Given The Choice Again Where Would You Live & Why

[Art2ro]

As I have mentioned in my introductory post we are hopeful of retiring to PI in 4 years time. My wife is from Iloilo and I have been to PI many times already, therefore I feel quite sure that the PI has what we want for our retirement years. My biggest dilema at the moment is where shall we settle down? I have been to Boracay, Cebu, Batangas, Manila and of course Iloilo, all have pros and cons and I could easily settle in any of them and still be happy, but want to cover as many options as possible before making any decision; the need for which is someway off yet.I would suggest there is a wide range of experiences on this board and am interested in the views of those who have already made the leap and now reside there. If you could make that decision again and with the benefit of hindsight, where would you chose to live and why? I suspect many based their choice on family ties and wonder if that has proved to be positive or negative on your contentment factor.For those who have not yet made that leap but have already decided on location, what was the overriding factor in that decision?I hope I haven't asked too much for my first thread but I feel sure I can learn a lot from those who have already made their decisions.

We're a retired Filipino couple with U.S. citizenship, been retired in the Philippines since 1998 just using the Balikbayan Program. Deciding where to live for us was based on location, location, location and nothing to do with family or relatives which seems to be the case of most foreigners with Filipino wives. If your are not tied up with your wife's extended family, better just continue touring the Philippines until you find what you are looking for, but if your wife has strong family ties, guess what? You may be like the other foreigners I've mentioned living where your wife's family live, it's just the way most Filipino cultures are! We're just the exception to that rule because I decided that's the way I wanted to live my retirement away from the extended family! I've been there and done all that and I didn't like it, because it was always about money, money, money, money! Can't live like that anymore on a fixed income, so we just moved further away from our extended families and cut off the money flow indefinitely! Just had to do what I needed to do in order to survive ourselves! It's just the hard facts of reality! So, for the past 10 yrs, we've lived a quiet and peaceful life of solitude in a centrally located, nice, safe and clean gated community. It's just my wife and I and with none of the extended family!

Thank you for taking the time to respond. It is interesting to hear your point of view regarding family, one I have heard from a few westerners. My wife is worried about living close by, she is all too aware that I still find it difficult to get my head around the expecttions of extended family members. Whilst I am happy to help out in a true emergency my idea of an emergency is way different to theirs, therefore she would rather avoid embarrasment/conflict. We also will be on a fixed income, and whilst there is no hiding the fact it is way better than 90% of the Filipinos, it still won't provide the level of comfort I would want. Besides money isn't even half the issue, that is more about our home being our exclusive little castle where we have control over who enters. I know this is going to be a difficult area and one I may lose but like you I do think our decision will be based purely upon location and what that offers in relation to our expectations. Can you tell me the area where you are and why there as opposed to anywhere else?

We live in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, between Enchanted Kingdom and Silang, Cavite. Approx 1 hr drive to NAIA airport, Manila, U.S. Embassy and within a half mile to 25 mile radius of major hospitals, We have TRICARE, a Military Health Care Plan with Medicare when I turn 65, both can be used here in the Philippines, we have TRICARE certified clinics/hospitasl and a pharmacy just across the street from our home. We have markets and mini-malls, fast food joints across the street too. We never had any flooding during any heavy rain storms or Typhoons. So, if you want to avoid any future hardships that mother nature can cause, just don't live in low laying areas or often hit typhoon areas in the Philippines! As I mentioned, we've lived here for 12 yrs now since 1998 and haven't any major problems. And as for relatives or whoever, we have 24hrs armed security guards at our entry gate, no one comes in without authorization and everyone is inspected prior to leaving! Edited February 19, 2010 by Art & Jho

[Singers]

As I have mentioned in my introductory post we are hopeful of retiring to PI in 4 years time. My wife is from Iloilo and I have been to PI many times already, therefore I feel quite sure that the PI has what we want for our retirement years. My biggest dilema at the moment is where shall we settle down? I have been to Boracay, Cebu, Batangas, Manila and of course Iloilo, all have pros and cons and I could easily settle in any of them and still be happy, but want to cover as many options as possible before making any decision; the need for which is someway off yet.I would suggest there is a wide range of experiences on this board and am interested in the views of those who have already made the leap and now reside there. If you could make that decision again and with the benefit of hindsight, where would you chose to live and why? I suspect many based their choice on family ties and wonder if that has proved to be positive or negative on your contentment factor.For those who have not yet made that leap but have already decided on location, what was the overriding factor in that decision?I hope I haven't asked too much for my first thread but I feel sure I can learn a lot from those who have already made their decisions.

