REAL ESTATE
RENTING IN THE PHILIPPINES
Finding a place to rent here in the Philippines can be a challenge in some areas. While in Manila, Cebu, Davao and other big cities there are rentals advertised in the newspapers, in the provinces it is often a case of word of mouth. Luckily there are lots of mouths to pass the word around and you will probably be inundated with properties once the word is out.
We found our last two rentals by driving around the area we were interested in living in and looking for signs posted on telegraph poles. The down side of this is that very often the signs are well out of date. Like political posters, they are quick to post and slow to remove them. If you have a Filipina
wife, have her make the call, at least until the price is established. Hearing a foreigner on the other end might tempt the landlord to offer the American Discount, usually four times the local price!
You can enlist “professional” help in finding a place to live. There are some people who could be loosely termed “real estate agents”. Different to a broker, who is licensed, many agents are merely people with a desire to make a buck on the side by introducing you to a home owner looking for a
tenant. This doesn’t mean they won’t find you a home, just that they will show you everything they can that makes them the most commission first, before actually finding you something that might be closer to what you want and specified.
Once you find some properties to inspect, take your time to study the local area. Are there KTV machines going at full distortion all hours of the day and night? The houses either side, are they permanent or squatter shanties? What about vehicular access? Many places here are off the road and
accessible only on foot down an alleyway. This is due to the original Lot being divided among many siblings and without regard to how you are going to get your furniture in there, let alone park a car off the street every day.
Water supply in many places, even more upmarket areas and sub-divisions, can be erratic at best. Water pressure may be very weak and delivery limited to only a few hours a day. This is inconvenient and having to remember to fill buckets every day at 11am or whenever will get old very quickly. Ask
about the water pressure and if it is available 24 hours. Then turn on a tap and check!
Power supplies may be billed to you, or to the landlord, who will give you the bill to go and pay, or you pay him. You could be in for a surprise and end up paying for his aircon and lighting without knowing it. You might also have an illegal connection that can bring you grief and aggravation when the power company charges you with being responsible! If the house is inside the family compound, then make sure you get the bill in your name if you can. Check the meter and cabling yourself to see where it goes from the power pole on the street to your house.
Our power is in the name of the landlord’s son. The water is in his daughter’s name. We get the bills the day they are due or just after, on average. We have had to pay for his slow attendance to reported leaks when it took him weeks to fix a leaking tap and overflowing septic tank. Our electricity was almost cut off because he forgot to hand us our bill. Be aware of these things and ask lots of questions when you inspect. This is a business arrangement after all, so be polite, but get the answers you need to make a sensible decision.
A friend of mine was living in an apartment attached to the landladies’ house. She was murdered and now the heir to the estate wants him out, despite his having a lease and having paid two months rent in advance. Unforeseen things do happen and it’s important not to let yourself get pushed around. If you have a lease then make sure you read it! Don’t be afraid to stand up for your rights, you do have some, despite the common belief to the contrary here.
Don’t be in a hurry to rent. The seller needs the buyer here more than the other way around. There is no shortage of properties for rent, just not enough proper advertising to help you find what is on offer. The situation is improving as more people adopt the ways we are used to in the west, but so much here is done through third parties, relatives and intermediaries, that changing the old habits is taking time. I have had some landlords, particularly Chinese Filipino’s, demand six months rent up front as a bond, plus the first month in advance! Then they want a twelve month lease with post dated checks to cover the rent, exclusive of the six months already paid as a bond! The lease said if we moved out before the 12 months were up, we lost the six months bond! The general practise is to
pay one month in advance and one or two months up front as a bond. Most landlords prefer a twelve month lease but you can negotiate shorter periods.
Rental properties may be offered either furnished or unfurnished, or both but don’t expect much with furnished. Sometimes they really are fully furnished but often it means just a bed, dining table and chairs and a sofa of sorts. On average, renting furnished will add about P2000 a month to the average
place going for P5000-P15000. There are some terrific places available at very low rates and with wonderful landlords, you just have to be lucky or look long and hard. Off street parking is important but often what is advertised as “with garage” is just a car port or even nothing more than a space behind the front gate. We think of a garage as a fully enclosed building in which you park your car and no-one can see in. Here, if it is outside the house and has a roof of sorts then it is a garage! Renting in a guarded sub-division may incur extra costs for admin fees, the guard and so on. Make sure you negotiate that the rent is all inclusive and that any other expenses are carried by the landlord. Like anything in business, it is all open to negotiation and it is up to you to negotiate BEFORE you sign the contract and pay your money! Double check claims that the phone is already in place and just needs connection. Connection here could mean running a cable in from miles away! Double check everything, not just because there is a chance you might be getting duped, it happens, but mainly because even if your potential landlord speaks excellent English, same words can mean very different things. This is, after all, the Philippines!
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