House away from Cebu city

You and me both  BUT
(a) good luck finding clear title where relatives of the seller cannot make claims at a later date
(b) be prepared to donate ownership to Filipina (gf, wife, friend) because a foreigner cannot own land

Good luck with your search because it is a nice part of the country up there

Hi , you can RENT a house up in the mountains with a land, a strong word of advise is to make sure that you should not cross over the land for farming , in generally Farmers there are quite sticky to this on cross over.

Rental should be made clearly that you are actually dealing with the correct party directly, as far as I know most of them have sub lease from another. As for housing matter also be prepared to fork out extra cash for renovations and you may not be able to find a perfect house of your needs.

Should you ever intend to buy over, and if your are married with a local there, you should also be prepare to handover to her and in general Foreigners are not allowed to buy land and the title belongs to your partner/wife.So stay fit my friend , In Dumanjog (Pakulub) where I have a family there , we own a piece of land and a nice little house built and well maintained. People there are very friendly and liberal. More commonly BBQ once every month at my place for the people there which I provide  as they have helped a lot in terms of building my house and farming.

I guess its all up to you on how as a foreigner we project ourselves as being helpful and courtesy that counts the most, but of course don't be over generous is money there to others as what you give will never be returned .

Being there in and out for almost 13 years.

Cheers mate