Hello All, Hoping to learn a lot from the forum and hopefully in time offer help and advice in return. So an introduction……… I am half Filipina half Australian. Born and raised in Australia but moved to the UK. Feel like I truly 'grew up' here in England and is where I feel the most association. I am now a British citizen and live in Yorkshire with my husband who incidentally is British. 4 years ago we were trying to think of somewhere new to go for a holiday (bored of the usual European cities etc.) and I just so happened to be wearing a ‘Boracay Island’ top my mother had randomly sent me and dare I say...... the rest is history. We went off to the Philippines, visited Boracay and a number of other cities and fell in love with the country (not so much Boracay). Ever since this first holiday we have travelled to the Philippines at least once or twice a year. We are now ready to buy a place and extend our trips to, oh I don’t know, maybe the entire UK winter But will be doing some trial runs first in various places to get a 'living feel' for areas....... so far we are leaning toward Cebu. Look forward to chatting more
Mabuhay from the Philippines, Pikachu! I don't know if you are aware but ownership of real property - a house and its land - is reserved for Philippine citizens and you'd need to reacquire your citizenship if you wish to own property here; you can, however, buy a condominium unit as a non-citizen, provided the condominium as a whole is in 60% Filipino ownership. The only real advice I can give you at this stage is to select your area carefully and whatever you do, do NOT buy "off-plan"
Hi Mark, Thank you and yes, I am aware. I contacted the Embassy in Australia and they have said to acquire my citizenship my mother needs to file a 'Report of Birth'. Luckily for me that means a trip to see my family in Australia this coming June while I do all the paperwork We are planning on a condo as we feel we can possibly rent this out when we are not there however your advice about not buying off plan..... even if it's a condo by Ayalaland or similar and we did a deposit and final payment on completion?
Even though Ayalaland is one of the better developers, I'd prefer to see what I'm buying rather than an architect's artistic impression which may be exaggerated ever so slightly. That developer is currently constructing a very attractive condo complex here in Davao alongside Ayala's Abreeza Mall which is certainly not sold-out. You will be lucky to get away with paying a deposit - unless that deposit is at least 90% of the full purchase price! (There are exceptions to every rule, however)
Yes I see, fair point. I understand completely but just wanted to check there wasn't another cautionary issue I wasn't thinking of. I have seen a few floorplans and admit the sizes can be deceiving and never can be comparable to actually walking around a place. Our preference is a re-sale anyway, however there are a couple of developments in Cebu City which have piqued our interest . We don't have any time restraints therefore we can and will wait till we are confident and found the right place and area.
