Buying A Condo In Manila - Advice Needed

[Kiwi-Alan]

You may have your name on the ownership of the condo, but if the sh&t hits the fan in the relationship the Phills have some very interesting ways of imposing odd laws that affect long noses.

 

Or be prepared to walk away and lose all.

 

Once your name is on the ownership you are lible for a lot of things.

 

Remember you are dealing with one of the most corroupt countries in the world. 

 

If you invested the money offshore it may be a better deal long run to use the interest to help pay rent.

 

How long have you lived in the Phills.

[bootleultras]

 

you have property taxes on top of your monthly dues and building taxes, believe me,they all add up for the owner 

Some condo highrise offer a carport, which you have to pay on top of everything else.  Welcome back Bootle, long time no hear!

 

Cheers Jake, good to be back & out of hibernation!  

yeah for instance my condo, monthly dues are 4200, a car port space is the same price and this is based on a 40sqm unit so the price will increase for a bigger unit accordingly, I'll try and dig out the property tax and building tax we are paying later on when i get home.

I understand the other members point of views about not buying but I reckon you should actually consider buying in your case seeing as it is for the long term.

[afathertobe]

You may have your name on the ownership of the condo, but if the sh&t hits the fan in the relationship the Phills have some very interesting ways of imposing odd laws that affect long noses.

 

Or be prepared to walk away and lose all.

 

Once your name is on the ownership you are lible for a lot of things.

 

Remember you are dealing with one of the most corroupt countries in the world. 

 

If you invested the money offshore it may be a better deal long run to use the interest to help pay rent.

 

How long have you lived in the Phills.

 

Could you tell me a bit more about specific cases, things to look out for? I am aware of corruption in many areas of live in the Phils, but have trouble imagining scenarios where owning a condo and letting the family live in in when I'm not there gives me trouble other than financial upkeep, damages etc. 

Edited November 5, 2015 by afathertobe

[afathertobe]

 

yeah for instance my condo, monthly dues are 4200, a car port space is the same price and this is based on a 40sqm unit so the price will increase for a bigger unit accordingly, I'll try and dig out the property tax and building tax we are paying later on when i get home.

I understand the other members point of views about not buying but I reckon you should actually consider buying in your case seeing as it is for the long term.

 

Many of the mid- to upscale units I'm looking for are hardly bigger, even 2BR units, room sizes are quite small here in Metro Manila. Will write some of the agents that sent me sales material and quotes and enquire about monthly costs... let's see what I get. 

 

Despite the many warnings on here I somewhat strongly tend towards buying, mostly for financial reasons. A large part of my child support currently goes towards the apartment and utilities and if that money allows me to own a property without the need for continued financing/mortgage it would give me a bit of financial security and peace of mind. That, plus it's a chance to upgrade to a nicer place in a better location that I actually enjoy staying at when I'm there.

 

I think the fact that the Philippines and especially the large property corporations encourage foreign ownership in condos gives me some reassurance that my investment is safe from the government at least. 

 

Thoughts?

[BrettGC]

After doing a lot of investigating exactly the same thing, I decided a while back to stick with my property here in Aust.  Most of the reasons the guys have already listed but the big one for me was stability and return on investment.  At a minimum, you should be looking at a bare mininum at about a 5%  increase in either value or rental returns per annum averaged over a say a 10 year period; this stays well ahead of both inflation and the CPI for most developed countries.  No, no one has a crystal ball when it comes to this but the more stable the economy the easier it to bounce back from the leaner years.  A stable economy is not going to happen in a country that is a developing nation. 

 

This is from taken from a long term view to do better than break even in real terms.  For faster bucks, property speculation is an entirely different kettle of fish. 

 

This is my personal experience only, I don't have any "book learnin'" to back it up. 

Edited November 5, 2015 by BrettGC

[afathertobe]

After doing a lot of investigating exactly the same thing, I decided a while back to stick with my property here in Aust.  Most of the reasons the guys have already listed but the big one for me was stability and return on investment. 

 

While certainly true, and the big price appreciations in the condo market may have already happened, I would not do this specifically as an investment, but rather as a way to not drop many years of rental money without any return or asset. 

