Philippines VS USA!!!!

[nowhereman 1]

You said a very important thing there, gated community. The location i wanted to live at is Samal island next to davao, Safety is an issue that does come up in my head to. Davao is very safe but Samal island i am still not sure. The thing i did not like about gated community is it takes away one of the perks i want, the beaches and sea, sunset. Most of the communities seem like us.

I would look at living somewhere else... there is some terrorist activity in Mindanao & there have been cases of kidnapping Americans.

[Ndrangeta_one 0]

I am married to a filipinia from davao. So i have been there a lot. We have been together for two years. Having children is important to me. i would like to start having them next year, however the question of where do i want to be is important. I know i want them to be born in USA, however raising them in Philippines may be more delightful cost wise. Having a registered nurse for a nanny at low price is interesting to me. Having maids and cooks for low price are all a tasty idea. Being able to buy beach front property at low price also makes me happy. But on the flip side of things the gay population is big there (not that i have anything against gays but i believe it is environmental not genetics so i would want to avoid the exposure influence), now after all the water sport would i get bored, if something happen to a family member in USA how would i feel traveling for 2 days to see them at $2,000 give or take for a plane ticket. What about the stares can i handle that for long time, and we can't forget those other pretty girls constantly trying to steal you away from your woman. And if you stay there is the other question of 40 to 60% rule. If you have a business you can only own 40% of it the 60% has to be owned by your wife or any filipino. Even if you trust your wife like I trust mine but as a business man you must ask what if something happens to her the property or business becomes her families. So if you spent years and years building a business it suck to lose it that way. What do you think about what i said. I could stay here but it suck when you think for $300,000 and up you can get an average house here, over there you can get a fully staffed estate that looks on to a sunset on the beach.

I think your mind is rushing things just a little bit....but that is my personal opinion....what do I really know!!!!

Enjoy life, enjoy your marriage and wait a bit longer before making big decision such as that....

Thank you for your concern, But i don't think i am rushing it, in fact this is not something i would do right away. I just want to know where i want to head this way I stay on track. THink of it like this if i know that my intention is to live in the PH, then i would not make a big purchasing such as upgrading to another home. You see that is why i am thinking about it now. Don't think if i make up my mind i will be flying tomorrow. I just need to know where i am heading, why i am heading that way, what will i find when i get there, etc etc etc...

You are quite welcome and there is nothing wrong about thinking about life in RP...

someday, if you can afford it, if you get accustomed to the culture, lifestyle and government also...

There is also nothing wrong have that setup as a goal.....planning for it, etc.

But just as word of advice, research, research and research it......and be flexible enough to adapt to changes.

There is one constant in life...and that is "changes"....nothing will stay the same for ever....and adapting to changes always seem to be the hardest part.

Best wishes....

[Scott and Mhay 57]

it would be nice to be closer to her family since they are close to each other. The only drawback is always having her family asking for help...especially if they live in the same area. As far as all the girls being nice to you...they are nice to pretty much any american man. You could be old and fat and they dont seem to care. I remember going around the mall with my wife and all them would say "hello". It is just filipino culture to be friendly though.

They all think americans are rich... We are by their standards. One thing to think about though, if you do buy down there you will probably want a home in a gated community. that way there is security there and you have to approve anyone to visit you. Evidently if you buy this way you can legally own it...at least that is what the realestate people have been telling my wife.

You would have to have a pretty good savings or some sort of job there to get started. Most houses that we have been looking at are between 2 and 3 million pesos with land. I told my wife that i dont like the small lots and some of the house designs arent good...at least by american standards. I am getting ready to turn 33 in a couple of months. I do own a home right now in alaska. We will only be there temporarily until i change my station....we will probably go to korea for my last few years in the military....only 6 more. I am planning on having a house and land paid for by the time i retire.

I do agree with you to a certian point on the gays there...yes the females are held high there...but there is a good girl to guy ratio in the philippines. I dont think there is more gay population there .... it just seems to be more accepted. They can be more open with it there. I think kids prosper more if they arent shielded from the world. That is what is wrong with the US.. Most stuff accepted in other countries is taboo in the US. Being in the military i have got to experience other cultures..I really am fortunate to have seen that. Shoot if it wasnt for the military i would have never met my wife.

You said a very important thing there, gated community. The location i wanted to live at is Samal island next to davao, Safety is an issue that does come up in my head to. Davao is very safe but Samal island i am still not sure. The thing i did not like about gated community is it takes away one of the perks i want, the beaches and sea, sunset. Most of the communities seem like us.

