SHOULD YOU BUY OR BUILD YOUR HOUSE IN THE PHILIPPINES 

140K - quite expensive!

Rent , Rent, Rent and RENT again. Move if you don't like where you are or if you want to return to your home country. $140K I have maybe 20 years to live, that is $7000K/year/$580/month. I could get also get $7000 per annum interest on $140K @ 5%. I could rent a nice place to live and move if dogs, roosters or neighbours piss me off. Oh, did I mention that you should rent?

Buying or building a house in the Philippines depends.Your guest is spot on with regard to the construction quality. He knows his sh.t. Ask him if he would do an inspection for you when you decide on a house. He could have used construction straps in addition to the hurricane clips to sustain winds up to 200 mph as F5 tornados are embedded in Category 4 and 5 storms. But he is good with winds up to 150 mph. I saw this destruction from hurricane Andrew in Florida. I have seen current construction techniques and the supplies used and most involved substandard concrete block and inconsistent mortar mixed on the ground. The workers are not even using a mortar mixer to save money. If building you need to hire a quality contractor and specify the exact type of materials before agreeing on a contractual price. The reason roofs on existing houses leak is the improper use of nails on metal roofs and the sealants improperly typed and used. Hire an architect where material types are specified. I have done this in every home I built and for every client I represented. A home builder without sufficient knowledge might want to hire their own inspector to insure the right materials are used and proper construction materials are used. Hire a hard arse. This gentleman knows construction which was to his advantage which the average Joe has no clue. This guy could actually open a home consulting building if he chose with a Filipino partner. Moreover if you have a choice when building a home you need to hire the best lawyers and architects before you start so you not only get the best price but they will also streamline the permitting process. Mike if you are buying an existing house you need to hire an independent property inspector that does not know the owner or any relatives or friends to thoroughly go thru the home. You would do yourself a huge favor if your friend gave you an exhaustive list of the things that must be inspected. I can tell you 100 percent that he will find many many minor issues and some major issues. The 5 major areas will be the materials used, the roofing, electrical work which includes current capabilities, outlet types and the number, and if it can be expanded if insufficient to run all appliances and home items you will use.(220 Amps or volts ), the flooring and walls as Filipino housing has either to little but in most cases more rebar but many times improperly sized and finally plumbing for pipe sizes, water pressure and materials used. This will require way more due diligence in the Philippines than in the US where you previously purchased homes. I wish you good luck and please use your Expat friends with construction knowledge. Also many of your subscribers can point out items if you do an extensive video showing the entire house wall by wall and room by room. I wish you the best in Janet picking the right home.

I would always build a house over buying a house so I can pick all the materials and decide on the build out of the house. Their house has been shown before and I think he did a great job on it. I built a house for my fiancé (and hopefully myself) for 6 million and now buying the appliances and such. One reason for the higher costs was for the build out such as marble and narra. The one big issue which I’m disappointed with my fiancé is that I have lines in the ceiling where the drywall board join. The painter (separate from the foreman and regular workers) did a terrible job. My fiancé is saving money to fix it. Unless you get a great deal on existing house I would go the route of building your house and you can make all the decisions on the finishes. I don’t have the biggest house but people in the barangay are impressed with it since the design is different then most houses in the area.

As a non philippines citizen your not allowed to own real property. There is one exception that's if your wife passes away. Even then and if you think your friends with your wifes family they will expect you to go back to where your from and forget what you have here. Not worth the trouble. The law not on your side i was married to my late wife 21yrs so not like she was a bargirl and she would be rolling in her grave if she knew what happened after she died. Be careful guys just rent if your older then your wife leave her money to get a house when your gone. Most of the time it's not the wife but her family looking for the money

Risk is also involved in building , need to depend on builder and labor , must get through the completion , Gregs good experience may not be typical . very good planning and sharing the process,

Two guys both successful in the Philippines, two different plans and , one rents one builds = happiness

Excellent video Mike and Greg. I’ve followed most of Greg and Wilma’s build and have learned a bit. I too am looking to buy a property there in the PH and build once I retire. So greatly appreciate all the videos and information shared, I’m taking notes.😄

I believe that it’s better to build your own home in the Philippines rather than buying, but different people have different opinions. For all the reasons that Greg mentioned (quality of build, quality of materials, instant equity, built to your specs, etc…) are many of the same reasons that I’ve taken into account. If you don’t have the time or the patience, then yes, buying is probably the way to go for you. Buy a house and move in minus the time it takes for repairs, etc… My girlfriend was thinking about buying an existing home in the same development where we have our land, but those houses are around 3 times more than what we’d pay to have one built AND we’re going to get it built to our specifications. Including the land we’re probably going to be $130k-$150k usd into building, while existing houses in the same neighborhood are $350k and up. A few are over $1 million. When we’re done building we could have $200k+ in additional equity.

