Summary: For foreigners who own a condo in the Philippines, what do you like and dislike about living there?
I'm thinking of buying a condo outside Metro Manila as a getaway to escape the cold winters. I don't plan to rent it out or list it on Airbnb. I just want a place where I can spend about half the year and where friends or family can stay when they visit the Philippines.
I'd like to hear from people who actually own and live in a condo, especially those who have lived there for several years, about what daily life is really like.
What are the pros and cons? What do you love about your place, and what drives you crazy?
Here's what I'm especially curious about:
Water quality: Is the tap water okay? Any problems with water pressure, discolored water, or water outages?
Flooding: Does the building or the surrounding area flood during the rainy season?
Building maintenance: Are the elevators, hallways, plumbing, and common areas properly maintained?
Utilities: Are electricity and water rates reasonable? Any unexplained charges or sudden increases?
Association dues: Have the monthly dues gone up a lot over the years?
Power outages: How often do they happen? Does the building have a backup generator, and does it actually work? Is solar a realistic option?
Natural disasters: How does the building hold up during typhoons, earthquakes, and other disasters?
Property management: How quickly do they respond when there's a problem? Do they actually fix things, or do you have to keep chasing them to get anything done?
Overall experience: Knowing everything you know now, would you buy a unit in the same complex again?
I'd also like to hear about problems a buyer might not think of.
If you don't mind, please include the name of your condo complex, its location, and how long you've lived there. The longer, the better!
To be clear, I'm looking for opinions from actual condo owners, not real estate agents or people recommending places they've never lived in.
I'm only interested in high-rise and mid-rise condos. I'm not looking for townhouses, single-family houses, subdivisions, vacant lots, or farms.
I'm not expecting a perfect place. I just want to hear the honest reality of owning and living in a condo in the Philippines, the good and the bad.
Thank you! I'd really appreciate it if you could share your own experiences.
Many people advise renting before you buy. They say the questions you'd ask differ from building to building, so it's hard to generalize, and mold, pests, and maintenance fees come up as downsides. An owner who has lived in Salcedo Village for 30 years says they have no regrets.
Managing it from far away is a headache. It's better to rent for the first few years. There's a lot you won't know - mold, bad smells, theft, aging appliances, cockroaches, undiscovered leaks, and so on.. Hold on to your cash - cash is king these days.
Why are condos in the Philippines bad? 1. Pest control in common areas doesn't solve the problem inside individual units. You can't control how your neighbors live, so you end up sharing cockroaches. Most condos in the Philippines have this pest control problem, and no matter how good the unit or the complex is, you end up dealing with your neighbors' pests. 2. Some homeowners' association (HOA) managers believe their goal is to spend as little as possible on common-area maintenance and keep as much in the fund as possible. Contractors see HOA fees as a source of profit rather than payment for providing a service. Other countries have clear rules and laws on how owners' association funds are used, but in the Philippines it's hard to challenge these things. Putting off maintenance is rampant in the condo industry. Who decides what counts as 'essential maintenance'? HOAs are also known for imposing special assessments when unexpected problems come up in a condo complex. 3. Some condo developers in the Philippines don't get their complexes and units verified to the level needed to confirm they were built properly. Some units have plumbing and electrical problems the buyer doesn't know about until they move in. Just because a big company built a very large building doesn't mean it uses modern construction methods. Some condos are built with traditional hollow block construction, so the wall strength (psi) is low. Looking at the market price per square meter of condos, you could easily build a sturdier, better single-family house that you manage yourself to your own specs. 4. Reselling a condo is harder than you'd imagine. The market is flooded with listings. How do you make your condo stand out among so many listings? So if you buy a condo, you should plan on holding onto it. 5. If you're thinking of Airbnb or VRBO, be ready to compete with thousands of people renting out the same units. The rental market drops to minimal returns. Building Paradise - Philippines
I think DMCI has the best airflow Maintenance is slow but they do get it done Go check out their sites
I bought a condo in Salcedo Village almost 30 years ago to live in, and I have no regrets. To answer a few of your questions: There's a deep well under the building and the water comes from there. It's drinkable and they test it every month and post the results on the bulletin board. Still, I drink bottled water and use the tap water for cooking. In all my time living in Salcedo Village I've never seen flooding. The building has a generator that can supply 100% power to the whole building, including the aircon. Blackouts aren't frequent so we don't use it often. Typhoons and heavy rain have never been a problem. I don't know how well it would hold up in a major earthquake. Probably not very well. I don't regret buying, but the market was completely different 30 years ago. With today's inflated prices, I probably wouldn't buy.
Get dual citizenship and buy land near the beach. Samal island has great views. This is the road I live on, looking down from above. Thanks to the elevation, the sea stretches out 180 degrees and you can see ships coming into Davao port.
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