Advise...

...needed!

Managed to post in wrong forum (DI Front End Pages), sorry for that and for making a re-post, but I really would like some input here!

I am an aging 'digital nomad' considering to retire in Asia somewhere and Dumaguete seem to be a decent alternative! I have lived in Thailand (South Phuket) 3 years and enjoyed life there. But the Thai currency has boomed and cost of living has gone up pretty much lately. I have browsed the Forums here a while and it seems living in the Philippines does not differ that much from Thailand. Same kind of problems, same kind of treatment and same kind of laws for foreigners.

I am coming over in early July for a couple of weeks to look around and get some feeling for the surroundings. Reading from posts in the Forums it looks like most of you recommend anyone to live in the City or Bacong, and to avoid Sibulan and Valencia. I would like to rent a house with a garden to put up a BBQ whenever. Looking at ad's I can get a small house for 12.000 - 15.000/month (which sounds reasonable). I am single and a social creature so I would appreciate some places where ex-pats meet near my house. I would like easy access to shopping center/food market. Planning to buy a motorbike rather than a car since I got used to it in Thailand.

1.) What would you suggest I do with the VISA issue? Start off with a tourist VISA and renew it when due for the first year? Put up the $10K and go straight for the retirement VISA?

2.) I got a bit curious about Dapitan City (Mindanao) since pictures suggest it is a beautiful place! The concern I have if moving there is that it is perhaps TOO quiet? Any suggestions?

3.) Someone told me that buying a vehicle in Dumaguete would be more expensive than buying it in Cebu and bring it over! True or not? In Thailand it is a nightmare to move it to another 'Muang', a lot of paper work, new plates and stuff.

4.) When renting a house, would there be a difference in price (and trust)to rent straight from the landlord or through some estate agent?

Cheers!

 

Chill out here for your first year on a tourist visa and talk to other expats. You'll figure out what's best for you in that time.

People go there to get away from expats. If you want to be close to expats, then Dumaguete is a better spot.

Stay in Dumaguete for a while and then make your decision. You don't NEED a vehicle here. Get to know the city before diving into buying a bunch of stuff. Especially if you're at a point where cost of living is a concern.

I have always had locals do the groundwork to find me places. There are a lot of options in your price range. Maybe just ask around when you get here.

 

Thanks a lot! Appreciate your time! When it comes to the vehicle I am pretty sure I would need one, too curious to not having the option to get around and see things on my own.Money in that perspective is no issue, it would be an investment. I guess I have the option to rent one though.

 

Just sayin' why spend money when you aren't sure about it. You might decide that Dumaguete isn't for you. It has happened, there is plenty of thread history in this forum of duma-believers turned duma-leavers. At that point you have a motorcycle and and a bunch of other ***t to dump before you can flee.

Is a motorcycle the only way to see the place? You're getting older. Slow down! You see a lot more detail while walking or letting someone else drive. You can take pedicabs, EZ-rides, Jeepney's and habal habal. Personally, I wouldn't drive here without a tank. I suffer enough head injury just dealing with people here, never-mind taking a direct hit.

Good, luck!

 

Dumaguete, too much traffic, Bacong soon to be overun with traffic also with new relief road...Sibulan again in city...my advise come and see for yourself, it's not Thailand by any stretch of ones imagination.

 

It is cheaper to buy a car in Cebu than in Duma....but buy in the same region number to avoid paperwork hassles.
Cebu is in region 7 same as Dumaguete... whereas Mindanao for example is a different region number.

Agree with the earlier advice though ...use public transport and rent furnished until you know this is the right place for you.

Good luck!

 

Agree with the dude, tourist visa for a year until you decide to stay. And with the SRRV, if you're over 50 ("aging"), and have a DD214 (military service), your "deposit" is only $1500, and PRA didn't mention the age 50, but then i look 110, so maybe they guessed. Also SRRV is now good for 3 years..

Also never lived in Thailand (and NOOO decent thai food in Negros), but 90% of the people, including service and store personnel, speak pretty good english...

Definitely rent a furnished place, and if you buy a car here, if it's spotless, ask when the oil and oil filter were last changed, if ever. Check all the brake and tail and headlights. If any are out and oil is black as night, might mean serious lack of maintenance.

 

I actually just turned 60 My military records would not qualify for a DD214, I am a Swedish citizen and we have not been to war for just over 200 years!

As for the food, as long as I can buy stuff in shops and markets I will most likely cook most meals myself. Cooking has been a hobby for more than 30 years, I was even working as a chef for a decade before I changed to electronics and later Internet-based work.

It would be a furnished house for sure, although I am yet to find a house for rent with a decent kitchen anywhere in Asia. Apart from a motorbike, kitchen appliances would be another investment.

 

I agree, I would at least ask about the "SRRV Expanded Courtesy Visa" if interested. Per the PRA, it applies to veterans from countries with "existing military ties and/or agreement with the Philippine Government". That may or may not apply to Sweden.
And the Philippines may be buying fighter jets from Sweden, that might help!

https://pra.gov.ph/srrv/ (and don't worry about the "retired" verbiage)
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1051097