Our Home We Had Built In Morong

[love2winalot]

http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/love2winalot/philippines/Hiya. The link is to Photobucket. The Pictures are in reverse order, being newest first. My brotherinlaw, the seaman, owns the land. Him and his wife lived in the Block/bamboo hut you see in the earlier set of pictures. My wifes brother, "Benny, who has down syndrome", lives with them and their son & daughter. The other people on the connecting land area are all friends, and work for us, "maid, maintenance, ect". Several years ago we decided to cut down a tree, and build the house there. It cost right around 3 million pesos. We sold our house we had in Las vegas, and had made $32,000 in profit from it, and used that as the down payment. My In laws hired a Contractor, and he hired most of the laborors, and our friends helped out to build it. It took just over a year, as my wife kept making them do things over again if it was not EXACTLY the way she wanted it. What you do not see, is we had a gate installed at the stairs, and at the driveway, right before coming back here to Vegas in Jan. There are No landlines in Morong, so everything is wireless, or satallite. We paid right at $1300 to $1500 per month for 12 months, to pay it off. All the furniture, ect, was bought in Manilla, and transported there. The big screen TV was bought here, and we shipped it there, at a cost of $320.The older Van was bought at Subic motors, and paid for in cash of, $6000. We bought a new 4x4 from my brotherinlaws part time job at the dealership in Makati for $16,000. We paid $5000 down, and are paying around $500 a month for 2 years. We will pay this off in full when we have saved up the money.The Beach Lot is in my sister in laws name. It is apx 32 feet across, and 70 feet deep. I paid $900 for it. The family there had 2 houses. They tore down the one on the lot when we bought it. The whole area is, and has been for 12 years, Contested. Some Guy says he Owns the entire beach area, and all the houses there, and people there are squatters. The people say, they were there first, and the land was open to them. The guy claiming to own the land is now paying people to relocate across the small street, off the beach. He has seen Anaya Cove, and wants to make his own resort. Some people moved, but most not only stayed, but are evn improving or adding on to their house. The people living there all told me to, "Build something, anything", to mark the spot so to speek.So, in April, when i return, i will spend a little money, and build something, and just see what happens. I am not as excited about it as i was a few years ago when i bought it, as in December i got to see it, at low tide, and it sucked. Even bringing in White Sand would not help. There are other, "Legal" beach lots in the area for sale. The thing is i do not want or need 5000 sq meters of land. All i want is around 200-500 sq meters tops, just to build a small beach house, and have a place to have a boat, and so on. The current beach lot is about a 15 minite walk from our house. Tips: If you, as an expat, want to build something, buy something, that is expensive, here is what we did. Van at subic Motors as example. I went by myself first. I looked around, kicked the tires, and so on. When i saw what i wanted, and was given the, "inflated price", i started to walk away. The price drops. I told them, if my wife wants it, i will return with her later today, or in the morning. I left. I gave All the information to my wife, and her sister. A few days later, they go there, "Without Me". They walk around looking at different Vans, and include the Van i told them about. The Owner has NO idea that one of them is living in America, or that they are releated to the American who was there a few days ago. They got an even better price, than the lower one i had gotten. For more expensive items, this has worked for us. For everyday items, "I", actually get a better price than they do. Sometimes they think i lied about what i paid, and will go ask the shop owner, hehehehe.

[TheMason]

Very nice pics, thanks for posting the link! The 3 million you paid for the house....did that include the furnishings as well? Your tip for shopping is how my wife and I do it too. I never go with her for major purchases.

[Travis]

