⌛ Looks like a great place!

Hi,
Newbie here

I've joined this forum because I'm interested in buying a place to live somewhere like Dumaguete.

I've been doing some research on the internet and I'm now planning a 2-3 week jaunt to Cebu and Dumaguete starting around the 19th January.

I'm from the UK (London), but I work as a Maths teacher in Shenzhen, China. Shenzhen is not a cheap place to live.
I've spent some time living in quite a few countries, including Luxembourg, Russia and Thailand, but the last 4 years I've been in China, mostly teaching A-levels (that's sort of pre-Uni if you don't come from the UK).
Shenzhen is not a cheap place to live but nice in some ways (close to Hong Kong).
I've been searching carefully for a place that would allow me to live long term as a foreigner, has a decent quality of life and has cheap real estate costs. From limited information, the Philippines looks like it ticks a lot of boxes. And some of the beautiful scenery I've seen online really blows me away!

By the way I am in no rush about buying, but I have a feeling that this year and next might be the best time ... (what do you think?)

I'll have many questions about stuff before my trip, and I would offer a beer but I heard that it's pretty cheap down there, so maybe I should offer something else...

 

hi wax,

welcome to the forum. yeah that is one of the best way to actually assess the place by really coming here, stay awhile and get a feel for the environment. the experience will answer most of your questions. spread your wings here...

 

Sorry, but as a citizen of the UK you will not be eligible to purchase land in your name. Do you have a Filipino spouse?

It sounds like you should do a lot more research before embarking on such a plan.

Where do we get the beer?



Larry

 

Larry,
I'm glad you mentioned that.
It's really a bit confusing.
For sure, there is no confusion that a foreigner cannot buy land.
But at the same time, I have found a profusion of information about the business of buying property.

So is it like this:
*A foreigner can't buy land.
*A foreigner can buy a condominium. (Is this on a long lease?)
*There are many ways to try to circumvent the law of not being able to buy land, using companies or some kind of document trickery.
*The latter is obviously not completely legal (maybe just slightly illegal ) and therefore risky, but then even if one has a spouse there is the obvious risk if the land/property is in her name.

In Thailand it's very similar. I don't think a foreigner (at least not just an individual, not speaking about large corporations) can own land anywhere in Asia (and don't ask me about Europe, America..)
Is that a reasonable summary?

 

Well, just so you know that any sort of "document trickery" can cost you all you have invested, all cash and assetts that are tied or derived from it, AND you can be deported. If it's worth that to you, be my guest! We may have just the property for you.

Larry

 

Larry is right. Any attempt to circumvent Philippine foreign ownership laws is illegal and the resultant agreements void. Have never heard of an upheld exception. And of course, being the foreigner - you'll lose everything. The crooks who did it to you, will be out looking for the next victim.

You can own a condo outright though as you mentioned. Personally I might consider it in Makati - but would steer clear of anywhere else....

Your Filipino spouse can fix you up as you know. If you haven't got one....you likely will.

 

Thanks guys. I think you are pointing me in the right direction. I am continuing to try to find good info. on this.

Trying to circumvent laws would make no sense in a place like Phil ... let me ask one more question. If I wanted to live Phil for, let's say, one year, would the following be true?

* Rent - between USD $100 and $200 per month, so budget about $150x12 = 1800?
* Visas are no problem (on arrival?). Do you have to do a border hop every 2 months? What would be the total cost to budget on that?

 

Yes, you can usually find something decent to rent for that amount, if you don't require anything upper scale. Better figure a week or two in a motel in order to find something suitable.

If you enter without a visa, you will be given 21 days at the POE. Your first extension will be for an additional 38 days. After that you will extend every 2 months. You can stay in the Phils for up to 16 months on a tourist visa (up to 2 years with special clearance from Manila).

Larry

 

Land lease

Waxwing you can do a 25 year land lease with an option to renew and build a house on the land which would revert to the land owners at the end of the lease. It is another option.

Dean

 

If the purpose of bying property in Dumaguete is to make some kind of ”investment”, then just forget the whole idea without further ado. Apart from the fact, that foreigners can not legally own land in the Philippines, there are also a number of other reasons to rent a house or apartment instead of buying one:

• There isn`t a well developed property market in Dumaguete, so while it is fairly easy to buy something, it is much more difficult to sell it again at anything near the price, that you paid yourself.
  
• At the upper end of the market, rental rates are usually very low compared to advertised sales prices.
  
• The expected live span of a building is way shorter than it is in more developed countries.
  
• Being a foreigner, there is always some kind of risk, that you might want to or even be forced to leave the country, perhaps even in a hurry. It is really nice therefore to not have invested more money in anything, than you are willing to loose, if things go wrong for one reason or another.

If you marry a local woman, then perhaps you can consider to buy property for the sake of having a home, that is really ”your own”. But other than that, just do yourself a favour and forget the idea once and for all.

If you have money to invest, then much better that you invest it in the stock market. Or perhaps in some kind of business, that can easily be moved to another city or even another country, if things go wrong for you in Dumaguete for one reason or the other.