Living in the Fills

[keithAngel]

Having listened to all the advice on WelshItalian it seems there are no couples at least contributing to that thread who are living and working or otherwise settled in the Fills I know Alan and Hannah are, at least at the moment is there any one else?

I am looking forward to my stay and for sure want to explore opportunities to generate income there with my G/F. as living here holds no attraction apart from my philanthropic desire to prop up the economy here with my taxes

Please feel free to tell me how naive I am, Nothing like a challenge

Oh whenever I travel I see myself as "living" where ever I am my Italian Espresso pot comes with me and is just as happy on a fire as the gas ring

[angel2008]

We are living here in Ph since Dec 2007 ,, and we are about to finish our savings. No job oportunity for my hubby so we decided to go to Uk and find job. Cost of living here in PH is much much lower compare to UK. If you have enough money to live on, you will enjoy your stay here...My husband plan is to retire here in the Ph.He likes the weather here and cheap wines

[keithAngel]

An angel exchange then How much would you say you needed to live on?

[joebloggs]

fred and peterb are,

i don't think you can count on getting a job there, start your own business or live off your savings..

there been a few on here who have struggled after a while, and ran out of money trying to live in the phils

a few years time, i hope to go and live there for a couple of years, the misses will be working, then come back to the uk, work and save for a few years and repeat doing this. trying to getbest of both worlds..

[angel2008]

An angel exchange then How much would you say you needed to live on?

It depends on how you will spend your money here. My husband wants the life here than in the UK but the constantly loosing the electricity cut off in our area makes him angry, he is a share holder and loosing the electricity especially when the market is crashing makes him hate living here.. He always said in Uk we wont experience this. But surely we will choose to live here when we retire. Now we just need to make money for the future heheh

[KeithD]

My businesses goes with me anywhere in the world

[andypaul]

It seems that for most in phill its make your dough before you go out there and then hold on it as best you can.

Think of it like the Taxman coming in many forms (shopkeepers, policemen, council officials and the like)

Phill to me appears to be a place for holidays and not for earning money

[PeterB]

fred and peterb are...

Correct - I've been living here for almost 9 months now.

How much you need to live on depends on the life-style you wish to adopt.

It's clear that many filipino families exist on very little income, but do you wish to emulate them?

We are still in what I like to think as the 'set-up' phase - expenditure is well above what we can sustain in the long run. We spent 5m pesos buying the farm and we are still in the process of equipping it (eg tractor) and bringing up the productivity. We are also in the midst of building a house with an estimated budget of 6M pesos. We are also developing the beach we have bought.

My aim is to leave enough cash invested to earn 100,000 pesos interest a month - we should be able to live more than comfortably on that. I'm sure that it is possible to live on much less than that - there can be very few who actually earn that much in the Philippines. When/if the productivity of the farm improves I will be prepared to reduce my cash investments.

I guess that I'm fortunate in that I sold my house in the UK for in excess of £0.5m.

[andypaul]

Correct - I've been living here for almost 9 months now.

How much you need to live on depends on the life-style you wish to adopt.

It's clear that many filipino families exist on very little income, but do you wish to emulate them?

We are still in what I like to think as the 'set-up' phase - expenditure is well above what we can sustain in the long run. We spent 5m pesos buying the farm and we are still in the process of equipping it (eg tractor) and bringing up the productivity. We are also in the midst of building a house with an estimated budget of 6M pesos. We are also developing the beach we have bought.

My aim is to leave enough cash invested to earn 100,000 pesos interest a month - we should be able to live more than comfortably on that. I'm sure that it is possible to live on much less than that - there can be very few who actually earn that much in the Philippines. When/if the productivity of the farm improves I will be prepared to reduce my cash investments.

I guess that I'm fortunate in that I sold my house in the UK for in excess of £0.5m.

Im sure your do well out there together

Out of intrest how much maintance do you think your bulidings will need?

The Missus wants a gaff out in phill but to me the biggest cost surely is maintaining the buliding over the years.

The one thing i notice is how quickly with out proper maintance bulidings in phill in to desrepair. Due to the humidty and heat i guess?

[PeterB]

Building maintenance? I guess that part of that is down to the standard of the build in the first place.

Most construction is done on a very low budget, using 'sub-standard' materials. I am endeavoring to use best quality materials, for example, load-bearing, machine-made concrete blocks instead of the rather weak hand-made ones (We have some hand-made blocks which have been lying around for a couple of months - they crumble in your hands as you pick them up).

Another factor is that much construction is left incomplete for long periods, as the budget runs out - I'm sure that this cannot help the longterm durability (eg leaving rendered concrete unpainted for a long time).

Another factor is that most buildings are painted concrete and if the paint is not maintained it will become 'tired' looking.

