Finding Or Buying A Beach House - Dumaguete?

[phia]

Hi - we are new to the forum and thought it might be a good idea to get some feedback from expats already in Philippines. We are planning our retirement and were recently at Negros Orientales (Dumaguete) which has wonderful diving and beaches. We are speculating about buying a house within close proximity of the beach, but obviously want to do more research. Philippines is accessible to us as we are residing and working in Hong Kong - it's fairly easy for us to visit but as long as we are working and based most of the time in HK, what are the risks / possible pitfalls we need to consider before making any commitments? Does anyone have any experience with financing through banks/builders in Philippines? Are there security issues with properties that are left vacant? Please give us honest feedback. How about the process of buying land and building on it? A lot of what we see online seems to be out of date too.Much appreciated!

[Mr Lee]

Hi - we are new to the forum and thought it might be a good idea to get some feedback from expats already in Philippines. We are planning our retirement and were recently at Negros Orientales (Dumaguete) which has wonderful diving and beaches. We are speculating about buying a house within close proximity of the beach, but obviously want to do more research.

[love2winalot]

Hiya. A couple of things. First, you have to make sure the person selling you the land and or house, actually OWNS IT, You can go to the local registry of deeds, or land registration authority to find out. Depending on the area, sometimes, NOTHING, will show up. "But there are people living in the area, with houses, and power and everything"? This can be called, in simple terms, "Squaters rights", or, "He who builds there first". Unlike in a lot of countries, the Beaches in the provinces are where the low income people live, not the Rich. "Unless it is someone trying to make a resort area or something".Next, do like you should do in your own country. If you find a place, go walk around, and at night, and meet the neighbors, and so on. I always fail to understand why people take the ONE thing that is out of their control, "That being your neighbors", and do not even bother to meet them, just to find out, "AFTER", they have moved in, that the neighbors are jerks, or drug dealers, or just plain do not like you.There are a lot of beach lots for sale in the entire country. So, get a Realestate agent, let them start doing the leg work for you, and when you return to the Philippines, you already have places to go look at. This is a process that you really need to take your time on to make sure you get it right. This is also where, "YOU", tell your wife what to do, and, "YOU", are the invisable man. Let a Philippino sell the property to another Philippino, without knowing a, "Rich, so we can x2 the price person from another country is involved. You appear, after the property/price is agreed upon. Goodluck

[Travis]

Hi - we are new to the forum and thought it might be a good idea to get some feedback from expats already in Philippines. We are planning our retirement and were recently at Negros Orientales (Dumaguete) which has wonderful diving and beaches. We are speculating about buying a house within close proximity of the beach, but obviously want to do more research. Philippines is accessible to us as we are residing and working in Hong Kong - it's fairly easy for us to visit but as long as we are working and based most of the time in HK, what are the risks / possible pitfalls we need to consider before making any commitments? Does anyone have any experience with financing through banks/builders in Philippines? Are there security issues with properties that are left vacant? Please give us honest feedback. How about the process of buying land and building on it? A lot of what we see online seems to be out of date too.Much appreciated!

the old saying let the buyer beware really applies in the philippines