FAO Walesrob

[subseastu]

Walesrob

I've read in one of the other posts ("Where would you live" I think) And I see you've got a place at Tacloban. My wife is from near there, Western Samar to be precise about 40min from the city. I was looking at houses on the Island paradise website though things seem to be getting expensive there. How do you find the place? From the limited time I've spent there the doesn't seem to much in the way of expats or resturants / bars etc. I know its only a small town which is a nice factor for me being a country boy. JUst wondering if you can shead some light on the place for me.

Cheers

[walesrob]

Walesrob

I've read in one of the other posts ("Where would you live" I think) And I see you've got a place at Tacloban. My wife is from near there, Western Samar to be precise about 40min from the city. I was looking at houses on the Island paradise website though things seem to be getting expensive there. How do you find the place? From the limited time I've spent there the doesn't seem to much in the way of expats or resturants / bars etc. I know its only a small town which is a nice factor for me being a country boy. JUst wondering if you can shead some light on the place for me.

Cheers

Hi Subseastu,

We've got our place at a new sub-division a few miles outside of Tacloban not far from San Juanico bridge. I've also noticed prices are on the up in the immediate Tacloban area, and even more so now that Robinsons have started building a new mall and hotel in nearby Marasbaras, and there's rumours of the airport will become an International rather than just domestic. They've just finished building a new bus station in Abucay as well.

Property is cheap once you leave Tacloban - Palo is a good place, Dulag and Tanuan as well, I'm not sure about Samar, but I do know there are some nice beaches around Marabut. I'm not sure what your budget is for buying property, but check this site http://www.islandsproperties.com/properties/leyte.htm for some pointers. The best deals I think are at the sub-divisions, I've seen brand-new 1 bedroom homes for about £2500, they are small with a decent sized lot, so there's room for expansion (we are building a garage at our place). There's always a new sub-division springing up in different places, and most are not advertised on the internet, so its a case of asking or seeking out these places, which is how we found our place.

I found Tacloban is ok in small doses, but I don't think I could live there, the noise, the fumes, the traffic, which is why I would recommend some place nearby. Tacloban is a small place, but it has everything you need, and once the Mall is finished, even better. I feel quite safe when I'm there, but like anywhere in Philippines, caution advised at all times.

Most expats in Tacloban are Americans, but I know there are a few Brits living in Dulag and Palo area, but I haven't as yet made contact with them. Restaurants in Tacloban: Giuseppe's Italian is nice, Stephanie's as well. Alejandros Hotel Cafe is a pleasant place to have a meal. An American guy has a good little website about Tacloban http://www.marasbaras.com/ with some useful bits of info about places to eat.

Hope this helps!

[subseastu]

Walesrob

Cheers for the super fast informative reply. Can't believe the house prices are that low!! £2500 for a one bed house is amazing. I think you're right in that sub-divisions are the way to go. I was getting put off by some of the prices on that island paradise website, obviously large expat built houses that cost more than my place in the UK! Don't think I could stand being too close to Tacloban aswell, too many jeepneys, tricylces and what not. I don't think there are many clean cities in the phils, could be the lack of mot's and car servicing.

If there is a mall going up there aswell that would be really good news as one of my main concerns there is a lack of choice of goods, epsecially electrical stuff.

I think the wife wants to go back next year so we'll have to try to find a hire car place and do some local exploring. To be honest I've not heard of the places you mentioned but I think towards the bridge area would be about the best as its the other side of town from the airport. Best to start looking now if these developments do go in prices will soar.

I'll have a shuffty at that website you mentioned to. Anyway thanks for the quick reply again mate and look forward to any future correspondance with your self.

[fred]

Can't believe the house prices are that low!! £2500 for a one bed house is amazing.

I would have thought that Robs zero key is playing up as that is only PHP200,000!

[subseastu]

Fred

I thought that to but then I hope it could be the deal of the century!

[walesrob]

I would have thought that Robs zero key is playing up as that is only PHP200,000!

Correct. We bought a 2 bedroom unit on the "Pag-Ibig" scheme, only costs us £50 a month.

BUT, and this is a big but, with the exchange rate being so much in peso's favour, the true cost is a higher, which is part of the reason we decided to buy the property through Pag Ibig.

I'll try and dig out the sales literature we had with the house and post it here as an attachment.

[subseastu]

Everyboby is up early today! That'll be great rob. Never heard of this Pag-Ibig scheme before. Mind you you can't complain over 50 quid/month, thats only a night out in the local.

