⌛ Should I Rent or Own a house in the Philippines?

dmtime71 · Feb 5, 2008

paparayno;17540 said:

hi. this is my first post. I had trepidations myself buying in the Philippines but i did it in early 2005 in Makati with a Shangri La property. It was an emotional investment since I was making a killing here in the san francisco bay area(I live in berkeley) with my properties and equity on my homes so I bought one in the Philippines not really caring about appreciation of the property. I know and have experienced in Brasil and Argentina that it's hard to sell your property unless you are in a "hot" and "expensive" zone. So i bought right in the heart of Makati. Not having anticipated the housing subprime mess here in the US, I am glad to have unloaded a property late 2005 and bought in Manila. The resultant devaluation of the dollar( i bought at 57p to 1 US) along with appreciation has given my value of my property from 12M to 18M only with appreciation. All in all, i doubled my investment in less than three years. I bought another property in Makati by Greenbelt which has also appreciated 3 million pesos in one year with appreciation and devaluation of US dollar.(labor and materials getting more expensive due to oil prices and materials going also to China and India)

i also want to buy something in dumaguete since my friend said that would be my vibe. I am a university professor at UC berkeley, an artist, traveler of over 50 countries, but totally love the philippines after being born there and not visiting for 25 years since i was 10 except a trip in .94 for a research project related to my dissertation. I really want to open a cafe/resto/bar/internet/art center/pension right there on rizal Ave but dont really know the prices or availability of buildings.. should i rent or buy?

Can any give me advise ..I want to add to the local flavor/urban flavor of dumaguete but need some advise..

I will be there in May to check it out.
Click to expand...

Give me a break. You have money coming out of your ears and you are pondering whether to rent or buy..
Stop bragging, and just do whatever want.

paparayno · Feb 7, 2008

thanks for all the advise guys

well..i think i should be careful in buying land in the Philippines considering the clean titles and who gets what after ur wife dies or divorce happens. I didn't know it would be so complicated even for a native let alone a foreigner. Ya, Lars, I agree with you, if i do intend to buy in Dumaguete, it better be for the long term because of the difficulty of selling it.

Rhoody · Feb 7, 2008

I think it's ok with most of the boardreaders is I hide for now the last few posts asd they are "not really" on topic in a good thread.

We will discuss in the DI team what further apprppriate steps need to be taken with the reported member.
Also pls use the reputation-function of the board.
thank you

Rhoody

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⌛ Should I Rent or Own a house in the Philippines?

dmtime71 DI Member

paparayno DI Junior Member

Rhoody DI Forum Luminary