I will be visiting Dumaquete for my first time ever. I have only been to P.I. once in 88' on a port visit. I have learned allot from these forums/DI members to prepair me for this visit . So my wife after going home every year for the past 4 yrs without me told me I need to visit before we start building a house there (she's worried I may not like her home town). So having her along with me means i'm hopefully not going to get lost and in to much trouble . I hope to see some of you guys around Dumaquete at that time. Is there a common place were all the expat's seem to be in dumaquete ? She has told me to have fun (she tells me all I do is work and I deserve to have a great time :p)
Most of the expats gather at any place that serves beer hehe. But we scatter all over as where we live or hang out and some of us don't drink. Your wife is right that you really need to visit and spend some real time here before you decide to start building, anything less is foolish. I would really suggest at least a year renting before you start building. There are so many little things that may be peeves that in the US you would never even think of but here the littlest thing to some can be a major issue to others and just if you had a bit of time to figure out exactly what you really want. Big mistake if you just buy a piece of land and just build without some serious though and time. Sorry but in this regard you can't trust filipino's or even your wife (I'm assuming she is filipina) as they are much more comfortable with the things that may drive you nuts such as neighbors who videoke 24/7 or at least till 4am most mornings, or roosters 5 feet from your bedroom window, ongoing barking dogs that filipino's never seem to hear. Some even suggest putting at least 50km between family and you. Anyways best of luck and don't get yourself caught into a bad deal. Reselling a house here is very difficult at least for a price close to what it cost to build.
Thanks ChMacQueen for the heads up. We already have land there but i'm going to make sure that Dumaquete is the place I want to retire as you have advised. Yes my wife is Filipina and from Dumaquete but she has lived in U.S. for over 17 years. Yes I have noticed allot of homes with big price tag's for sale/rent in the Dumaquete. My wife has told me she knows of no Filipino in Dumaquete that could afford a home at those prices. She told me most filipino's are lucky to make $4 to $6 a day of work.
