Buying a house in the Philippines for the future?

Hi,
As most of you know, my wife and the kids live with me in the UK.
I am 59, she is 29 and I am the breadwinner at the moment as she is a housewife.

Occasionally she tells me that we should buy a house in the Philippines for the future, that it would be nice to have our own place to relax in when we visit there.
I have told her I don't think this is a good idea as we have two little ones (5 y.o. and 4 y.o.) and they will be at school for many years to come, at least 11 years and the money would be better staying in the UK.
I just wondered what your thoughts are?
My objections are (in no particular order):

1. We need the money for our kids' education in the UK.
2. It is so expensive for four of us to fly to the Philippines that we will go infrequently.
3. I doubt very much that my children will want to live in the Philippines when they leave school.
4. We will need to be around for them until their twenties and I will be 75 y.o.
5. I want to have access to the NHS when I get older and the NHS is important all the time.

shark--can i ask whether you are likely to inherit a legacy at some stage in the future ?

my father passed away in january--and i'm the sole beneficiary in his will---which quite honestly will be a life changing amount. i intend to use some of it to buy a place here in the UK.

my fiancee is here now with me--and has no plans to return to the filis.

she plans to bring her son over in due course--to be educated in the UK.

i'm a few years ahead of you in lifes race--turned 68 last month---and like you i place great importance to the NHS--which im using a fair bit these days.

Yes, I will inherit a legacy but I am always uncomfortable thinking about that as I hope my father will live forever!
I know it is silly to think that way.

Mike, you could buy some land and not build on it. for investment purpose. Lots have tripled in the last few years.

Mike, I agree with Jim.
Buying some land here looks to be a pretty good investment. Depending on location.

I think the NHS issue has pro's and con's especially as you get older and given the squeeze on budgets.
Although I do agree there may come a time when tough decisions need to be made.

If I felt that the NHS was my only hope of a continuing a decent viable life for a good period of time I'd likely return to blighty.

Jim, Peter...
Perhaps land can make money over time but my wife's idea is to buy a house there when we will hardly ever visit until at least the kids are grown up. I don't see any positive in buying a house at the stage we are at now and I am trying to think why she wants to do this. We cannot even discuss it quietly
I can understand our age gap could even make her wonder how her future would be when I pop my clogs but the fact that we have British kids negates that argument in my eyes.
I also understand the "she's done well by having a house in Phils" mentality - that pressure from family or peers could exert but it is not cheap to bring kids up in the UK and it seems perfectly ridiculous to me to spend on something that is thousands of miles away when the bills pop through the letterbox all the time in the UK. Of course we are a one income family and that could change later in the year but I am not sure our incomings would grow significantly.

The Filipino couples we know including part of the Missus family do this a lot and also have nothing but expense assosiated with there families moving in and effectively robbing them

Land can be a can of worms as can building a propety If we were to decide to spend significant time in the Fils I would rent
if it doesnt work out for whatever reason we could move as theres no shortage of rental properties that locals cant afford built by people that dont live there

She knows about the UK pension, Jim, but seems unwilling to understand how difficult it would be to spend money on a house in the Philippines as well as bring kids up in the UK.
She is a British citizen now.

I agree with you Keith but putting these points of view across is like banging my head on a brick wall.
I have asked her to write down why she thinks it would be a good idea to buy a house and for me also to do the same with the reasons why it would be a bad idea. No joy on that front also.

Best of luck with attempting logic mate never found that usefull unless Im feeling short of tampo

Huge cultural differences involved.

My ex-wife now owns a nice property that I designed and had built for us at great expense in the Phils.

I will say no more, other than such matters need a great deal of thought and discussion before money leaves the bank.

Things to bear in mind.

If your wife is british now she can't own land over there unless she is dual nationality.
I believe that if you buy land you have to build on it with in 3 years. I think this was to stop people buying land up and sitting on it.

I think it depends on where she wants to build as well. We're building the the wife's province and its in the middle of no where effectively. We will use it purely as a holiday home. We also have no kids so travel will be easier. Your's is a difficult situation with downsides to both side's. I can see your wifes side and yours and to be honest I can't see an out come that will make you both happy. If you buy out there unless you trust the family then your house will be well lived in when you visit "their" house. Travel, living (parties for family, family hanging round) costs out there will be high, plus as you say medical care will be an issue.

On the flip side we have some friends who are building out there now between manila and Angles and its going quite well. They purchased a foreclosed property that was originally started by a Japanese man and his wife I think. They have family that they trust and helps out with the build. I believe they intend to split time between the uk and there.

Personally I'd look at this again when you retire and the kids are of an age where it doesn't matter where you and your wife live. Plenty of older people go out to live in the phils and make a real go of it.

Yes Stu, you make good points.
I only started to dislike the Philippines when I was travelling with kids as the stress levels went through the roof.
It would be nice to spend some time there again with mostly smiles and not grimaces on our faces.

The fact that everyone in Victoria's family can claim is quite shocking, Jim.
Is there no way people can stop undesirables in a family (not saying your Filipino family) from claiming?

Very difficult Mike.
We bought a house under similar conditions. We only used it as a base for touring whenever we visited Philippines.
The difficulty for us was that family began living there.
Maintenance costs took over. Help with running costs etc.
Even when we wanted to sell we couldn't without booting out the family living there.

To be honest it became a millstone.
Yes it was convenient for our visits but honestly we didn't ever stay put there since we traveled around.

On the positive side that house we bought for P650k in 1996 is now much improved and valued at P7million
Although we still haven't sold it despite a few attempts to do so.
Have no idea just how much we spent on it over the years but no small amount.
The family that lived there have now moved overseas for good
We're planning to relocate there from Davao City and temporarily live there. It makes no sense for us to be paying rent here when we have a perfectly good and empty house.
Not sure how long we'll stay but with the RoE being unsettled seems a good move.

Based on my experience I'd shy away from buying a house at this stage. Potential money pit.

Based on my own experience there would be a stream of expenses if anyone takes up living in your house out there.
Not something you need when you have young children to take care of.
Not to mention vulnerability to RoE swings

That is a very fair and important point Mike.
It's not going to be an easy task to convince your wife to hold on for a while. Potentially could instill reasons to find her own employment , which could equally potentially impact on your working life too.

Sorry not be be much help. Just sharing my somewhat similar experience. Although in my case it was just the two of us and we both earned decent money.

We know some people who do this. It always seems a very strange thing to do for me.

My wife works with a Filipino guy. Him and his wife (who is also Filipino) work all the hours God sends and live in a tiny little place in the UK just so they can own a nice house in The Philippines which they only stay in once or twice a year.

She says this is a very Filipino thing, and it means they can look rich and successful when they go back.