Dumaguete Info Search


dumaguete a MECCA for Expats?

Discussion in 'Expat Section' started by JoeMabini, Dec 21, 2010.

  1. Jack Peterson

    Jack Peterson DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Air Force

    Messages:
    9,078
    Trophy Points:
    451
    Occupation:
    Happily Retired
    Location:
    Northern Junob, Dumaguete City
    Ratings:
    +5,207 / 1,082
    Brave Post Carl!


    :wink: Carl. I applaud this post, gutsy and down to earth. This should answer so may of the doubters questions here. This is exactly, why most of us have settled here. What ever, the ups and downs of PI, Life is affordable. Dumaguete is getting there, slowly but surely, When do you think you will make the Move? :smile:


    Jack P. :wink:
     
  2. carl

    carl DI Member

    Messages:
    88
    Trophy Points:
    128
    Ratings:
    +8 / 0
    Original plans to move there are May of 2012 . I look foward to meeting some of you guys from the forum . I don't know about brave post Jack , I just call it like I see it . I gotta tell you though the one thing ( obstacle ) of you will , for me is going to be the heat and humidity . But I suppose it will just take some gettin use to . Take care , ... Carl
     
  3. bapak

    bapak DI New Member

    Messages:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0
    gentle people vs. land of smiles

    those of you who know BOTH places. i know the land of smiles turns into the land of lies. is duma not REALLY worthy of its gentle people slogan?
     
  4. Knowdafish

    Knowdafish DI Forum Luminary

    Messages:
    3,038
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Ratings:
    +15 / 2
    I know both places, and yes, Duma is the land of smiles and gentle people!

    Are they ALL that way? Of course not, but overall they are friendlier and smile more than anyplace I've lived in CA! :D

    I've found that if one is a negative type person, that negativity will find you no matter where you go!

    It is better to stay positive and enjoy life! :D
     
  5. OP
    OP
    JoeMabini

    JoeMabini DI Member

    Messages:
    147
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Ratings:
    +8 / 0
    After quite a bit of reflection and a few bottles of rhum, I have come to the conclusion that the Philippines as a culture is 30 years behind the WEST, which is not a bad thing. Times have changed in our home countries and we long for a simpler time and place. For now, the Philippines is it.

    For example, there was a time in the US that we did not lock our doors, we actually knew our neighbors, the kids played outside until the streetlights came on and in general, people were more courteous. Now, not only do we lock our doors, but we have a high tech security system; With the common usage of garage door openers, people just open the door drive in and close the door. They do not go outside anymore. Kids have computer, video games, and DVDs to watch and don't play outside, and courtesy is not very common anymore.

    On the flip side (pun intended) things are simpler here. We know our neighbors quite well and they come over and sit on the porch and share food and drink and have a good time. We do lock our doors, but that is just common sense in a society plagued with drugs that causes people to steal. We don't have a TV, but we do have computers. The kids have limited access to movies that my wife has already watched while they are asleep to make sure that the movie is suitable for our kids. This causes the children to play outside, use their imagination, and develop social skills.

    Unfortunately, as the information age affects every facet of our lives, the time warp is getting smaller and smaller. In the last 5 years, I have seen a big change already. Maybe in another 10 years, Philippine society will catch up with the WEST and then the party is over. Enjoy it while you can, our chosen lifestyle is slipping away again and those of us that long for a simpler time will once again become refugees looking for someplace that the information superhighway has not reached yet.

    We are seriously thinking of taking the kids to the states so they can be near their American family because in all honesty, according to my wife her family is AFU. She sees how close my family is in the US and wants our children to be part of that experience.

    Another issue here is land prices are totally out of whack with artificially inflated prices that do not adjust to the economy. The main factor for setting prices here is the foreigner factor and our mere presence has negatively affected everyone. Locals cannot afford a small plot of land anymore and we are to blame.

    Seriously, there are lots of places in the US that one can buy land in an area with awful roads, spotty internet, and an antiquated electrical grid (although this is hard to find) a hellova lot cheaper than here.

    We are looking at buying into a large organic farm with 18 other families in the Northwest. With my initial investigation, this may be what we are looking for, but more research is needed before we make a jump.

    Will we ever find utopia? I doubt it, but the search goes on.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  6. Pedro

    Pedro DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer Veteran Navy

    Messages:
    847
    Trophy Points:
    179
    Occupation:
    Programmer, Photographer and Web Developer
    Location:
    Florida and Dumaguete
    Ratings:
    +73 / 5
    "We are seriously thinking of taking the kids to the states so they can be near their American family because in all honesty, according to my wife her family is AFU. She sees how close my family is in the US and wants our children to be part of that experience."