In the UK, we are used to solid, brick-built, houses which have stood for 100 years. It comes as shock to learn that buildings in Phils have an 'economic' life of 25-30 years, after which the expectation is that they would be demolished. We discovered that we couldn't easily get a renovation permit for a house which was 30 years old, so it has been demolished to make way for the new house. Local friends, who see the standard of construction of our new house express the opinion that it will stand for 100 years!

[andypaul]

Building maintenance? I guess that part of that is down to the standard of the build in the first place.

Most construction is done on a very low budget, using 'sub-standard' materials. I am endeavoring to use best quality materials, for example, load-bearing, machine-made concrete blocks instead of the rather weak hand-made ones (We have some hand-made blocks which have been lying around for a couple of months - they crumble in your hands as you pick them up).

Another factor is that much construction is left incomplete for long periods, as the budget runs out - I'm sure that this cannot help the longterm durability (eg leaving rendered concrete unpainted for a long time).

Another factor is that most buildings are painted concrete and if the paint is not maintained it will become 'tired' looking.

In the UK, we are used to solid, brick-built, houses which have stood for 100 years. It comes as shock to learn that buildings in Phils have an 'economic' life of 25-30 years, after which the expectation is that they would be demolished. We discovered that we couldn't easily get a renovation permit for a house which was 30 years old, so it has been demolished to make way for the new house. Local friends, who see the standard of construction of our new house express the opinion that it will stand for 100 years!

A very intresting post.

In a town next door to where the missus lives there were "Spanish Houses" which were very old (but not by european standards) and they seemed to have in the main coped quite well. As you say good materials used and being maintained well.

I can see what you mean about the choice of materials a aunt has a house which i cant see last for more than a decade or two more and its only ten years and she has contacts in the buliding trade (although not sadly huge amounts of money us brits might invest)

I would say keith if you do move out its a point to consider how good will this Gaff i intend to stay in be in ten twenty years time?

Having to knock now and rebulid a home may hit the finances. Which I think is what hit some of the older memebers of the wifes family.

A nice house was constructed during the better years in phill and then when the big renovation was needed the money was not there in all cases. For some in the family it caused big problems i can think of at least one great uncle of the wifes who has what must of been a lovely house and lands but cant afford the dough to keep it as he wishes.

[keithAngel]

I agree that getting a "job" is a non starter finding the right mix in starting a business is what interests me and a business that is funded mostly off shore perhaps providing services and accommodation to Westerners is my current area of exploration

I have identified about half a dozen areas that appear unavailable from here in terms of online searches and Cebu as both a major tourist destination as well as a retirement center is my target zone.

[jimeve]

Building maintenance? I guess that part of that is down to the standard of the build in the first place.

Most construction is done on a very low budget, using 'sub-standard' materials. I am endeavoring to use best quality materials, for example, load-bearing, machine-made concrete blocks instead of the rather weak hand-made ones (We have some hand-made blocks which have been lying around for a couple of months - they crumble in your hands as you pick them up).

Another factor is that much construction is left incomplete for long periods, as the budget runs out - I'm sure that this cannot help the longterm durability (eg leaving rendered concrete unpainted for a long time).

Another factor is that most buildings are painted concrete and if the paint is not maintained it will become 'tired' looking.

In the UK, we are used to solid, brick-built, houses which have stood for 100 years. It comes as shock to learn that buildings in Phils have an 'economic' life of 25-30 years, after which the expectation is that they would be demolished. We discovered that we couldn't easily get a renovation permit for a house which was 30 years old, so it has been demolished to make way for the new house. Local friends, who see the standard of construction of our new house express the opinion that it will stand for 100 years!

If that was the case, how do the condos stay up in Manila or any major city,

Iam building a three story house and I know exactly what materials they
use, the hollow block I think you are talking about are filled in with concrete
and the main structure are made of reinforced concrete post,
and if it looks tired after a few years paint the

[KeithD]

If that was the case, how do the condos stay up in Manila or any major city,

Have you been in one that is undecorated? Cracks everywhere.....one major earthquake they all come tumbling down.

[keithAngel]

If that was the case, how do the condos stay up in Manila or any major city,

Iam building a three story house and I know exactly what materials they
use, the hollow block I think you are talking about are filled in with concrete
and the main structure are made of reinforced concrete post,
and if it looks tired after a few years paint the

If your building yourself I agree you will know what was used the problems can arise when you don't follow the construction process hourly.

Portugal has similar methods except they use hollow clay bricks a lot of which are pre-cracked lol

With steel frame work attention to the steel size,connecting and the pack of cement in the shuttering are very important especially if you are by the coast where the saline is very corrosive and can weaken the steel I was shocked that vibrators were not used and realised you have to give a lot time to ensure continuity and packing to avoid air pockets.

