Comments on: Why You Don't Want A Home Sitting Empty

By: Philly

Philly — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:32:24 +0000

@Randy C: exactly. There is likely a solution, but I wanted to bring out the reality. Both family and government attitudes toward property protection here is a lot different than many are used to in the West … like other bumps in the road it needs to be accounted for. I mean literally, could you imagine if say Bush the Senior or some other former president had a mansion involved in a court battle over title and the mayor of the town it was located in just watched it be torn to bits because, “We didn’t know exactly who owned it”? Hard to imagine.

By: Randy C

Randy C — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:36:05 +0000

Thanks for the article, Dave. Something we have to consider in the future. We plan to pay the land off before we consider putting up any kind of structure but when we get closer to retirement and our trips are more frequent, we’d like to have a place to stay. We are considering putting up a more temporary house (nipa hut type of thing) at some point, but again we wouldn’t want to invite any unwanted guests when we are not there. It’s kind of a difficult situation.

We have time on our side, so I can let it play out I guess.

By: Philly

Philly — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:01:38 +0000

@richard: Thanks for the comment, Richard. Indeed that’s why I said you can’t leave a house _empty_. If you have reliable family then getting someone from ther family to occupy it is indeed a good solution. Be cautious about one thing … make sure you and the family member agree on a plan for what happens to them when you and your wife finally show up. It is not an insult, but merely a fact when I mention that ‘planning for the future’ is a weak area with many families. If you have say a brother and sister-in-law living in a mome, where will they go? Maybe where everthey were living before is no longer available or suitable … issues like that. Are you willing to foot the bill to set them up elsewhere? After all, they are family, you really just can’t say ‘Get out’.

Not bringing that up to sound negative, just a reminder to all to ‘begin with the end in mind’. I knew a guy who had a very bad expereinc eon this .. his wife’s brother and family lived in his house for years and then a huge family feud erupted when he lost his temper at being asked to set the BIL up elsewhere. My freind’s attitude was, “Why aren’t they grateful that I provided them a house all these years”. “Why didn’t they save the monery they didn’t have to pay for a place to live”?

The BIL seemed to feel the opposite, that he, in fact, had provided my freind a useful service … after all, in the US people often get paid to “house sit”, so perhaps he really did.

The argument could be made that both men were right or that both men were wrong, but any family discord casts a pall over your future happy life … if things are figured out in advance, you stand a much better chance of coming out of the deal with a smile.

The question of what to do with a property in the US is always agood one. I’ll try to write on that soon. One question in your particular case is, is your current property readily rentable, or not suitable by reason of value, location, etc.?

By: richard

richard — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:10:17 +0000

Dave, interesting column as usual. I agree completely with your comments. My wife and I had a house built in her hometown in 1998 for our future retirement, and, fortunately her brother and sister have been living in and watching over the house since. I have no doubt that had we just left the house abandoned it would now be gutted, dismantled or be a nice home for squatter(s). Maybe all of these. So unless you have someone you trust to live in your Philippine home, I would advise to wait and build when you’re there. As a matter of fact I would advise to be there while it’s built, even if you have someone to live there.

By the way I have almost the opposite problem. I own a home in the U.S> and my wife and I will be moving to the Philippines next year and our problem is what to do with our U.S> home. Should we rent, sell, or leave vacant. Might be worth a column in the future.
Richard