Rent, Buy Or Build?

[roy2cebu]

What's considered the best option?I recently heard there is land for sale near Minglanilla at p1000 per sq. meter.Is that a good price?What are average prices?Is it better to have your own house and lot or rent?

[Mr Lee]

What's considered the best option?I recently heard there is land for sale near Minglanilla at p1000 per sq. meter.Is that a good price?What are average prices?Is it better to have your own house and lot or rent?

Roy IMHO it is going to depend on how long a person has been married, and how much they trust the person they are married to, and how much they trust their extended family members. I always say to make yourself worth more alive than dead, so buying and building a place jointly owned but really owned by the Filipino partner seems to not make sense for many of those whose stories I have read on forums, yet may make sense for some others who seem to have the perfect wife and life in the Philippines. I trust my wife 100% so my wife and I bought condos and they are jointly owned but I know of a number of men who bought condos in their own names only, unfortunately that cannot be done with land so one could rent land and have a house built in their own name if they wanted to and have leases to cover their own lives or that of their partners. So depending on our age and how much money we have available to us, and where that money is kept, I would say renting and keeping the money back in our country of origin might be a safer bet for many newly married men or those who do not feel they are totally safe in the marriages but again as I started out, it all depends on a persons circumstances and if they are going to leave an income stream once they are gone that will help their family to upkeep the house since I have read of some who built beautiful houses only for those houses to end up sold for pennies on the dollar because the widow could not afford to pay to keep them. As for costs of land, I will leave that to those who know the current going prices but I think if I were to want a house, then I would try to buy an existing one and have it inspected before closing on it and only if I could not find one we liked, would I then have one built.

[Art2ro]

And it's definitely all about location, location, location! With mother nature and the calamities she spews in her wake every year, it's best to have land above sea level and far away from the hurricane belt or the so called "Convergence Zone!" IMHO Davao, Palawan and around those regions are a few of those places not affected too much by typhoons!

[Inspector]

I would not buy land in the Philippines.The rent vs sale price of houses is vast here. I see it much easier renting, and the difference of the rent cost vs own, placing it in a better investment. The people who tell you owning are better investments are real estate agents. Data in the USA suggests if a person was to buy a house with a mortgage (most do) at a certain time vs renting during the same time period, and took the difference and placed it the stock market, he would have far more money saved in the market vs his mortgage and eventual home value. Look it up on google. This does not even include the present housing crash either...Another plus of renting in the west over buying is flexibility of moving, and getting all repairs done by the landlord....less headache. Of course, you need to be a saver too for this to work. Investors who buy and sell houses can make a profit if done quickly, and this comparison data was a usual 30 year mortgage for a before the housing crash.Those selling houses, the real estate agents, are the ones who use the "other" data, and always forget this true comparison. If you show them this data, they will finally use the "pride" of ownership as the selling point.I did the numbers from my first house, and I would of had over 100,000 profit (forget the exact number) vs the house value. Had I stayed the entire 30 years, I would have much much more. Add in it's the Philippines, and the only way I would buy here is if I had a lot of money to spare.

[Art2ro]

Well, I don't know the data you are referring to, but we plan on keeping our home and live in it indefinitely, we've already lived in our home 12 years now! Rents in our area averages from P35k to P45k a month! Our home is paid for in a nice gated subdivision with mostly people in the upper middle class income bracket, with around 700 track two story homes and centrally located to everything! We are happy where we live and have no plans in moving anywhere else, because we have picked a desirable area in which to live! As I mentioned before, it's all about location, location, location! We didn't have a lot of money when we first got here to the Philippines. We were just fortunate to come upon a location in a nice area that was under development 12 years ago and has boomed ever since then and still expanding to this day in Central Northern Luzon.

