Rent to Own?

In my view, even if many Filipino's are blissfully ignorant about those aspects, there is more to the value of a property than the size of the lot and the sqm of the house.

• quality of the build (and no, I don't mean the looks, but rather technical stuff like the type/quality of hollow blocks used, sufficient pillars and reinforcement bars, vents and insulation measures, proper water disposal etc.
• quality of the finish of a house. Typical pinoy-style finish means lousy windows, locks, kitchen and bathrooms, cheap metal roofing, etc. Yes the "rust while you wait" type fittings save money in the short run, but I have a longer view.
  
• atmosphere of the immediate surroundings (a nice house in the middle of a bunch of squatter huts doesn't do much positive for the value).
• safety concerns (some people like myself also just don't want to "live in a prison", i.e. surround my lot with a 3 meter wall topped with glass shards or military style razor blade barbed wire, and get two or more dogs in the yard just to discourage any would-be burglars).