General Info

[Jarango]

You don't beat around the Bush. LOL!

If I were to live in Metro Manila, your recommendation is Rent the Condo.
Never purchase. Correct?

It comes down to personal preferences but, to me, the Philippines is an inherently economically unstable country. The SE Asian expat market is a bubble and, unless one stays in one's lane, it is hard to blend in; one is a target or oddity of one sort or another.

In my recent visit, I noticed rents go up 10% or so a year, irrespective of how the overall market is doing. That, to me, is a bubble, as it makes no economic sense.

When one buys a place, one rents it or lives in it (rents to oneself). I don't like to be a landlord in the Philippines and I don't like to be like one of those Japanese soldiers stuck there after the War.

That said, there are plenty of Europeans claiming they are doing well in Angeles. But sitting around a bad or cafe all day every day with nothing but my jocks on doesn't really hit the sweet spot for me.

The three rules of property are location, location, location, with a bad location in a good location being better than a good location in a bad location. I guess if I had to go for anywhere in the Philippines, it would be a surf type place (Bali is better). Though some like university towns, I would not like to be renting bedspaces to impoverished students.

I have a lady friend there who would like to have a sari sari store in the Visayas. A nice lady but, with hold ups, assholes and 10% rent increases, I don't want to make it my Vietnam.

I get it that the Philippines is cheap. But you can buy houses in Detroit for a $1, which is a good deal if you are ex Korean Special Forces.

As regards buying a Condo in Manila, I would opt for settled, upper class (over priced) areas and be prepared to take a major hit on it.

These are just my ideas, as I freeze here and the lure of Pinay muff whispers sell up and move to Borocay in my ear.

EDIT: You can check out relevant indices here but, as all property is local (Chicago ain't Detroit or LA) I am unsure how helpful they are in an odd ball market like SEAsia https://www.google.com/search?q=philippines+proiperty+index&rlz=1C1GCEA_enIE1106IE1106&oq=philippines+proiperty+index&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yCggCEAAYCBgNGB4yCggDEAAYCBgNGB4yDQgEEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgFEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgGEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyCggHEAAYgAQYogQyCggIEAAYgAQYogQyCggJEAAYgAQYogTSAQg1Mjc5ajBqNKgCALACAQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[BKKguru]

That is a shot in the dark. The Philippines is not a steady place and nor is the apartment market, too much of which depends on starry eyed and horny elderly expats. The Philippines is a tragedy and sinking serious money in it would make it our tragedy. Nice women outside of the hooker sperm buckets but a fool and his money.

You don't beat around the Bush. LOL!

If I were to live in Metro Manila, your recommendation is Rent the Condo.
Never purchase. Correct?

Thanks,
~BKK

[Jarango]

What's up OG vets, anyone traveled to Philippines lately?

I am planning a trip this coming spring and I am UNVACCINATED.

Do I still need a PCR / Antigen negative test 24 hours prior to the trip? Or just do the etravel thing?

Looking to hear your experience. Is this still an entry requirements?

https://apply.joinsherpa.com/travel-restrictions

My experience is I needed an evisa. For Covid etc requirements, check he above authoritative site, amongst others.

[Aml3740]

What's up OG vets, anyone traveled to Philippines lately?

I am planning a trip this coming spring and I am UNVACCINATED.

Do I still need a PCR / Antigen negative test 24 hours prior to the trip? Or just do the etravel thing?

Looking to hear your experience. Is this still an entry requirements?

They do not ask vaccination status on eTravel, and that is the only entry paperwork to enter the country. For entry, I think you are fine if you are unvaccinated. Now, most places do not ask for a vaccination card anymore, but it's the Philippines, and places can do almost whatever they want. I haven't been asked for my card in over a year. Some places, such as hospitals and doctors offices, do still as you to wear a mask, however.

[Happy Player]

What's up OG vets, anyone traveled to Philippines lately?

I am planning a trip this coming spring and I am UNVACCINATED.

Do I still need a PCR / Antigen negative test 24 hours prior to the trip? Or just do the etravel thing?

Looking to hear your experience. Is this still an entry requirements?

No need for any test and vaccine.

Just go online and get a eVisa for 30 days and you can extend this for another 29 days.

But if you stay longer than 30 days you will need a throw away ticket as airline will want to see this.

[ElSexoChino7]

What's up OG vets, anyone traveled to Philippines lately?

I am planning a trip this coming spring and I am UNVACCINATED.

Do I still need a PCR / Antigen negative test 24 hours prior to the trip? Or just do the etravel thing?

Looking to hear your experience. Is this still an entry requirements?

[Jarango]

FB reel from John Dang regarding the number of unoccupied condo units in Manila (70,000+), how long it will take you to grow a unit's market value, and outlying provinces to consider for the future.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/633792189114642

That is a shot in the dark. The Philippines is not a steady place and nor is the apartment market, too much of which depends on starry eyed and horny elderly expats. The Philippines is a tragedy and sinking serious money in it would make it our tragedy. Nice women outside of the hooker sperm buckets but a fool and his money.

[WestCoast1]

FB reel from John Dang regarding the number of unoccupied condo units in Manila (70,000+), how long it will take you to grow a unit's market value, and outlying provinces to consider for the future.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/633792189114642

[Old And Ugly]

Hello Friends! Asking this question while the topic maybe fresh in people's minds -.

