vinon Posted February 21, 2010 Posted February 21, 2010 To a certain extent is this not about affordability? If you have funds to buy and upkeep the property, why wouldn't you buy big if it gives you the opportunity to live the life you dream of? I am not discounting the financial issues, and accept that a big house reduces the resale market and you may even take a big financial hit if you have to move out in a hurry. In my view that is a gamble worth taking when the alternative is living in Europe on a hand to mouth existence in a home that offers very little other than a roof over your head. I would guess that most of us could live in smaller than we have and still exist comfortably, but a bit of luxury is something most of the people I know would not say no to, particularly when it is well within the budget. Whilst I have already said I'm willing to take the financial gamble I also believe that it can be minimised in certain ways. One of the reasons I am attracted to a plot on a golf course (apart from the fact I'm a golf bore) is that golf is a booming industry in Asia and which the Philippines is catching on to. These ventures are there to attract people with money and smarter men than me have already taken massive financial gambles to create golfing communities. There is no doubt the Philippines is underdeveloped in tourism but the success of diving schools and resorts in PI is self evident; I think the golf industry may take off even more so and will attract western investment. Therefore assuming you pick the right location and buy appropriate to the standards of other homes around you, are you not reducing the risk of financial failure. I don't want to get off topic again but wanted to put some of my rationale behind buying what most of you regard as a big house.I have a load more questions I would like to ask on a range of topics including golf resorts, if anyone has knowledge of the house market in this area or an opinion on my rationale above I would be grateful to hear it . I am already better informed just by joining this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UZI Posted February 21, 2010 Posted February 21, 2010 To a certain extent is this not about affordability? If you have funds to buy and upkeep the property, why wouldn't you buy big if it gives you the opportunity to live the life you dream of? I am not discounting the financial issues, and accept that a big house reduces the resale market and you may even take a big financial hit if you have to move out in a hurry. In my view that is a gamble worth taking when the alternative is living in Europe on a hand to mouth existence in a home that offers very little other than a roof over your head. I would guess that most of us could live in smaller than we have and still exist comfortably, but a bit of luxury is something most of the people I know would not say no to, particularly when it is well within the budget. Whilst I have already said I'm willing to take the financial gamble I also believe that it can be minimised in certain ways. One of the reasons I am attracted to a plot on a golf course (apart from the fact I'm a golf bore) is that golf is a booming industry in Asia and which the Philippines is catching on to. These ventures are there to attract people with money and smarter men than me have already taken massive financial gambles to create golfing communities. There is no doubt the Philippines is underdeveloped in tourism but the success of diving schools and resorts in PI is self evident; I think the golf industry may take off even more so and will attract western investment. Therefore assuming you pick the right location and buy appropriate to the standards of other homes around you, are you not reducing the risk of financial failure. I don't want to get off topic again but wanted to put some of my rationale behind buying what most of you regard as a big house.I have a load more questions I would like to ask on a range of topics including golf resorts, if anyone has knowledge of the house market in this area or an opinion on my rationale above I would be grateful to hear it . I am already better informed just by joining this forum. Hi Vinon,Yeah, my point was about not buying if an investment return is important & to give an idea of price vs size. Your criteria of a Golf location & mentioning Cavite earlier, I must ask if you have looked at South Forbes which is just behind my sub division: South Forbes Golf CityWhich is built by my ex company's business partner, Cathay Land (Eurotiles - Jeffrey Ng). House & sizes to suit most tastes & budgets with its own course. It has developed at an unbelievable rate over the last 5 years. Close to Tagaytay & Ayala Greenfields courses to name a couple. It also fits in with your logic of a house to match those around it. Sharon Cuneta for example, has a house near there.UZI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted February 21, 2010 Author Posted February 21, 2010 Perhaps Lee, you can give some idea on Condo sizes & prices from your experiences.UZI I really could not quote prices in Cebu because we have not done any house or condo hunting in years and only know prices from what we see advertised on-line and those prices seem to be all over the place. I was looking at some ads today for one house in Talisay that was a 4 story and priced at p13 million and others in the same subdivision at p5 million