[aromulus]

Everyboby is up early today! That'll be great rob. Never heard of this Pag-Ibig scheme before. Mind you you can't complain over 50 quid/month, thats only a night out in the local.

Bloody hell........... 50 quid worth of drink a night...???

Do you like wine..............????

[walesrob]

Everyboby is up early today! That'll be great rob. Never heard of this Pag-Ibig scheme before. Mind you you can't complain over 50 quid/month, thats only a night out in the local.

I know what you mean, when I tell friends and family the house costs just £50 a month, they can't believe it.

Keep in touch, maybe one day we'll meet up in sunny Tacloban!

[walesrob]

Do you like wine..............????

Spammer

[subseastu]

Hollow legs!!! I'm a merchant seaman aswell so I have to up hold our reputation.

[aromulus]

Spammer

Saba sa nimo, oy......

Calling poor little me a spammer............

[subseastu]

Rob

Did you organise this Pag-Ibig thing out there in tacloban? Look forward to meeting up in down town tacloban (where ever that is).

[walesrob]

Rob

Did you organise this Pag-Ibig thing out there in tacloban? Look forward to meeting up in down town tacloban (where ever that is).

Yep, Pag Ibig have the Leyte office in Tacloban.

The website is here:

http://www.pagibigfund.gov.ph/index.asp

[subseastu]

Rob

I think I'm a bit thick but that website (pag ibig) doesn't make alot of sense to me. Just a question I've been thinking about today (I have alot of time on my hands onboard ship!) but isn't it as easy to get a uk bank loan for the same amount & term and just use that? By the way that other website is good, I like his google map. Certainly opened my eyes to whats in tacloban.

Sorry for these stupid questions mate, simple sailors and all that

[fred]

but isn't it as easy to get a uk bank loan for the same amount & term and just use that?

Not sure if you would be better off doing it that way anymore considering the exchange rate these days.

Here`s the pagibig rates from that site in case you missed them.
6% P300,000 and below 7% P300,000 - P750,000 10.5% P750,000 - P2,000,000

We borrowed money from credit cards to help finance our build here.
Back then it was easy to get 0% balance transfers and the Pound was PHP106.00..
These factors made a lot of difference.

[fred]

Rob..
How did you qualify for a pagibig loan considering their rules of membership?

[walesrob]

Rob

I think I'm a bit thick but that website (pag ibig) doesn't make alot of sense to me. Just a question I've been thinking about today (I have alot of time on my hands onboard ship!) but isn't it as easy to get a uk bank loan for the same amount & term and just use that? By the way that other website is good, I like his google map. Certainly opened my eyes to whats in tacloban.

Sorry for these stupid questions mate, simple sailors and all that

It probably is easier to get a UK Bank loan thinking about it, BUT I'm not sure what the bank would say if you told them it was for a property in the Philippines! Best to say your buying a car or something.

Pete's website has some useful tips on ways to buy property in Philippines, http://www.british-filipino.com/realestate.html

[subseastu]

True true and if houses are still relatively cheap (in tacloban area) it makes sense. How does this work then. Do you just pitch up at these offices with the house you want and some documents? THey'll sort it out for you. I'm curious because of my job we'd have limited time in the phils to sort these things out, only about 4 weeks at a time.

[walesrob]

Rob..
How did you qualify for a pagibig loan considering their rules of membership?

Not me, Elsa did. She's been a member for 6 years now. Foreigners are excluded from the scheme so it seems, but nothing stopping your Filipina wife/girlfriend or even her family taking a membership on your behalf.

[walesrob]

True true and if houses are still relatively cheap (in tacloban area) it makes sense. How does this work then. Do you just pitch up at these offices with the house you want and some documents? THey'll sort it out for you. I'm curious because of my job we'd have limited time in the phils to sort these things out, only about 4 weeks at a time.

Which is why I'd prefer the Pag Ibig route as they basically take care of everything or otherwise you would need a decent lawyer out there to handle the whole process.

[subseastu]

Still confused, god I must be thick. From what I've seen on the pag ibig site you (filipino national though I've seen expats up to 60yr on there somewhere) have to be a member of the fund. Does this mean you have to have already been paying into the fund for a period of time before you can buy the house. Or do you just go along to the office, they sort it and you start paying monthly just like any other loan / mortgage?

[subseastu]

Forget that last one. I've just found the one page on the website that explains it. Steps on how to apply for a pag ibig housing loan (retail). Must read things more carefully. Sorry all. JUst one last question. How long does this process take. I'm not to keen on the family doing this for us. Much rather the wife and me take care of it.

