Living in the Phil?

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by Eljohno@Feb 12 2006, 10:14 AM
Hi Pete,
wow i did not know you were builing your own place. Is it going to be like a holiday home?
And i was wondering what other places i was going to take Rhea.
Just let me know the address and i will bring a crowbar to get access when it is ready

John

Quoted post

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

[fred]

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

Quoted post

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?.

[ginapeterb]

Originally posted by fred@Feb 19 2006, 04:08 PM
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?.

Quoted post

Thanks for that Fred, as the NPA dont operate in the areas I travel around, I assume you are talking down on Mindanao, as I have travelled extensively around Negros, the NPA is not an issue, your correct about, if you spend money and then its in your wifes name, agreed on that one, if she does a dumping act, your buggered, the land is true, you give them the money, the land is your security, of course its unlikely they can afford to pay back, so they cant redeem it, then you continue on using the land, but you make a valid point.

Internet cafe's seem to work quite well in the places I go, I dont see it makes one bit of difference who the name is in the frame, I wouldnt run it anyway, a Filipino would, 15 an hour is cheap, 25 is more the norm, I have done quite a bit of ferreting around when in town, but as you say, all localazied business are a risk, Im not interested in pirated software, I want it to be legitimate if I do it at all, but in truth Fred, if you dont trust your wife to be honest and straight about these things, then there is little point in building a house in her name only to find later on, she does the shitty and bank mortgages it, or sells it, as has happened previously, I feel sorry for any guy who gets caught like this, you put your trust in a woman, then she does this, its not nice I agree with you.

The Sugar Cane idea is good Fred, provided you have the land to do it, the loaning of money against land is great provided you are not expecting the owner to come up with it at the end of the redeemable period, if you are, I agree with you, you shouldnt hold your breath.

[fred]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Feb 19 2006, 08:34 PM
Thanks for that Fred, as the NPA dont operate in the areas I travel around, I assume you are talking down on Mindanao, as I have travelled extensively around Negros, the NPA is not an issue, your correct about, if you spend money and then its in your wifes name, agreed on that one, if she does a dumping act, your buggered, the land is true, you give them the money, the land is your security, of course its unlikely they can afford to pay back, so they cant redeem it, then you continue on using the land, but you make a valid point.

Internet cafe's seem to work quite well in the places I go, I dont see it makes one bit of difference who the name is in the frame, I wouldnt run it anyway, a Filipino would, 15 an hour is cheap, 25 is more the norm, I have done quite a bit of ferreting around when in town, but as you say, all localazied business are a risk, Im not interested in pirated software, I want it to be legitimate if I do it at all, but in truth Fred, if you dont trust your wife to be honest and straight about these things, then there is little point in building a house in her name only to find later on, she does the shitty and bank mortgages it, or sells it, as has happened previously, I feel sorry for any guy who gets caught like this, you put your trust in a woman, then she does this, its not nice I agree with you.

The Sugar Cane idea is good Fred, provided you have the land to do it, the loaning of money against land is great provided you are not expecting the owner to come up with it at the end of the redeemable period, if you are, I agree with you, you shouldnt hold your breath.

Quoted post

No problem Pete.. I hope you can pull the internet cafe thing off..
One thing is for sure..If you dont try,you will never know.
Over the last 22 years I have had piggeries,poultry farms,rice production,jeepneys,you name it ..None of them earned me a living and they cost me 1000`s of pounds in hard earned cash..
Nobody could have convinced me that any of them were not worth trying and I had to learn the hard way for myself..
In theory,some of them should have worked but in the P.I things have a way of cropping up and and making well laid plans go pear shaped..

In regards the NPA..These communist groups have operated throughout the Philippines for years in rural areas from Luzon to Leyte going back to the Marcos era..
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and NPA have around 200 armed men in Negros so that might be worth knowing..
The link below illustrates a small skirmish in 2005
http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/hl/hl103131.htm
I have never known them to target expats but they do frown upon "land grabbing" capitalists .. Again..Its worth knowing.
I was once questioned by NBI in a small barrio in the Bicol region when I was 21 yrs old for being a suspected communist sympathiser..For months my UK mail was diverted to the NBI for scrutiny..Pretty scary stuff at the time.

My eldest son is 16 now and doing his A levels here in the UK.. He wants to join the RAF this year which means Me,the Mrs and our two youngest can move back to the R.P full time hopefully next year to live on Panglao island...I was there last year for 3 months and think the area is amazing..We always lived in Luzon in the past but I must admit that the Visayas take some beating..
Beats Hertfordshire,thats for sure.

[Eljohno]

Originally posted by fred@Feb 19 2006, 11:08 PM
hopefully next year to live on Panglao island...I was there last year for 3 months and think the area is amazing..We always lived in Luzon in the past but I must admit that the Visayas take some beating..
Beats Hertfordshire,thats for sure.

Quoted post

Hi Fred,
just recently i have been to Panglao island before my wedding with friends and then for the Honeymoon, and it is paradise for sure. Would you be thinking of catering for the tourists for income or just somewhere to stay for a while?


John

[fred]

Originally posted by Eljohno@Feb 19 2006, 11:45 PM
Hi Fred,
just recently i have been to Panglao island before my wedding with friends and then for the Honeymoon, and it is paradise for sure. Would you be thinking of catering for the tourists for income or just somewhere to stay for a while?
John

Quoted post

Hi John..
I bought a hectare of my bro in laws land on the island..P160 per sqr mtr..
thinking of starting a small country club over the next few years more as a hobby than anything else..
We have been building an 18 door apartment block in Cavite for the last two years..ground floor finished and rented..2 floors still to finish off...
This will hopefully provide about 3/4 of our required income needed for our new life in Panglao sometime next year (or so)..
Cant bloody wait!!

[Eljohno]

Originally posted by fred@Feb 20 2006, 12:04 AM
Hi John..
I bought a hectare of my bro in laws land on the island..P160 per sqr mtr..
thinking of starting a small country club over the next few years more as a hobby than anything else..
We have been building an 18 door apartment block in Cavite for the last two years..ground floor finished and rented..2 floors still to finish off...
This will hopefully provide about 3/4 of our required income needed for our new life in Panglao sometime next year (or so)..
Cant bloody wait!!

Quoted post

Hi Fred,
all the best with your venture at Panglao island, i am sure i will be back sometime again as it is a great place and maybe i will get to see the apartment block when it is finished...


John