Regards from Germany

Hello @ all !
I`m Michael and stay currently in the German Army til end of the year.
The plan is to leave Germany in 2018 and enjoy the rest of my life on the Philippines / Dumaguete.
Maybe someone can help me to find a unfurnished house for long term rent near or in Dumaguete. A good internet connection is very essential.
I would be glad if someone could help me. Tips & Trick are welcome !

Michael S.
Sergeant Major

 

Michael,

First, let me say congratulations in the service to your country!

My wife and I moved to the Dumaguete area in late September last year so I can share some of my experiences and suggestions.

Unless you have been here, or to the location you plan to retire, I would recommend going to a hotel or other temporary accomodation so you can get a little familiar with the area, housing, malls, etc. Before moving I did a lot of research and checking the forums and thought I kind of knew the area but actually arriving here for the initial week or two was far more instructive. We took trikes to visit the area and look at rentals; very helpful! The principal trike driver we used was one whom another foreigner had used. Trike drivers can be a good source of information on rentals but they may have poor understanding of many Westerner desires and expectations for housing; what may be a great place to a trike driver struggling to make ends meet may look quite different to a newly arrived foreigner!!

You need to be flexible in that even nice looking rentals may be up to Western housing standards. For example, most bathrooms and kitchens we saw when looking. This all depends on what is acceptable and not acceptable for you.

You may find an acceptable house but may find surprises from the neighbors and surrounding area. Examples may include blaring music, barking dogs, burning trash, open sewers and sewer smell, outside traffic, chickens crowing (right word??) at most hours; usually you will have two or more of these at the same place. Since internet is on of your priorities then you need to make sure what the internet situation FOR THAT HOUSE before signing a lease and moving in. We did not do that and thought we could get one provider but was about 100 meters past what they could serve. We went with Globe DSL and have been generally satisfied with the service with a few exceptions.

Suggest you give yourself a year ot two trial period to see if you really, really, want to stay here long term. After this period of time ask yourself if this is the place you really want to be permanently? My wife and I have been here for six months and we will probably return to the United States in February. I think we could stay long term, but we miss our family, friends and church and will likely return.

Some people adapt well and are very happy here. Others start out excited and with time find their attitude changing and become angry and bitter. How you ultimately react to real like living here will be the ultimate judge whether you will be happy here: to the good and bad, the exciting and depressing, the beautiful and tragic, the "out of stock, sir," "mam-sir," "for a while," the impressive number of steps for getting basic services, and so forth. There is much to say in favor of living here including low cost of living, wonderful people, warm climate beautiful scenery and the opportunity for new and exciting experiences.

Since this is becoming too long I would finally recommend you check with this forum and other contacts about available housing about 1 week before leaving. Once you arrive here ask the locals and the expats and you should find something acceptable to you in no time! Suggest you negociate for a short lease, say six months instead of a long lease. At the end of the lease you will know the area so much better and can do a smarter housing search.

Best wishes!

Gary

 

That was EXCELLENT advice Gary!

Welcome aboard Michael.

I came here back in 2013 and returned 2014 and since then a LOT of things have changed for me, some good, some bad, but overall, I LOVE IT HERE!

When searching; if there isn't something suitable here on the Forum, then "GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND"

Simply type into the search;
Dumaguete Rentals Philippines
My search revealed; About 182,000 results (0.52 seconds)
(try to avoid clicking on the [Ad] links at the top of the page, these are usually sponsored useless links...)

Usually only the first one or two pages will be of any real use, but I am sure you will find something suitable if you do your homework, contact vendors and ask lots of questions.

Don't forget to ask questions here on the Forum, as you will most times receive a great response from those already here who have experience (like Gary's response) and if you have time, use the "Search Box" on the top right of the page next to your name and read through older posts.

Good Luck!