and up, and that is not even in the heart of the city. First a person would have to know where in Cebu City they wish to live and then they could get an idea on prices in that area.I see homes on the Internet all the time for around p3.5 million and my wife and I almost bought a 3/2 on Mactan for p1 million a few years ago so prices are all over the place here. Condo prices seem to go from around p4 million in an average place to p13 million in a fancy place and some near Ayala go for over p20 million even used. It seems like Vinon more or less has his mind made up and is using proper logic with the gold course idea and I sure do not wish to discourage him. I remember when I was on another forum and members told me the condo development we bought in was garbage and we happen to be very happy here and our units have doubled in asking price but asking and selling for, are two completely different things and since we do not wish to sell, we will never find out if they would or could even sell, so it really does not matter but I do wish we had bought a few more units back when we bought ours and I would bet others feel the same way too.Now again to Vinon, since you asked why not then I can only give you one reason, when in Rome, do as the Romans do but that does not mean that I or the people who thought up that saying were correct in their thinking and we sure stand out more here than a different round eyed race would in Rome. :mocking: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinon Posted February 21, 2010 Posted February 21, 2010 To a certain extent is this not about affordability? If you have funds to buy and upkeep the property, why wouldn't you buy big if it gives you the opportunity to live the life you dream of? I am not discounting the financial issues, and accept that a big house reduces the resale market and you may even take a big financial hit if you have to move out in a hurry. In my view that is a gamble worth taking when the alternative is living in Europe on a hand to mouth existence in a home that offers very little other than a roof over your head. I would guess that most of us could live in smaller than we have and still exist comfortably, but a bit of luxury is something most of the people I know would not say no to, particularly when it is well within the budget. Whilst I have already said I'm willing to take the financial gamble I also believe that it can be minimised in certain ways. One of the reasons I am attracted to a plot on a golf course (apart from the fact I'm a golf bore) is that golf is a booming industry in Asia and which the Philippines is catching on to. These ventures are there to attract people with money and smarter men than me have already taken massive financial gambles to create golfing communities. There is no doubt the Philippines is underdeveloped in tourism but the success of diving schools and resorts in PI is self evident; I think the golf industry may take off even more so and will attract western investment. Therefore assuming you pick the right location and buy appropriate to the standards of other homes around you, are you not reducing the risk of financial failure. I don't want to get off topic again but wanted to put some of my rationale behind buying what most of you regard as a big house.I have a load more questions I would like to ask on a range of topics including golf resorts, if anyone has knowledge of the house market in this area or an opinion on my rationale above I would be grateful to hear it . I am already better informed just by joining this forum. Hi Vinon,Yeah, my point was about not buying if an investment return is important & to give an idea of price vs size. Your criteria of a Golf location & mentioning Cavite earlier, I must ask if you have looked at South Forbes which is just behind my sub division: South Forbes Golf CityWhich is built by my ex company's business partner, Cathay Land (Eurotiles - Jeffrey Ng). House & sizes to suit most tastes & budgets with its own course. It has developed at an unbelievable rate over the last 5 years. Close to Tagaytay & Ayala Greenfields courses to name a couple. It also fits in with your logic of a house to match those around it. Sharon Cuneta for example, has a house near there.UZI Hi Uzi, can't say I have heard of Forbes, but will do a little research on www. The one I went to look at last year was Eagle Ridge in Cavite, this has 4 golf courses and plans for an enormous community. But not being a natural gamble I am a little sceptical about it's potential to deliver all it says. Can't recall how many plots are there but believe it is well over 1,000 and most of them already sold, yet when I was there only very few houses existed and little sign of buildings under construction, despite the project being more than 5 years old. Surely without a community to service it cannot survive. The homes that were built were in the range of 400 - 1000 sq metre plots around 4000 peso per metre. Incredibly cheap when compared to the land prices in some of the other communities I have heard others mention already. Since coming back from our last trip a little research revealed there many many bank foreclosures on this community at prices way below those listed by agents. I have to get my head around what that means, but that's a whole new topic. Thanks for the info on Forbes I will look it up, in actual fact we are visiting in May