Foreigner with a condo, but no bank account in Philippines

@dixonbainbridge Why not open an account at a Filipino bank in the US with branches in the Philippines (I'm assuming you're American?) I believe there are quite a few Filipino banks here in the US

@Parvaze Hi, Thnaks for getting back.

I have an account with HSBC in Cebu, but they do not allow deposit of PHP.

Getting a bank account in Philippines is a real punishing task, I have never been successful.

I am Australian. I have found that you can get accounts for USD or AUD in philippines, but ask for a peso account and they will give you every excuse under the sun why you cannot get one.

The whole process of renting the Condo out is seeming very daunting now being that I cannot get a bank account

Yeah, sounds like a bit of a dilemma. Sorry I don't have an answer for you. Hope you're able to get things solved. Good luck!

@dixonbainbridge

My main bank account in the UK is with HSBC and about 12 years ago I opened a Philippine bank account in their main Makati branch on Ayala Avenue. Yet I am not a resident and only come in on a tourist visa. The reason I did it was to take advantage of favourable forex rates. I closed it a few years back.

Depending where your new condo is located have you considered going down the Airbnb route? Of course you would need to set up a reliable house keeping service but I'm sure there are companies that could provide this.

dixonbainbridge posted:
Does anyone know if I have the option of renting my apartment out, without a bank account? Or if owning an investment there would allow you to have a Peso bank account?

Or any other options how one could receive funds for the rent?

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You being a future Landlord could be a real hassle, sometime down the road you may turn this hassle over to a real estate agency who will collect the rent, handle maintenance and all headaches.

I would not trust any non banking Filipino outfit to handle my money. I'm a landlord in the UK where I have a long term excellent tenant who is a Lecturer at Bath University. The letting agents in the UK take a 20% cut for doing nothing and they can't even do that lol. All I need is a good plumber + heating engineer. Most basic maintenance I can do myself.

Only my washing powder opinion

@Enzyte Bob

Thankyou, that is actually a good idea. I didn't even think about that.

I suppose I could track down a real estate agent or property manager to deal with payment collection, paying bills, and paying appropriate taxes on my behalf.

I wonder if they would even convert it to USD and deposit it to my bank in Cebu periodically? I guess for a fee anything is possible

It's quiet that challenge doing business in ph when you are unfamiliar with their laws. Seems to be a lot of red tape, and things don't ever seem to be streamlined there.

If anyone can reccommend any trusted realestate agents/property managers/accountants that may be of use in Cebu it would be much appreciated.

@Lotus Eater

That is another route too. I think I will just bite the bullet and spend a few months there next year while I work it all out. Hopefully find a reliable property manager, thanks for your reply

I’ve had lots of rental properties and generally find that it only makes sense when one has an interest in the area, and good contacts. Otherwise, why hold onto it, If you’re not planning to go back, and don’t live there? This especially applies to the Philippines, where we do not have the legal support we have in our western countries. I can imagine scenarios where tenants damage the unit, property manager is non-responsive and the unit sits empty. IMHO best to get out when it is new and saleable.

@pnwcyclist That's probably the most sensible way forward if the OP isn't going to spend significant time in the Philippines. I've seen the disaster rental properties can become that are owned by absentee landlords who never visit (both in the US and UK) I imagine it would only be worse in somewhere like the Philippines

@pnwcyclist

Hmmm maybe you are right. Things have changed since I originally purchased it 4 years ago. I would like to hang onto it, but I am starting to think twice about this now after reading this. Although I like to think if I had a good property manager it could be somewhat stress free. Well providing tenants did not trash it of course.

The only problem is that it doesn't hand over to me until mid next year.

So technically I do not own it yet. So I am not sure how I would sell something I bought on pre-sale. I imagine I will pay retention fee next year and have contracts signed into my name, and then I supoose I could sell it from then, while it is new.