Hi Prof. Good video. Have been watching Wilma and Greg for a while. Have a good one.

Nice video guys. Positive comments and remarks, very useful information indeed. Greg is a very wise man and his advices are golden ones. Thank you for sharing....

Great info...guys.

Great info for building a house!

We are doing both a new build and renovation on existing house on our lot next door. New build includes pool and large guest house. Renovations were a complete redo for everything and took 6 months. New build is still in progress and will take 9 months. Happy with all results but renovations were a pain and not done with a contractor per say. I would not do renovations next time and just do new build as less stress.

I wasn't even in the Philippines when I was building "my" (read: my ex-wife's) house. My father-in-law was supervising the whole thing, going to the building site every evening after work, checking the progress of the day. In my case that was probably not even such a bad thing, as he knew more about construction than I did - having been an office worker my whole life. I was satisfied with the result and I loved my house in the Philippines. Like most other foreigners who are in love with their Filipina spouce I never thought of what would happen if we would ever get a divorce. I found out the hard way. My mistake! My bad luck!

Build if you have the knowledge and can oversee the building process.

For us building a house was the best option, but everyone has their own preferences and needs.

What happened to "a foreigner cannot own land" in the Philippines? That means that the land has to be on the name of a Philippina. Even if the land is on the name of your wife and in time things go south - then it's a ticking time bomb. Should the divorce laws change, you're setting yourself up for a financial disaster.

Great video, Mike.!

Good chat Mike and Greg really enjoyed.

I love Greg and Wilma's channel and have learned so much from them! Thanks Mike for this great interview. More bonus material to add to my notes!

You must not spend 7Million to build a house. You can also start with small house and maybe do some extensions later if you like. Filipinos live mostly outside than inside. Many comes inside the house when the sun sets or when the weather goes bad. But mostly their life is outside the house. Usually they come in to sleep. The tendencies of most Filipinos are devoting their time outdoors. They eat breakfast in the balcony or garden with fresh air, play outside, or do something outside in the garden talk outside with people or just out to explore. They come inside the house to look TV then go to sleep. So it is enough to have sala with kitchen integrated maybe, 2 sleeping rooms CR and Bathroom. Balcony and Garden. If i will build a house again in the Philippines, it is enough 45 sqm bedroom with CR & Bath. A small 30 cm living room with integrated kitchen. Dirty kitchen outside. But a big space in the Garden surrounded with lots of Plants and a small Gazebo where i can eat breakfast here or take siesta hours. Most Filipinos like to stay outdoors than indoors. So no need to build big and expensive house! You can add rooms maybe later.

Why is it more and more expensive to live in the Philippines? It is basically because they know that many Americans have a lot of money.

I'm a forever renter, why the heck you need to buy in a foreign land, I like to move when I want, it's a renters market here, the weather here destroys property over time.

Great video Greg and Mike. I will start on a house build in Bohol in a few months.

Did he have building experience, would like to monitor but don't know exact things to keep an eye out for during construction

Thank you for all your videos. Very informative and interesting. God bless you Mike and Janet. From Kuya Bear

A 12volt water pump from Lazada for 1500php works great for shower pressure, Only 15 minutes to install.

Built in province and completely satisfied- no rent is bliss

Hi Mike Good video. Not sure about here, but in US buying an older home is almost always less than new construction.Often considerably. Probably more the case here I would think. And, (if) you can find a house that needs an update without major issues, in the location you want. Negotiation also, which isn't really applicable to new construction, other than bids. More control of your costs. You have remodel experience, which can be fun and rewarding. (did I mention great RU-vid material ?) Of coarse, I say all this because, that's what I would (try to) do if I were to sell and buy again....especially with the giant leaps in land/construction prices. Maybe look a little outside of so called booming epat areas ?

What Province are you in, where is Dawan? I would like to find a place in the Phil where its cooler.

The vat tax would eat up almost half is profit.

