Building a House in the Province

[NeJammer]

My wife and I own some land in a rural area in Aklan. The nearest city is Kalibo (about 20 minutes) I talked to many house builders in the Philippines and they specialize only in building in the larger cities. So I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how I should proceed. My son, a native filipino, says that local contractors are lazy, and have to be watched closely. What do you guys say?

[Gene and Viol]

Originally Posted by NeJammer

My wife and I own some land in a rural area in Aklan. The nearest city is Kalibo (about 20 minutes) I talked to many house builders in the Philippines and they specialize only in building in the larger cities. So I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how I should proceed. My son, a native filipino, says that local contractors are lazy, and have to be watched closely. What do you guys say?

Hi,

Your son is correct 100%. Mostly because you need to feed them lunch every day and the longer they take the longer the job lasts the more they earn.
Living in a provincial setting, have you thought of building a large nipa hut? I had one years ago when living on Ticao island in Masbate province. Absolutely loved it! Less expensive by far and it cools well at night. I was however living on an island that had no electric power for aircon anyway but loved it.


Gene

[Jester2]

Originally Posted by NeJammer

My wife and I own some land in a rural area in Aklan. The nearest city is Kalibo (about 20 minutes) I talked to many house builders in the Philippines and they specialize only in building in the larger cities. So I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how I should proceed. My son, a native filipino, says that local contractors are lazy, and have to be watched closely. What do you guys say?

there are some american contractors in angeles city that do a good job but i cant relate to anyone wanting to build here with all the problems that go with it ..

[Jester2]

Originally Posted by Gene and Viol

Hi,

Your son is correct 100%. Mostly because you need to feed them lunch every day and the longer they take the longer the job lasts the more they earn.
Living in a provincial setting, have you thought of building a large nipa hut? I had one years ago when living on Ticao island in Masbate province. Absolutely loved it! Less expensive by far and it cools well at night. I was however living on an island that had no electric power for aircon anyway but loved it.


Gene

So many guys get knocked off by a "relitive" after the homes are complete and paid off its just not worth the chance..

[Gene and Viol]

Originally Posted by Jester2

So many guys get knocked off by a "relitive" after the homes are complete and paid off its just not worth the chance..

Hi Jester and welcome to the forum.

I have heard of a few cases of that happening. But I think a lot depends on how well one knows the girl he is going to marry before getting married. Even here in the Philippines the internet has its share of gold diggers without a doubt.

With or without buying a home/property, it pays to really know the person you are getting involved with.


Gene

[Jester2]

Sure knowing a woman well is always a good idea.. Most don’t do that.. So many Filipinas are married after some guy comes here on a wish and a theory with a marriage plan for his two week vacation. I would guess that most Filipinas are married after 200 hours of internet chat and 2 weeks of personal contact then hauled off to some other country as a bride and future mother… That would not be a good idea in our own countries with a woman from another stat a few hundred miles away but it seems to many a good idea with Asian woman…? My Neighbor and friend married a woman here adopted her kid, bought a house to live in … he also bought his “well employed” brother in-law a house on the same street. And was being paid back monthly for it by the brother in-law. Three days after the completion of the sale of his home in California he was assonated; shot down at 5 am at the open market parking lot by 2 men on a motorcycle. You may think you know your wife but you can’t know all of her family or what they assume that they stand to gain if you would just go away. Six week later the brother of wife’s brother’s wife was arrested for the murder but the widow will not press charges against her brother in-law because “she does not want to get involved”. Murder is a crime against a person here so a person needs to press charges in the Philippines not the state. Seems like there are about 12 outsiders per year killed /murdered near Angeles City and many are leaving lots of property to their wives. All I am doing is pointing out the facts you draw your own conclusions.
no way will I ever place myself in a situation where I am more profitable dead than alive.. its just bad business..

[Gene and Viol]

Originally Posted by Jester2

Sure knowing a woman well is always a good idea.. Most don’t do that.. So many Filipinas are married after some guy comes here on a wish and a theory with a marriage plan for his two week vacation. I would guess that most Filipinas are married after 200 hours of internet chat and 2 weeks of personal contact then hauled off to some other country as a bride and future mother… That would not be a good idea in our own countries with a woman from another stat a few hundred miles away but it seems to many a good idea with Asian woman…? My Neighbor and friend married a woman here adopted her kid, bought a house to live in … he also bought his “well employed” brother in-law a house on the same street. And was being paid back monthly for it by the brother in-law. Three days after the completion of the sale of his home in California he was assonated; shot down at 5 am at the open market parking lot by 2 men on a motorcycle. You may think you know your wife but you can’t know all of her family or what they assume that they stand to gain if you would just go away. Six week later the brother of wife’s brother’s wife was arrested for the murder but the widow will not press charges against her brother in-law because “she does not want to get involved”. Murder is a crime against a person here so a person needs to press charges in the Philippines not the state. Seems like there are about 12 outsiders per year killed /murdered near Angeles City and many are leaving lots of property to their wives. All I am doing is pointing out the facts you draw your own conclusions.
no way will I ever place myself in a situation where I am more profitable dead than alive.. its just bad business..

