Good morning everyone - this is my first time here. I will shortly be moving to Dumaguete from my home in the UK. I would like some advice on the property buying/renting process in the Philippines in general but in particular in Dumaguete. What are the costs involved in addition to the cost of the property? Thanks for reading Alan
Simply put .... you can buy a condo but not a house. You can rent anything on a handshake or mostly on a lease. Leases are generally 1 year paid monthly with two months up front.
For people that are coming to the Philippines to live the first time, I strongly urge they rent for the first year before buying. This is a nice country, but it does take some adjusting to. Things don't go as quickly as we want, services are not what you are accustomed to. Many simply get frustrated with the Philippine way of doing things and look to go back or elsewhere. It is nice, but it isn't for everyone. I do hope you enjoy your stay. Rents vary depending on your needs and wants.
Additional costs would be: Renting A. Move-in costs B. Furnishings (unless it’s fully furnished) Buying A. Capital gains B. Lawyer fees C. Fees to transfer land title to the current owner All these are negotiable though between buyer and seller. In some cases, seller pays for all these and final payment is made when seller remits the new title in current owner’s name.
When you want to buy a property with house, do estimate an additional 10% of the property price for taxes, fees and transfer of title if the seller does not pay anything of these.
I have a hard time understanding the discrepancy between house and land costs and rental costs in the area. The rents are relatively low but the price of land and housing are both quite high. The rents are about 1/3 of what they are where I live in the US, but the house prices are not much different, same with raw land.
Remember, the filipina doesn't buy foreigner's houses. Foreigners do with filipina backing (vis signing as the owner). And stop comparing to the US, You're looking to live in a foreign country. Accept things as they are. You will drive yourself crazing if you keep comparing.
I don't think @wolvhund is necessarily comparing the US with the Philippines - he is comparing rental with purchase in the Philippines but using a guideline he knows (US relative prices in both sectors). Obviously they are different markets and so comparisons may not work. A property I rented in the Philippines gave an annual letting return to the owner of 1.4% and that looks very low. But with Capital appreciation being so high, it compensates - until house prices level out or fall. I find comparing rental costs in the Philippines with those I paid in Europe does exactly the opposite of making me crazy - it is a joy and the huge savings fund all the higher costs. I think that was a turning point for me - when instead of looking at things more expensive and feeling shocked, I just looked at everything together (rental plus other costs) and knew I was onto a good thing!
As notmyrealname said, I'm comparing to the US because I understand the numbers here, but the numbers aren't a result of who is buying or my being adapted to the country, they are just numbers. I don't see how rents can be priced where they are and still cover the costs of the owner. I'm not complaining, I'm not really interested in buying or investing, I don't want to have to worry about either, just not sure how they do it.
Filipinos prefer to buy than rent if they can: Market for selling=the “rich” Market for renting=the poor
