Travis Posted June 26, 2010 Author Posted June 26, 2010 thanks for the replies for now I will keep renting where I am coz I hate change but if I get married then I guess I might have to in order to give my future wife some stability in her life. I guess it will all depend on who & if I marry but I like the looks of Mikes condos so I may have to give them a look when my ship comes in hehehe I am going to win the lotto here & I just hope they will pay a kano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Tropic Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 Hey Traveler no worries about winning the lotto in Kano $ I am happy to accept pesos! I am getting to the age where change is to much work. If I didn't have another big move coming I would keep my units at Winland. They have been a good investment for me. Let me know if your ship comes in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom in Texas Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 My thought is... if I can find the house I want, in the location I want, for a price that is less than I could build it for... then it is a good price. What is the fly in that ointment? I cannot understand why expats cannot get their money out of houses when they are sold... if they cannot, then I do not understand why there are not some reasonable prices on these houses that expats are selling at a loss.Everyone can't buy high and and everyone sale low... there has to be someone on the other side of every deal. I'm sure someone will promptly set me straight on my simplistic thinking... ... so thank you in advance.Tom in Texas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 My thought is... if I can find the house I want, in the location I want, for a price that is less than I could build it for... then it is a good price. What is the fly in that ointment? I cannot understand why expats cannot get their money out of houses when they are sold... if they cannot, then I do not understand why there are not some reasonable prices on these houses that expats are selling at a loss.Everyone can't buy high and and everyone sale low... there has to be someone on the other side of every deal. I'm sure someone will promptly set me straight on my simplistic thinking... ... so thank you in advance.Tom in Texas My understanding is the expat who has trouble getting his money from the sale of a house is the expat that built a mansion that most can not afford to build or buy, when it comes on the market, unless the buyer is a cashed up expat as well, it will not easily sell as its out of most Filipinos price range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom in Texas Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 I cannot understand why expats cannot get their money out of houses when they are sold... if they cannot, then I do not understand why there are not some reasonable prices on these houses that expats are selling at a loss.Everyone can't buy high and and everyone sale low... there has to be someone on the other side of every deal. My understanding is the expat who has trouble getting his money from the sale of a house is the expat that built a mansion that most can not afford to build or buy, when it comes on the market, unless the buyer is a cashed up expat as well, it will not easily sell as its out of most Filipinos price range. I agree... so it seems that the first expat who build a mansion way above market is going to take a bath... and the expat who gives him that bath should then be able to sale the house on down the road for what he put into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UZI Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 My thought is... if I can find the house I want, in the location I want, for a price that is less than I could build it for... then it is a good price. What is the fly in that ointment? I cannot understand why expats cannot get their money out of houses when they are sold... if they cannot, then I do not understand why there are not some reasonable prices on these houses that expats are selling at a loss.Everyone can't buy high and and everyone sale low... there has to be someone on the other side of every deal. I'm sure someone will promptly set me straight on my simplistic thinking... ... so thank you in advance.Tom in Texas My understanding is the expat who has trouble getting his money from the sale of a house is the expat that built a mansion that most can not afford to build or buy, when it comes on the market, unless the buyer is a cashed up expat as well, it will not easily sell as its out of most Filipinos price range. We have just sold our house here in Sta Rosa Laguna, for cash, paid in full, without the need for an agent. We made 30% profit on our purchase in 4 years and doubled our money if Forex taken into account.We have now bought a house for just P1.5 million in Cebu that we will spend 2 or 3 million renovating & improving. I don't expect we will move again but if we wanted to, I don't doubt for 1 second I would sell for a profit based on its location near to the beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 My thought is... if I can find the house I want, in the location I want, for a price that is less than I could build it for... then it is a good price. What is the fly in that ointment? I cannot understand why expats cannot get their money out of houses when they are sold... if they cannot, then I do not understand why there are not some reasonable prices on these houses that expats are selling at a loss.Everyone can't buy high and and everyone sale low... there has to be someone on the other side of every deal. I'm sure someone will promptly set me straight on my simplistic thinking... ... so thank you in advance.Tom in Texas Tom your thoughts are very much like most people who have never lived in the Philippines (no insult meant) so let me point out why I feel that way....The problem is that most people in the Philippines do not wish to sell for less than replacement costs. While I am far from an expert on this or anything, the thing I see is that prices keep going up on new condos or homes and along with that the people keep raising the prices on their second hand units, usually as much, and then next comes the people who over improve or just spend a bunch on needed improvements that they want and not necessarily what another individual might want, because we all have different tastes...... So my simplistic view is, that if you buy then you must do so knowing that you may lose money if you try to sell within a short time frame but if in a hot area such as Cebu City or any other hot area where a lot of expats and others wish to reside, and if you buy a place that is within many peoples reach, then your chances of the property going up in value and of selling for a profit would be much greater..... I posted my earlier post for many who go to the Philippines without doing their homework and buy right away without even knowing if they will be able to put up with the many bs things that the Philippines throws at us all and then end up wishing to sell within a short period of time. My friend Frank who visited us last year and came back earlier this year and then decided to buy one condo unit which is the same as one of the two that we bought and made into a 2/2. Frank paid about for one what we had paid for two a few years ago but he also got to pay it out over three years with no interest with 30% down and we paid cash because at the time there was a cash discount and at that time they were only offering two years no interest with 30% down, and at the time one of my pensions was making losing money so I felt better to invest there for my wifes