A topic near and dear to my heart ❤️ Great video, Mike! But why did he have to be on site 181/184 days?! Sweat equity?! Did he help put up drywall? 😂

Mike I’ve always found it’s better to buy a house already built as then you no if the house has problems when you inspect it . Good video cheers 🍻

Hi MIKE , great video , I am not familiar with this gentlemans house HOWEVER if he had an AMERICAN contractor , he may have a solid house. I just want to note that as a RETIRED builder here in the USA , we have VERY STRICT BUILDING CODES which are constantly upgraded . I mention this NOT to speak ill of any FILIPINO contractors or any other contractor. The cons of buying an already built house would be mainly THE FOUNDATION , REBAR SIZE AND SPACING PSI OF CONCRETE MIX SIZE OF PLUMBING PIPES , GAUGE OF ELECTRICAL WIRES , FUSE BOXES ETC ETC... Any cabinets , tiles light fixtures etc , can be ripped out and changed. I watch several building project vlogs in the PHILS , I can see when laying cinder blocks , we call them concrete blocks , the BOND is way off on most projects. If the quality of the blocks is POOR , it could affect even INTERIOR WALLS because interior walls CAN and MAY be LOAD BEARING. I don t want to go on and on , would love to come to the PHILS and build or even CONSULT/SUPERVISE construction work. BTW , I am sure there are a TON of people on here or in the PHILS who are very capable in construction. TY MIKE GOD BLESS CIAO

Seller of Property (Land, Condo,House,etc..), pays Capital Gains not the buyer. Seller gains capital (money) why it’s called capital gain. Buyer pays transfer of Title, registration…

Did Greg include the cost of their property in the "all in" total ?

I will build my own cute house in my own enough size land for my retirement where I can plant my own veggies and raise some chickens and where my dogs can play around not tied off, i want them to be free all the time

Better to buy a land and build a house that we can make own design, and to avoid any problems about drainage pipe connected to septic tank.

Hi I have a question or 2 How much wiggle room is there with the contractor to choose items? When we did a renovation our contractor did not really give us flexibility to choose specific items….. we got some choices but we got some crappy items he did not differentiate on pricing…. He did not say that the kitchen would be x%of the budget or x$ …. In the Philippines do contractors divide up things so the owner can pick specific items they want? And say that the kitchen is this much pesos and you get to choose the items that go in? Thanks Mark Euringer

Can't a person lease a house and after the lease is up an option to buy?

No one is entitled to or "deserves" a profit. That is the gamble one takes. These custom built expat homes are a niche product in an area with limited potential buyers. To contrast...The National Association of Home Builders (US) says that in 2020 builders averaged a gross profit margin of 18.2% and a net profit margin of 7.0% in 2020. And this guy would like 30%? On second thought, so many financially clueless guys go to the PH that he could probably get 50%.

Hi U2 👋. Whatever floats your boat is the best way!! My plans God willing buy land & build a home 🏠 my way. Budget, location, and whether your a local or XPat also come into play in your decision. Greg& Wilma’s home 🏠 is a great value for the $$$!!. Love ❤️ both channels and appreciate your sharing with me - us👍. Blessings 🙏🌺🌼🌸

Definitely build your own house that way it's how you want it. But yet if you find the one that has All your check marks or close to it then buy

I am curious how do you access the equity in your home in the Philippines? In America, you can refinance, get a line of credit on the equity, etc. Is there any way of accessing the perceived equity in your home in the Philippines, short of selling it?

CHEAPER TO RENT

Foreigners stop over paying for home just let your wives handle the transaction. ( Foreigner tax)

I would buy that house for $141k + $thirty percent in a heartbeat..does Greg want to sell it for that price? I wish I could get some weather information from greg or someone like what is the daytime average temperature and what is the nighttime average temperature and the lows and highs there where the house sits.. I love that house and the location.. if he does not want to sell it maybe I can pay him so much to contract a house like that for me and my Filipino fiance / wife.. thanks for your always interesting and informative videos 👍👍😎🤗

First of all live someplace at least a year before you buy or build… Best advice, I ever heard… Secondly, foreigners cannot own a Home in the phillipines… so be aware that if your relationship dissolves, you’re giving it to your ex-wife, and her family…

I would like to build a new house?…

Make sure you have a good wife first. Before you build, you need that.

hello from indiana im half jealous of that guy ive never lived in a 150k house-im just not the buying kind of guy maybe someday i will be

Great video. Straight from the horses mouth.

bad premise for the fail...try renting.the elephant in the room=RISK

Build, Build, Build, And Bird dog the shit out of your crew, I did three story, Castle for 5 million myself with of 500 sq meters, Disaster-proof, If you are on the job everyday you can cut cost massively,