[Travis]

I say rent coz we never know what life will toss at us & besides that if you are older then rent would come out to be less in our remaining years when compared to the costs of buying. it seems to me that every women I meet wants to have a house so even if I could afford to buy 1 then I wonder how they would be able to pay the bills once I am gone so I figure it is up to a persons situation & if they have an income that will continue once they die & if they have children to leave the house to then maybe owning might be a good choice too but I like being needed for my monthly check rather than possibly bumped off so the family can hit the jackpot sorry to say that but I have read too many forums where it seems to happen often where the husband is bumped off or dumped so the wife or her family can own the house & other properties he bought with his money or the guy dies & the wife cannot keep the house coz of costs to maintain it

[Inspector]

Well, I don't know the data you are referring to, but we plan on keeping our home and live in it indefinitely, we've already lived in our home 12 years now! Rents in our area averages from P35k to P45k a month! Our home is paid for in a nice gated subdivision with mostly people in the upper middle class income bracket, with around 700 track two story homes and centrally located to everything! We are happy where we live and have no plans in moving anywhere else, because we have picked a desirable area in which to live! As I mentioned before, it's all about location, location, location! We didn't have a lot of money when we first got here to the Philippines. We were just fortunate to come upon a location in a nice area that was under development 12 years ago and has boomed ever since then and still expanding to this day in Central Northern Luzon.

All depends upon the situation as stated</h3>

<h3>My Conclusions As mentioned above, it’s hard to say that renting or buying is always better, in all circumstances, because neither really is. If you are only staying somewhere for short period of time (less than five years, especially, although it’s worth looking closely into your expenses for ten to fifteen years out), renting is almost always better; the transaction costs of buying and selling houses will definitely make it less expensive just to rent. For longer periods, buying a house is usually better, although if you have the discipline to invest the difference between your rent and your potential mortgage/other buying costs in a reasonably high yielding investment, renting might be better. But that’s if, repeat IF, you figure out the difference and diligently invest that difference; if you can’t do that (or know that you won’t), buying is probably the better choice for someone who isn’t planning on moving for a while.

Another good read

The underlying housing equity is a real asset, but it is an incredibly poorly returning one. According to economist Robert Shiller, "the average annual real (net of inflation) increase in home prices was a mere 0.40%"^[4].

I can not find the exact article I read years back, but it did studies on homes throughout a 30 year period vs. a rent with difference invested in the S&P...with the most money on the rent/SP side. Realize I have always owned a home with a mortgage, but after doing the research...investing in a home at my age would NOT be a good idea IMHO, especially not in the Philippines.

[Old55]

It’s up to you. Just keep in mind what Lee said to do with the “be worth more alive than dead” maxim and having all real wealth LOCKED outside of the country. In my case I agree with Rusty and would only rent in Philippines even if we did decide to live their full time. I have total and complete trust in my wife and her immediate family members. Because of the nature or reality of what the Philippines is one must be prepared for a worst case quick exit and be able to just walk away from everything if needed. Not to be negative or paranoid just prepared if things were to spin out of control.

[Okieboy]

yes their are advantages to renting in the Phillipines, it depends on your life style, my wife had a little house when we met , so we stayed there after we married, we built a new larger confort room added air in the bed room new beds , but now we are building a new house, a small house about 40 sq M at a cost of P 200,000 we bought the land from her Aunt , for P150,000 and of course it is in my wifes name, if I rented the same house at 5,000 a month it would take about 7 yrs to spend the P350,000 better to have that money in a house than in the land lords pocket. As far as worring about having to leave P350,000 , i left a lot more than that when i came to my new home.

[Dave Hounddriver]

I recently heard there is land for sale near Minglanilla at p1000 per sq. meter.Is that a good price?What are average prices?

The price for land is all over the map. Titled land can be double that of Tax dec land. Size of lot will make a huge difference, a 100 square meter lot can cost double, per sq mtr, than a 1000 square meter lot. Location matters. If the ownership is disputed then it will be for sale RUSH CHEAP. If it is agricultural it is cheaper and if it is commercial it is more. Subdivision lots are more per sq mtr than not in a subdivision.What I am saying is that your question is impossible to give a generalized answer to. Edited December 9, 2010 by Dave_Hounddriver