Steel mesh is needed to tie upper cement floors together and the screed should always be poured in one consecutive application not over days

[jimeve]

Have you been in one that is undecorated? Cracks everywhere.....one major earthquake they all come tumbling down.

Major earthquake rattles Manila
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A major earthquake rattled the Philippine capital Manila on Friday night, and there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage so far, said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

The quake, measured at 6.2 degrees on Richter scale, occurred at around 10:35 p.m. local time (1435 GMT) and lasted for about one minute. The jolt was initially soft but progressed into brief wild swings.

the cracks are mostly small and not on load bearing post.

yes seen loads that are left unpainted, seen worse in UK.

btw thats my job

[IainBusby]

If that was the case, how do the condos stay up in Manila or any major city,

Iam building a three story house and I know exactly what materials they
use, the hollow block I think you are talking about are filled in with concrete
and the main structure are made of reinforced concrete post,
and if it looks tired after a few years paint the

When I was in Cagayan De Oro in 2006, I went out with an Amercan guy I had met to see how his new house build was progressing and I watched them building with these hollow blocks you mentioned. They do indeed, after cementing the blocks in place, fill in the blocks with mortor.

As you said, the main structure consisted of reinforced (manufactured) concrete posts, but the blocks also had steel rods running through them which I think would make a very solid structure once it was rendered both inside and out.

The American guy did say however that the only way he could be sure that they didn't scrimp on cement in the mortar mix and other things like leaving out the steel rods, was to visit the site at least twice a day and call at other times to say he was just on his way there.

Iain.

[keithAngel]

jimeve[/LEFT];83337]Major earthquake rattles Manila
font size

ZoomIn

ZoomOut

A major earthquake rattled the Philippine capital Manila on Friday night, and there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage so far, said the Philippine Institute of

Volcanology

and Seismology.

The quake, measured at 6.2 degrees on Richter scale, occurred at around 10:35 p.m. local time (1435 GMT) and lasted for about one minute. The jolt was initially soft but progressed into brief wild swings.

the cracks are mostly small and not on load bearing post.

yes seen loads that are left unpainted, seen worse in UK.

btw

thats

my job

Seismologist

?

[jimeve]

I am there all the time mate, 8 till 5 cracking the whip.
I pay the men weekly and fire any slackers.

just the way it is.

[jimeve]

Have you heard that saying, built like a brick sxxthouse,
well mine is built like big shxthouse ony 4 bathroms thou

[KeithD]

6.2 isn't a strong earthquake, especially on rock. Even the Victorian buildings in the UK can withstand that....up North anyway on solid rock....none of that clay crap they built London on

[andypaul]

6.2 isn't a strong earthquake, especially on rock. Even the Victorian buildings in the UK can withstand that....up North anyway on solid rock....none of that clay crap they built London on

Bulidings full down all the time in London.

Thats why we all wear bowler hats and the trains run underground

[jimeve]

What do you expect in London, even the bridge's fall down

[jimeve]

6.2 isn't a strong earthquake, especially on rock. Even the Victorian buildings in the UK can withstand that....up North anyway on solid rock....none of that clay crap they built London on

that was the first one i came across, in 1990 there was a 7.7 quake
and buildings still standing up now. UK has never been hit with a earthquake
bigger than 5.4, that was in north wales yonkes ago.

[andypaul]

What do you expect in London, even the bridge's fall down

No we sold the falling down one to some yank who thought he was getting tower bridge.
The new one is fine we even have a battleship guarding it in case some scousers or manc try and half inch it

[KeithD]

No we sold the falling down one to some yank who thought he was getting tower bridge.

We went past that in Arizona....should have put some graffiti on it so it felt at home

[jimeve]

Did they sell it on EBAY

[stretch33]

Having listened to all the advice on WelshItalian it seems there are no couples at least contributing to that thread who are living and working or otherwise settled in the Fills I know Alan and Hannah are, at least at the moment is there any one else?

I am looking forward to my stay and for sure want to explore opportunities to generate income there with my G/F. as living here holds no attraction apart from my philanthropic desire to prop up the economy here with my taxes

Please feel free to tell me how naive I am, Nothing like a challenge

Oh whenever I travel I see myself as "living" where ever I am my Italian Espresso pot comes with me and is just as happy on a fire as the gas ring

Hi, Ive just recently returned from a two year stint in the PI, The advice from most expats out there is dont get involved in a business, its complex with paperwork and then plenty of usual bungs/dosh under the table etc. You can say "Hey l aint going to do that" but if you dont then nothing gets done. Having said all that I'm off back in December coz its a great place to live, as other posters have said you need a good amount of savings but our money goes a long way in the PI so invest wisely here and you should be fine .....i do ok onmy meagre bit haha