We're a retired Filipino couple with U.S. citizenship, been retired in the Philippines since 1998 just using the Balikbayan Program. Deciding where to live for us was based on location, location, location and nothing to do with family or relatives which seems to be the case of most foreigners with Filipino wives. If your are not tied up with your wife's extended family, better just continue touring the Philippines until you find what you are looking for, but if your wife has strong family ties, guess what? You may be like the other foreigners I've mentioned living where your wife's family live, it's just the way most Filipino cultures are! We're just the exception to that rule because I decided that's the way I wanted to live my retirement away from the extended family! I've been there and done all that and I didn't like it, because it was always about money, money, money, money! Can't live like that anymore on a fixed income, so we just moved further away from our extended families and cut off the money flow indefinitely! Just had to do what I needed to do in order to survive ourselves! It's just the hard facts of reality! So, for the past 10 yrs, we've lived a quiet and peaceful life of solitude in a centrally located, nice, safe and clean gated community. It's just my wife and I and with none of the extended family!

Thank you for taking the time to respond. It is interesting to hear your point of view regarding family, one I have heard from a few westerners. My wife is worried about living close by, she is all too aware that I still find it difficult to get my head around the expecttions of extended family members. Whilst I am happy to help out in a true emergency my idea of an emergency is way different to theirs, therefore she would rather avoid embarrasment/conflict. We also will be on a fixed income, and whilst there is no hiding the fact it is way better than 90% of the Filipinos, it still won't provide the level of comfort I would want. Besides money isn't even half the issue, that is more about our home being our exclusive little castle where we have control over who enters. I know this is going to be a difficult area and one I may lose but like you I do think our decision will be based purely upon location and what that offers in relation to our expectations. Can you tell me the area where you are and why there as opposed to anywhere else?

We live in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, between Enchanted Kingdom and Silang, Cavite. Approx 1 hr drive to NAIA airport, Manila, U.S. Embassy and within a half mile to 25 mile radius of major hospitals, We have TRICARE, a Military Health Care Plan with Medicare when I turn 65, both can be used here in the Philippines, we have TRICARE certified clinics/hospitasl and a pharmacy just across the street from our home. We have markets and mini-malls, fast food joints across the street too. We never had any flooding during any heavy rain storms or Typhoons. So, if you want to avoid any future hardships that mother nature can cause, just don't live in low laying areas or often hit typhoon areas in the Philippines! As I mentioned, we've lived here for 12 yrs now since 1998 and haven't any major problems. And as for relatives or whoever, we have 24hrs armed security guards at our entry gate, no one comes in without authorization and everyone is inspected prior to leaving!

Great,I often miss the Connection from Thread 2 Thread . UK Tom

[tropicalwaste]