[Crocodile]

 

After doing a lot of investigating exactly the same thing, I decided a while back to stick with my property here in Aust.  Most of the reasons the guys have already listed but the big one for me was stability and return on investment. 

 

While certainly true, and the big price appreciations in the condo market may have already happened, I would not do this specifically as an investment, but rather as a way to not drop many years of rental money without any return or asset. 

 

Okay, I know what you are saying.

 

But...

 

... .If i was to buy an apartment for my gf here in Australia, what would happen??. ...

 

It would all be fine.  We had sex, we were in love and we made our babies.  Okay, it didn't word out, but I am an upstanding kind of guy, so I want to do the right thing.

 

She would live the apartment that I bought - my (our) twin daughters, Monique and Unique deserve this, as I am a great guy and I am pretty happy about having some nice kids.    I would visit every second day, as it is only a short drive from my work.

After two months her sister moves in, as she has been kicked out of home and is going through bad times.  Of course I want to do the right thing and help her immeditate family out, so all is good.

 

I start to not get through on her phone after 2 months.  Well, that is wierd as she always used to answer my calls.  Oh well, she must be busy.

 

No return calls for a 5 days.  Hmmmm.... frustrating.

 

I finally talk to my childrens mother.  She seems short and sharp.  But, it is okay.  She has a temper sometimes.  And she has my twins to take care of.

 

Two weeks and no phone calls or emails.  WTF?!  

 

I finally get an email from her.  Says don't call or email: "I have had enough of your abuse.  If you come here again, I will call the police."

WTF... I have done nothing wrong!!!

But... of course the law wants to protect the innocent.

 

Congratulations - You have no rights as she has lodged AVOs and other documents with the police.

 

Remember, that the above is in a first world country like Australia.  In the Philippines you would have infinitly worse rights as a father and landlord.

 

If you buy an apartment, you will regret it.  Maybe not in 1 year.  Maybe not in 2 years.  But you will definitely regret it before you think.  I would almost be willing to consider betting on this.  Seriously.  The fact that you have no rights in the Philippines, you don't have any connection to the mother (other than the obvious) and, well, Manila is part of the Philippines, you are setting yourself up for fail.

 

I am a single guy with heaps of money.  Transferring money to the Philippines to my MYSELF an apartment for MYSELF to live in is risky.  Buying an apartment for someone else to live in RENT FREE, is so risky it has to be branded as reckless.

 

I would be happy to have a debate with someone who thinks otherwise to me.  Unfortunately for you, I think that my position on this is very strong.

[Dave Hounddriver]

I would be happy to have a debate with someone who thinks otherwise to me

 

I think you make some good points.  It sometimes seems that the majority of people who have to pay rent every month believe they can solve their problems by buying a place.  BUT, it sometimes seems the the majority of people who have bought something believe they can solve their problems by selling it, putting the money in the bank, and using that money to just pay rent and have no worries.

 

I have done the shuffle.  Grass always looks greener to me on the other side.  Truth is, either buying or renting can be good.  Each person just has to decide what risk they want to take (and take their lumps when and if it does not work out).

 

So you get no debate from me.  I have seen too many guys who pay their wive's or gf's rent while they go off to work or do whatever, and it almost never ends well.  But if thats what afathertobe wants to do then he's going to do it.  He only asked about the financial side of things and buying is better than renting forever, from a financial point of view only!

[afathertobe]

I understand all your concerns guys, but the way I see it the interdependence runs both ways, and buying or renting a condo won't change that. You never know what happens in your life, but even if I hope for the best and plan for the worst the situation doesn't change much.

 

What I'm currently more interested in is a discussion of financial, legal risks around buying a condo as a foreigner. I can cover the financial calculations once I know of all the fees and taxes involved and see whether it makes financial sense. What I don't know and cannot anticipate are legal risks, special regulations I'm not aware of and that real estate agents won't tell you.  

[frosty (chris)]

My girl wants us to buy a house here on Mactan. I have read horror stories and been involved in a few, so I said to her, now she has a job and she can save some money, I will help with the deposit so we can get the repayments about the same as paying rent.This works for me in the fact that if the sh&t hits the fan I will end up with nothing anyway, that's the way it is in the PI.,so at least I can walk away with only loosing my deposit and in the end no matter what happens she will get the house, with or without me.