    And your children will get a much better education.

    "Another issue here is land prices are totally out of whack with artificially inflated prices that do not adjust to the economy. The main factor for setting prices here is the foreigner factor and our mere presence has negatively affected everyone. Locals cannot afford a small plot of land anymore and we are to blame."

    You got that right.

    "Seriously, there are lots of places in the US that one can buy land in an area with awful roads, spotty internet, and an antiquated electrical grid (although this is hard to find) a hellova lot cheaper than here."

    And it is getting better everyday. The drop in housing prices has been pretty bad to owners wanting to sell but for those who could not afford a decent home before its starting to look like a buying opportunity may be around the corner. No one is willing to open their wallets for an over inflated home and I don't blame them. If you are patient enough you can buy at the housing market bottom which still appears to be out-of-site.

    But making that final decision is never easy!
     
  7. Broadside

    Broadside DI Forum Patron

    Messages:
    1,228
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Ratings:
    +16 / 1
    Didn't exactly get it right. Yes, the land prices are artificially inflated and out of sync with the economy, and yes, the presence of a lot of foreigners, who are artificially perceived to be rich, has an influence on that. But the asking price is set by the Filipino land owner who is selling, so if locals cannot afford a small plot of land anymore, the foreigner is not directly to blame just because he happens to be in the vicinity.

    Would you agree with the judge who, when deciding on blame for a traffic accident between a stationary car owned by a foreigner and a tricycle which ran in to it, laid the blame completely on the foreigner, with the observation that the accident would never have happened if the foreigner had not been there ??
     
  8. OP
    OP
    JoeMabini

    JoeMabini DI Member

    Messages:
    147
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Ratings:
    +8 / 0
    I will stand by my assertion that foreigners are to blame. It is what we do... we go places, and f*ck them up.

    Your example of the parked car is not really relevant to the theory. I will cite another example that you may not be familiar with because you are from the UK.

    "White flight" is a phenomena in the US (and probably elsewhere). Whole populations of white people abandon one area and move to another area and drive the prices up because they are on a land grab and will buy anything for sale.

    Californian's made a large impact on the property values in Oregon and Washington when they sold high and moved north 20 years ago. People in Oregon who bought their houses for next to nothing and paid them off in full were suddenly paying property tax bills that were unimaginable to them. A lot of times the taxes on their artificially inflated homes was more than their mortgage payment ever was. A lot of elderly people on fixed incomes had to sell their homes or lose them.

    When Oregon and Washington were no longer affordable, Nevada became the next target as evidenced by the housing crisis in Las Vegas right now. Reno also was impacted financially and politically by an influx from the SF Bay area 10 years ago and is suffering now.

    In all of the cases above, prices did or are coming back down to a realistic level. A lot of people have or are losing their asses now.

    At one time, in the Philippines, the foreigners were snapping up properties and paying whatever the Filipino wanted for them and other Filipinos want a piece of the action. They are willing to live on dried fish and NFA rice while waiting for the white man with the bulging back pocket to come and buy their property for an astronomical value not based on any real value but based on a dream. Some will die of old age waiting. They have no concept that property prices go up and down with the economy in most places in the world and the bubble has burst.

    Some places base land value on other factors such as in TEXAS where agricultural land is based on how many acres it takes to feed a cow from birth to butchering. 40 acres in West Texas is worth around $1,400 yep! $35.00 an acre

    There are only so many foreigners to go around and only a small percentage of those are so flush with cash they can afford 4,000php a meter to buy a lot at Tierra Alta. People are still acting as if there is a land rush here and are trying to get top dollar, pound, Euro or whatever foreign currency they are wanting.

    Do you know the land that the new Union bank sits on sold for 90,000php a meter.. that small lot cost Union Bank 45,000,000php - Forty five Million pesos. For those of us that have a mindset in acres instead of meters, that is about 9 Million Dollars per acre in a country where the majority of people exist on less than 2 dollars per day.

    The manager of a pawn shop downtown made me laugh when she and I were discussing prices here-- her reply was "The only thing coming down in the Philippines is panties"
     
  9. mookie1

    mookie1 DI New Member

    Messages:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0
    why would an expat want to relocate and live in Duma? what's it got to offer?
     
  10. Knowdafish

    Knowdafish DI Forum Luminary

    Messages:
    3,038
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Ratings:
    +15 / 2
    Their wife! :D
     
Loading...