We live about 3 houses away from Aprils parents with most of our neighbours being related in some way. Its a secure area simply due to the way people are even if you arrive at 3am you will often find people napping outside on balconies etc. because its cooler so someone always watching. On top of that we have developed businesses in the area which are run by different family members and we have NEVER had to give remittances everyone here has worked for what we have. The first few months of each business people are working for NOTHING financially but building on a future. A lot of people get caught in the remittance game and I wasn't one of them if people are able bodied they are able to work. If they choose not to its simply not our problem there are things within the family where other members were expecting a free ride but there has been some shock changes (not relating to us but no doubt the way we operate has brought it to the surface). I have enough free loaders in the UK when im there they are called the Unemployed and its collected by tax im not being taxed twice!Regarding where I would live to be honest I don't know if I would want to live in a sub-division. The ones I have seen and been to are packed in like sardines with reduced airflows and virtually no garden. The other question I would ask after a few problems some of the expat's I know have had are you locking the criminals out or locking them in with you?Geographically I think we are well positioned because its not so busy here in Minglanilla. Cebu city is 30mins ride away via SRP, hills/mountains are 5-10mins if we head inland and beaches are 15mins+ away. Why we dont live nearer the beach is simply I can't see the point as we rarely go anyway I would rather have the 2 resorts nearby with pools. I dont like being too remote as I still like to get "Reliable" goods and some imported goods all of which is near to hand here.Would I live on another island? after being here a couple of years I would say no as a lot of the paperwork etc. associated with business is a headache and being in a family area makes it all a lot easier same with construction permits etc.Would I buy a house here? Answer would be yes but not for its "resale value" because the chances of selling are pretty slim and slow. We are here long term and at worst would just become a rental. I wouldn't spend more than P2.5m on a house because simply we don't need it. If anything extra capital will be going into buying other properties. There are too many people who arrive in the Philippines that build big houses and later regret the fact. Whatever you decide I would just take on a rental and move around until happy..

[Singers]

We live about 3 houses away from Aprils parents with most of our neighbours being related in some way. Its a secure area simply due to the way people are even if you arrive at 3am you will often find people napping outside on balconies etc. because its cooler so someone always watching. On top of that we have developed businesses in the area which are run by different family members and we have NEVER had to give remittances everyone here has worked for what we have. The first few months of each business people are working for NOTHING financially but building on a future. A lot of people get caught in the remittance game and I wasn't one of them if people are able bodied they are able to work. If they choose not to its simply not our problem there are things within the family where other members were expecting a free ride but there has been some shock changes (not relating to us but no doubt the way we operate has brought it to the surface). I have enough free loaders in the UK when im there they are called the Unemployed and its collected by tax im not being taxed twice!Regarding where I would live to be honest I don't know if I would want to live in a sub-division. The ones I have seen and been to are packed in like sardines with reduced airflows and virtually no garden. The other question I would ask after a few problems some of the expat's I know have had are you locking the criminals out or locking them in with you?Geographically I think we are well positioned because its not so busy here in Minglanilla. Cebu city is 30mins ride away via SRP, hills/mountains are 5-10mins if we head inland and beaches are 15mins+ away. Why we dont live nearer the beach is simply I can't see the point as we rarely go anyway I would rather have the 2 resorts nearby with pools. I dont like being too remote as I still like to get "Reliable" goods and some imported goods all of which is near to hand here.Would I live on another island? after being here a couple of years I would say no as a lot of the paperwork etc. associated with business is a headache and being in a family area makes it all a lot easier same with construction permits etc.Would I buy a house here? Answer would be yes but not for its "resale value" because the chances of selling are pretty slim and slow. We are here long term and at worst would just become a rental. I wouldn't spend more than P2.5m on a house because simply we don't need it. If anything extra capital will be going into buying other properties. There are too many people who arrive in the Philippines that build big houses and later regret the fact. Whatever you decide I would just take on a rental and move around until happy..

Most of my "post" evaparated??Tom

[UZI]

