Squatters creating problems?

As many of you may have seen a few days ago, when I made a post on the blog about housing options the question came up about how to control squatters if you buy property and are not present in the Philippines.  Well, I am certainly not an expert, but let me tell you about what we have done to control this problem.

First, I know that some people will ask what a squatter is, I have heard this question before.  A squatter is a person who just comes and lives on your land.  If you are living outside the country this is a particular problem, because you are not here to keep tabs on the property.  The biggest problem is that once squatters take up residence on your land, it can be nearly impossible to get rid of them.  You will have to go to court and get a court to order the squatters to leave, then you will have to force them off the land.  When you do this, you will almost certainly gain a bad reputation for “kicking those poor folks off the land.”  Believe me, the best thing you can do is to just keep the squatter problem from arising.

As many of you know, Feyma and I purchased a piece of land on Samal Island a few months ago.  At first, we used to go over there maybe 4 or 5 times a week, so it would have been hard for a squatter to build a shack on the land and take up residence.  Now, though, we are not going nearly as often, so we have to take precautions.  There is a family who has a small house on the property behind ours.  Although they don’t own the land, they are not squatters, because they haver permission from the land owner to live there.  In exchange, they keep an eye on the property and don’t let squatters settle in.  We have basically hired them to watch over our land too.  We pay them P1,000 per month, and for that they work on clearing our land of weeds and brush, and also keep any problems with squatters and other problems from arising.  P1,000 a month is a cheap price to pay to avoid the problem.

The first thing I would recommend for land owners (we have not been able to do this yet, since we just bought the property) is to put up a fence or a concrete wall around your property.  Maybe put some signs on it that read “No Trespassing” – this may not stop the squatters, but at least it will clearly show that you are warning them to keep out.  The wall or fence will do a good job for you too, probably eliminating 90% or more of the problem.

If you don’t wish to hire a person to watch your land, maybe you have family in the area or a friend who could swing by the property once per week or so to have a look.

Just use your common sense, and do whatever you can to have the property visited regularly to watch for problems.  With some diligence you can avoid the squatter issue, even if you are living outside the Philippines!

Is there a way that you can own land?

I’ve talked a number of times on this blog about the fact that unless you are a Citizen of the Philippines, you cannot own land.  There is only one exception to that – if you are a former citizen who has been naturalized in another country, then you can own a limited amount of land, basically enough to have a house here.  That is the only exception to the law that non-citizens cannot own property.

Funny thing is, lately, I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails from different foreigners from all around the world.  They are all asking questions about what they can do to own land.  It’s always the same – they want to buy it in the girlfriend’s name (most of these guys aren’t even married to local ladies), and have some sort of affidavit drawn up that will show that they (the foreign guy) is the true owner.  They ask me if there is any way to circumvent the law.  Let me just say this – the law is very clear – if you are not a citizen, you CANNOT own land.

When I tell them this, they ask if the affidavit won’t stand up in court.  Well, of course it won’t!  You cannot legally own land, so any document that says you own the land is automatically illegal, and will not be accepted by the court.  No matter what, whoever has their name on the title of the land is the owner!  You cannot change that.

Now, in my case, I am involved in a long term marriage (17 years)  to my Filipina wife, and I trust her implicitly.  Even if something did happen with our marriage (which it won’t), I feel secure that the two of us would be equitable in splitting our property.  It’s just not a concern for me.  But, if I was just purchasing real estate and putting it in the name of a girlfriend, I’d be quite concerned about that.  In that case, if you buy land and put it in a girlfriend’s name, in my opinion, you should just consider it to be hers, and she can leave you at any time.

The bottom line is this – don’t fool yourself!  Don’t let others fool you!  Use your mind and think about things.  If the law says it is illegal for you to do something, how would a piece of paper make it legal?  Bottom line is that it won’t!

We just bought some land, now the work starts!

A few days ago, I announced the big news on my other blog:  We bought a piece of land on Samal Island, which is in the Gulf of Davao.  We plan to build a house there and semi-retire there in the future.  Our plan is to be there 10 years from now.  Why 10 years?  Because our youngest child will graduate from high school at that time, and it makes it more practical to live in a somewhat remote place at that time.