http://s5.photobucke...ot/philippines/Hiya. The link is to Photobucket. The Pictures are in reverse order, being newest first. My brotherinlaw, the seaman, owns the land. Him and his wife lived in the Block/bamboo hut you see in the earlier set of pictures. My wifes brother, "Benny, who has down syndrome", lives with them and their son & daughter. The other people on the connecting land area are all friends, and work for us, "maid, maintenance, ect". Several years ago we decided to cut down a tree, and build the house there. It cost right around 3 million pesos. We sold our house we had in Las vegas, and had made $32,000 in profit from it, and used that as the down payment. My In laws hired a Contractor, and he hired most of the laborors, and our friends helped out to build it. It took just over a year, as my wife kept making them do things over again if it was not EXACTLY the way she wanted it. What you do not see, is we had a gate installed at the stairs, and at the driveway, right before coming back here to Vegas in Jan. There are No landlines in Morong, so everything is wireless, or satallite. We paid right at $1300 to $1500 per month for 12 months, to pay it off. All the furniture, ect, was bought in Manilla, and transported there. The big screen TV was bought here, and we shipped it there, at a cost of $320.The older Van was bought at Subic motors, and paid for in cash of, $6000. We bought a new 4x4 from my brotherinlaws part time job at the dealership in Makati for $16,000. We paid $5000 down, and are paying around $500 a month for 2 years. We will pay this off in full when we have saved up the money.The Beach Lot is in my sister in laws name. It is apx 32 feet across, and 70 feet deep. I paid $900 for it. The family there had 2 houses. They tore down the one on the lot when we bought it. The whole area is, and has been for 12 years, Contested. Some Guy says he Owns the entire beach area, and all the houses there, and people there are squatters. The people say, they were there first, and the land was open to them. The guy claiming to own the land is now paying people to relocate across the small street, off the beach. He has seen Anaya Cove, and wants to make his own resort. Some people moved, but most not only stayed, but are evn improving or adding on to their house. The people living there all told me to, "Build something, anything", to mark the spot so to speek.So, in April, when i return, i will spend a little money, and build something, and just see what happens. I am not as excited about it as i was a few years ago when i bought it, as in December i got to see it, at low tide, and it sucked. Even bringing in White Sand would not help. There are other, "Legal" beach lots in the area for sale. The thing is i do not want or need 5000 sq meters of land. All i want is around 200-500 sq meters tops, just to build a small beach house, and have a place to have a boat, and so on. The current beach lot is about a 15 minite walk from our house. Tips: If you, as an expat, want to build something, buy something, that is expensive, here is what we did. Van at subic Motors as example. I went by myself first. I looked around, kicked the tires, and so on. When i saw what i wanted, and was given the, "inflated price", i started to walk away. The price drops. I told them, if my wife wants it, i will return with her later today, or in the morning. I left. I gave All the information to my wife, and her sister. A few days later, they go there, "Without Me". They walk around looking at different Vans, and include the Van i told them about. The Owner has NO idea that one of them is living in America, or that they are releated to the American who was there a few days ago. They got an even better price, than the lower one i had gotten. For more expensive items, this has worked for us. For everyday items, "I", actually get a better price than they do. Sometimes they think i lied about what i paid, and will go ask the shop owner, hehehehe.

wow very nice thanks for sharing but it appears a bit like you are really spoiling your relatives cuz I think they were poor before. I wonder how that will affect your future retirement life there if you cannot keep up the large cash flow

[Mr Lee]