We live about 3 houses away from Aprils parents with most of our neighbours being related in some way. Its a secure area simply due to the way people are even if you arrive at 3am you will often find people napping outside on balconies etc. because its cooler so someone always watching. On top of that we have developed businesses in the area which are run by different family members and we have NEVER had to give remittances everyone here has worked for what we have. The first few months of each business people are working for NOTHING financially but building on a future. A lot of people get caught in the remittance game and I wasn't one of them if people are able bodied they are able to work. If they choose not to its simply not our problem there are things within the family where other members were expecting a free ride but there has been some shock changes (not relating to us but no doubt the way we operate has brought it to the surface). I have enough free loaders in the UK when im there they are called the Unemployed and its collected by tax im not being taxed twice!Regarding where I would live to be honest I don't know if I would want to live in a sub-division. The ones I have seen and been to are packed in like sardines with reduced airflows and virtually no garden. The other question I would ask after a few problems some of the expat's I know have had are you locking the criminals out or locking them in with you?Geographically I think we are well positioned because its not so busy here in Minglanilla. Cebu city is 30mins ride away via SRP, hills/mountains are 5-10mins if we head inland and beaches are 15mins+ away. Why we dont live nearer the beach is simply I can't see the point as we rarely go anyway I would rather have the 2 resorts nearby with pools. I dont like being too remote as I still like to get "Reliable" goods and some imported goods all of which is near to hand here.Would I live on another island? after being here a couple of years I would say no as a lot of the paperwork etc. associated with business is a headache and being in a family area makes it all a lot easier same with construction permits etc.Would I buy a house here? Answer would be yes but not for its "resale value" because the chances of selling are pretty slim and slow. We are here long term and at worst would just become a rental. I wouldn't spend more than P2.5m on a house because simply we don't need it. If anything extra capital will be going into buying other properties. There are too many people who arrive in the Philippines that build big houses and later regret the fact. Whatever you decide I would just take on a rental and move around until happy..

Most of my "post" evaparated??Tom

Tom,Which post would that be & what part 'evaporated'?Gis us a clue mate :th_thimage_265775:UZI

[Mr Lee]

We live about 3 houses away from Aprils parents with most of our neighbours being related in some way. Its a secure area simply due to the way people are even if you arrive at 3am you will often find people napping outside on balconies etc. because its cooler so someone always watching. On top of that we have developed businesses in the area which are run by different family members and we have NEVER had to give remittances everyone here has worked for what we have. The first few months of each business people are working for NOTHING financially but building on a future. A lot of people get caught in the remittance game and I wasn't one of them if people are able bodied they are able to work. If they choose not to its simply not our problem there are things within the family where other members were expecting a free ride but there has been some shock changes (not relating to us but no doubt the way we operate has brought it to the surface). I have enough free loaders in the UK when im there they are called the Unemployed and its collected by tax im not being taxed twice!Regarding where I would live to be honest I don't know if I would want to live in a sub-division. The ones I have seen and been to are packed in like sardines with reduced airflows and virtually no garden. The other question I would ask after a few problems some of the expat's I know have had are you locking the criminals out or locking them in with you?Geographically I think we are well positioned because its not so busy here in Minglanilla. Cebu city is 30mins ride away via SRP, hills/mountains are 5-10mins if we head inland and beaches are 15mins+ away. Why we dont live nearer the beach is simply I can't see the point as we rarely go anyway I would rather have the 2 resorts nearby with pools. I dont like being too remote as I still like to get "Reliable" goods and some imported goods all of which is near to hand here.Would I live on another island? after being here a couple of years I would say no as a lot of the paperwork etc. associated with business is a headache and being in a family area makes it all a lot easier same with construction permits etc.Would I buy a house here? Answer would be yes but not for its "resale value" because the chances of selling are pretty slim and slow. We are here long term and at worst would just become a rental. I wouldn't spend more than P2.5m on a house because simply we don't need it. If anything extra capital will be going into buying other properties. There are too many people who arrive in the Philippines that build big houses and later regret the fact. Whatever you decide I would just take on a rental and move around until happy..

Matt has just said what I basically said, but no doubt said it better than I did, we are all different and as such we all will have different families and each with different situations and each with possible different values and views on life. My wife is a product of her family, yet when I arrived in the Philippines to meet her in person after 3 years of knowing each other, she handed me a bank book and she had put back in every dollar that I had sent her to help with her dying fathers medical bills and medicines, so she was a saver and not a taker because she had worked and was working when I met here, and therefore knew the value of a peso and how hard it was to earn. My wife also has a niece who is exactly the same type of person and we have trusted her with fairly large amounts of money and she has never spent one centavo without our permission and what is hers in the bank account, she knows she can spend and what is ours in the account, she does not touch and knows it is there for true family emergencies, and she would be the one that I would leave money to if God forbid something should ever happen to my wife, before leaving it to anyone else in our family. BTW, she is married and has a family. Make them work for it and do not just throw it at them because a person who get something for nothing, does not appreciate what it took to get that something in the first place. The old saying teach them to fish rather than giving them a fish really applies even more in the Philippines IMO.Throwing money at a problem most often will not make the problem go away but will usually just make those of us who throw it at the problem feel better.

