Investing on real estate in the Philippines

Where are you coming from mate? Perhaps it's a good thing that you have not been here for some time. Sell it to someone that cares, in the mean time?

BTW OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

I believe the first rule of dealing with estate agents anywhere in the world is to realise the vast majority are greedy, grasping cheats that would hit your grandmother over the head with a baseball bat to steal her purse with 5 dollars and some loose change in it,
then take her bus pass even though they couldn't use it. The only thing that separates their morals from those of drug addicts is they don't take money for heroin, maybe coke, but not heroin.
Once you have that one worked out and tried very possible method to avoid them, try some more until you have absolutely no options left.

As I understand from the  forums here, condos are overpriced junk construction ,why would anyone waste money on them for a lease ,never mind the water shortages and power cuts , etc .

Fred wrote:

I believe the first rule of dealing with estate agents anywhere in the world is to realise the vast majority are greedy, grasping cheats that would hit your grandmother over the head with a baseball bat to steal her purse with 5 dollars and some loose change in it,
then take her bus pass even though they couldn't use it. The only thing that separates their morals from those of drug addicts is they don't take money for heroin, maybe coke, but not heroin.
Once you have that one worked out and tried very possible method to avoid them, try some more until you have absolutely no options left.

Agreed Fred, here in the RP and elsewhere. Professional liars with no concern for who gets hurt because of their lies, as long as they walk away with the cash.

In the RP because of the slander laws that seem designed to protect liars and low life's. I've seen praise given to some real scum bags simply because they have money, power or connections. Their web pages are filled with glowing reviews of their professionalism and pictures of them with children and religious symbols to let us all know what truly wonderful God fearing human beings they are. TRUST ME! 
Because of the slander laws, culture or just plain cowardice, No one speaks out about these bottom feeders so they continue to seek out their next victim with impunity.

Trusting one is like trusting a viper not to bite you.

pinaymentor wrote:

It's been awhile since I have visited this website. We have been living here in the South Area for almost 10 years now and for the longest time, I was involved in financial consulting with estate planning. In 2015, I attended a review on real estate and passed the Board Exams which was one of the most difficult one. It is much easier to pass the exams in the States!.
It was only this year that I discovered that **** is already here in the Philippines. What is great about this company is, it is US Based with global presence. I will share with you some of the simple tips to remember when you are an expat here in the Philippines and would like to retire here  permanently.
Pinaymentor
***

If you're sharing your expertise with the group to help them make an educated decsision with regard to real estate in the RP. Then I, for one, would welcome the chance to gain to potentially valuable insight and information with regard to buying real estate in the RP.

If you're selling something, I have no interest at all.

pinaymentor wrote:

It's been awhile since I have visited this website. We have been living here in the South Area for almost 10 years now and for the longest time, I was involved in financial consulting with estate planning. In 2015, I attended a review on real estate and passed the Board Exams which was one of the most difficult one. It is much easier to pass the exams in the States!.
It was only this year that I discovered that **** is already here in the Philippines. What is great about this company is, it is US Based with global presence. I will share with you some of the simple tips to remember when you are an expat here in the Philippines and would like to retire here  permanently.

1. If you were to live here, I am presuming you would found a local girl who swept your heart away. It is my hope that you did this out of love and not out of comfort to live here. A lot of expats in the past have already discussed how much it is to live here. Your pension of $1000 or $2000 will most likely let you live comfortably in the outskirts of Metro Manila. Metro Manila is getting too pricey to live in. There are areas just right outside a major city where you can find an inexpensive place to stay, but you have to investigate the security for you and your family.

2. Being a foreigner in our land, you can own a condominium as most of you already know by now. Some form a corporation with other Filipinos to purchase other properties. Please be careful when you do this. Always protect yourself, or should I say that I hope Filipinos should protect themselves. Or some put the title on their local spouse's name.

3. In the States, we use the Escrow company to take care of documentations and release of payments. Here in the Philippines, although they have an escrow through a local bank, hardly anyone uses it even if the real estate deals involves millions. One reason is, people don't want to pay the ridiculous fees monthly. Another reason is , it's not the same as what we have in the States. You just have to be diligent in releasing any money to make sure that you are really dealing with professionals. Right now, unlicensed agents can no longer do any real estate transactions.