You could buy your whole island

On a serious note though, it would have to be somewhere your wife would be comfortable with. I know my wife is worried sometimes about my safety depending on where we go there. the problem with gated communities in the PI is that most of them have certain style houses. (outside appearance....spanish, italian) The land is more expensive along with the houses because you are paying for the security. I myself would like to have like a small farm there, but my wife is a city girl. I will still work on her for that. She is of course worried about our safety. I told her we could get a dog....of course she is scared of dogs big or small. Like i told my wife, we dont have to rush into buying land for a house. She keeps on telling me the prices are going up. I tell her dont worry we will get some. Of course i think when we go to build the house, we will have to be there so we can watch them build so we will probably have to rent for awhile. No big deal. Rent isnt that much in most locations. Being an american and living in the philippines there is a lot to take into consideration. So, do your research well.

[calico1 1]

If a couple can swing the expenses, have both locations. The wife and I will probably buy a cheap trailer somewhere with just a few things so we can have a US address when we want to come back to the states to visit or whatever, and also find a decent little place in camiguin for maybe 1m to settle into for most of the time. Unless you are totally un-afraid of the abu sayaf I sure wouldn't recommend living in mindanao..especially in Davao or Illigan..but to each their own. Southern Leyte is a nice place as well as many locations in visayas..bayots and other women should have nothing to do with any decision to live anywhere...just my 2 pesos worth.

[raquel_1208 1]

Cons living in the Philippines : mosquito bites that may cause dengue fever that may lead to death.

[ghomnet 1]

it would be nice to be closer to her family since they are close to each other. The only drawback is always having her family asking for help...especially if they live in the same area. As far as all the girls being nice to you...they are nice to pretty much any american man. You could be old and fat and they dont seem to care. I remember going around the mall with my wife and all them would say "hello". It is just filipino culture to be friendly though.

They all think americans are rich... We are by their standards. One thing to think about though, if you do buy down there you will probably want a home in a gated community. that way there is security there and you have to approve anyone to visit you. Evidently if you buy this way you can legally own it...at least that is what the realestate people have been telling my wife.

You would have to have a pretty good savings or some sort of job there to get started. Most houses that we have been looking at are between 2 and 3 million pesos with land. I told my wife that i dont like the small lots and some of the house designs arent good...at least by american standards. I am getting ready to turn 33 in a couple of months. I do own a home right now in alaska. We will only be there temporarily until i change my station....we will probably go to korea for my last few years in the military....only 6 more. I am planning on having a house and land paid for by the time i retire.

I do agree with you to a certian point on the gays there...yes the females are held high there...but there is a good girl to guy ratio in the philippines. I dont think there is more gay population there .... it just seems to be more accepted. They can be more open with it there. I think kids prosper more if they arent shielded from the world. That is what is wrong with the US.. Most stuff accepted in other countries is taboo in the US. Being in the military i have got to experience other cultures..I really am fortunate to have seen that. Shoot if it wasnt for the military i would have never met my wife.

You said a very important thing there, gated community. The location i wanted to live at is Samal island next to davao, Safety is an issue that does come up in my head to. Davao is very safe but Samal island i am still not sure. The thing i did not like about gated community is it takes away one of the perks i want, the beaches and sea, sunset. Most of the communities seem like us.

You could buy your whole island

On a serious note though, it would have to be somewhere your wife would be comfortable with. I know my wife is worried sometimes about my safety depending on where we go there. the problem with gated communities in the PI is that most of them have certain style houses. (outside appearance....spanish, italian) The land is more expensive along with the houses because you are paying for the security. I myself would like to have like a small farm there, but my wife is a city girl. I will still work on her for that. She is of course worried about our safety. I told her we could get a dog....of course she is scared of dogs big or small. Like i told my wife, we dont have to rush into buying land for a house. She keeps on telling me the prices are going up. I tell her dont worry we will get some. Of course i think when we go to build the house, we will have to be there so we can watch them build so we will probably have to rent for awhile. No big deal. Rent isnt that much in most locations. Being an american and living in the philippines there is a lot to take into consideration. So, do your research well.