and intended to look again at Eagle Ridge so will try to include that also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinon Posted February 21, 2010 Posted February 21, 2010 (edited) Perhaps Lee, you can give some idea on Condo sizes & prices from your experiences.UZI I really could not quote prices in Cebu because we have not done any house or condo hunting in years and only know prices from what we see advertised on-line and those prices seem to be all over the place. I was looking at some ads today for one house in Talisay that was a 4 story and priced at p13 million and others in the same subdivision at p5 million and up, and that is not even in the heart of the city. First a person would have to know where in Cebu City they wish to live and then they could get an idea on prices in that area.I see homes on the Internet all the time for around p3.5 million and my wife and I almost bought a 3/2 on Mactan for p1 million a few years ago so prices are all over the place here. Condo prices seem to go from around p4 million in an average place to p13 million in a fancy place and some near Ayala go for over p20 million even used. It seems like Vinon more or less has his mind made up and is using proper logic with the gold course idea and I sure do not wish to discourage him. I remember when I was on another forum and members told me the condo development we bought in was garbage and we happen to be very happy here and our units have doubled in asking price but asking and selling for, are two completely different things and since we do not wish to sell, we will never find out if they would or could even sell, so it really does not matter but I do wish we had bought a few more units back when we bought ours and I would bet others feel the same way too.Now again to Vinon, since you asked why not then I can only give you one reason, when in Rome, do as the Romans do but that does not mean that I or the people who thought up that saying were correct in their thinking and we sure stand out more here than a different round eyed race would in Rome. :mocking: Hi Lee, sounds to me like you may well have made the right financial choice, coupled with the fact you are obviously happy then your gamble has paid off.I have to say that in all honesty my mind is not made up on anything but in the absence of any other bright ideas the golf route is one which is uppermost in my mind as we speak.I am very confused by the whole PI housing/land market and wish I understood the topic a lot more than I do. I could very easily have made a snap purchase last year but for a whole raft of reasons aligned to my lack of local knowledge, I didn't. You mention above the fluctuation in prices, I too have noticed this and for me there is no logical reason why that is, (though I'm sure there is logic in it). As I mentioned to Uzi above I'm really interested in Eagle Ridge in Cavite but can't understand how they have managed to sell almost all the plots yet there are very few houses built, without which how can the community survive. It is all a big learning curve for me.As for the "When in Rome" element, well I see plenty of Filipinos who have money building much bigger than I propose. Any trip round the provinces reveals huge houses in Barangays where the neighbours have nothing, a good indication of where the OFWs live. As I said, is it not about affordability. Edited February 21, 2010 by vinon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted February 21, 2010 Author Posted February 21, 2010 Hi Lee, sounds to me like you may well have made the right financial choice, coupled with the fact you are obviously happy then your gamble has paid off.I have to say that in all honesty my mind is not made up on anything but in the absence of any other bright ideas the golf route is one which is uppermost in my mind as we speak.I am very confused by the whole PI housing/land market and wish I understood the topic a lot more than I do. I could very easily have made a snap purchase last year but for a whole raft of reasons aligned to my lack of local knowledge, I didn't. You mention above the fluctuation in prices, I too have noticed this and for me there is no logical reason why that is, (though I'm sure there is logic in it). As I mentioned to Uzi above I'm really interested in Eagle Ridge in Cavite but can't understand how they have managed to sell almost all the plots yet there are very few houses built, without which how can the community survive. It is all a big learning curve for me. One of the things that drives property values here is that richer people have no where to put their money except into land or condos as a investment for their children's future and an income source when in condos and already existing homes. Then there are the OFW who dream of the day they will retire back home.As for why prices are all over the place, that has a lot to do with location, location, location and to me it is a bad sign when a development has so many sold lots yet so few homes because we would never know what would end up next to us and how many of those lots were never really sold and were just being held back until higher prices come about because that is an old reality trick, and then also how many are owned by speculators hoping to drive up prices so they can then sell for a big profit. Just the same as when we looked at condos, I just could not even think of buying in a