Rent to Own?

Basically, foreigners should not invest in real estate in the Philippines. There are many other countries with much fairer laws.

 

I would agree, except I would substitute "gamble on" for "invest in" . Some win, many lose, and even though I seem to have gambled and won (so far) I would not suggest it to others. Well I guess I would suggest it to people who cannot play poker worth a sh*t. They may as well pour that money into Philippine real estate.

 

Even though I agree that a foreigner should think at least twice about buying real estate in the Philippines, the view of the two previous commenters is too rigid and cynical for me.
They look at the coin from only one side and from a pure "financial risk" perspective.

In my view, buying/building a house in the Philippines can make sense for the many foreigners who are lucky enough to be in a stable and loving relationship with a Filipino partner.
My considerations are that:
1. The Filipino spouse will generally be a fair bit to a sizable number of years younger than the foreign partner, which means that as a foreigner you enjoy the love of a partner who's giving her best years to loving and caring for you.
I would not want my partner to not only outlive me as expected but also suffer dire consequences after my demise.
2. One way to diminish those consequences is to at least make sure she has a roof over her head and no rent to pay.
3. Think about it, if there is money available to buy or build a house, then yes, you could invest in something else, and if you make smart decisions you might get richer, and then you die. Who is gonna own those investments then? Are those really the people you would want to enable to buy two new cars and go on a world cruise or something? Or can you think of a more logical recipient? And wouldn't she be happier with a house than some investment portfolio?
4. Rents in the Philippines are high, relative to the value of the house. My estimate is that while renting, you pay the value of the entire house in rents in between 11 and 15 years. So yeah, you can hold out and not buy, and then 15 years later you don't own a house, the partner doesn't own a house and the money is still gone.
5. Sure there is still the risk that the relationship will ultimately fail and that I end up empty handed, but I refuse to fall for the trap of misogynistic thoughts or cultural distrust that would only ensure that I'd be unhappy.
6. There are legal ways to protect your right to live in the house you paid for, even if the title is not in your name.

 

WELL SAID Mate!!

 

With the actual prices for properties you can rent many years before you will ever catch up the purchasing price. And do not forget to count the maintenance costs also into the house if purchased.
Examples; Rent 15k PHP per month = 180k PHP per year = 1.8 Mio PHP per 10 years.
House costs 3.6 Mio PHP equals to 20 years renting. But in that 20 years you will have a lot of maintenance, repairs, fixes, taxes, fees and so on.
Rent 7.5k PHP per month = 90k PHP per year = 900k PHP per 10 years.
In comparison to the house above it will be 40 years of renting before catch up.
But if you have 30k renting per month better go with own house/condo.
One benefit of own house is when the real estate prices are climbing higher the house can be sold for much more money.

 

I agree with everything that has been said on this. I overbuilt and trying to sell is an issue. Not that many foreigners coming here with sufficient funds to buy a house. Moreover, many are reluctant to put a house in their partner's name.

 

How did you overbuild? Per too high price per sqm or by building a too big house? Real estates of 5 Mio PHP or higher are indeed very difficult for sale.

 

Too big of lot and too big of house.

 

There is a Canadian guy in Valencia attemping to sell his house and lot due being in need to get money for medical services (that was mentioned in the ads). Was once 6.5 mio php and now 5.3 mio php and he was still not able to sell it.

Another pinoy is trying to sell a big house with really big lot for 3.5 mio php but even that one is still not sold for months. This wonders especially in view of much smaller objects with same price sometime being sold.

 

As my brother says you can't take it with you. You shouldn't do something you can't afford, but if you can, you might as well. Cars are another example of an expense where you can go cheap or get something you enjoy. If you don't look at the house as an investment, then you can look at it differently, like you would an airplane or yacht.