[Travis]

As I have mentioned in my introductory post we are hopeful of retiring to PI in 4 years time. My wife is from Iloilo and I have been to PI many times already, therefore I feel quite sure that the PI has what we want for our retirement years. My biggest dilema at the moment is where shall we settle down? I have been to Boracay, Cebu, Batangas, Manila and of course Iloilo, all have pros and cons and I could easily settle in any of them and still be happy, but want to cover as many options as possible before making any decision; the need for which is someway off yet.I would suggest there is a wide range of experiences on this board and am interested in the views of those who have already made the leap and now reside there. If you could make that decision again and with the benefit of hindsight, where would you chose to live and why? I suspect many based their choice on family ties and wonder if that has proved to be positive or negative on your contentment factor.For those who have not yet made that leap but have already decided on location, what was the overriding factor in that decision?I hope I haven't asked too much for my first thread but I feel sure I can learn a lot from those who have already made their decisions.

I like Cebu, plenty of doctors and hospitals & loads of great shopping & places to eat

[vinon]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond, It is enlightening to hear how family issues have affected each and the varying ways in which this topic has been dealt with.We have been married for 15 years, I met my wife when we were both working in Hong Kong, she was there in order to support her 3 young children who had been abondoned by their father who has given not one peso to their upkeep in almost 20 years. I also had split from my 1st wife and had children back in the UK who I was supporting financially. Against this background we got married and she followed me around the world from one posting to another, always finding work no matter how menial and sending money home, primarily to cater for her children and her parents who looked after them. She had a number of brothers and sisters who were OFW in well paid employment, therefore there should have been a good stream of money going home, however there really is very little if anything to show for it nowadays. Fortunately we were able to put all the kids through university and ended up with 3 professionally trained and sought after individuals in the medical field who are coming to a point in life where they can soon look after themselves. I think my wife has done a fantastic job in providing for them to the extent she has and she had to make some difficult financial choices with the rest of her family to ensure her children's future was secured.Now we approach retirement we both feel it should be about us. Her parents are ageing and certainly wouldn't want to move and there is no real desire for us to live cloe to them for a variety of reasons, hence why we are looking around. No matter where that will be we still feel there will be some pressure applied from her ageing parents for us to loook after the extended family, thats just the way it is. Everyone is under the misaprehension that we are wealthy; this is so far from the truth, whilst we have a home in the UK paying for it has been a constant struggle and each month was a hand to mouth existance. It is this home, any savings we can accrue between now and then and a government pension which will fund our retirement. We will not be frittering this on people who sould have made better use of the undoubted oportunities which did come their way. It is unfortunate for my wife that she thinks distancing herself from the family is the easiest way to deal with this, fortunately seeing the success her children have become makes that easier.In so far as where, well that remains to be seen. Cebu sounds like a great place to live and we may well drop by there for a few days in May to have another look, it's been 16 years since we last went and that was a bad experience. I do like the advice provided by many that we travel around and rent until happy, that seems sensible in light of the fact resale would be difficult. Last year we came very close to buying a plot of land on Eagle Ridge Golf Course in Cavite, and have not discounted this. The area provides much of what we want, is close to where the children are currently based and therefore a possibility. Tropicalpenpal mentioned the mistake people made of buying big, well I dont have money for that but certainly am looking to spend a few million on land and substantially more to put a 4 bed house on it, is this tyical of the mistake you talk of, or do you mean mansions being built because they could as opposed to needed one. genuinely interested in your thoughts.