[walesrob]

Forget that last one. I've just found the one page on the website that explains it. Steps on how to apply for a pag ibig housing loan (retail). Must read things more carefully. Sorry all. JUst one last question. How long does this process take. I'm not to keen on the family doing this for us. Much rather the wife and me take care of it.

Spoke to Elsa about this, and she says you can pay 24 months worth of membership fees in one go so you qualify for a loan straightaway, in fact Elsa pays her membership fee once a year when we are over there. Not sure how much it is 100 peso month or something like that?

I think our house didn't take long to sort out - about 3 - 4 weeks for Pag Ibig to do the paperwork, but the house was already built and ready to move in. I'll try and get some more information when Elsa returns later.

[subseastu]

So you have to be a member to take advantage of their services. You can't just walk in off the street then? Just to let you know I'll be off air for a couple of days (thank god I hear you say) as I'm paying off my ship tomorrow and will be travelling home (hopefully).

Thanks for all your help in this Rob and everyone else. Looks like I'll be owing a few of you a cold san mig!

[Marasbaras]

We've got our place at a new sub-division a few miles outside of Tacloban not far from San Juanico bridge.

Technically that's still Tacloban (it goes out quite a ways), but nobody really considers it such.

Robinsons have started building a new mall and hotel in nearby Marasbaras

The dust is horrid. And, land prices are at P3000 per square meter now. We live about a half kilometer from the site.

An American guy has a good little website about Tacloban http://www.marasbaras.com/ with some useful bits of info about places to eat.

I would be that American guy ... if you're looking for what's around Tacloban, I'd recommend my OTHER site ... http://www.mytacloban.com. It's a Google maps mashup with pictures, icons, and a nifty map.

James

[walesrob]

Hi James,

Welcome to the forum, maybe one day we can meet up in sunny, dusty Tacloban!

[walesrob]

Found a good blog on Tacloban from Gerry:

http://gerryruiz.wordpress.com/ with plans of the new DZR airport.

[love8888]

Rob

Did you organise this Pag-Ibig thing out there in tacloban? Look forward to meeting up in down town tacloban (where ever that is).

I am a Pag-ibig flexi-fund member
Flexi-fund- with an interest of your monthly membership fee this offer to all OFW or any Filipinos working in abroad also those got married with foreigner.
Pag-Ibig member - without an interest of your monthly contribution
Any Filipina/Filipino can be a member of the Pag-Ibig scheme

My advice is open a bank for your wife if you trust her that can issue a checks. Why it is easy to pay in the future especially if you’re both here in UK.
Go to the nearest Pag-Ibig office was in Tacloban branch take a tricycle and they will take you there. It would be better if your wife is the one go in there you can go as well if you want as they will explain you everything.

Once you filled up It’s up to you how the way your going to pay your contribution as a member it can be pay a monthly within 12 months to avail a housing loan or if your in a hurry to get a house then you can pay it as a lump sum as well.
So you can get a quicker house loan.And once you get your house and signed all the documents Pag-Ibig will ask you to issue them a post dated checks for at least 1 year but still your going to pay your monthly contribution depending on your choice maturity.That's why for me it's quiet handy to have a bank account in the Phils. so even your both here you can still paying them by sending eg. xoom to your account their and you can check it online if the check was taken.



Basically it will depends on how maturity's long you prefer 20 years,30 years and how much you would like to pay your chose scheme 20 dollars payable in 30 years.20 dollars is equivalent to 1000.00 pesos, you can pay this monthly yearly it's up to you but before they offer you to have a housing loan at least you paid 1 year. The higher your monthly membership contribution the higher they will offer you. The shorter the maturity the higher you will be paid monthly mortgage, the longest the maturity the lower your monthly mortgage. Cash basis housing price are much cheaper if you are a Pag-Ibig member.

The good thing of being a member of flexi-fund after the maturity duration end of your monthly contribution you can get a lump sum with an interest of your membership contribution. How e.g. you get a house loan payable within 30 years duration as your maturity plus your monthly contribution you can get back your contribution x 30 years plus the interest

Hope this will give an idea

[subseastu]

Hi all

Thanks for all the information you've given me. Sorry I've not replied sooner but the ol laptop has been on the fritz. It certainly looks like now is the time to get on the tacloban property ladder before prices start to go to crazy. Best start saving the pennies!