Asia experts: How does Philippines scene look around Christmas and NYE? Is it fair to assume that being on the religious side. Most girls would take vacation around this time to be with Family and Friends and it would be slim pickings this time of the year? How does it compare to the rest of Asia (say Thailand / Japan / Vietnam) over the same time period?

DESERTED. Absolutely no human activity can be detected.

[Goferring]

Hey guys,

I've been wondering, do you use your real photos when hunting for freelancers in Tinder, Pinalove etc?

Or do you use some fake photos and try to stay discreet?

I'm asking because my trip is in a few days and I'm not sure what to do about this.

Thanks.

You need to include "a" photo or your profile will be prioritised last when shown to girls. Any girls that you do message will be unlikely to reply as no pic screams psycho or scammer.

Whether the photo is you or not depends on your security requirements. Do you care of family (wife? Sees you online. Some guys don't want any traceability at all. Remember that photos can be reversed searched so it's a good idea to use a clean photo that cannot be connected to your work, Facebook account etc.

Girls are getting more savvy now too. I've met plenty that would not chat with an unverified subscriber. This brings up it's own issues. How trusting are you to send these apps copies of your formal government ID to get the 'verified' tag?

As you can see it's a trade off. The most secure will see you get no / few matches or chats. Being Mr Popular entails sharing info that many guys are not happy to have broadcast everywhere.

Personally, I don't post actual pics on apps but I'm happy to live video chat with girls that I'm actually interested in.

Enjoy. G.

[Goferring]

I bought a phone in the Philippines a couple of years ago. It was mid-range, at about 6. 5 k. Bought a globe sim, and it worked great. I just did the pre-paid load, as it is good enough and I have wifi most places I stay.

My problem was that it would not load or work when I came back to the US. My gcash, Lazada, Globe One app would all stop working because I needed a OTP, and I could t receive it.

That phone was dual sim, and I thought I would get a pre-paid sim and use it here, but, even though the IMEI number check said it would be compatible with the network, it wouldn't work. Come to find out, the phone was not compatible with the US cellular bands.

I wanted a working phone as well when I came went back to the Philippines. So, what I did is buy a cheap used iPhone SE 3rd generation for about $150. It has space for a physical sim and is also eSIM compatible. I loaded it and it worked fine. I get OTP texts just fine now in the US for my Philippines needs, and even weather alerts, etc.

If you get a compatible phone with eSIM, just download the Globe One app. You can load it from gcash, register it, and good to go. Gcash makes things convenient. For whatever reason, if I have load balance for Globe, it won't let me convert load balance to buy a promo. It's stupid hehehe.

Thanks. Yes I have a phone that works in all the (non US) countries that I visit whenever I install a local SIM. It's not that old but it doesn't accept a eSIM. Not sure why and it's not worth me changing phones over. Resetting all the new settings, apps etc to what I want would take longer than getting a SIM at the airport upon arrival. This time I'll actually keep it so that it can be topped up online. I might even do a test 50 p top up before leaving.

It would have been good to arrive ready to go but it's not a deal breaker.

Thanks again. G.

P.S. I often loose access to OTPs etc when swapping international networks. No idea why but if I still have wifi, then I will receive the SMS even if there is no roaming Telco data connection. Now I just make sure to do all that type of stuff in a hotel room with a good connection.

G.

[ShaggerAu]

Hey guys,

I've been wondering, do you use your real photos when hunting for freelancers in Tinder, Pinalove etc?

Or do you use some fake photos and try to stay discreet?

I'm asking because my trip is in a few days and I'm not sure what to do about this.

Thanks.

Philippines and AC are small places. I like to keep things sperate and don't want my work colleagues knowing I'm on PL.

I successfully used https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/ and keep refreshing until I find someone like myself. Remove any watermarks.

I have a legit pic on whatsapp. They rarely remember the PL profile as they get so many messages. I just say I lost weight since I did that profile.

[Aml3740]

Different topic. Exchange rates. Sent myself a remittance, from my home country bank to GC. From the pics you can see that there was no fee, and that the remittance service gave me p56.02 for each dollar they took from my bank account. The exchange rate at the time was p58.7 per 1 USD. Thus representing an approximate loss to me of 58.7 - 56.02 = 2. 68 pesos per dollar on the exchange.

Other remittance organizations offer a higher exchange rate (better for you), but they usually charge a fee of a few USD (worse for you).

I use Sendwave to send to my gcash. It is usually about one peso less than the exchange rate. The cash in rate for most places to gcash (if you have cash) is at least 15 pesos per 1 k, or 1. 5 pesos per hundred, so not much difference.

[WestCoast1]

Different topic. Exchange rates. Sent myself a remittance, from my home country bank to GC. From the pics you can see that there was no fee, and that the remittance service gave me p56.02 for each dollar they took from my bank account. The exchange rate at the time was p58.7 per 1 USD. Thus representing an approximate loss to me of 58.7 - 56.02 = 2. 68 pesos per dollar on the exchange.

Other remittance organizations offer a higher exchange rate (better for you), but they usually charge a fee of a few USD (worse for you).

[NoobMonger0]

Hey guys,

I've been wondering, do you use your real photos when hunting for freelancers in Tinder, Pinalove etc?

Or do you use some fake photos and try to stay discreet?

I'm asking because my trip is in a few days and I'm not sure what to do about this.

Thanks.