Can I just ask, if a foreigner sold a property in Philippines, how would they get the sale $ without a Peso account? Are there services that take care of the payment and convert for you?

dixonbainbridge said . . . . Hmmm maybe you are right. Things have changed since I originally purchased it 4 years ago. I would like to hang onto it, but I am starting to think twice about this now after reading this. Although I like to think if I had a good property manager it could be somewhat stress free. Well providing tenants did not trash it of course.

The only problem is that it doesn't hand over to me until mid next year.

So technically I do not own it yet. So I am not sure how I would sell something I bought on pre-sale. I imagine I will pay retention fee next year and have contracts signed into my name, and then I supoose I could sell it from then, while it is new.

Can I just ask, if a foreigner sold a property in Philippines, how would they get the sale $ without a Peso account? Are there services that take care of the payment and convert for you?

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Pre-sale?

So your Condo has not been completed after four years? In the states almost all existing completed houses/condos with a mortgage can be sold.

Your problem is much bigger than transferring the rent or cash from the sale on an uncompleted project in the making.

OMO but lick your wounds and run, cop the loss and move to greener pastures. Not sure what you put into your uncompleted condo that may never be finished after 4 years but renting it out? If and when ever it gets finished? A totally different can of worms and heart ache.

Cheers, Steve.

How about to ask to get paid through crypto coins? In the Philippines you can buy through bank or Cebuana.

I also plan to leave the Philippines**********

How about to ask to get paid through crypto coins? In the Philippines you can buy through bank or Cebuana.
I also plan to leave the Philippines,
-@HR-Director-Corp

Yup cryto coins . . . .

Bitcoin in November 2021 $69,000 USD

Bitcoin today $16,058

I guess all ***** people like you should pay with FTX.

@Enzyte Bob Ha nah it is not that bad, it is a big project, owned and developed my Robinsons Land corporation.

It is the one on top of Robinsons Galleria in Cebu. There is little danger of it not being finished, the official hand over date is March, but I have heard through the grapevine they are not on schedule for hand over that date.

I am not worried about the project mothballing at this stage lol, but ask me again in 12 months and I might have a different answer.

But I do worry about how I am going to receive rent when the time comes

@bigpearl It is getting close, well kind of

hmmm not sure my pic worked, i will try 1 more time

nope, it wasn't meant to be

@Enzyte Bob

I am no crypto preacher, but to be fair to that poster, I bought my bitcoin sub 200 dollars, and i have a very lucky friend who bought his sub 1 dollar.

So if you are going to quote dates and price snapshots, you should make your starting point from 2009/2010 , and not start your price quotes at the peak in 2021.

@Enzyte Bob
I am no crypto preacher, but to be fair to that poster, I bought my bitcoin sub 200 dollars, and i have a very lucky friend who bought his sub 1 dollar.

So if you are going to quote dates and price snapshots, you should make your starting point from 2009/2010 , and not start your price quotes at the peak in 2021.
-@dixonbainbridge

Bitcoin is on an elevator going down, what floor are you going to get off on?

Hello dixonbainbridge,

hmmm not sure my pic worked, i will try 1 more time

You can create a free account on https://fr.imgbb.com/ to upload your pictures.

Use the small picture icon below to then copy the picture link

Let me know if it works

Cheers,

Yoginee

Expat.com team

@Enzyte Bob
I am no crypto preacher, but to be fair to that poster, I bought my bitcoin sub 200 dollars, and i have a very lucky friend who bought his sub 1 dollar.

So if you are going to quote dates and price snapshots, you should make your starting point from 2009/2010 , and not start your price quotes at the peak in 2021.
-@dixonbainbridge

FTX is scam, I dont know why it was mentioned by Bob. Keep your cryptos only in your own wallet(no platform like Binance, Bitfinex or what ever) because those platform might freeze your assets, or even steal it like it happen to many people used the fraud companies like localbitcoins(that is run by the scammers Vladislav Alimpiev and Avelina Tumas).