Just curious what you would call expensive and what you would call the sweet spot, where you balance what you would like against what the economy can support.

 

Good questions. From what I have seen here, expensive is in the 10m-20M peso range. I think 7M is a good number but you may still need to find a foreigner buyer. For a local buyer the 2M-4m range might move on the market.

 

HA ha good luck getting them out the property after you return ( they will be living in the 4 corners of it)
uncle from sipilay the sister in law from bayawan, the cousin from cebu

not a snowballs you will get them off of it, putting them on it is the worst thing you can do

 

rent rent rent (not to put a downer on it) what if she gives you the heave ho , when she gets her degree and gets a taste of the america, forums are full of those horror stories

 

...or wants to stay in US, or wants to be closer to Duma/Cebu/IloIlo/wherever for work, or.......

 

I must ask

is there a bit of an age gap between the two of you ???? ((( i would be extremely careful buying and putting it in her name ))), you dont want to go down that road, if it goes south or sour, thats it for you man

a 4 year degree here in the phils is probably worth tuppence in the USA, so you dont want to be wasting 4 years and all the cash to find out when and if you return to the states, she might have to two years extra to be on a par with American standards, and she might not be able to go to school depending on her visa status

and she gets to the states and gets hit on by the young bucks (temptation temptation temptation)

you need to think long and hard YOURSELF or read a few forums about it (dont be nieve)

My wifes uncle had property here (still does) and he took up his American citizenship, but he doesnt lose his property here

 

Yup, I totally get where you are coming from and it is great advice. I gave her the choice of school here or in the States and she wanted here. I re-explained the schooling issue and the probability of needing more schooling and she stuck to going here, I think she may also be a bit afraid that she isn't close to being able to succeed at a US university. She also very much wants to come back here so isn't extremely worried about finding a job in her exact field and would be happy settling for a more support role there to have experiance for a job once we return.

I still think we have too many unknowns over too long a period of time to be able to decide where to live now. The passing of time plus new experiences of schooling and living in the States will definitely affect the decision on top of all the other issues.

As for me personally, I know who I am and that 'sh1t happens' and that I am tempting fate taking her to the States. Willing to take the risk, don't plan on having a lot to lose financially. As far as her income working in the States, pretty much anything she can bring in will be enough, not really a concern.

 

If she really wants to go abroad, she will give you a certain amount of time to take her and if it looks like you won't do it then she will leave and find someone who will. Such is my experience . . more than once. So just enjoy what you have, do whatever feels right to you, and try not to stress about it. And I am not saying your lady would do such a thing. We all KNOW that our own ladies are different and would never do that. We have to believe that or we would turn into cynics like some other posters we know :-)

 

'our own ladies are different' I my case I kind of talked her into going as part of me taking care of her when I am gone. Much easier for her to access my accounts etc, travel with me if I need 1st world hospitalization, if we stay long enough for her to qualify for minimum Social Security (10 years) then she would get the future equivalent of $600/mo (p30,000)... blah blah blah

...and if it doesn't work out, well wouldn't be the first time, she wins and I only lose what I have put in so far - a house not being one of those things.