http://s5.photobucke...ot/philippines/Hiya. The link is to Photobucket. The Pictures are in reverse order, being newest first. My brotherinlaw, the seaman, owns the land. Him and his wife lived in the Block/bamboo hut you see in the earlier set of pictures. My wifes brother, "Benny, who has down syndrome", lives with them and their son & daughter. The other people on the connecting land area are all friends, and work for us, "maid, maintenance, ect". Several years ago we decided to cut down a tree, and build the house there. It cost right around 3 million pesos. We sold our house we had in Las vegas, and had made $32,000 in profit from it, and used that as the down payment. My In laws hired a Contractor, and he hired most of the laborors, and our friends helped out to build it. It took just over a year, as my wife kept making them do things over again if it was not EXACTLY the way she wanted it. What you do not see, is we had a gate installed at the stairs, and at the driveway, right before coming back here to Vegas in Jan. There are No landlines in Morong, so everything is wireless, or satallite. We paid right at $1300 to $1500 per month for 12 months, to pay it off. All the furniture, ect, was bought in Manilla, and transported there. The big screen TV was bought here, and we shipped it there, at a cost of $320.The older Van was bought at Subic motors, and paid for in cash of, $6000. We bought a new 4x4 from my brotherinlaws part time job at the dealership in Makati for $16,000. We paid $5000 down, and are paying around $500 a month for 2 years. We will pay this off in full when we have saved up the money.The Beach Lot is in my sister in laws name. It is apx 32 feet across, and 70 feet deep. I paid $900 for it. The family there had 2 houses. They tore down the one on the lot when we bought it. The whole area is, and has been for 12 years, Contested. Some Guy says he Owns the entire beach area, and all the houses there, and people there are squatters. The people say, they were there first, and the land was open to them. The guy claiming to own the land is now paying people to relocate across the small street, off the beach. He has seen Anaya Cove, and wants to make his own resort. Some people moved, but most not only stayed, but are evn improving or adding on to their house. The people living there all told me to, "Build something, anything", to mark the spot so to speek.So, in April, when i return, i will spend a little money, and build something, and just see what happens. I am not as excited about it as i was a few years ago when i bought it, as in December i got to see it, at low tide, and it sucked. Even bringing in White Sand would not help. There are other, "Legal" beach lots in the area for sale. The thing is i do not want or need 5000 sq meters of land. All i want is around 200-500 sq meters tops, just to build a small beach house, and have a place to have a boat, and so on. The current beach lot is about a 15 minite walk from our house. Tips: If you, as an expat, want to build something, buy something, that is expensive, here is what we did. Van at subic Motors as example. I went by myself first. I looked around, kicked the tires, and so on. When i saw what i wanted, and was given the, "inflated price", i started to walk away. The price drops. I told them, if my wife wants it, i will return with her later today, or in the morning. I left. I gave All the information to my wife, and her sister. A few days later, they go there, "Without Me". They walk around looking at different Vans, and include the Van i told them about. The Owner has NO idea that one of them is living in America, or that they are releated to the American who was there a few days ago. They got an even better price, than the lower one i had gotten. For more expensive items, this has worked for us. For everyday items, "I", actually get a better price than they do. Sometimes they think i lied about what i paid, and will go ask the shop owner, hehehehe.

Very nice and the helicopter light is really neat and the cabinets are really neat too. The photo of Queen Gloria says a lot, I guess she is treated like a queen and is lucky to have found her king. :thumbsup: I do have to say that you may have a can of worms with the property on the beach but I wish you much luck with all your projects. :welcome:

[Singers]

http://s5.photobucke...ot/philippines/Hiya. The link is to Photobucket. The Pictures are in reverse order, being newest first. My brotherinlaw, the seaman, owns the land. Him and his wife lived in the Block/bamboo hut you see in the earlier set of pictures. My wifes brother, "Benny, who has down syndrome", lives with them and their son & daughter. The other people on the connecting land area are all friends, and work for us, "maid, maintenance, ect". Several years ago we decided to cut down a tree, and build the house there. It cost right around 3 million pesos. We sold our house we had in Las vegas, and had made $32,000 in profit from it, and used that as the down payment. My In laws hired a Contractor, and he hired most of the laborors, and our friends helped out to build it. It took just over a year, as my wife kept making them do things over again if it was not EXACTLY the way she wanted it. What you do not see, is we had a gate installed at the stairs, and at the driveway, right before coming back here to Vegas in Jan. There are No landlines in Morong, so everything is wireless, or satallite. We paid right at $1300 to $1500 per month for 12 months, to pay it off. All the furniture, ect, was bought in Manilla, and transported there. The big screen TV was bought here, and we shipped it there, at a cost of $320.The older Van was bought at Subic motors, and paid for in cash of, $6000. We bought a new 4x4 from my brotherinlaws part time job at the dealership in Makati for $16,000. We paid $5000 down, and are paying around $500 a month for 2 years. We will pay this off in full when we have saved up the money.The Beach Lot is in my sister in laws name. It is apx 32 feet across, and 70 feet deep. I paid $900 for it. The family there had 2 houses. They tore down the one on the lot when we bought it. The whole area is, and has been for 12 years, Contested. Some Guy says he Owns the entire beach area, and all the houses there, and people there are squatters. The people say, they were there first, and the land was open to them. The guy claiming to own the land is now paying people to relocate across the small street, off the beach. He has seen Anaya Cove, and wants to make his own resort. Some people moved, but most not only stayed, but are evn improving or adding on to their house. The people living there all told me to, "Build something, anything", to mark the spot so to speek.So, in April, when i return, i will spend a little money, and build something, and just see what happens. I am not as excited about it as i was a few years ago when i bought it, as in December i got to see it, at low tide, and it sucked. Even bringing in White Sand would not help. There are other, "Legal" beach lots in the area for sale. The thing is i do not want or need 5000 sq meters of land. All i want is around 200-500 sq meters tops, just to build a small beach house, and have a place to have a boat, and so on. The current beach lot is about a 15 minite walk from our house. Tips: If you, as an expat, want to build something, buy something, that is expensive, here is what we did. Van at subic Motors as example. I went by myself first. I looked around, kicked the tires, and so on. When i saw what i wanted, and was given the, "inflated price", i started to walk away. The price drops. I told them, if my wife wants it, i will return with her later today, or in the morning. I left. I gave All the information to my wife, and her sister. A few days later, they go there, "Without Me". They walk around looking at different Vans, and include the Van i told them about. The Owner has NO idea that one of them is living in America, or that they are releated to the American who was there a few days ago. They got an even better price, than the lower one i had gotten. For more expensive items, this has worked for us. For everyday items, "I", actually get a better price than they do. Sometimes they think i lied about what i paid, and will go ask the shop owner, hehehehe.

