I know the user map shows some people's location, but who here is resident in the Philippines and where? I've a few questions about things, such as owning property, learning the language etc
I am there for half the year (and have land, a house, and an apartment there). Board member 'Bootsonground' has been an expat there for decades.
Cheers! Just thinking of the future really. I friend of the Mrs was trying to sell us a condo under construction by mall of Asia last summer. I declined in the end for various reasons. I may start a thread regarding buying property in the Philippines, as i know very little about it. Similarly, whilst i love my annual month holiday here, i wonder what it may be like should i decide to retire here. That's a long way off, but if i can lay the bricks now, as they say. Then comes headaches regarding visas, family support etc! Again thanks for sharing your circumstances. Hopefully others will too, I'm not trying to pry, just get an idea of things.
@Alexnew me and the better half have a condo in Makati which we are buying we first moved in a year ago. she is currently living in it and the plan is once we are married she will come here to the uk live with me and we will rent it out and after we have paid it off it will be an income. her family is from pangasinan, so we are looking at buying land from her uncle to build a house that we can retire to later on in life. I do find it difficult to communicate with her family as there English is not good and same for my tagalog but we kind of go between my other and works out haha, but I guess there nothing stopping anyone to learn if they put the effort into learning it.
My wife has a condo in Pasig (on a mortgage), though it's not rented out. It's often empty throughout the year as she lives in UK. Silly area to buy really, but maybe in future things may change. The condo by mall of Asia, had we decided to buy, would've been rented out to pay for itself. One of my issues was that the leasehold was only 50 years or something similar. I trust my wife entirely and thought that I'd rather by land in her name and build. I'm aware of ways to circumvent the ownership rules, via business etc. but wondered what others have done.
yeah I'm sure in our condo agreement its something along the lines of after 50 years they see if the building is still structurally safe, aswell I think that if they knock it down and start over we still have a share something like that I remember the agent saying. I'm not to sure of the rentals in pasig but they are saying we should get between 16k- 18kphp in rental a month. would it not be worth her renting out while she away to help pay mortgage ?
A condo is basically a 50 year lease, it can be in your name because you don't own the ground the property is built on but the reality is that it is at best a lease, you don't really own it and you pay quite a lot for the privilege. You don't look that old Alex, if retirement is still 20 odd years off then you need to be aware that the place will have changed dramatically by then, not least that by then the population will be some 130 million and climbing, it is hard to say if things will be better or worse than now, but personally I feel that I have missed the boat of the best time to retire there, I hope I am wrong (I will still retire there one day).
If you are to buy a condo in the Philippines, Just make sure you get a CCT title ( condo certificate title) also make sure you have a deed of absolute sale, and special powers of attorney notorised from the local city hall. There are 2 types of titles, front page which will fall into a 40/60 rule, basiclly if your the lucky first batch. After that you can still own a CCT on a 2/3rd page annatised, front page will show corporation (master deed) but the special powers of attorney form legally give you the right in your name to own/sell/mortgage. Basiclly both styles of titles are bullet proof. Front page does have better benefits, especially if you wish to use against a SRV retirement visa. As for learning the language, well i started to learn a bit for the first few years, and just got laughed at really. Pilipinos have a tendancy to correct people, and if a certain word is not pronounced perfectly they have a hard time to understanding it. Opposite to us that can understand a lost chinese man's broken english very well. Also the fact that english is widely spoken throughout all major cities in the Philippines. So i would say no problem if you cant speak the language. If you take to it easily then fair enough, but its not a necesitty. PS. I've been living in the Philippines for the past 10 years. Working in real estate and selling condos. Moving back to UK end of this month with family for good.
Indeed you will, but with the condo reduced to a pike of rubble, it won't be worth the paper it is printed on.
Not so Markham. You can indeed own a house in the Philippines. What you cannot own is the land that it is built on. You can lease land for 50 years with a right to renewal and own everything that you build on that land. Alternatively your Filipino wife can have the land in her name and you have the house in yours.
I am talking about Real Property, David, which can only ever be owned by a Philippine citizen. Foreigners only ever enjoy basic leasehold rights.
Hello! I used to rent in Mandaluyong which is right next to Pasig and I paid Php16k per month. That's about the average price depending on how big the flat is.
