Best Posts in Thread: To buy a condo or not to buy!

For many years, my wife and I served as buyer's agents. During this time, we bought and sold 85 properties. We learned many lessons and insights the hard way. As to the poster's question about what keeps prices so propped up:

The number #1 reason is there are no listing service where buyers and sellers can find the going price of a similar property. Sellers do not know what the lot or condo next door sold for because the selling price is often deflated to save on closing cost. The only measure a seller has is the asking price of his neighbor. This means that if one condo owner is asking an "over the moon" price, other condo owners will jack up their price. This is a tough situation to come up against as a buyer. We have found that many times an area gets way overpriced and there is nothing to do but walk away. It sometimes takes 3-4 years for a condo building or a neighborhood to return to reasonable prices. It is also very difficult for a foreigner to negotiate with a Filipino. Our tough-buyer tactics are usually taken as rude.

 

I'll just mention one experience I'm familiar with from an old foreigner friend (Tom) that passed away in Cagayan de Oro when I loved there years back. My friend (foreigner) and his wife owned a house and happily married, house and land was of course in the wife's name. The wife got very sick and ended up in Cebu with her husband and eventually died in the hospital. The man after arranging all the affairs and to have his wife's body sent back home for burial returned home to CDO. What he found was the wife's family had taken up residence in his house and was refusing to leave. They cited how he was just her husband while they were blood so they should get the house not him as it was their blood relatives house. The police wouldn't do anything and told him he had to take it to court. He spent 2 years in and out of court often with the family not showing or requesting a change of date at the last second. The first court ruled against him as the foreigner citing how a foreigner can't own land. He appealed and challenged that by the law that a foreigner CAN own land when its inherited such as from his deceased wife. That court case was dragged on and on because at first the family said they should have an equal share in an inheritance split from their blood relative and citing how their relative never said the house should go to him should she die (well she was 40ish and he was 71). They dragged this out for 2 years with some of the weakest arguments one can think of and refused to leave the house. Eventually after 2 years fighting this my friend died which pretty much ended that case.

Before he died plenty of suggestions were made that he settle it a *different* way to *take care of* said family squatters. Sadly he didn't take that advice to get rid of a few cockroaches calling themselves family.

Point is here in the Philippines no matter what the one thing you can be certain of is as a foreigner your never safe and secure especially where your money and investments are concerned. Laws don't work in our favor even when they are spelled out clearly to support us in certain issues. Someone should always take that to mind when considering putting down any serious investment here.

 

I think this is the court case to which D&I referred. It appears that the main problem was that the lease prevented the owner from selling the property, which the court construed as de facto control = ownership by the foreigner. The exceptionally long term of the lease (50 + 50 years) was also mentioned. I don't think this rules out all lease agreements, but I'd definitely recommend you make sure that the attorney who draws up any lease agreement is aware of this recent ruling and explains its implications to you.
Foreigners, beware!

 

Having had experience with most of the veterinarians in this town in my time here, they're pretty much 6 of 1 or half a dozen, not meaning that in a good way either. Medical facilities for animals are very limited, if an x-ray is needed one must go to a people type diagcare place, then queue with the general public. The range of medicines available is likewise minimal. Diagnostics, such as blood tests are also pretty basic, there is no cancer care at all, unless you class putting an animal to sleep as care.
I know a lot of dog owners here, who are as unhappy about the veterinary situation in Dumaguete as I am, having lost extremely loved and valuable animals for unknown reasons.

 

You should compare rental rates with ownership cost. As far as single family homes goes, the selling prices always seems out of line with the rental price to me. It seems cheaper to rent than to buy. The biggest advantage in renting is when there are neighbor or neighborhood issues, you can pick up and move. Selling property in the Dumaguete area can take years, so they should not be considered an liquid asset. Do your research. Many new condos are not delivered on time (as can be noted by many foreigners, and they do not carry the type of warranties that you may be use to in the US.

A recent court case decided that long time lease could be consider as an ownership position. It was then determined that a foreigner could not hold an ownership position so the foreigner lost the land, and the house when he split with his wife. It is just a few weeks old, so you may want to check the impact on an purchase decisions. Just a heads up as I did not follow the issue too much.

 

Couple notes. The condos across from Lantaw and Racer (good restaurants) have actually broken ground, at least for walls and a sales tent, just on the corner with a nifty model and i'm sure prices. Only problem is the tall bldgs (4 or 6 stories are on the back side of the lot, with a "mall" projected for the ground floor on Flores. Have to ask about schedule. Lot was totally vacant up to two months ago.

As per the avatar to the left (computer definition, not the Hindu one), we have a need for a good vet, found one in Dr JR at Animal Wellness on Hibbard near Blanco. True, limited equipment, but we don't need to haul the little one to Cebu office yet. Great for less than major problems, and we do not want to move to cebu.

 

Now in it's 4th or fifth year and Not a brick laid yet