4. Later on, I will be posting some options available if we get some interests from this group.

Meantime, enjoy your stay here. It's really more fun in the Philippines!
Mabuhay!
Pinaymentor
***

Please tell us about your personal experience in buying real estate in the Philippines.  Where did you purchase it, how much,how big, what is the neighborhood like?  Did you finance it and if so How? Why should someone moving to the Philippines not use the financial consultants they have been using their entire Life?  Why would retirees want to put any savings at risk by investing in the Philippines?

Why would retirees want to put any savings at risk by investing in the Philippines?

I agree with your last point

TeeJay4103 wrote:

If you're selling something, I have no interest at all.

Perhaps

We recently moved from Southern California to the Philippines. We will now be assisting other expats who wants to move in here so that they don't have to go through the red tape. I have decided to continue my career I had from California as a Financial Fitness Coach. I am conducting Financial Fitness Workshops and I provide financial services from financial planning, estate planning, investment planning, insurance, education, business succession, buy and sell agreements and retirement planning.

Fred wrote:

TeeJay4103 wrote:

If you're selling something, I have no interest at all.

Perhaps

We recently moved from Southern California to the Philippines. We will now be assisting other expats who wants to move in here so that they don't have to go through the red tape. I have decided to continue my career I had from California as a Financial Fitness Coach. I am conducting Financial Fitness Workshops and I provide financial services from financial planning, estate planning, investment planning, insurance, education, business succession, buy and sell agreements and retirement planning.

Mayhap

The information from his introductory page might have served to better understand the intent of the post if it had been included. His page indicates he joined the group in 2010 which may make the introduction outdated and not an indicator of intent at this time.

If the poster plans on sharing valuable information with the group, there are always those, including myself, who may glean information from his posts with regard to  real estate dealings in the RP that we were previously unaware of. If he intends on sharing the information at no charge, indicating as much would also be helpful in determining whether or not the post is a free sharing of information designed to help expats in the RP or an advertisement for a business for which he intends to charge a fee.

If it is the latter then I wish him success in his endeavors and as I stated previously I have no interest at all in buying. 
Inversely, if Pinaymentor intends on sharing a series of informative posts to the group. I look forward to reading them and thank him in advance for doing so.

As an expat Permanently residing here in PH, I have found that leasing/renting a home is the simplest solution. I have leased homes in gated patrolled subdivisions with great sized family homes for less than half of what it cost in the US. With so many OFW buying property and building homes in these nice subdivisions, with NO intentions of living there, the properties are quite plentiful and the costs are very reasonable. I truly don't see the benefits to going thru the hassle in owning properties in a country which forces you to co-own it with a citizen of their country. This is a recipe for disaster. Unless you have found the love of your life and you Absolutely Know that she will be by your side Forever.  (BTW, we can't see or tell the future)

And....With the monies I don't spend on rent/mortgage, I am easily able to bank the extra savings I don't spend on property costs. So, even if a property were to appreciate in the years to come, you would already have that appreciation money (if not more) in the bank from the savings you put away.

Fred wrote:

I believe the first rule of dealing with estate agents anywhere in the world is to realise the vast majority are greedy, grasping cheats that would hit your grandmother over the head with a baseball bat to steal her purse with 5 dollars and some loose change in it,
then take her bus pass even though they couldn't use it. The only thing that separates their morals from those of drug addicts is they don't take money for heroin, maybe coke, but not heroin.
Once you have that one worked out and tried very possible method to avoid them, try some more until you have absolutely no options left.

Greedy? It´s called success. YOU generalize too much. You should focus in Indonesia where your limited knowledge belong! There are many honest people who earn their living doing that and they couldn´t afford to be dishonest and losing clients in the long run. Word gets around and how long can they last in their profession being  "greedy and grasping cheat ?" Business is business and it´s due diligence that makes a transaction successful. You treat people like kindergarten and YOU pretend to know it all! You should stop bragging and stay where YOU belong.

Your mentality is doomed in the first world especially doing real estate business in New York or ANY place for that matter! And you are an EXPERT? You should not be spreading misinformation!

robal

As is the case with ANY Emerging Market. CAVEAT EMPTOR is the mantra for investments of ANY kind. That being said, there are developing stories around the national infrastructure upgrade and a rising middle class that can lead to interesting investment themes for the longer term and Chinese FDI into the country for a medium term.