[Art2ro]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond, It is enlightening to hear how family issues have affected each and the varying ways in which this topic has been dealt with.We have been married for 15 years, I met my wife when we were both working in Hong Kong, she was there in order to support her 3 young children who had been abondoned by their father who has given not one peso to their upkeep in almost 20 years. I also had split from my 1st wife and had children back in the UK who I was supporting financially. Against this background we got married and she followed me around the world from one posting to another, always finding work no matter how menial and sending money home, primarily to cater for her children and her parents who looked after them. She had a number of brothers and sisters who were OFW in well paid employment, therefore there should have been a good stream of money going home, however there really is very little if anything to show for it nowadays. Fortunately we were able to put all the kids through university and ended up with 3 professionally trained and sought after individuals in the medical field who are coming to a point in life where they can soon look after themselves. I think my wife has done a fantastic job in providing for them to the extent she has and she had to make some difficult financial choices with the rest of her family to ensure her children's future was secured.Now we approach retirement we both feel it should be about us. Her parents are ageing and certainly wouldn't want to move and there is no real desire for us to live cloe to them for a variety of reasons, hence why we are looking around. No matter where that will be we still feel there will be some pressure applied from her ageing parents for us to loook after the extended family, thats just the way it is. Everyone is under the misaprehension that we are wealthy; this is so far from the truth, whilst we have a home in the UK paying for it has been a constant struggle and each month was a hand to mouth existance. It is this home, any savings we can accrue between now and then and a government pension which will fund our retirement. We will not be frittering this on people who sould have made better use of the undoubted oportunities which did come their way. It is unfortunate for my wife that she thinks distancing herself from the family is the easiest way to deal with this, fortunately seeing the success her children have become makes that easier.In so far as where, well that remains to be seen. Cebu sounds like a great place to live and we may well drop by there for a few days in May to have another look, it's been 16 years since we last went and that was a bad experience. I do like the advice provided by many that we travel around and rent until happy, that seems sensible in light of the fact resale would be difficult. Last year we came very close to buying a plot of land on Eagle Ridge Golf Course in Cavite, and have not discounted this. The area provides much of what we want, is close to where the children are currently based and therefore a possibility. Tropicalpenpal mentioned the mistake people made of buying big, well I dont have money for that but certainly am looking to spend a few million on land and substantially more to put a 4 bed house on it, is this tyical of the mistake you talk of, or do you mean mansions being built because they could as opposed to needed one. genuinely interested in your thoughts.

To put it simply: First of all, what will be you and your wife's immigration status coming into the Philippines? Balikbayan or 13a residential permanent visa? Where do you plan to stay upon your arrival in the Philippines? Once you have a place to stay temporarily, take an extended vacation around the Philippines to determine where you want to settle down! Set up an Itinerary the places you plan on visiting, including transportation, food and lodging etc. 1. Travel light, so you don't end up dragging dead weight all over the place! 2. Always determine if your valuables will be safe weather you take them with you or leave them in your place of stay where ever that may be. 3. Make sure you always have easy access to your money from anywhere you are at and have ample cash available for emergencies. 4. Have a good cellphone or mini laptop with you that works anywhere. 5. Know where the Embassies or BI main or satellite offices are at every place you visit. If all else doesn't pan out from your arrival, stay close to your wife's adult children in Cavite and look around there for an apartment, house or condo to rent and look around to see if it may be your future retirement area, since her adult kids will know the area pretty well! Your wife may change her mind and just stay close to her kids and not look elsewhere to buy your retirement home! Good luck!

