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Some recent experience (went to Cebu to get my ECC clearance yesterday)

I went to the Dumaguete BI office first, to make sure I would bring the correct documents to Cebu.
That was a bad idea. The list of "requirements" they have at the Dumaguete office is completely wrong.
It mentions copies of this, that and the kitchensink, none of which turned out to be needed.
It also mentions five 2x2 pictures, you need only three.
It does not mention to bring a printed copy of your flight ticket, but I was asked for one.
I was told at the Duma office that it would take 5 days, which turned out to be not true.

So here are my tips to increase your chances of getting your ECC in one day.
1. Bring your passport, three 2x2 pictures, and a copy of your plane ticket out of the country.
2. Be at the Cebu BI office as early as you can; it gets a lot busier in the afternoon, plus there is a 2 p.m. cut off time for accepting ECC applications. We took the 6 am fastcraft boat from sibulan, were at JCenter Mall just before noon, it wasn't really busy yet at the BI office. I would probably have walked out with my ECC within an hour or so, but because of the missing copy of the flight ticket we needed more time. When I returned to the BI around 1:30 p.m. it was already a lot busier.
3. Be polite and kind, but explain that you travelled from quite far to get to Cebu and that it would be very awkward if you need to return there just to pick up the ECC.
4. The fee has been increased to 700 Php (plus 10 peso for legal costs or something); don't offer to pay more to hurry things up, you may insult the person you are making such offer to. No other fees.
5. Note: I'm on a tourist visum, longer than 12 months in the country, no problems with previous visum extensions whatsoever and I have a valid ACR-card. My experience may be of some help to you, but possibly not if your situation is different.

 

Just wanted to let you know if anyone is interested Zac's Place bakes great bread rolls and other bakery items. Last week he baked Chelsea Buns...an English friuted bun scroll. They were full of fruit and absolutely delishious....couldn't stop eating them lol.
I think you would need to ask Russell when they are next on the menu. I plan to order 6 on his next bake!

 

Gia’s (Vegan style) 300 m east off of Hibbard Road on Neva Restaurant Road. Gia’s is a new restaurant started by a Nutrionist from Silliman University. It looks like a private house but they stand a sign outside after opening. Attach part of their menu (photo).
A friend and I ate their and the food is very good and not expensive. Seating is outside under roofing and umbrella tables at the rear side of the house adjacent to the kitchen.

 

To create a level playing field, only senior citizens should be allowed to purchase liquor.

 

Actually a bit more relaxed than that.. I put down 10:30 opening but I'm usually there long before that, as for closing, it gets very quiet after 7pm and sitting around, empty, just burning fuel is frustrating so we go home by 7.30pm. But if there's people to serve then we stay open till whenever.

 

My take on the property market in the Dumaguete area:
1. First of all, this country lacks proper zoning regulations and/or the enforcement of such regulations. This means anyone who owns a bit of land anywhere can build a house there.
As a result, many (former) farmers in the area think their farm land is worth a load of money; they just need to subdivide and find buyers and they'll end up rich (which is probably why so much good farm land is laying idle). There's no LGU or state agency stopping anyone with a plan to build a house on farmland. Given that the population density in this country is about the same as in my country of origin, that seems like a strange way to go about building restrictions, especially since quite a bit of land here is mountainous and unsuited for farming.
Of course some buyers and sellers don't understand how the market works, which means you'll find sellers asking 2.5k or more per sqm out in the middle of nowhere. Likewise you'll see buyers who don't get that while the going price for a lot say 5 km inland from Bacong may be around 1.2k per sqm, you'll pay a fair bit more if you search within 2 km from downtown Dumaguete.
2. Yes the number of foreigners in the area (I read somewhere it's around 7,000) obviously has an impact on the local economy -money we spend means income for someone else-, and we also influence the real estate market somewhat. However, the impact on the real estate market is not very big I think; many foreigners either can't afford to buy or don't want to because the land will not be in their name.
In the rental market the impact is a bit bigger I think, and that has indirect effect on the real estate market obviously.
3. Don't underestimate the number of well-to-do Filipino's, whether it's well educated Filipino's living abroad looking to buy or build a nice retirement home or local business owners. Yes many people are still poor, but not all.
4. When trying to get a feel for price levels in the market or even for a single house (is it cheap or expensive) it is generally helpful to consider what monthly rent that property might realistically fetch.
If (in the Philippines) that rent represents an 8% return per year or better on the buying price, I would consider it cheap. If below 6% it's expensive.
So, for example, buying a house for 4.5M (including transfer costs) that you could rent out for maybe 15k a month (4% return) is -economically- a bad idea, whether or not you intend to live there yourself.
5. As for the current state of the market in the Dumaguete area, it will not look the same to everyone, if you're used to land/house prices in urban Europe or America then at first glance Dumaguete is still dirt cheap.
If looking from the perspective of a person from rural Canada or USA then Dumaguete must seem awfully expensive.
I would encourage everyone to forget about such comparisons.
That being said, prices have been rising pretty fast for the past few years in Dumaguete. Whether there's going to be anything like a serious price correction on the horizon remains to be seen, I am not convinced.
On the other hand, some asking prices are indeed way above what one would reasonably expect to pay. In some cases a buyer might be able to negotiate a much fairer price, in other cases the seller might not be really interested to sell.

 

Like most folks have said, everyone has different needs/wants in a place. We picked Tanjay for a few reasons; the most obvious is that the wife is from there which does make things convenient as the family is close if we need anything, I personally like the smaller towns and we are known around town so no issues with prices if I am out shopping by myself or with the lovely wife out of view. Shopping is enough unless you are making a major purchase. With having a house there and folks we know I really enjoy life.

Bais is also close by and has a nice seafood market and things to do. We usually will go to Dumaguete 2-6 times a month on average for shopping, movie theater, restaurants and/or to meet up with folks we know. Dumaguete is a bit more than I would want full time but enjoy the times when we do go there.

One place in the Philippines we really enjoyed (only 5 days or so) was Bohol. I think there is a lot to do there and the area was nice. Of the places we have visited outside of Negros this is one we will visit again. For someone looking at places to settle/visit I think Bohol is worth checking out as well.

We've been to quite a number of cool places/areas in Negros but have barely scratched the surface and think it would take years just to really explore this one island.

What a cool adventure living overseas...

Shawn