Many thanks for sharing the great pictures with us. Cristina & I wish you a VERY happy & long life together.UK Tom :thumbsup:

[love2winalot]

Hiya: No, that did not include the furniture, that was bought little by little. I have managed apartents for over 22 years, mostly as an on site mgr, so my average salary, "rent free" was around $1300 a month. My wife is a CNA, and always worked 2 jobs, and now only does in house health care seing around 10 patients a day at $25 a visit for 1 hour. Hey, if you know how to stop her from working so much, you are all welcome to try, i have failed at it for many many years.My wifes Family/sisters husband, only have 2 that work full time, with decient jobs. Her brother Leo is a CPA in Makati, and has been able to visit us here in Vegas 2 times over the last 3 years. However, it took him over 10 years of trying before they actually gave him a Visa. You know, fear of him not coming back. The land the house is on Belongs to my wifes sisters husband, Ray. He is a Seaman, and spends about 8-10 months of the year at sea. He is lucky that none of the ships he is on go anywhere close to Samolia. He makes a good living doing that.Nobody else works, or has worked, or will work, unless it is for us. It was like that before we got married, been like that for the last 18 years, and will be like that for the next 18 years. So what to do? It is, what it is. There is a good side to this, and that is Benny. He just turned 27, and has exceeded the average age of people born with down syndrome in 3rd world countries. EVERYTHING WE DO IS ACTUALLY FOR BENNY. The entire Family knows this, and thus, take better care of Him than they normally would. Benny and I have a special bond. Most likely because he found someone who is not as smart as he is.........hehehe. I am the only one who can get him to go, "ha ha ha". When we visit, benny and i will be going, "ha ha ha", back n forth with each other. After a while, my wife, "in a playfull way" will say, "My mongoloid brother, and my mongoloid husband". Yea, the beach lot was just a chance we took. I just look at it this way. If it was only us, then it would be a big issue. But it is over 20-30 others, with everything from Bamboo huts, to Brick houses. They all have water-power-sewer, ect, and have been there forever. If the Law was on the Guy trying to take over side, i do not think he would be paying people to move. Also, no one was being threatend, "bodly harm wise" to move. I will just wait and see what happens. Everyone wants me to go to the next court hearing with them when i get there next month. They want to show the guy that, "in their opinion" they have someone with money on their side now. hehehe. But just in case, "Beach Lot 4-Sale, Get you American owned beach lot before someone else does, only $9,000". hehehehe kidding of course

Edited March 28, 2010 by love2winalot

[Inspector]

Beautiful house and family! :tiphat:

[aussieseaman]

very nice house you have there and wish you and your family the best of luck with your lifestyle , I hope to be doing the same in the coming year and thankz for ur tips on buying items it was all very helpful