Live in the Philippines

Live in the Philippines helps expats with visas, moving and other services regarding the Philippines.

House tour

Buy/Rent Property / by

I often get e-mails (and Feyma does too!) from LiP readers asking about finding a house to rent here in Davao, or elsewhere in the Philippines.  The people often want to know what kind of house they can get, and how much it will cost them.  Or, they might say “how much is it for a 3 bedroom house?”

Well, this is a very difficult question to answer, because the number of bedrooms does not necessarily determine the rental price of the house!  I mean, you could have a very high quality place with 3 bedrooms, or a 6 bedroom shanty, and I can assure you that the 3 bedroom place would rent for more!  This is just common sense.  Since I usually don’t know the person who is asking, have never met, etc., I really have no idea what kind of place this person is interested in.

So, today, I want to share with you a video of the house that Feyma and I live in.  We have lived in this house for almost 4 years now, and have one more year to go on our lease.  The house is located in a very convenient area of town, near the heart of Davao City.  It is 15 minutes to walk to many major parts of town like G-Mall, Victoria Plaza, Apo View Hotel or Marco Polo Hotel.  Yet, it is a residential area.  So, it’s a place that gets a fair amount of demand, and rightfully so.

Now, let me say, my house is quite large.  I estimate it to be about 4,500 square feet, or 450 square meters.  It is a 2 level, daylight basement style place, as you will see in the Video.  The house has 4 bedrooms, 3 baths.  The rent we pay is about P35,000 per month, about $700, or slightly more.  A number of areas in the Philippines that I have looked at have less expensive rental prices than Davao. Particularly in the past few years, rentals in Davao have appreciated considerably. This is a large house for the Philippines, and also expensive for here.  There are more expensive places in Davao, probably up to about double the price we are paying, but the vast majority of houses here would rent for much less than this price.  But, at least this will give you an idea of what you can get for the money.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Hi Bob, no bar's on the sliders ? haha kinda defeat's the the purpose of the rest of them don't you think ? I heard the ice cream man going by haha, is my room ready ? very nice and I totally agree with you not typical Philippine, our house is sparse almost barren compared to yours I'd be embarrased to show it as it would take maybe 3 minutes 😉

  6. That is quite a large house. Perhaps expensive for the Philippines, but if you had to also rent office space, it would equal that or more. Better to have it all in one place.

    Is that P20M a reasonable price for that house? I certainly understand why you would not want to purchase it (based on things you have said before), but it would be interesting to know if that price was in the ballpark.

  7. bob, you have a beautiful home. what kind of dogs do you have? i'll be in davao in june of 2010 then on to mati. maybe we can have coffee.

  8. Hi tonka – Thanks for your nice comment. Our dogs… well one of them is a Japanese Spitz, the other is just a mutt, mixed breed of who knows what origin. I'd be happy to have a cup of coffee with you! Keep in touch.

  13. Hi Bob,

    Must say I really enjoy your site. Have been following it for about 6 months and have really learned a lot from it. My wife is from Cebu and met her here in Canada. She has not been home for 10 years but has just arrived back in Cebu last week with my son (First Time) to help her parents put the finishing touches on a small house we just built for them. Now it’s only a small place (90 Sq Meters) but I think it will be just right for their retirement on their farm.

    I'm hoping I can visit some time this coming January for a few months once I have finished some business here in Vancouver. Must say you have made me think of the Philippines in a more positive way by giving me a better perspective of what it’s like living over their. Now I am not thinking of moving over there yet but I will have an open mind when I arrive and take things as they come. Plan to meet up with the wife at her parent’s house and take a couple of weeks to get adjusted to the climate and then head out and explore. Who knows I might end up in Davao and maybe Imee and I could treat you and Feyma to dinner.

    Keep up the great writing and interesting topics, I follow your site with much interest.I find your life in the Philippines very interesting and really enjoy reading about your experiences and adventures. It’s changed my perspective about the fast paced life here in North America and beginning to understand why you and your guest writers made the move. You have a beautiful house and family and want to thank you for letting us visit.

    Take Care,
    Bill

  14. Hi Bill – Welcome to LiP, I'm happy you made your first comment! 😀 Glad that you have enjoyed the site and gotten some useful information!

    Hey, 90 sq. meters is no small house here! That is actually quite large compared to most local houses!

    Anytime you are in Davao, I'd be happy to get together for a meal!

  15. Nice house Bob, I always wondered what it looked like. At first your view of the office was a disapointment, I had imagined half a dozen PC's for all of the online activity with your websites etc. but later in your tour the other PC's showed up.

    It seems you have a very American style house there but no Drier for the laundry ?

    By comparison $700 (USD) per month rent looks like a good deal if someone has the income to support it. Where I live you would be lucky to have a 1 bedroom apartment for $1000 to $1500 (USD) per month ! although the pay scales are somewhat proportionally different as well.

    Nice place Bob, thanks for the virtual visit !

  16. Hi Bob – Ha ha.. No washer, no dryer! We live in the Philippines, we have a labandera (a person who washes our clothes). Very few people here have a washer or dryer. PC's… well, let's see, we have 2 PC's in my office, 2 in the outer office where employees work, and 4 downstairs for the kids. Oh yeah… 3 in the bedroom too! Ha ha.. we have plenty of computers! 😀

  17. Hi Paul – You've got a few dogs there! Ha ha… We have lots of pets, but only two are dogs, though. The kids always want something new for us to take care of! 😉

  18. Thanks for the tour Bob. Very American house if I say so myself. Much like my place here in Michigan. Not a big but just as much stuff inside. As for the apartment in Tagum City. Meriam says she doesn't want a lot of stuff on the walls. Wow. Now that is different. In fact I like it. Spring of next year sure seems like a long time away. Oh well. I will get there one of these days. Thanks for the web site too Bob. Learn more here than anyplace else on the web. Good job.