What you are saying is true. It does happen from time to time. Would also be a risk having life insurance that locals know about as well.

Having grown up and lived so many years in California and elsewhere in the states I know the crime rate there is far higher than here in the Philippines. But as you say, so many come here and seem to forget those things and throw caution to the wind.

Jester-how long have you been living over here? Have you noticed more police check points over in Angeles proper lately? Here close to Magalang seems like more every day now. Always fun to stop and visit with the officers when there is time. Over by Mabiga most of the officers are out of the Mabalacat office and always have a good word to say.

Gene

[Phil_expat]

Originally Posted by Jester2

Sure knowing a woman well is always a good idea.. Most don’t do that.. So many Filipinas are married after some guy comes here on a wish and a theory with a marriage plan for his two week vacation. I would guess that most Filipinas are married after 200 hours of internet chat and 2 weeks of personal contact then hauled off to some other country as a bride and future mother… That would not be a good idea in our own countries with a woman from another stat a few hundred miles away but it seems to many a good idea with Asian woman…? My Neighbor and friend married a woman here adopted her kid, bought a house to live in … he also bought his “well employed” brother in-law a house on the same street. And was being paid back monthly for it by the brother in-law. Three days after the completion of the sale of his home in California he was assonated; shot down at 5 am at the open market parking lot by 2 men on a motorcycle. You may think you know your wife but you can’t know all of her family or what they assume that they stand to gain if you would just go away. Six week later the brother of wife’s brother’s wife was arrested for the murder but the widow will not press charges against her brother in-law because “she does not want to get involved”. Murder is a crime against a person here so a person needs to press charges in the Philippines not the state. Seems like there are about 12 outsiders per year killed /murdered near Angeles City and many are leaving lots of property to their wives. All I am doing is pointing out the facts you draw your own conclusions.
no way will I ever place myself in a situation where I am more profitable dead than alive.. its just bad business..

A friend of mine built a huge western style home. Since he could not own land he put it in his wife’s name. When they home was completed they moved in and she moved in her pinoy lover. He was shock but suddenly got sick. The doctor said he was being poison. He decided to leave since he did not have a leg to stand on. All his retirement money in a joint account was also gone.

[NeJammer]

You guys are scaring me. I hope it's not intentional. I am insured for a million dollars right now. I've been to this province before twice already and I know a lot of the local people. I don't doubt the veracity of many of your stories, but I've lived with my wife here in America for over 9years. Not to mention that my wife is a German nationalized citizen. I think that if anyone would get the house if I died it would also go to my children. of which some of them have dual citizenship. I'm willing to take my chances, but thanks for the warnings.

[mikeshane]

Originally Posted by NeJammer

You guys are scaring me. I hope it's not intentional. I am insured for a million dollars right now. I've been to this province before twice already and I know a lot of the local people. I don't doubt the veracity of many of your stories, but I've lived with my wife here in America for over 9years. Not to mention that my wife is a German nationalized citizen. I think that if anyone would get the house if I died it would also go to my children. of which some of them have dual citizenship. I'm willing to take my chances, but thanks for the warnings.

NeJammer

If you have been married to your wife for 9 years in the US, I doubt she is going to knock you off once you get here. I have heard the stories about things like this happening also but I think it is more from guys who come here, meet someone, get married quick, etc. That being said, you should always make sure you realize where you are at. Sometimes I forget and let my guard down a little. I then start reading the news, some newsletters, forums, etc. to get myself back to reality.

I’m not trying to scare you more but you will need to learn how to do things a little differently here than what we are used to in the states. For example, I had serious charges filed against me for refusing to leave the office of my subdivision one time when the treasurer decided that she didn’t want to complete my association business because she doesn’t like a friend of mine who happened to come in unrelated at the same time. The charges were that I threatened her, held her against her will, called her a liar and made her lose face, etc. All I did was refuse to leave and try to talk logically to her.

Another time I was having a drink with my neighbor who I had known for some time. It was just a single glass of beer juts to be sociable when he invited me. He had a friend there who was joking and asking me questions about US, Philippines etc. All of a sudden he got mad because he thought I said something else. Even his friend (my neighbor) was surprised by this and he finally figured out that he miss understood what I said and thought I insulted him. Luckily I was on the other side of the table with lots of people. I was thinking about the stories I have read about 2 lifelong friends drinking one night, getting into argument over a misunderstanding and one of them ends up dead from a knife.
I have other friends from US, Australia, UK, etc. who are more aggressive, getting into fights and arguments all the time. They are always trying to get themselves out of hot water because of this. With a wife and 4 small children I try to be more careful these days. We always need to remember that are visitors in a third world country

Mike