Post Dated Checks

[Mike J]

19 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

I don't think I know of an expat here who has a peso checking account.  Really no use for it except for this post dated check scheme.

My wife and I have a peso checking account in addition to our dollar account.  I assumed it was fairly common.  

[OnMyWay]

21 minutes ago, Mike J said:

My wife and I have a peso checking account in addition to our dollar account.  I assumed it was fairly common.  

So that was you in front of me at the grocery checkout?  Fumbling in your purse to find your check book.  Fumbling again to find your glasses before realizing they are on a chain around your neck.  Slowly writing the check with shaking hand while balancing on your walker.  Then another 5 minutes to pack up and leave.  When the checker said "You should try a debit or credit card",  you said "Well, young smarty pants, I've been writing checks for 70 years and I'm not going to stop now!".  

[Mike J]

30 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

So that was you in front of me at the grocery checkout?  Fumbling in your purse to find your check book.  Fumbling again to find your glasses before realizing they are on a chain around your neck.  Slowly writing the check with shaking hand while balancing on your walker.  Then another 5 minutes to pack up and leave.  When the checker said "You should try a debit or credit card",  you said "Well, young smarty pants, I've been writing checks for 70 years and I'm not going to stop now!".  

Yep.  And the only reason I did that was because I saw this impatient looking expat behind me in the line.  Works every time.   Didn't know until now that that was you. 

[OnMyWay]

1 minute ago, Mike J said:

Yep.  And the only reason I did that was because I saw this impatient looking expat behind me in the line.  Works every time.   Didn't know until now that that was you. 

Good to know!  Even though I was impatient, I was admiring that beautiful flower print dress you were wearing!  

[Gandang Smile]

Postdated cheques are the norm here but have little more than symbolic value, as they can always bounce. When renting in Davao, the landlord was a friend of mine (from a prominent Filipino family) and I would transfer money to his bank account every month. When renting in Makati, I was in a position to pay 6 months or 12 months cash in advance, so I could negotiate a discount.

I have recently rented my first investment property here in Ortigas and I have received the usual 11 postdated cheques from my first tenant. However my guarantee is not the cheques, it's the fact that he has a stable job at the Asian Development Bank, so I am sure he will always have enough funds in his account. Plus, he managed to rent my unit at 50% of what it was worth, so he knows he got a good bargain. Thanks pandemic! 

 

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, Mike J said:

This is the reason I would never pay with post dated checks.  Same with paying a full year in advance.   And your landlord would be pleased to have you get fed up and leave so they can rent the place again.  In short the landlord has no reason to keep you happy and every reason to see you leave even if you are a good tenant.

If you pay cash then I agree with you, but if it's a post dated cheque you can simply cancel the remaining cheques surely? 

[Jollygoodfellow]

14 hours ago, baronapart said:

I am open to paying a years rent in advance but only for a reduction in the monthly rent. What are other's experience with this?

You might have notice rent has come down quite a bit because of covid or at least condos have. Many still trying for pre covid prices though. In my condo building a studio usually is around 20k. Now going for between 12 and 15 k including dues paid by landlord. I talked to my landlord about the current market price and reduced my own rent to market value taking 5k off a month.

[Gas]

12 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Another question would be:  Which members pay their rent with postdated checks of any kind?  My answer would be never. 

I do and write 6 post dated cheques for a building i rent to use as a workshop. The landlord lives abroad and his niece comes every 6 months and collects the cheques. 

8 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I don't think I know of an expat here who has a peso checking account.  Really no use for it except for this post dated check scheme.

You do now! Very common here to write post dated cheques if you own or in my case run a small to medium business. I wrote 3 checks this morning to a supplier and the dates are spread over 90 days. I usually pay cash cheque, but they prefer that the payments are staggered. 

[Mike J]

6 hours ago, hk blues said:

If you pay cash then I agree with you, but if it's a post dated cheque you can simply cancel the remaining cheques surely? 

I would not be surprised if you could then be charged with estafa. 

[Gandang Smile]

6 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

You might have notice rent has come down quite a bit because of covid or at least condos have. Many still trying for pre covid prices though. In my condo building a studio usually is around 20k. Now going for between 12 and 15 k including dues paid by landlord. I talked to my landlord about the current market price and reduced my own rent to market value taking 5k off a month.

That's true in Manila, too. I had initially proposed my tenant a 6-month contract but he wouldn't accept. He said he wanted to make a home out of his new place and he did have a point. In a normal situation, a tenant of that kind (nice guy, works as an IT Manager at ADB) would be someone one would want to keep for years. Being a Filipino and on a maximum budget of 30K, I knew I would never be able to get the full value of the unit (55/60k) until the pandemic is over.

Now I have to hope that, by next November, this whole thing will be over and Ortigas will be teeming with Koreans, Chinese and other foreign nationals. It's the only way units worth more than 20/30K can ever be rented.