[Jake]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond, It is enlightening to hear how family issues have affected each and the varying ways in which this topic has been dealt with. We have been married for 15 years, I met my wife when we were both working in Hong Kong, she was there in order to support her 3 young children who had been abondoned by their father who has given not one peso to their upkeep in almost 20 years. I also had split from my 1st wife and had children back in the UK who I was supporting financially. Against this background we got married and she followed me around the world from one posting to another, always finding work no matter how menial and sending money home, primarily to cater for her children and her parents who looked after them. She had a number of brothers and sisters who were OFW in well paid employment, therefore there should have been a good stream of money going home, however there really is very little if anything to show for it nowadays. Fortunately we were able to put all the kids through university and ended up with 3 professionally trained and sought after individuals in the medical field who are coming to a point in life where they can soon look after themselves. I think my wife has done a fantastic job in providing for them to the extent she has and she had to make some difficult financial choices with the rest of her family to ensure her children's future was secured. Now we approach retirement we both feel it should be about us. Her parents are ageing and certainly wouldn't want to move and there is no real desire for us to live cloe to them for a variety of reasons, hence why we are looking around. No matter where that will be we still feel there will be some pressure applied from her ageing parents for us to loook after the extended family, thats just the way it is. Everyone is under the misaprehension that we are wealthy; this is so far from the truth, whilst we have a home in the UK paying for it has been a constant struggle and each month was a hand to mouth existance. It is this home, any savings we can accrue between now and then and a government pension which will fund our retirement. We will not be frittering this on people who sould have made better use of the undoubted oportunities which did come their way. It is unfortunate for my wife that she thinks distancing herself from the family is the easiest way to deal with this, fortunately seeing the success her children have become makes that easier. In so far as where, well that remains to be seen. Cebu sounds like a great place to live and we may well drop by there for a few days in May to have another look, it's been 16 years since we last went and that was a bad experience. I do like the advice provided by many that we travel around and rent until happy, that seems sensible in light of the fact resale would be difficult. Last year we came very close to buying a plot of land on Eagle Ridge Golf Course in Cavite, and have not discounted this. The area provides much of what we want, is close to where the children are currently based and therefore a possibility. Tropicalpenpal mentioned the mistake people made of buying big, well I dont have money for that but certainly am looking to spend a few million on land and substantially more to put a 4 bed house on it, is this tyical of the mistake you talk of, or do you mean mansions being built because they could as opposed to needed one. genuinely interested in your thoughts.

To put it simply:First of all, what will be you and your wife's immigration status coming into the Philippines? Balikbayan or 13a residential permanent visa?Where do you plan to stay upon your arrival in the Philippines?Once you have a place to stay temporarily, take an extended vacation around the Philippines to determine where you want to settle down!Set up an Itinerary the places you plan on visiting, including transportation, food and lodging etc. 1. Travel light, so you don't end up dragging dead weight all over the place!2. Always determine if your valuables will be safe weather you take them with you or leave them in your place of stay where ever that may be.3. Make sure you always have easy access to your money from anywhere you are at and have ample cash available for emergencies.4. Have a good cellphone or mini laptop with you that works anywhere.5. Know where the Embassies or BI main or satellite offices are at every place you visit. If all else doesn't pan out from your arrival, stay close to your wife's adult children in Cavite and look around there for an apartment, house or condo to rent and look around to see if it may be your future retirement area, since her adult kids will know the area pretty well! Your wife may change her mind and just stay close to her kids and not look elsewhere to buy your retirement home!Good luck!

Hello Vinon,

No matter what your profession might be, I really admire your analytic planning by researching and learning from this wonderful forum. Based on my own mistakes as a Filipino, I'm also conducting research to facilitate my return a few years from now.

Some things to think about (list is not all inclusive, maybe some items trivial):

*At your future residence, any chronic insect or rodent infestation

*Any evidence of past flooding or sewage backup due to drainage problems in home or street (Most of Cavite City is flood zone area)

*Neighbors drinking session and playing loud karaoke late at night or roosters crooning "My Way" early in the morning

*If willing to purchase house/lot/condo, are the titles clean???

*Noise and environmental pollution to consider just outside your sub-division, such as a pack of dogs barking and running a gauntlet around their fresh droppings

*Improper disposal of trash; nearby bars and nightclubs activities in regards to children being traumatized

*Access to public transportation to international schools, hospitals, markets, shopping malls, immigration offices for visa renewal; airports.

*Peace and order situation in your immediate and regional area Nearest consulate or embassy of your nationality in order to seek out a safe haven

*CONTROL OF UNINVITED VISITORS

Granted not all items can be satisfied according to my/your preference -- probably need to compromise depending on your tolerance level Respectfully -- Jake

Edited May 28, 2012 by Jake
sentence structure