Originally posted by ginapeterb@Feb 12 2006, 11:29 AM
John,

Not really a holiday home John, I am hoping that we will be returning for good within 5years, I have a 5 year plan, to return to Philippines, I am starting an internet cafe, and Gina is buying farming land in the province, we are going into Sugar Beet growing so she will have that, and I will have the Internet Cafe, once the house is built, we will be concentrating on the 2 businesses, Negros is famous for sugar, we will grow it, 3 hectares of land is around 50,000 pesos for 3 years to rent, but most of the owners, simply cannot pay you back after 3 years, so you continue on with the land, we are also looking to buy a couple of caribous, they are around 15,000 each, so we hope the 2 businesses will support us in the Philippines, when we return, we are looking to return by the time I am 50.

Thats the plan, obviously lots of saving to do, the land will be completed this year, by Setpember, and the house by 2008, in 2 years, we will have saved to build it, so we are well on track at present, if you are around then, you can always come and stay with Rhea at our place as can any forum member who knows me.

Pete
Its good to have dreams about finding a sustainable way to live in the R.P but you need to do some serious research if you plan to make it a reality. I have never met a foreigner that has made a living yet from a local business but who knows..You could be the first!!
Personally,I would say that the internet cafe is a non starter..I know a few expats that have tried it and have all failed. There are Filipino run cafes that I use charging me only P15.00 an hour for general browsing..They all run their machines on pirated software.
Foreign expats doing this are exposing themselves to PNP raids that became more frequent last year and operations that are running licenced software are just not profitable. The cost of a single station will cost around the 40/50,000 mark unless you buy Taiwanese refurbishments..
If you still decide to go ahead,I wish you luck.. I think you will need it in this case.

What you say about "renting" 3 hectares of land doesn`t add up.. If they "rent" the land to you for 3 years for 50,000,why will they need to pay you the money back after 3 years?
Perhaps you mean that the 50,000 is a loan to them with the land as your collateral for the capital sum plus interest?? Is the interest based on 5/6 system?
Keeping the land after 3 years because of mounting interest can also lead to problems as the NPA or even the law could regard you as a land grabber with consequences best not mentioned here..Especially for a white "Kano" lol.
Much better to simply lease the land for a specific period IMO. Again..I wish you luck with the sugar beet business..
You obviously know what you are doing.

There are some less risky investment options available in the Philippines but they require a larger capital start up.
Rental Property (apartments) in a good location is one...The major risk is that the property will be in your wifes name and if seperation at some stage occured the "puti kano" is entitled to nothing..
Oh well...cest`la vie eh?.