Useful information, approximately what square meter size was your flat firew0myn, we used to pay 11,000 a month for a Condo that was about 25 to 27 sqm, we currently rent a house for 9,000 peso a month which is about 90 sqm, we've been in that house since 2008 and the rent is still the same.
If you believe that you own the house that your wife`s property is on and it gives you the sense of security you desire then don`t read on.. This is a case between a German and his Filipino wife.. The guy sold his inherited property in Germany and used the proceeds to buy a lot in his wife`s name in the R.P and build a house upon it. .They separated and now the German goes to court to get his 50%!!! Claim his God given rights as a human being here in the Philippines! Case Digest: MULLER vs MULLER IN RE: PETITION FOR SEPARATION OF PROPERTY; MULLER VS. MULLER G.R. No. 149615, August 29,2006 Doctrine: He who seeks equity must do equity, and he who comes into equity must come with clean hands. Facts: Petitioner Elena Buenaventura Muller and respondent Helmut Muller were married in Hamburg, Germany on September 22, 1989. The couple resided in Germany at a house owned by respondent’s parents but decided to move and reside permanently in the Philippines in 1992. By this time, respondent had inherited the house in Germany from his parents which he sold and used the proceeds for the purchase of a parcel of land in Antipolo, Rizal at the cost of P528,000.00 and the construction of a house amounting to P2,300,000.00. The Antipolo property was registered in the name of petitioner, Elena Buenaventura Muller. Due to incompatibilities and respondents alleged womanizing, drinking, and maltreatment, the spouses eventually separated. On September 26, 1994, respondent filed a petition for separation of properties before the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City. The court granted said petition. It also decreed the separation of properties between them and ordered the equal partition of personal properties located within the country, excluding those acquired by gratuitous title during the marriage. With regard to the Antipolo property, the court held that it was acquired using paraphernal funds of the respondent. However, it ruled that respondent cannot recover his funds because the property was purchased in violation of Section 7, Article XII of the Constitution. The respondent elevated the case to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the decision of the RTC. It held that respondent merely prayed for reimbursement for the purchase of the Antipolo property, and not acquisition or transfer of ownership to him. It ordered the respondent to REIMBURSE the petitioner the amount of P528,000.00 for the acquisition of the land and the amount of P2,300,000.00 for the construction of the house situated in Antipolo, Rizal. Elena Muller then filed a petition for review on certiorari. Issue: Whether or not respondent Helmut Muller is entitled to reimbursement. Ruling: No, respondent Helmut Muller is not entitled to reimbursement. Ratio Decidendi: There is an express prohibition against foreigners owning land in the Philippines. Art. XII, Sec. 7 of the 1987 Constitution provides: “Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.” In the case at bar, the respondent willingly and knowingly bought the property despite a constitutional prohibition. And to get away with that constitutional prohibition, he put the property under the name of his Filipina wife. He tried to do indirectly what the fundamental law bars him to do directly. With this, the Supreme Court ruled that respondent cannot seek reimbursement on the ground of equity. It has been held that equity as a rule will follow the law and will not permit that to be done indirectly which, because of public policy, cannot be done directly. https://nejadzin.wordpress.com/2016/02/08/muller-vs-muller/
Yeah,we can lease land here and many do...If everything goes well and we do not contravene the lease agreement in any way,it should be fine.. If not though,I guess you could be held in breach of contract and then it`s all up to a Filipino judge I expect. If you trust the justice system here and the impartiality of Filipino judges in regards aliens v Countrymen, then go for it! Why not? One other small caveat...Don`t lease ANY land or property from your Mrs.. It is not legally binding here and is considered contravening the anti-dummy laws. Beware..Fraud is considered a serious crime here and merits a non bailable offence..
If you want to find out whats its like to live here for longer than a month then my best suggestion is to do a test run..Rent a property in an area you like ,about an hours flying time away from your inlaws and you would have made an excellent start...Let the test continue till you decide if you are happy here or not.. If not happy,at least you can walk away without not committing to much loss of financial investment. In regards purchasing property here in your wife`s name,that`s something that only you can decide and you should not allow others to sway that decision either one way or the other.. Just know that in reality,we probably have zero rights legally speaking and the only real protection and rights that we can enjoy is provided to us from the partners whom we trust and that love us!! God save us all!! Ha ha.
