Recently my friend Bob posted this message of caution and thoughtfulness: Take Time To Avoid The Pitfalls. the pitfalls Bob was talking about center mainly around the common mistakes we expats tend to make when we decide to move to the Philippines. You really should read Bob’s post, I was going to excerpt from it but it tells a story with every sentence, so read it for yourself, you’ll be glad you did.
here’s what I was going to respond to Bob regarding this article … it got long (of course 
), so I made it an entry here.
I really hope that many who are browsing the web with their Philippine retirement dream clouding their vision take the time to actually _read_ your advice. Bob. I often steer clear of folks asking for advice anymore because when you tell them the straight story they just don’t want to hear it. A favorite expression I learned years ago is, don’t ask the question if you don’t want to hear the answer.
I’m not anti-Philippines or Filipino. Far from it. I came here by choice and I’m here living just fine and have no plans to go anywhere else. But I am a realist.
1. Living near your wife’s family can be a really explosive issue. We live very close to my in-laws and it is not posing a problem at all … but were I starting over I would not. And it can be really bad. A lot of smarter people told me not to, I did anyway, and they were more right than I.
2. Buying/Building a House: The number one thing I have heard for more than 8 years now is "I’m going to build a house. I know how to do it better than those Filipino builders and besides, a house is an investment". DO NOT DO THIS! First of all, you frequently can not, legally. Secondly, the Philippines is full of distressed homes like the one you described … people sunk their life savings into their "dream’ and then their life changed and it became a nightmare. The property laws are horrible … China and the Philippines are the only two countries I know if where you can not get title insurance. I wrote up some other thoughts here:
http://philfaqs.com/them-thats-living-there/land-ownership/owning-your-own-home/ If you are building a bahay kubo … a weekend retreat … something solely built with your discretionary money … not your monthly living expense money, go forth and do. But be assured that 99% of the time every penny you put in the house is gone … you had better want the house for the rest of your life, because your chances of selling it at a profit when you want to are slim.
3. Renting here is not at all like renting in the US. The landlord is essentially responsible for nothing but collecting the rent … and many try to insist on the dubious practice of demanding 12 months of post-dated checks in advance. A rental home is essentially a do it yourself project. Accept it, or pay the price in your blood pressure readings. In my first year in a not bad rental home I have spent roughly the same as I paid in rent in improvements/repairs that make our life comfortable. This makes the ‘cheap rent" a lot less cheap … and I have a "good" landlord, the house was clean and in good repair when we moved in … many for sale and rental homes I have looked at are in horrible shape.
4. It is NOT cheap to live here. Food makes up a much larger percentage of the budget than it does in the US. Electricity is the second-highest price in the world. When you find US items in the store … say like the coffee you like to drink … it will be double the US price. For those over 65 factor in also that Medicare can not be used overseas. You have paid for it all your life and will continue paying if you opt for Part B … and it is all for naught. Prescription drugs tend to be much pricier than their US counterparts and are frequently not available. Many US prescription pain pills, for example are not legal for sale here. Many cardio meds are not available. Hospitals are cash businesses, you won’t be admitted without a deposit, you (or your child) won’t be released until the bill is paid.
Okay, enough. Yes, I do still enjoy living here, but be forewarned that your plans may well go awry … and the biggest pitfall I have seen foreigners fall into … thinking you are smart.
You know a lot about life in your home country. You can’t come here and think you know the same things about life here … most of the time I feel about 16yo’s old, continually having to ask my spouse, my family, neighbors, etc. "what do I do now"? For those who like that "stupid" word? Go right ahead and use it. I’ve been called stupid by some pretty smart people.
After you’ve been here a while and learned how much you don’t know, you’ll realize we all start out stupid. The smart ones learn, the stubborn ones cry.
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Nice post, these points cannot be stressed enough.
Cheers,
Scott
Thanks for the kind words, Scott and for taking the time to read and leave a comment. I’m always afraid I’ll just come across as a negative chronic complainer, but, OTOH, people need to understand that their previous knowledge and experience doesn’t always translate directly into competence in living in the Philippines as a foreigner. Be well
No problem, it seems to me from reading blogs like yours that A. the family and B. building a house has brought down a lot of better men than myself.
I hope to be moving to Mindanao soon and I am doing as much background reading on the subject as I can before I move out.
Cheers,
Scott
I’ve mentioned the “living near family” issue to my wife and whilst she agrees that this can be a problem she reckons that it is lessened if the family is spread out. In her case, her mother lives in one village, her brother lives in the next village and one aunty and her family are in a nearby village. The rest of her family is pretty much spread out all over the Cordilleras.
Personally, I would like to live near my wife’s mother and brother because we will have small children (hopefully) and I would like her to have some family support (and our kids to be part of an extended family).
My wife’s mother and close aunty are both OFWs, so I don’t envisage that we will be put upon too much.
Am I being too much of an optimist ?
Amen to that, Scott. It’s certainly not that I am aginst buying a hiuse, in fact my wife and I plan to do that sooner rather than later … but I am against those who ask for advice and then talk over it … and when it comes to houses, in particular the folks who are most at risk are the Realtors (US), Estate Agents (UK) and whatever real estate professionals go by in Australia.
The fact that you know a lot about the market in one country does _not_ mean you know much here. A fav story of mine … perhaps I’ll gte him to post it here … is about an “westerner” fellow who came to the Philippines with a wad of cash, hired a lawyer, formed a corporation and started building a hotel. Well, one day “his” board of directors … against his wishes, of course … decided to vote to terminate the project and pay out all money in the bank to the board members, in equal shares.
Since forming a “dummy” corporation, where the rerquired 60% is not truly in Filipino hands (which is the route he had taken) is a criminal offense, my freind had no leg to stand on … parcel his seed money out to the partners, or go to jail.
Becuase he came here knowing a lot about business and property development he naturally assumed he had superior knowledge over his Filipino “co-conspirators”. Not quite.