Looking For Advice - Potentially Buying A Condo (Manila Area)

[Shol]

Hi there.

 

I have worked in the Philippines for 6 years and I pay all my taxes and had a nice expat package.  Recently I have moved away

from my older company and am doing freestyle consulting management for a few Canadian Companies however the work

is not nearly as frequent as I would like my own state of mind as well for my finances.   I have just come back to PH to live after being on a 4 month

vacation in US and now am currently renting a humble place for a few months until I get back on my feet.   I have extensive management experience in the

BPO Industry so I am anticipating if required I will bel able to work in the near future as many of my expat friends are currently doing.

 

I have enough savings and investments to keep me going on for maybe 8-10 years as long as I watch my savings and don't eat out too much and

don't get hooked up with the wrong people or girl.   I will be eligible in maybe 10 years for a retirement pension of about 1000USD a month or so perhaps more with the cost

of living increases. 

 

I have some leads into some real estate properties and can get some really really solid deals right now.  IT would be a small unit but I could technically live there pay very little association dues / meralco and when I would be working more frequently with more income would then be able to rent it out if I was relocated to a province or could move to a bigger place.  If everything fails I could rent it out or flip or sell it probably at a profit.   I currently would be able to purchase a property like the above with flat out cash with huge discount.

 

I have been given a few different flavors of advice.

 

1. Rent until your situation stabilizes - Cash is king, don't get rid of liquid until you have more coming in etc.  My concern here is that I am paying for someone else's mortgage when I have the means to own and then pay almost nothing each month to live for now instead of blowing it on rent

 

2. Build an investment - Owning the investment is a win win because as long it is in a decent area, it will be rentable, or you can always sell it if you "fail at life" for whatever reason.  Of course the counter on this one is that it might not be that easy to liquidate an asset if absolutely required to do so.

 

I have considered this for a while now and as mentioned no matter what situation there is no pressure on my current finances - I could do either and it would be ok of course one hates to currently lower net worth each month by renting when one could be potentially owning (and not paying any interest since I would buy the unit straight out) or just rent for now and deal with it.

 

I would love to hear some thoughts / opinions.  I know of a few foreigners who have done one or the other and EVERY person I have spoken with who is renting would prefer to Rent to Own or purchase if they could afford to pay for that without a huge massive interest hit.

 

Thanks :)

 

 

[Old55]

I suggest you just rent.

[Papa Carl]

Shol, just out of curiosity, what experience do you have in the BPO industry and at what level?

 

Also if you were to work in the BPO industry, what area would you prefer to be located in?

 

 

Papa Carl

[JJReyes]

Don't purchase a condo from a developer. The secondary market is a more accurate reflection of the fair market value. You also know exactly what you are getting including maintenance fees and taxes. You are buying lifestyle, a home for you to use and enjoy. If the intent is as a investment to earn an income and hopefully appreciate over several years, the type of unit is different from buying lifestyle. 

[Shol]

Hi there.

 

I was onsite client management support (working as a liason between the BPO and the Canadian client - I was working for the client) for 5 years here and previously in India and in Canada and the primary function was to do analysis with the account operations managers / senior operation managers / training managers / directors to ensure they are living up their contractual expectations and to work on gaps and challenges together on all of their metrics.   If i was to indicate the position level I would have to say it was between a senior management position and a director level from a BPO perpective anyway.

 

I was supposed to stay for 3 months initially as my original intended function was to train the management staff on the telecommuncations account, however the company vision and senior management shifted multiple times.  I guess my speciality would on the training end however worked extensively afterwards on optimizing, maintaining and improving results on all elements. (Workforce, Training, Recruitment, Operations)

 

I got things done when there were challenges as the local management teams are energetic,skilled and motivated ; however maturity and experience in the clutch sometimes was lacking specifically around execution and follow up.  It was an interesting position because although I was paid through Canadian company I was quite often working on both sides so I gained a lot of perspective on the challenges that a BPO encounters. (Costs, communication challenges, interacting with a multitude of personalities that might not have insight on lifestyles, keeping both "sides" happy :))

 

As for the location at this point I am going to start applying and would look for the best fit ; would prefer in Manila however I would be open to provincial locations for the right position as I am aware that a lot of the industry is moving away from the metro for a variety of reasons. (saturation, costs, etc)

 

Anyway apologies this got a little bit wordy almost like a cover letter but that is me in a nutshell if you have any leads fire them my way :)

 

Shol, just out of curiosity, what experience do you have in the BPO industry and at what level?

 

Also if you were to work in the BPO industry, what area would you prefer to be located in?

 

 

Papa Carl

Edited October 31, 2013 by Shol

[Shol]

Thanks  for this one :)

Yeah for sure I have done a lot of research and I notice that in most cases when you buy privately the cost of a similar condo unit is from a private individual is much less than what the developer has appreciated their inventory.   Also if there are units still available one must determine what is the reason for that as you would want to understand the value and future potential of your investment.

 

I have also researched the units I would be interested in and have exact costs for maintenance fees, estimated meralco (as it seems some buliidings seem to have higher costs) and also property taxes as well so I have a good idea on how to build a profit / loss type budget calcuation.

 

At this point it's a little bit of both I woud like to buy a unit that is rentable but that if times are tough I could live in it also :)

 

Don't purchase a condo from a developer. The secondary market is a more accurate reflection of the fair market value. You also know exactly what you are getting including maintenance fees and taxes. You are buying lifestyle, a home for you to use and enjoy. If the intent is as a investment to earn an income and hopefully appreciate over several years, the type of unit is different from buying lifestyle. 

[JJReyes]

I have also researched the units I would be interested in and have exact costs for maintenance fees, estimated meralco (as it seems some buliidings seem to have higher costs)

 

I asked my niece, who is a licensed real estate broker in the Philippines, about the different Meralco rates. It appears some developers negotiate the rate and pay Meralco for the entire usage of the building or village. Meralco likes this because it is easier than checking individual meters and the monthly payments are guaranteed by a large corporation. The developer passes the electrical costs plus a premium to the retail customers. Some charge a higher premium than others. I recall protests by residents at one village because the premium was more than 50%. 

[Shol]

I can believe it.

 

I stayed at one tower in Mandaluyong and it was an expensive high end building.and I could cook sometimes and watch a bit of TV but no aircon all fans mostly and it would still be 6-10k a month where others I would have aircons going and cooking all the time and it was 3-5k.

 

Of course you could ask Meralco and they tell you everything is fine second you then ask your landlord about the problem and they don't want to help or tell you to check with the manufactuer of their aircon and stove etc to see if there is some sort of a power drain or whatever, all at your expense :)

 

 

 

I have also researched the units I would be interested in and have exact costs for maintenance fees, estimated meralco (as it seems some buliidings seem to have higher costs)

 

I asked my niece, who is a licensed real estate broker in the Philippines, about the different Meralco rates. It appears some developers negotiate the rate and pay Meralco for the entire usage of the building or village. Meralco likes this because it is easier than checking individual meters and the monthly payments are guaranteed by a large corporation. The developer passes the electrical costs plus a premium to the retail customers. Some charge a higher premium than others. I recall protests by residents at one village because the premium was more than 50%.