Looking At The Option Of Building A Small Quiet Resort, Advices Needed

[joeatmanila]

Hello fellow expats.I need your lights, opinions, advices on some thoughts and plans i will do towards a piece of land i own.It is located at Dipolog, Sicayab. About 400m from the beach but is not any pristine beach or so. 100m inside of the national highway, kinda overlooking. On my one side i have an orphanage/church, on the other side a normal residential house, the road and i am fronting rice fields but my lot is slope with about 7meter elevation from the rice fields.The entire lot is 1000m2, with two huge mango trees (delicious fruits they make). I do not have any plans of making a house or living or either retire in Dipolog, i am fine contented and happy here where i am.I have it for sale on 2millions and not willing to go below that. if i sell it i will just buy something smaller closer to manila (an hour or two driving) at a beach and keep it as a "beach house" for me.The sale is not going so well, as i said i am not willing to kill it either to give it on a "good price" since i do not have any rush need to sale.So i am thinking of developing a native resort. Nothing fancy but elegantly made with taste and style. I am thinking 10 rooms/cottages of 25m2 each,a restaurant of 70-100m2, attached a bar of 20m2 and behind a kitchen of 20m2. Some staff dormitories (for 5-6 people), a store, housekeeping store/facility,a pool of 40m2 (10x4), one jacuzzi 8m2.my main concern is, what price do i look at /m2 of nipa/bamboo made rooms and the same for the resto/bar.Why do i need this headache? So to run this venture as a hideaway of lovers/couples/travelers for an 800p/day per room, add up 150p i plan to make per person per day on food drinks etc. having the 5 rooms rented everyday is 5x800=4000 + 5x2peoplex150p=1500p. total 5500p/dayminus expenses 4000p/day= 1500p/day profit as a minimum. X30=45000p/monthI do have family there to rip me off with their help or even ruin the establishment so i do plan to put one foreigner running it as a manager, he does not pay rent, no pay food, he is not allowed excessive drinking neither womanizing with customers :hystery: he gets half of the profits and whatever he can rip me off. peace of cake to fire him at anytime, if he is clever he can make a good living of him by just managing a few filipinos, he does not need to cook, serve or do the beds. Enjoying his pension plus the extra income with minimal work efforts.Now if all that works i get 20-30k pesos per month from the "resort" and another business to keep my wife busy. If it is a good profitable project perhaps i can sell the entire thing all together for a double the price i spend to make it plus my 2m of the lot. Right now i get nothing, hardly ever the mangos since i give them to a caretaker to keep the mago trees alive.YOUR ADVICES-IDEAS are higly appreciated. Even the wildest or the most criticised ones, positive, negative, whatever...ALL WELCOME!!!! I am thinking and it is to my benefit any and as much more ideas i can take on something i do not know much.Thank you all in advance.

Edited March 12, 2012 by joeatmanila

[Jack Peterson]

:hystery: You are a brave man Joe, :lol: I can Understand your thoughts here " Can't Sell it, USE it" I Don't know the Area at all so I have no Idea What to envisage. All I can say is that I have a neighbour, who deals in bamboo Furniture (Makes and Sells) I know he has done business On Luzon, maybe I could ask him, if he can offer some help on a contact, for your Huts and bar? At the same time, can I ask if the area is good for Diving? I am not a Diver but from What I hear, it seems a growing thing, amongst foreigners. Maybe another a base for Them to visit. They like a new Area I understand. Anyway, that's my little input for what it is worth. I will say though, Best of Luck.Jack P. :hystery:

[JJReyes]

It's going to be more expensive for construction, but consider the possibility of a small retirement community offering assisted living (caregivers). You will have guests staying 365 days a year. The revenue per guest is P26,000 to P45,000 per month for the current local Filipino market. My informal survey of the Fil-Am community in Hawaii is they are willing to pay P60,000 to P70,000 a month for a quality facility. The multiplier effect is five jobs are created within the community for each guest. The 2nd Philippine Retirement & Healthcare Summit is scheduled for April 24th at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati from 8:00am to 6:00pm. The paricipation fee is P4,300 and advance reservation is required. More than 300 attended last year. I will be there.The concept of reverse migration is for the Philippines to stop sending highly skilled caregivers overseas where they are paid minimum wages and treated like dirt. Of course, minimum wage is 10 times more than what they can earn back home. Instead, seniors in need of assisted living can relocate to the Philippines. This is a priority project, which means tax incentives and availability of financing through commercial banks with organizations like the Asian Development Bank and World Bank as repayment guarantors.