I don’t like to really duplicate content between my various blogs, and that is not what I intend to do here either.  But, the process of buying land and building a house has many different angles.  Firstly, since I am buying land here in Mindanao, it makes it a story to put on my Mindanao Blog.  However, the process of buying land, going through all the hoops and building a house is something that fits more on this blog, because a lot of you who retire here or just come here to live have an interest in doing something similar.  If you are like Feyma and I, you hardly have any idea where to start!

Making a purchase of land here, and building a house is a little different (or is it a lot?) than the process in the States.  It’s kind of daunting for people like us who are unaccustomed to the process.   Because of the differences, I am sure that a lot of you will like following along and seeing what Feyma and I do and the results.  I am nearly certain that we will make mistakes, but it is my hope that we can learn from the mistakes that we make, and also help you avoid similar mistakes when you are ready to make the plunge.

Buying land here is something that I have often said I would never do.  I changed my mind, though, which is something that I hope I won’t come to regret.

Some of the reasons why I had not wanted to buy land here:

• As a foreigner, I can’t own land in my name.
• If I ever decide to go back to the States, it might be hard to sell the land.
• If there is political instability, I can just pull up stakes and leave right away if I am renting.  It might be harder to do if I have a land here.
• There is an element of fear when you enter the unknown, and I certainly know little or nothing about owning land here and building a house.

Why did I change my mind?

• Although I can’t own land in my name, my wife can own it in her name.  We’ve been married nearly 17 years, and I have no doubts about our relationship.  I know that I can trust her to have the land in her name.
• I’ve been here for 7 years now, and I really have no desire at all to return to the States.  Heck, I haven’t even gone back there for vacation or anything, nor do I have a desire to do so.  My long term plans are right here in the Philippines.
• If there were to be political instability in the country, I feel it would most likely affect Manila only, and not have big ramifications in the Davao area, so I am not overly concerned about it.  I do feel that such instability is possible, I just don’t think that it will touch us here.
• I have a big enough network of friends and associates who can help guide me through the process and steer me in the right direction when I am clueless!
• We found a piece of land that was too nice to pass up, and also priced right!

So, as I weighed these factors, the right move for us was to buy this land, and start moving toward making the place our home.   So, hang around, and follow along.  This will be a long term project, but I’ll keep you posted as we make each move.

Looking to rent for a shorter term?

On a blog comment that was left yesterday, the commenter (Jerry) said that he is looking to rent a place in Davao and only needs it for around 6 months or so.  However, everyplace where he goes wants a one year lease.  He needs a place, but doesn’t plan to be in the country for a year!  What can he do.

Well, actually, he can do something fairly simple, and not too expensive either, and his problem will be solved.

It is true, most landlords here in Davao require that you sign a lease for one year.  No way around that, unless you are just able to negotiate that away.  However, every lease contract that I have seen in the Philippines states that if you decide to leave before the lease expires, you lose your deposit.  Nothing else.  So, let’s say that you are paying P10,000 per month for the rent.  Normally, landlords ask for 2 months deposit, so you put P20,000 down as a deposit.  If you leave after 6 months, you just forfeit the P20,000 and you are free to walk.  No hard feelings.  The landlord will probably even be happy, because he can rent the place again, and gets to keep the deposit free and clear.

Sometimes the landlord will ask for more than 2 months deposit.  If he does, negotiate!  I have always been able to get them down to two months deposit, no more.  Some landlords will also as for twelve post-dated checks for the rent.  Just tell him that you are a foreigner and don’t have a Philippine bank account, so you can’t issue him checks, in every case where I have tried this, the post dated checks have been waived.  And, yes… by the way, post dated checks are legal (and standard) here.  In a lot of cases, if you buy something on time, they will demand that you pay all the payments with post dated checks.  Be careful… if one of those checks is deposited, and you don’t have funds in the bank to cover the cost, you can go to jail for that.  It’s called “estafa”.

Keep another thing in mind when renting – as a foreigner, you are much sought after!  I have had many landlords tell me that they really prefer to rent to foreigners, because they generally take better care of the place, and also, they generally have enough money to pay the rent without hassles.  Use the fact that you are a foreigner as a bargaining chip!

Good luck on finding the dream rental that you have been looking for!