future. Different strokes for different folks and I was also concerned with the ever changing exchange rate which has burned me over time. So the point I am trying to make is that our units have just about doubled in price in a few years and if Cebu City keeps growing as it seems to be growing, then the prices may continue to rise, but the down side is that IMO they are overbuilding and in doing so it is also my opinion that prices may become stagnant if there becomes a glut of available stock on the market and we have seen just that here in Florida due to the melt down. Cebu or any other place in the Philippines is even more dependent on cash because loans on second hand places are much harder to get while loans by builders of new houses and condos are common from what I have seen, so selling a previously owned unit might, and I say might, require holding some type of mortgage or finding a place that would issue a mortgage if the price of the place for sale would be above the reach of the average buyer, and in the Philippines that is probably most people including many of the expats that I have met who live there.My thinking is that I would always wish to own and besides that owning lower priced units or even lower priced homes make it easy to rent them out and thus make back your money over time and set up a future for my wife, but not everyone feels as I do or even should, it is all a personal decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom in Texas Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 My thought is... if I can find the house I want, in the location I want, for a price that is less than I could build it for... then it is a good price. What is the fly in that ointment? I cannot understand why expats cannot get their money out of houses when they are sold... if they cannot, then I do not understand why there are not some reasonable prices on these houses that expats are selling at a loss.Everyone can't buy high and and everyone sale low... there has to be someone on the other side of every deal. I'm sure someone will promptly set me straight on my simplistic thinking... ... so thank you in advance.Tom in Texas Tom your thoughts are very much like most people who have never lived in the Philippines (no insult meant) so let me point out why I feel that way.... Lee, no insult taken, and I agree with most of your thoughts if I were thinking about buying condos as an investment... but... as to reasonable pricing criteria for houses...what are your thoughts concerning my belief that a house I want, in the location I want, for less than I could build it for (whether due to a expat over-building and losing his shirt, or no available financing in the PI, or a housing glut, or whatever) - is probably a reasonable price for the house?This was the criteria I used for buying a house in on Mactan last year... and as far as I can tell, this still seems to have been a reasonable price for me to pay.This criteria would hold true in most areas of the world... and I don't think the answer to my question is dependent upon whether I have lived in the PI - but it might be dependent on something specific to the PI that I would not have reason to anticipate - so thats why I asked the question.Thanks,Tom in Texas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted June 28, 2010 Posted June 28, 2010 My thought is... if I can find the house I want, in the location I want, for a price that is less than I could build it for... then it is a good price. What is the fly in that ointment? I cannot understand why expats cannot get their money out of houses when they are sold... if they cannot, then I do not understand why there are not some reasonable prices on these houses that expats are selling at a loss.Everyone can't buy high and and everyone sale low... there has to be someone on the other side of every deal. I'm sure someone will promptly set me straight on my simplistic thinking... ... so thank you in advance.Tom in Texas Tom your thoughts are very much like most people who have never lived in the Philippines (no insult meant) so let me point out why I feel that way.... Lee, no insult taken, and I agree with most of your thoughts if I were thinking about buying condos as an investment... but... as to reasonable pricing criteria for houses...what are your thoughts concerning my belief that a house I want, in the location I want, for less than I could build it for (whether due to a expat over-building and losing his shirt, or no available financing in the PI, or a housing glut, or whatever) - is probably a reasonable price for the house?This was the criteria I used for buying a house in on Mactan last year... and as far as I can tell, this still seems to have been a reasonable price for me to pay.This criteria would hold true in most areas of the world... and I don't think the answer to my question is dependent upon whether I have lived in the PI - but it might be dependent on something specific to the PI that I would not have reason to anticipate - so thats why I asked the question.Thanks,Tom in Texas Tom, I was talking about houses as well as condos, so if you can find some foreigner or local who needs to get out of their home and who has clean title to their home and you can get a good deal for cash then that would definitely be the way to go but from my experience, most foreigners and most upper class locals seem to be stubborn and seem to expect top dollar for their homes or condos and keep raising prices as time goes on instead of being willing to deal. The other downside to your owning a home and living only part time would mean having someone in the family who will take care of it for you while you are away, and that in itself can be a whole other problem possibly worth discussing in a topic of its own and just for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted June 28, 2010 Posted June 28, 2010 My thought is... if I can find the house I want, in the location I want, for a price that is less than I could build it for... then it is a good price. What is the fly in that ointment? I cannot understand why expats cannot get their money out of houses when they are sold... if they cannot, then I do not understand why there are not some reasonable prices on these houses that expats are selling at a loss.Everyone can't buy high and and everyone sale low... there has to be someone on the other side of every deal. I'm sure someone will promptly set me straight on my simplistic thinking... ... so thank you in advance.Tom in Texas My understanding is the expat who has trouble getting his money from the sale of a house is the expat that built a mansion that most can not afford to build or buy, when it comes on the market, unless the buyer is a cashed up expat as well, it will not easily sell as its out of most Filipinos price range. We have just sold our house here in Sta Rosa Laguna, for cash, paid in full, without the need for an agent. We made 30% profit on our purchase in 4 years and doubled our money if Forex taken into account.We have now bought a house for just P1.5 million in Cebu that we will spend 2 or 3 million renovating & improving. I don't expect we will move again but if we wanted to, I don't doubt for 1 second I would sell for a profit based on its location near to the beach. I think if you can buy at the right price for something that needs a bit of work then in the long run you will have a better investment. This way you get a house that when finished is how you want it without the big bucks to do it.With all your renovating,are you going to put in an Art room.:cool_beans: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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