EDITED This was submitted as a comment but we are republishing it as a anonymous “guest post”. Everything herein are the views of the commenter.
It took us 3 years to find a lot, we visited Antique, iloilo, etc…
we ve met about 30 brokers, license or not, 90% of them were scammers and liars, then we ve met 4 contractors, 1 was honest, 1 we ll never know, the 3rd was obviously a scammer, and finally the 4th, recommended by our Police investigator Brothhter in law, who scammed us and drove us to almost bankruptcy. They gave us fake license and architect diplom etc..
And let s talk about Police…
3 times we met Policemen who were playing the role of broker, 3 scams, taking huge margins between 2 and 4 times the real price, they have all the rights to help someone to sell a lot, but they cannot ask any margin, they would need to be brokers and then licensed, so this is a scam.
Actually we are suing the fake architect contrator, it cost us 600 000PHP for civil and criminal, money we will never see back as they spent it all, out of 6 millions budget, they stole 3.4 millions by cheating on absolutely everything, footing size was divided by 3, beams by 2, no 16mm rebars they changed by 8 and 10mm, etc etc…
I could go on with the construction, the corrupted engineer office the contractor bribed because they re illegal, they have no license and can not engage in construction nor contracting. i could tell you about the supplier, accomplice who made fake receipts and bills for them, etc
If you plan to invest millions, the sharks will show up.
Edit. The night before we finalize the sale with our notary, they told us there was encumbrance on the title, mortgage, while we already sign the promise of sale , i can t remember the name.
They were then asking half the price of the lot so they can remove the encumbrance and get back the title from the bank.
It was out of question. We went to the bank with them, the mortgage was on 400 000, and they were asking 2.5M. While they got the whole money a week later.
This is another scam, if we would have known the truth we would have never signed, especially because that s the first question i always ask, is there any encumbrance on the title?
Worse, the notary did not find out about it…
I could talk about our rental experience which is not even better, we rent between 20 000 and 40 000 for 8 years, rich owners of course, 4 out of six were not giving us BIR receipts, raise PECO bills by 20 to 50%, they consider they give us a service and take such margin.
I could tell you how half of my wife s family forbid us to sue their son/brother in law (married to the eldest) because he s helping them from time to time, the other half want are siding with us because he scammed their sister and I. His parents are totally ashamed, his siblings told us to sue him.
I don t say Illongos are dishonest. but if you plan to spend big, there are some sphere were there are plenty of scammers, those business or business men that manipulates big money. And if they do, it s because they can, the law are pretty elusive and there are corrupt government officer to help them…
Illongo are honest? I ve ordered or received hundreds of international packets/ parcels, i ve received them all, without any missing items, that s was not such a happy experience in Bali, Malasyia and thailand. In Iloilo, all taxi use the meter, not the case in Manila and Cebu, although it drastically changed since Duterte or most of the countries i ve lived or visited.
So yes, majority of Illongos are honest, and it s pleasant not to fight with scamming taxi drivers and other vendors, but if you want to invest big money, you will see another world.
Let s talk about murders, there is not a day without one in Iloilo, almost everyday someone is killed by those motorcycle tandems, etc etc..
Now as a foreginer, i ve never been annoyed in any way. As Bob and Carol said, Illongos are pretty shy type, not so open at first, but always respectfull but very few black sheeps.
I remember Bob and Carol said you d rather have low profile in Philippines and i Agree. Like in Thailand, conflicts are often unfair (outnumber, etc), and often involved knife or firearms. When you see that sueing those scammers cost us 600K PHP (125K just for the civil court fees), you guess Filipinos would find other ways to punish them.
All those said, i would leave Philippines for other opportunities or if i totally get bankrupt, so there are positive sides in Philippines that would still make me stay. But i always planned to live somewhere else than Iloilo, which is too boring for me, PP is more to my taste.
NB. Always get a good lawyer for your business or estate transaction, it s hard to get good ones, our third one is not only jovial but also knowledgeable and competent, and this trait of character when you get the stress of being scammed and getting to court, is really big help (jovial).
Related
Our Philippine House Project: Architects and BuildersAugust 21, 2011In “Architecture, Design, Builders, Permits”
Iloilo Real Estate Notes and SnapshotsMarch 13, 2012In “Iloilo Real Estate”
Driving in the Philippines: suggestions for the foreignerSeptember 29, 2008In “Perspectives and Essays – Life in the Philippines”
- JANUARY 5, 2020
- COMMENTS 0
- Filed under: Buying a lot, boundary survey, Iloilo Real Estate, Perspectives and Essays – Life in the Philippines
source https://kristelmaedelvalle1.wordpress.com/2020/06/10/one-foreigners-real-estate-experiences/
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