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Best Posts in Thread: Regards from Germany

  1. GBorba

    GBorba DI Junior Member

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    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
     
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  2. MichaelS

    MichaelS DI New Member

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    Hi !:welcome:
    This house looks good but i`m not interested to buy a house. I´m in search for rent. :help:My wife & me are don`t know what`s up in the future. Maybe we leave the Philippines and the life goes on in ....Kiwiland or Paraguay. We dont know.
    A good friend of mine is the owner from a residence in Zamboanguita. He build houses on his lot with , 90-100 sqmtr, for around 27.000 USD. Perfect houses in western lifestyle. The overdosed prices from the pinioys are really cheeky in noisy areas without Internet and not flood free etc.
    Our monthly budget for house should not top 28tsd php/month and in my opinion is this much money for rent.

    Greets
    Michael&Sigrid:biggrin:
     
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  3. MichaelS

    MichaelS DI New Member

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    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
     
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  4. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    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.)
     
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  5. Brian Oinks

    Brian Oinks That's Mr. Pig to you Boy! :) Highly Rated Poster

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    That was EXCELLENT advice Gary! :thumbsup:

    Welcome aboard Michael. :smile:

    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! :smile:

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

    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! :smile:
     
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