  19. Oh my god Bob, How your house reminds me of my home when I was younger raising my family, I have to say you have the comfort of a U S setting with your home…But the one thing that kept racing thru my mind as I watched your video was ..Oh My God .. I don't want to move and have to rent 20 U Hauls hahahahahaha…Like me before you have accumalated so many things and what an undertaking it would be to move! Good for you, you have a beautiful home and lifestyle there….God Bless

  20. Hi lenny2000 – you think we have a lot of stuff? Ha ha… you should have seen 5 or 6 years ago! We've pared it down by half, I bet! 😉

    Thanks for your comment.

  21. Speaking of moving, you said, I think, that your lease is up next year. Are you going to renew or look around for something different/better/larger/smaller/etc.?

  22. Bob, thanks for sharing. With the proximities you mentioned, we must be silingans. It seems the dogs adored you but not the rabbit 🙂

  23. Hi Manny – I didn't think about the rabbit.. he did run away! Not sure why, usually he is quite happy to be picked up and petted. Maybe he saw a new plant that he could chew up! He's good at that!

  24. Hi Bob, I think I told already before that i have a 4 bedrooms 2 bath house at Tulip drive Fuente abrille subd. near SM but currently occupied. I only charge them 27t a month considering its a high end subd. first class gated community and brand new house too with hot showers. The only thing is its only 132sq meter lot and 106sq meter floor area so probably too small for your family. I'll let you know when the renters move out maybe you can ask your friends to check my house. Their lease ends april 2010. I will be building a 3br house at orange groove subd. hopefully by summer next year also to be rented out.
    You are so popular now. I wonder why you are not featured in any GMA or ABS CBN show yet. The fact that you are also helping Phil. tourism. You are a good candidate to be head of Dept. of Tourism. Have you thought about getting filipino citizenship and get involve into politics?

    Nice house by the way. I like Marfori area coz its in the center of everything and convenient location.

  25. Hi Jeff – Indeed, keep me informed when your house is available. Feyma gets inquiries from people all the time who are looking for a place to live, so it's a good chance we can come up with somebody for you.

    Philippine Politics? Nah, that would not be for me! It's a deadly business, after all! I enjoy what I am doing now, and more and more I am seeing it start to pay some bills too. So, I think that this site has some real future potential. It already makes money, but in the past couple months or more, I am seeing that start to pick up pace, which makes me quite happy!

    Thanks for commenting, and for visiting, Jeff.

  26. Hello Bob,
    As always I enjoyed watching your video! It was great seeing your home. I have not decided to move there yet, but may one day.
    My wife is from Bulala (way up north)! But we are going to be in Kidapawan next month for a friend of mines wedding. We would like to know if you would have any advice for us.
    Keep up the good work with your site. We enjoy hearing from all of the bloggers here. John Miele's blogs have really been good to read since he writes more from a northern view point.

  27. Hi Steve – Glad you enjoyed the video! Not sure exactly what type of advice you are asking for… advice about visiting Kidapawan? It's a nice little town… lots and lots of tricycles there! Also, it's kind of the fruit capitol of this part of Mindanao. If you have other specific questions, just let me know.

    Take care!

  29. Hi Bob. Juramie and I will retire to Leyte 11 years from now and we prefer to own our house. Can you give the pro's and con's for renting instead of owning property? (I know that the property has to be in Juramie name.)

  31. Hi mike – The house just across the street from me was recently sold. The selling price was P40m. That would be $800k. So, I guess that the price is not totally out of line. When I originally heard the price, though, I was shocked.

  33. Hi Bob,

    I enjoyed the articles and it has given me food for thought. I will show your blogs to Juramie when I visit her in November. I will be 66 or 67 years old when we retire to Leyte. I want to think of her security and make sure she is set for the rest of her life. I have heard of a couple of horror stories with older spouses dieing and leaving their asawa with nothing. Salamat again.

  34. Hi Jack – I understand your thinking. However, if you don't buy her a house, that doesn't mean you leave her nothing… you can leave her the cash instead! Also, I'm not saying don't buy, I'm saying give yourself enough time to decide where to buy first! That's very important!

    Good luck, Jack, I'm sure you will do what is best for you.

  35. Bob that's too much for that house. My gully, it's almost twice the price of my brand new house(4br, 3bt, 3cg) with large yards and centralized AC here in Gilbert, AZ. Bob maybe when the owner saw ur skin, then they increase the price. Anyway thanks for da info.

  36. Hi Bob! Thanks for showing us your house. I noticed some furnitures that you typically found here in the states, so aside from your bed, did you brought lots of stuff to the Philippines when you moved there? Wasn't it too costly compare to just buyin the same or comparable furnitures there? I was wondering how much you typically pay for a moving van to take stuff to the Philippines. What about your electrical plug-ins, did you have 110v lines too installed? I'm sorry for so many questions. I plan to move back there someday for good when I'm retired and your site really give me good pointers and excellent ideas. Thank you once again!

  37. Hi annm – We did bring a lot of furniture with us when we came here. We had two containers full of stuff. I don't know what the price would be now, as it's been a decade since we moved here. We paid $10k back then, though.

    For electrical stuff I believe it is better to just buy here. We brought a lot with us, but it didn't take very long for it all to get fried from maids plugging into the wrong voltage! 🙂