 

there's no escaping excess noise up in the hills either; loud music, dogs, roosters (i have two : ) and gasoline powered amplified exhaust systems on two wheels, some people call them motor bikes or scooters, the locals call them 'motors', i call them mm's (macho mufflers) and uncle pete calls 'em pinheads.

anyway, i recently noticed a new trend in the mm's, it usta be that the unmufflered exhaust systems on the majority of the bikes, especially the habel habels, had a deep powerful throaty sound, like big bikes, but it's changing to blat a rat tat tat and if you play the throttle properly, a rapid endless blat, tat, blat, tat, blat. pete calls 'em fart cans...

now the music...
you really don't need sound system unless you don't like what the guy down the road is projecting into your house but up here in the coconuts, it's mostly rhythmless hopeless romantic tunes where the singer sounds like she/he's distressed about their love affair. the vocalist tend to do a lot voice calisthenics and a lot of long ahhhh sounds. what out for karaokes, that another story...

dogs...
the majority of them are free to roam but they actually stay home most of the time. my unofficial dog count in our 'hood' is there's 25 or more dogs in 3 households alone but most houses have less than 3 dogs.

and most of the barking is dogs barking at other dogs passing by, my neighbors dogs are on a 15 minute auto-repeat barking cycle during daylite hours but thankfully, they settle down at nite to every now and then.
the dogs that are tied or fenced tend to be extra noisy and some can whine and cry pathetically for endless hours like they're being tortured. thankfully, there's only a couple of tied dogs in the neighborhood.

roosters...
most all roosters are fighting cock breeds with shrill crows. the birds like to brag about their whereabouts and how many hens they screwed that day so it's constant crowing. they settle down around 6pm and seldom crow until around 1am when they start ramping up for the day. all hell breaks loose around 4 am and continues thru out the day.

funny thing, i called paypal in the usa and the rep asked me where i was calling from cuz of all the roosters crowing in the background. turns out she works at a telcom in manila...

 

You forgot the Pigs that sound like someone is cutting their throats around feed time... hehe

 

and even after you have read all the posts I am sure you will still be a just go with the Flow

 

When I first came here I stayed in an hotel (as suggested here) for 2 days ..... saw a house for rent in a shop window in Dumaguete .... viewed it but I was not interested .... then looked around the nearby streets ..... asked about some semi-built houses and was informed of a nearby rental.... viewed it, liked it and rented it... with a ONE MONTH contract. So I suggest look around areas of housing (use google maps, including aerial) and just enquire of anyone you see. Best, especially as a newcomer, to be near good public transport (being on the Ceres Bus route can be a big advantage, especially when a trike driver is trying to blackmail you for 100 pesos and you can jump on the bus for a FIXED fare of 15 pesos). In everything you do, be open-minded and accept wherever possible. Acceptance is the key to life ('For every evil under the Sun'.. etc.)

 

Wow ! I was the last days very busy (Military exercise). No Chance to check the forum. Thank u very much for the informations & answers.
Hope one month is space enough to find in advance a "so la la" house to life. But if any of you hear something about a house to rent ....let me know.

The conditions should be:
Above 100 sqmtr living space
Above 300 sqmtr Yard
Good web Connection
Around Dumaguete

We stay some days in Zamboanguita in the Greenland residence. Absolut beautiful but no chance to receive mobilphone Signal & internet.
I was in Bacong, Valencia and also in Siaton. Everywhere I liked it very much. At the beginning the right house to find .. I do not believe in it. I am from 2018 pensioner and have then also lot of time.(happy)
In january I live a month in the villa prescilla and then go on house hunting. I have something more like a month until my container ima port arrives. Perhaps we can meet in january in dumaguete to get to know each other better and talk about this and that.
I would be very happy.

Regards
Michael

 

For a preview what is available and to check price ranges you can use Olx or Property24. And use Google Maps and Streetview. But even then it is necessary to check possible locations when you are there. Never apply for an object which you never saw before with your own eyes.
You look for an house object 100+ sqm with lot 300+ sqm. If you are alone then you can save lots of money with smaller but still decent objects. And will have to use less time for cleaning and maintenance.