but...

I would say that if you want a western style, quality and design house here then you can definitely expect to pay a premium but do we really need that level?  I'm willing to compromise to get a balance.   

[Tommy T.]

1 minute ago, hk blues said:

My experience is very much different, Tom.  I was able to buy a very similar size house here 5 years ago for 1/3 of what I sold my house in the UK for in 2004.  Location of both was not so different - quality of build was not comparable but...

I would say that if you want a western style, quality and design house here then you can definitely expect to pay a premium but do we really need that level?  I'm willing to compromise to get a balance.   

I see your point HK. However, when we looked at homes and condos here, even L could see that the quality was very poor. She had her home constructed locally and was on site every day to guide the build to her standards. Even at our high costs, we are still compromising with our new home.

One of those standards is the ability to withstand earthquakes. We have seen a few condos in this area collapse from recent quakes.

And, believe me, our new home is not built to USA standards...still far from it. But materials, mainly, have driven up the cost for us. Labour is inexpensive for the most part, but if you pay a few guys a small amount but they work for a long time, the costs seem to even out to construction in other countries.

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, Tommy T. said:

I see your point HK. However, when we looked at homes and condos here, even L could see that the quality was very poor. She had her home constructed locally and was on site every day to guide the build to her standards. Even at our high costs, we are still compromising with our new home.

One of those standards is the ability to withstand earthquakes. We have seen a few condos in this area collapse from recent quakes.

And, believe me, our new home is not built to USA standards...still far from it. But materials, mainly, have driven up the cost for us. Labour is inexpensive for the most part, but if you pay a few guys a small amount but they work for a long time, the costs seem to even out to construction in other countries.

I hear you, Tom.

I think the reality is we are not comparing like for like - I am 100% convinced that property in the Philippines is cheaper on a comparative basis than property in the UK, for example.  

I agree that projects here get out of hand and the costs mount so I'm not surprised to hear your experience - I just think those experiences are not the norm. We do get taken advantage of as foreigners when it comes to costs, one way or the other.  

[Balisidar]

Hi all,

Figured I'd bring some closure to this.  We did a lot of looking and my wife decided that Lipa wasn't her thing and Tagaytay was too expensive, so we bought a 2 br/2 bath house in Tuy, Batangas.  Nice little place and the right size for us.  3 years old and we got the owner down to 2.75m pesos.  Gated subdivision.  Market right across the street.  My wife said she was in heaven.😂😄

So just settling into our new home and readjusting to life here in the Philippines.😀😉

Now to do a little gardening and adjust to life as a retiree.  Cheers!😀

 

[stevewool]

Looks nice , not to far from the beach too.

[Balisidar]

17 minutes ago, stevewool said:

Looks nice , not to far from the beach too.

Yeah, its nice Steve.  Not as cool as the highlands but great access to some delicious fresh fish in the Palengke! 😆😉