Hello all, I am Scott and currently living in California with my Filipina wife who is from Davao. We have traveled all over the Philippines a number of times together and I have been reading the board here for quite a while. Thank you for all the useful information! We plan to buy a lot in Dauin this year but have not been successful in finding something yet.
Rent for the first year and look while there. Involve a lawyer in the transaction to make sure the title is clear. My guess would be, many here would suggest you never buy, unless you have extra money in your pockets.
In my experience i would not advise buying anything in this area unless you have made up your mind to stay here forever, the housing market here is not what i am used to, nothing seems to sell unless it is drastically under priced, i regret i did not do enough research into this before i bought a place, i assumed it was like everywhere else i have ever lived that you can buy and sell (maybe not for a profit but at least get your money back) and move on but this area seems to be a property market black hole. On the various property websites there are places still for sale now that were for on the market 6 years ago when we first moved here.
Hmmmm Yes! you are right but then, only we (The Foreigner) think resell, Locals build to live in and move up if they can but never seem to sell, rather leave it to the family or Rent out. I know we will never sell our house as it is what She wanted (designed) and would/may not be to anyone else's liking. So here we shall Stay. So now we will see a Glut of unsold Houses that in the Main we get to rent. Definitely a boots on the Ground exercise here, as we know anything used is someone else's problems we are buying ( Noise, Pollution and local crime has to be explored) you can't do this from Photos and Agencies will (well say no more) BTW Welcome to the Forum and I hope all goes well
Is it safe to assume you have had a long, happy marriage so far? If that is the case you should do fine, (because the property will be in your wife's name), but it would be better to ask your good friends about finding a good price on a lot than to ask people on a forum who may have something they want to sell for a high price.
Yes we don't plan on buying property in hopes that it will increase in value. I'm very familiar with how things work in the Philippines. Great marriage also! We want a place to spend a number of months at per year when we are not living in California. I enjoyed Dumaguete and Dauin area when I visited and it seams to have what we need. Thanks for the info!
It's usually difficult to find something with good, up to date title. If the title was up to date 30 years ago, there could be 40 co-tenant owners and you have to find and deal with all of them. If you miss even one you have a co-tenant with as much right to use ALL of the property, although not exclusive right, as you do. There is no such thing as title insurance in the Philippines. One member related a story of flying internationally in to buy a property from some professional people, doctor and school teacher I believe, who swore the property had clear title...but it was the usual dreck so it was a wasted trip. Titles are so horrible because of Philippine mandatory inheritance laws. I couldn't believe it when I looked it up. There is no such thing as title insurance in the Philippines.
Hello , I am also new on DI . I agree about living in a place a year or more and find out how things get done . I used to live in Bacong , a couple of blocks from the market , in a 3 BDRM very simple , cynder block home for $ 90 USD a month . Cable and Internet was almost more expensive ... joke lang . I wanted to buy a lot up in Valencia , but there are so many pitfalls . I will take the $ 90 a month house I can walk away from and move to another beautiful place for $ 90 USD a month .