Do you think they would allow the purchase of a whole island to a foreigner? I wanted to ask, you said in one of your comments that in a gated community foreigners can own land? Is this true? I have heard that you are not allowed to own land? you can by the house but not the land. If something happens to your wife then the land goes to her family and you will be giving a certain amount of time to sell the the house. A bit odd to me how can you sale the house and not the land? It's not like it's trailer home. Farming was one of my ideas too, but i am scared of snakes and they are everywhere in ph. My idea of living in the philippines is having a beach front property living a simple but breezy home, relax, relax, relax, but at the same time i still have to make money farming seem to be a great idea people always need food. I know Mindanao is a troubled place but i am talking about the city of Davao it was consider buy Asian magazine Finance Direct Investment (FDI) magazine as the most livable city in asia. Like i said i was there last year. I saw no fights, nothing crazy the people stared a lot of course that was a little scary when i was walking in the dark streets at night but still nothing happen. This has to do with the mayor he is very strict and is very much against crime, but i do ask myself what happens when he stops being mayor? Will it go back to being another trouble city? Manila i heard is pretty dangerous with street gangs? And also the those southern most cities Sulu, Zamboanga, and Cotabato, This is where the muslim fighting is going on and the kidnapping. THe next thing to worry about is the NPA army they are north of Davao. but with the help o the USA army philippines seems to be getting close to getting rid of these groups. NPA have been fighting since the vietnam war at one time they had 20,000 soldiers. Now maybe a few hundreds maybe thousand or two. The island does have problem however i feel safer when i am in Davao city. The idea of Living in the philippine feels like taking a short cut to comfort living, here we have to work real hard to achieve what we could there esaily. check this out, I one time did this research on crimes in ph vs New york city, did you know there was almost an equal amount of crime in the country of Philippines vs New York City. The only difference is new york was mostly random, gangs, drug related crimes, but in the PH we as foreigners are on top of the interest list for crooks. talking to you guys is one of my way of thinking, you guys are the voices in my head, your answers pushes me to ask more questions. Thanks

[ghomnet 1]

If a couple can swing the expenses, have both locations. The wife and I will probably buy a cheap trailer somewhere with just a few things so we can have a US address when we want to come back to the states to visit or whatever, and also find a decent little place in camiguin for maybe 1m to settle into for most of the time. Unless you are totally un-afraid of the abu sayaf I sure wouldn't recommend living in mindanao..especially in Davao or Illigan..but to each their own. Southern Leyte is a nice place as well as many locations in visayas..bayots and other women should have nothing to do with any decision to live anywhere...just my 2 pesos worth.

I hate to admit it but your guys may be right, the NPA, Abu-Sayaf although they are not in the davao city and davao is safe but it sucks not being able to travel around the whole island at comfort, when i did travel around the island I took all precaution to avoid being seen. And one time i walk right through the market place in panabo when people saw me i can feel every eye balls as is if they all were superman with that laser eye thing he does all I was thinking is i have to get out of this city fast. My mind went crazy. Panabo is not to far from Davao maybe 1hr but when i was not is Davao city i had my guards up.

i started checking out Leyte it seems pretty nice so far. I will continue research it and talk to my wife about it.

[DARUMA07 25]

If a couple can swing the expenses, have both locations. The wife and I will probably buy a cheap trailer somewhere with just a few things so we can have a US address when we want to come back to the states to visit or whatever, and also find a decent little place in camiguin for maybe 1m to settle into for most of the time. Unless you are totally un-afraid of the abu sayaf I sure wouldn't recommend living in mindanao..especially in Davao or Illigan..but to each their own. Southern Leyte is a nice place as well as many locations in visayas..bayots and other women should have nothing to do with any decision to live anywhere...just my 2 pesos worth.

I hate to admit it but your guys may be right, the NPA, Abu-Sayaf although they are not in the davao city and davao is safe but it sucks not being able to travel around the whole island at comfort, when i did travel around the island I took all precaution to avoid being seen. And one time i walk right through the market place in panabo when people saw me i can feel every eye balls as is if they all were superman with that laser eye thing he does all I was thinking is i have to get out of this city fast. My mind went crazy. Panabo is not to far from Davao maybe 1hr but when i was not is Davao city i had my guards up.

i started checking out Leyte it seems pretty nice so far. I will continue research it and talk to my wife about it.

My wife is from Tacloban City Leyte. I was very impressed with the area. We have talked about living there when I retire. I will not make the move unless I have everything in order. Plan, Plan & Plan is the key.....

[Scott and Mhay 57]

From what my wife is telling me the realtor says that I can own it outright. I dont know if I believe that or not. I havent looked into it enough or actually talked to the realtor myself. I think there is a little different requirements in the gated community. I think i read somewhere they were going to be trying to change that law. Also, do a search for land for sale in the philippines. It doesnt state that you have to be filipino to own it, but I think there has to be a catch somewhere.

[DARUMA07 25]

General Rule of Holding or owning a Real Estate

1. General Rule – only Filipino citizens and corporations at least sixty percent of the capital of which is owned by Filipino are entitled to acquire and own land in the Philippines.

2. Exceptions to General Rule – Alien acquisition of real estate in the Philippines is allowed in the following cases:

a) Acquisition before the 1935 Constitution;

B) Acquisition thru hereditary succession if the alien acquires is a legal heir.

c) Purchase of not more than forty percent interest in a condominium project.

d) Purchase by former natural-born Filipino citizens subject to the limitations prescribed by law (Batas Pambansa 185 and R.A. 8179).

3. A Filipino who marries an alien retains her Philippine citizenship (unless by her act or omission she is deemed to have renounced Philippine citizenship), and may therefore acquire real estate in the Philippines.

http://www.bohol-island.com/realestate/owning.htm

[Dakine 26]

If you don't speak Tagalog or the local dialect fluently I wouldn't consider living in the Philippines.

Edited December 5, 2009 by Dakine

[Mr.&Mrs.A 0]

Interesting topic and some good comments being made. I will throw my 2 cents in for what it's worth. First of all, I really love the Philippines. My fiancee is from Northern Mindanao. If one cannot afford to live in the Philippines, forget the USA!

We rent a 2 story Townhouse in Northern Mindanao near Butuan. It's brand new and we pay $100.00 per month. Try and find that in the USA. We will live in the US, but look forward to moving back to the Philippines one day. Her family is fabulous! I love them dearly. The things to keep in mind I believe is 1. You do need to stay healthy and be careful, there is no 911 in the Philippines! Yes, there are some nice Hospitals there, but you could lay in the street for days before you are taken to the hospital. I'm in Florida and as I explained to my fiancee, if you are in a bad accident within minutes rescue squads and ambulances along with BayFlight are on the scene. Ain't gonna happen like that in the Philippines. As to the Terrorists Groups and Radical Extremists Muslims kidnapping and killing, only a fool would ignore that. No matter where you are, an american should always be very aware of his surroundings. I am anxious to check out Leyte, my fiancee has a friend there who is coming to the US with us in Jan. to her american fiancee. I hear its really nice and more safe then most.

Cebu is also nice. There are alot of things to consider and talk about. Here is a link to an american who has lived in Davao for quite awhile, you may find this helpful. In closing let me say this, one of the big things I like about the Philippines is that things move alot slower, almost like stepping back in time.

http://www.expatinterviews.com/Bob-Martin.html

[Scott and Mhay 57]

Yeah what i have read and understand is that the foreigner cannot outright own the land...it is usually leased for 50 years. On another site it says that basically it has to be 50/50 or 51/49 to the filipino side of course.

here is the link to where i read that...and the above applies http://cebuonwheels.tripod.com/owning_property_in_the_pi.htm

Edited December 5, 2009 by Scott and Mhay

[badger 0]

If you buy land in northern Luzon you don't have to worry about the Muslims to much. Ive been all over northern Luzon even in Abra were most rebels hang out. Ive been in night clubs at 3 o'clock in the morning no worries. The only worries you have are all the kids and grownups starring at you some times it gets annoying. There are allot of gays what do you expect all the women are women are leaving to us foreigners so the men have to turn gay. There are allot of blind people to.you have to worry about them they cant stair. For buying land you just look at it this way don't your wife mad and you can die in it. Land is getting very expensive in the Philippines lately. Most lots are very small and cost 3 to 4 million pesos and up witch is $75,000 and up and you don't have all the amenities you have in the states.. In the States you don't have to travel all over to find stuff. I live there for about 2 years now in 2 visits. Yes you can't own land but you can own a condo.

I love living in the Philippines because of the climate nothing else because although the people are nice they are "pigs" throwing there garbage everywhere. At one time i was going to buy beach front property but what turned me off after a couple of days staying there watching all the garbage floating in the water and all up and down the beach. I have not yet seen a beach that is clean up here. They like to cut the trees down then they cry when they have land slides. But in the end I will buy land here because I like the climate.