Renting In The Philippines

[Jollygoodfellow]

If not renting FURNISHED, I wouldn't expect CURTAINS in Sweden either, so I don't find it odd if they don't have in Phili

 

I rent in Australian and have curtains and blinds and from memory all places I rented over my life time had them so maybe Sweden is different? My heavy curtains were replaced by the owner only about 6 months ago at their expense. 

[Thomas]

If not renting FURNISHED, I wouldn't expect CURTAINS in Sweden either, so I don't find it odd if they don't have in Phili

 

I rent in Australian and have curtains and blinds and from memory all places I rented over my life time had them so maybe Sweden is different? My heavy curtains were replaced by the owner only about 6 months ago at their expense. 

Blinds is counted as jaloseys (=undepending of furneturing) in Sweden, because they are INSTALLED,

while curtains are counted to furniture, because they are just hanged up. (I mean the common ones. Some curtain types are installed.)

 

(The curtain BARS are in a "grey zone" in Sweden. Some see them as stationary, while some see them as loose. Perhaps depending of how expensive/cheap they are and if they are owner or not   :lol:

[Mike S]

I realize that as a foreigner I have to pay more than a Philippine citizen.

 

to pay 1 year in advance.

 

WOW TRF really sorry to hear about your experiences with rental houses .... first off you are not required to pay more because you are a foreigner unless it is an individual who is renting their house then they can rent it for what ever they want .... if you rent an apartment or like we did a townhouse we only pay what everyone else does .... but then I always send my asawa to check it out first and if she likes it I go look at it ..... the first thing I ask when I get there is how much is the rent .... if they now jack it up ..... I just look at them and say you told my asawa it was only this much and now you've jacked up the price .... and wait for them to answer .... which most of the time they just stand there and look at you ..... I then say "sorry not interested" and walk away ....

 

The one year in advance thing had me puzzled at first too .... I assume you are talking about the 12 month post-dated check thing ..... I've heard of that and only had it pulled once on me ..... I just shook my head and said no way will I write you 12 checks .... for one thing my checks will then be out of sequence ..... which she came back with will then open another account .... I just laughed and said no thanks we have several other places to look at and walked away .....

 

The only time we have been taken advantage of is when we leave and then regardless of what the contract says they tell you that it will cost more than double the actual cost to make repairs to the dwelling ..... the last place tried to make us pay 1/2 months rent even after giving him a whole months notice which is what the contract called for ...... I said fine I will keep the key and come back and check every so often to make sure no one has moved into the place as long as we are paying for it you can't rent it ...... we didn't have to pay the 1/2 month rent ..... then there was the price for painting the 2 bedroom 43sq m apartment went from p2000 to p4000 and he has a full time maintenance person to take care of the place .... he had forgot that when we moved in I asked if he would change the color of the apartment as it was terrible and what it would cost .... he told us p2000 but his dad told him he couldn't paint the apartment because that was the colors he himself had picked out and all the apartments had to be the same .....

 

I won't go into what happened to the first place we moved from as I'm still after 3 years pi*sed about getting screwed over ..... we not actually screwed over because we had up graded to a bigger apartment while we were there and never paid for the difference in deposits ..... when we left he paid back our deposit based on the bigger department instead of the original one and only because of that did I only get back 1 month deposit instead of 2 other wise we would have only gotten back 1/2 months deposit out of 2 .....

 

Now I know a lot of people that say they use the last 2 months deposit for the final 2 months rent ..... but every contract i have read says that if you are 1 month late in paying your rent the owner reserves the right to lock you out of your apartment until the rent is paid and when I asked if I could do that I was told no .... not allowed ..... I know Filipinos do that about moving out with not paying the rent but most don't have the amount of crap we do ..... :hystery: ...... some even sneak away during the night loading their stuff into a jeepney ...... guess it pays to travel light ......  :mocking: 

[Bruce]

Good advice

I notice of all the places advertised with pictures that there are no block out curtains, all basically see through. I would require at least the bedroom to be dark in the morning so maybe I would be buying my own curtains. Actually do they have block out curtains in the shops? :unsure:

 

I had mine custom made out of balck heavy fabric. I likes it dark when I sleep.

[i am bob]

If not renting FURNISHED, I wouldn't expect CURTAINS in Sweden either, so I don't find it odd if they don't have in Phili

 

I rent in Australian and have curtains and blinds and from memory all places I rented over my life time had them so maybe Sweden is different? My heavy curtains were replaced by the owner only about 6 months ago at their expense. 

 

It depends on where you live as to what will come with your apartment.  Here in Canada, you normally don't get curtains or blinds unless it is a very unusual shape of window or you rent fully furnished.  When I lived in Germany, many apartments came without kitchen cabinets - you brought your own.  One place didn't even come with a toilet - it was bring your own.  

 

:mocking:

[Mike S]

Here you are damn lucky to get curtain rods ...... most people just take them with them so we bought our own makes life a whole lot simpler ...... :thumbsup: :cheersty:

[TexasRangersFan]

On our way to Manila today from Cebu to look at Condo's for rent.

We made many many calls to realtors looking to find good ones.

We have found that DMCI is fairly reasonable.

We have selected a couple of Realtors to help us with our search.

Thats a couple of them out of several hundred.

The 2 we have kept in contact with have been very helpful with negotiating with the owners.

So in a few hours we are on Cebu Pacific to Manila to take a look at what they have to offer.

I will post on here after we get back about how it goes and what we have done to MOVE THE F OUT OF CEBU!!!!!!

[Jake]

Hey TRF,

 

I'm sure you have many more items to include based on your recent experience.  And we very much

appreciate your up to date comments.  Here's my minimum basic check list (has been posted before):

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

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

*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 (may shock your children)
*Access to public transportation to international schools, hospitals, markets, shopping malls, airports.
*Peace and order situation in your immediate and regional area

*nearest consulate or embassy of your nationality
*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 6, 2013 by Jake

[bootleultras]

Which area of Manila are you looking at?

Keep us updated on how your search is going?

[Bil Brock]

Look locally. Drive or ride around looking for signs, or ask people. There are almost no bargains in advretised properties.