development that was not already built because so much can happen before it does get built and that is even in the states where I have seen many people lose their money when a developer went broke before it was completed. There are no real guarantees in life and sometimes we have to do a leap of faith, but I like to know what I am leaping into and there are knowns and there are unknowns and when the unknowns outweigh the knowns then we best have money to throw away if things do not work out, and few of us have that much that we wish to gamble on such a large scale and just about everything we buy in the Philippines can be a gamble no matter how careful we are and as someone said, make sure you get clear title and that you have a lawyer check and triple check and even then you cannot be 100% because you do not know whose side the lawyer is on but at least you should be on safe ground that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singers Posted February 21, 2010 Posted February 21, 2010 (edited) Our home, in Leyte, is built on the site of Cristina's old family home. Previous to our marriage it was 50% Concrete and 50% Hardwood with an Iron roof. The wooden 1/2 was demolished and replaced with a Concrete construction. Some of the "Old" hardwood was used to build a Men's Den for F-in-Law & Tom within the walled grounds. We may build a detached Rice store/garage and a Suite above for us when we move there permanently. The higher level will afford better views of the river behind and catch the cooling evening breeze off the water. The house is c180 sq. Mtr. with 3 bedrooms on a 400sq.Mtr. Lot BUT all contained on Tex's family land. The BRGY folk refer to it as "The Big House".? My american pay living nearby refers to it as Tom's small house. There are 2 similar sized houses in the village. Tex's parents live in "our" house with 1 sister. Young brother spends week-ends there. Tex has 2 sisters and 1 brother living with their families in the Village so there is a daily flow of visitors. Our Bedroom/CR is the only room with A/C. Very quiet and peaceful home. For our PI Church wedding in Palo we had 22 souls sleeping there!. I am quite happy with the house and location. Sometimes wish I was closer to the Mall's, restaurants and Hospital 10 miles distant but after an evening out in Town all I want is the peace of our village home. Tom :mocking: Edited February 21, 2010 by Singers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art2ro Posted February 21, 2010 Posted February 21, 2010 (edited) When my wife and I arrived in the Philippines to retire in April of 1998, we weren't thinking about buying a home at all because at that time renting was pretty affordable almost anywhere in the country. When my mother pasted away a few years later, she left me a $50,000 inheritance. So, in 1999 we decided to look around to purchase a lot and maybe have a new home built instead of buying an existing home on a lot. After months of our agent driving us around lot hunting we found what we were looking for in Sta. Rosa, Laguna with Laguna Properties Holdings Inc.(LPHI) aka Avida today, but at the time was the land developer by Ayala Land Inc. which is still a reputable developer, also a subsidiary and owner of Bank of the Philippines (BPI) today. The location was just being leveled, graded, culverts being installed and a few streets being paved with only approx 350 lots available for the start of 1st phase. We didn't bother to look at the lots one by one, we just picked one from the map that was shown to us at their Makati main office! After making full payment of P2.5 million for the 187 sq. meter lot and a 2 story basic frame of a prefab home in July of 2000, our developer started construction, we were the 3rd owners to have started construction. The construction only took 6 months and we moved in January of 2001. There was still additional construction to do, a 2 car enclosed garage, laundry room, bath room and an entertainment room which at that time was only P800,000 and all was completed in 4 months. A lot of finishing work still needed to be done on the inside, but all was completed within a few months. At today's prices, I couldn't build the same house for the same price, because of the 40% increase in construction materials! Since the completion of our home, most of the 350 lots were sold out 3 years later and another phase project was to start with an additional 300+ homes, with an additional clubhouse, community pool and a full size basketball court. At the present, the 2nd phase has been completed and our subdivision is finally complete except for a few empty lots not yet developed for some reason, investors, OFW investment or foreclosed buyers for non payment etc, who knows!All we care about is that all is well with our little humble home and our surrounding area has developed quite nicely! We've been here in our home for 11 years now and have plenty more years to come!:thumbs-up-smile::th_thbarbaque::551: Edited February 21, 2010 by Art & Jho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art2ro Posted February 22, 2010 Posted February 22, 2010 (edited) :36_6_3[1]::bonk:Here are a few pics of our home from my photo gallery, just click on the link below:http://www.philippin...ewimage&img=274 Edited February 22, 2010 by Art & Jho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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