Edited March 12, 2012 by JJR

[Curley]

Looking to run any project from afar is asking for trouble. If you don't need to sell it to raise the cash then keep it, land almost never goes down in value (it's difficult to make more of it).If you feel that it's dead money then look at the possibilities of what you could do with the money locally. With say 1 and a 1/2 million in cash what business could you set up and what would it make per year? How long before you recovered the 1/2 million you "lost" by selling cheap but selling now? It may sit there years earning nothing whereas turning it into cash could give advantages.If you go ahead with it then I would say ensure that your manager has a wife or long term relationship established. I wonder how accurate your projected profit figures are? Pure guesswork? Experience of similar situations?

[cebu rocks]

Its a money pit for sure fully booked 7 days a week hehhehe I have gone to many out of the way resorts and its not very often they are full . some things going against you 1 location its not on the beach and its not a great beach2 800 p for nipa hut is big money . You can find rooms in cebu for around that with tv aircon hotwater 3 staffing always a problemIt seems every small resort I have been at is for sale except for the ones with great beach's or a good tourist attraction very close by . Theres tons of resorts here every one builds them thinking you can make a living from renting rooms .2 million for 1000sq = 2000 a meter very pricey you can find beach lots for around thatstocking a resto is a nightmare in its self never mind a good cook I,m just playing devil advocate here if your mind is set on it go for it at least you will have a cool place to go hang out Love the pool idea but they are not cheap prob more than all your nipa buildings together I found a guy in lilion who builds nipa buildings for a 18ft x 30ft 2 story he quoted me 180,000 pesos and thats the cheapest I have found so far and its nothing fancy Prices I have seen range from 4000 a meter to 16000 a meter depending of course on design and do you want a CR .etcFrom the owners I have talked to at small resorts its a labour of love theres little money after the bills roll in and getting your investment back could take a lifetime.Sell it for what you can get without taking a bath and use the capital for other investments Just my thoughts (never owned a resort) but would like to :hystery:

[Mike S]

Joe .... I think your biggest problem is gonna be the person that runs it ..... finding someone who is honest and will look after your best interest is going to be hard to do ..... regardless if it is a foreigner or Philipino ...... if it were in the US it might could happen as you have laws and such protecting you and your property ..... but here .... no such thing ..... and unless you live close enough to visit it once a week anything can and will happen ...... IMHO

[joeatmanila]

Thank you all!!!!Very educating ideas!!! I will reply my thoughts to every idea later on today, got to run for my kiddo's shcool party :)

[joeatmanila]

@ jack, yes that is exactly what was running in my mind " Can't Sell it, USE it"@JJR, small retirement community offering assisted living (caregivers). Great idea. It requires though nice facilities and not a rather cheap place i was planning to. Thank you for the idea though, anyone who would be willing to put some serious money and work in to it, can give him more than he expects.@Curley, With say 1 and a 1/2 million in cash what business could you set up. I agree with you, the point though is how low can you go, from 1.5 can go down to 1 and down to 0.5...My decision is either a good price or no price. :)@Cebu Rocks, THANK YOU!!! Seeing your point and i just think you are absolutely right. Plus with 4000-16000p/m2 for nipa hut...nah!!!! Here in manila i build concrete with slab and rather nice interiors (much better than the ready made low cost housing) for about 12.000p/m2. I had totally no clue how much these nipa hut style cottages cost!!!!!@Mike S, absolutely true!!!!One day i should buy you guys a beer!!! Whenever i come to Cebu, where i have no reason to...but never know i might get again a free 3 nights vacation at Marco Polo hotel with my Delta frequent miles card, that was the reason i ever visited Cebu :) But no matter what, THANK YOU ALL!!!!!

[Jack Peterson]

JOE! I am by no means, a Religious Guy at all BUT! give this a Thought. Religious Retreats for the Church, are a well sought after thing. MALTA, GIBRALTAR, ANDORRA (All very Catholic) are some Places in the MED area, that the Church is keen On. Maybe you could think along these lines. Priests and Lay persons need Down Time too, I see no reason that the Clergy here in the PI, will be any Different. :) Lets face it, They have the Money. If it is for their Relaxation, I think they will spend it. (Well some of it) Ready made clients. All you do, is Feed them and Bed them. (excuse the Pun) :unsure:Jack P. :)

[Jollygoodfellow]

My question would be what is the Competition?Are they doing OK? if not why would you do better? I think there are a few resorts around that area and the first down side is you are not on the beach. Why would guests want to stay at a resort not on the beach and could it be called a resort? To me a resort has facility's for tourist not just accommodation and a bar. I'm not knocking your idea but if it was me; much more research needs to be done further than just costing.Let me know when its built and where to send my resume :lol: