Building our house in the Philippines

[Colin]

Building our House in the Philippines

Part 1

When I decided that we should move permanently to the Philippines in 2004, I was not sure if there would be any problems, or maybe after a while I would decide that it was not for me, so in 2005 I chose to let our bungalow, and use the rent money to rent a better place in the Philippines. I did not expect any problems because we had spent a number of 4-6 months periods here in the past, and I used to describe the Philippines as my second home. We rented for a year in Ayala Alabang, one of the top gated villages in Manila, and the plan was to travel around and see where we would like to settle permanently, but this did not happen and we decided just to move to Palawan where most of Bings family live. This was also one of the places we stayed during our long vacations, the other being Lingayen Pangasinan. When we stayed on Palawan it was at Inagawan, one of the prison farms 1 hour south of Puerto Princesa. This was a bit remote and it was often difficult to get a shuttle bus into Puerto. So in 2000 we built a house for the family just outside the main centre of Puerto Princesa, the original idea was for it to be used also for us to stay on our trips here. A 600 sq mtr lot cost P200,000 and a smallish 3 bedroom house a similar amount.

When we moved here, we could not move into that because it would have meant moving everybody else out to make room for all the stuff/junk we had brought over with us. Also it was very crowded, and we wanted a place of our own. The house is used by Bings 82 year old mother, her brother, wife and three children plus various nephews from Inagawan that we are paying to study here. We rented a place in the town centre and have lived here for 3 years.

In 2007 we decided to build here and spent a long time looking for a suitable lot. We saw some interesting places, but eventually settled on a lot in the district (barangay) of San Jose which is about a 10-15 minute drive north of the city. The 1500 sq mtr lot was a foreclosed bank property, we took this route on the advice of the vice mayor, a childhood friend of the family. It was a very good price, and the Bank did all the paperwork for us and we avoided any problems over ownership, title etc.

My original plan was to borrow P5M on my UK home repayable over 10 years, but because of my age, the time period could only be 5 year so I reduced the loan to P3M. The lot cost P900,000, and after paying for clearing and basic fencing, we had P2M left for the house. While this was going on we found extensive termite damage to the family house so had to have all the internal wood walls stripped out and replaced. The family stayed with us while this was happening.

Continued in part 2.

[geno555]

nice timing, there were 0 views 0 replies, but i am proud to say i am the first to commend you on your house.Good luck!

The  \"Murf\"

[grizzi]

Colin,

Wow, I thought the Mrs. and I were the only ones that are really picky about the lot we want to build our retirement house on.  The one we have is very small, maybe 200 sq meters in size. The one we are \"waiting on\" will be 1-2 hectacers in size (room for a nice house, store, and my required garage and garden space...lol.  So far, we haven\'t met found just the right one...but came close.

Can\'t wait to hear more about your adventure also!

Greg

nice timing, there were 0 views 0 replies, but i am proud to say i am the first to commend you on your house.Good luck!

The  \"Murf\"

Thank you for your good wishes

Colin

Our engineer took a look at our site today, 2 lots totaling 3000 Sq Metres. and said that a good high wall around it would cost around P1M, so that will have to wait. I hate to think what it would cost to enclose 2 hectares 

Colin

[grizzi]

Yeah...I think I might have to pare down the high walls to only the house compound with garden area and chicken coop/piggery (have to keep those WELL AWAY from the house...lol.   The only other way is to extend my retirement plans for another 2 or 3 years....

That\'s not going to happen...

Part 2

The lot we chose was on a concrete road just off the main northern highway and the same road where the governor, Joel Reyes lives. He makes sure the road is kept clean and tidy and regularly gets the grass verges cut. Also in the same road there is a housing estate for government workers with a regular multicab service going past out front. We are 5 minutes from a new market, and the proposed sight of SM with rumours of Robinsons opening there also. We are 10 minutes north from the main hospital and the same south from the quay at Honda Bay.

The lot is 100 metres deep but only 15 metres wide which made it difficult to design the type of house I wanted. I produce a rough design and showed it to a builder we thought we could trust. I told him my budget was P2M and asked him for an estimate.  We had to wait many weeks for an answer, and in the mean time got him to clear and fence the property. He then produced a drawing, which I had not asked him to do, and an estimate of P3.5M. We told him we had only got P2M, so he said he could build half the property, enough for us to live in, but without insulation and plumbing. It was then we discovered that he described himself as a contractor. To me that just meant someone who agreed to fulfill a contract, but it has a different meaning here. Here a building contractor is someone who charges a fee as a percentage of the material cost. This encourages them to use expensive materials to boost their income. It does not involve any more work to lay an expensive tile as opposed to a cheap one. We now are very cautious about the builders we select. We then abandoned the idea of building for a while.

In December 2007 the tenants in our house decided to leave, leaving it in a hell of a mess and owing us money, so I then decided that I would sell the house and use the money to build the house here that we really wanted. The early part of 2007 was taken up trying to recover the money that was owed to us then we put the house on the market. It was sold in December 2008.
 
During a visit to our lot, we met our new neighbours opposite who had just completed a 300 square metre bungalow on a 4000 square metre lot. A very nice and helpful retired Filipino couple who had just returned from living in the U.S.  We were invited to a Christmas party where we discovered that, because of the party, the Barangay Captain had arranged for the installation of a street light on the electricity pole that happened to be just inside our property.
 
We told the neighbours that we like to buy one of the lots adjacent to our, they said they knew the owner and would make some enquireries. Not long after we were asked to meet the Barangay Captain at their house. She had negotiated with the owner of one of the lots for P700 per sq mtr. This was very reasonable being not much higher than our foreclosed property; other lots in the area were asking P1000-P2000 per sq mtr. We agreed to the price, but a few days later the Barangay Captain visited us and told us that now the owner had discovered that there was a foreigner involved the price had gone up to P1000 per sq mtr. I said no, I did not like dealing with someone that did that, but were prepared to continue at the agreed price. A few days later the price dropped to P800 ‘to help pay for a relative in hospital’ but again I said no. We eventually ended up back at the original price. The Barangay Captain then did all the paperwork and running around which was very quick because she knew everybody in the City Hall. It cost us nothing because she was paid her commission by the seller.

We now own a double lot, 100 metres by 30 metres, a much more useful size.

Continued in part 3

[grizzi]

Wow...now I know what to look forward to when we buy our property...\"kano\" tax...lol.  Great write up...waiting for the next installment.

Between you and Murf...I\'m gaining more insight than when we did our house...

[aerosick]

Part 2

The lot is 100 metres deep but only 15 metres wide which made it difficult to design the type of house I wanted. I produce a rough design and showed it to a builder we thought we could trust. I told him my budget was P2M and asked him for an estimate.  We had to wait many weeks for an answer, and in the mean time got him to clear and fence the property.

Did the fence get built? If so what kind of fence is it and does it now divide your double lots?

During a visit to our lot, we met our new neighbours opposite who had just completed a 300 square metre bungalow on a 4000 square metre lot. A very nice and helpful retired Filipino couple who had just returned from living in the U.S.  We were invited to a Christmas party where we discovered that, because of the party, the Barangay Captain had arranged for the installation of a street light on the electricity pole that happened to be just inside our property.

Have you looked into getting the electric pole relocated to the closest corner of your double lots or do you need to do this?
 

We now own a double lot, 100 metres by 30 metres, a much more useful size.

Do both lots touch the road? (I\'m just trying to picture their shapes and location)

Continued in part 3

Billy

[c_a_p_t_a_i_n_r_o_n]

Good luck Col

Yes I was surprised at the boundary wall costs of our place.......build on hold at the moment waiting for title processing to be completed

240 metres of 2m high exterior wall and 60m of 1m high interior wall

We only bought rebar 10mm, sand, gravel and cement as there was enough anapog boulders on the lot to provide raw material to create rugged, rustic wall

so about P65,000 for labour, P60,000 for sand, P90,000 for gravel and P270,000 for cement (approx) and about P25,000 for rebar
TOTAL  P410,000

Hi Billy,

The first lot had a concrete post plus barbed wire all around it followed by a 7 foot (?) bamboo fence. The second lot had a concrete and wire fence on the far side belonging to the neighbour, so we removed part of the dividing posts and wire to close off the front and back. Th remaining bamboo was not very good so we burnt it. We left the remaining central post temporarily in the ground to prevent them being stolen.

We don\'t need to move the electricity pole, it is just behind the front fence and to one side of the centre, so it is not a problem.

The two lots are side by side and on the road. You be able to get a better idea from the photos on my website http://thephilippinejournal.wetpaint.com/page/Our+future+home

Colin

[aerosick]

Wow! (mahal, but...) Wow!

Billy

Maybe I will be saying Wow when I get the estimates for the building cost 

Colin

[aerosick]

Maybe I will be saying Wow when I get the estimates for the building cost 

Colin

Colin,

Have you starting getting estimates yet?

Billy

Maybe I will be saying Wow when I get the estimates for the building cost 

Colin

Colin,

Have you starting getting estimates yet?

Billy

Not any positive estimates,but I have got a good idea of what they could be from a previous design and costs from other peoples projects. I expect to have to make a few compromises and maybe not complete all the interior finishes immediately. I will put more information in part 3 of my posts.

Colin