Searching For House and Lot in Negros Oriental

Searching for a house and lot in Negros Oriental yourself or do you Hire a Real Estate Professional?

Read a day in MY life and maybe you will have second thoughts about doing it yourself !

Searching for a house and lot in Negros Oriental, or anywhere in the Philippines can be an exercise that could drive you over the brink of sanity, cause you to shake your head in amazement and wonder or for the real patient of you at least put a smile of amusement on your face. Rather than explain to newbies here why, I decided to recount a tale of my typical as a some one who is in the business of finding options for the clients of our Real Estate Marketing business.

• 7 am – My wife and I out the door with a list of appointments to view properties, made the day before from the previous week’s contacts
• 7:30 – standing by the side of the road in Balugo waiting for our 7:30 appointment to show up
• 7:30 – 8:00 repeated unanswered calls and text to our  7:30 appoint who did not show up
• 8:05 – receive a text from 7:30 appointment saying that they will meet us at 9:00. No apology or reason given.
• 8:15 – race to Hypermart to meet our 8:30 appointment.
• 8:25 – receive text from 8:30 appointment that she will meet us in Batinguel instead
• 8:35 – arrive in Batinguel and spend 10 minutes to find house she was supposed to meet us at ( poor directions and no street signs help add to this confusion
• 8:45 – 8:55 – my wife engages in a conversation that I cannot understand
• 8:55 – my wife advises me I will have to go with this person while she hops on a trike and goes back to meet the 7:30 appointment at the revised 9:00 time.
• 9:00 – 9:15 – I wait around with the 8:30 appointment while she makes numerous phone calls and texts to someone else. I cannot understand anything that has been said and am just told “for a while sir”
• 9:15 -9:25 – travel back to the Hypermart area (where we supposed to meet in the first place) and travel down numerous back alleys and goat paths to arrive at a small shack. 8:30 appointment knocks on the door and shirtless man answers. They get involved in an animated conversation for 10 minutes with a lot of hand waving. Shirtless man disappears back inside house. When asked, 8:30 appointment tells me we a big smile on her face “for a while sir”

• 9:45 – “for a while sir” ends up being 15 minutes, at which now shirted man walks out has another animated exchange with 8:30 appointment. He hops on his vintage scooter and we follow.
• 10:00 – after following “now shirted man”, we turn off the main road and travel down several more rutted dirt tracks, where “now shirted man” gets off his bike and turns to me with a big grin. Here is the lot sir . Hmmmm, 100 meters off the main road through a farmers field and what appears to be some one’s yard. I make a futile bid to explain that we were told that this lot had good access off a main road. “Yes sir it does” , I am told “there is going to a built here”. Knowing it is useless to explain that until the road is built, this lot is basically unsaleable, I just agree and curiously ask for the price as I know I will now need to get a laugh to put me in a better mood. I am told “2,500 per sqm, ONLY, sir. I decide to extend the laugh a little longer and explain that the price is way to expensive, knowing what the answer will be. “but sir, there is a lot just over there that the owner is asking 3,000 P/sqm for.” Hmmmm, but did she sell it? “Not yet sir” . Having had my laugh and now in better spirits, I leave it at that . As I am getting on my motorbike, “now shirted man” asks, “when do you pay sir” . Just to get even for my time having been wasted, I devilishly tell the guy that probably next week. Now he will be partying in celebration for the next few days ,,,hehhe. ya, I know, sometime I am cruel.
• 10:30 – I have finally got rid of 8:30 appointment and shirtless man and am my way to pick up my wife, who cannot explain where she is. 7:30 appointment has not shown up at the revised time. We have missed 10:00 appointment which is now rescheduled for 12:00.
• 11:00 – 11:15 standing by the side of the road sending answered texts to  11:00 appointment
• 11:20 – 11:00 appointment shows and has 10 min highly animated conversation with the same hand waving as I witnessed earlier today.
• 11:30 – 11:50 – travel on motorbike to several houses where hand waving gestures repeat themselves
• 12:00 – arrive at the intended lot, which incredibly is right where they said it would be, beside a main cemented road. To further impress me, 11:00 appointment, along with the other 6 people we have picked up along the way, are able to show me the survey markers and provide me with a sketch plan. Now we can get down to business ! I ask the normal questions, how much, is there a clean title and how many people have to sign off on it? I am told “for awhile sir”. So awhile it shall be ,lol. For the next 10 minutes I observe a hand waving conversation between the 6-7 people now assembled, with repeated phone calls to another party, whom I have not yet met and I assume actually has some authority to see the lot. My “for a while sir” has expired and now I am about to be brought into the loop of knowledge. 1,500 Pesos sir , (great) title is clean sir , (hmm will have to wait to see that) , and only 6 people who have already signed an extra-judicial settlement. Only 6 eh? hmmm. good luck with that ,lol. But I decide to take the chance that I am not just going to be wasting more time, and get my wife to ask them to come into the office with all the proper documents and all people who will be involved. A meeting is set up for 3:00.
• 1:00 – since 12:00, my wife has been receiving continuing texts and phone calls from 7:30 appointment (rescheduled for 12:00) who has become increasingly rude now that the shoe is on the other foot and she has been made to wait. My attitude is let her wait, but my wife, whom I do love dearly, insists that we speed back across town as quick as humanly possible, risking death along the way, just so she does not look bad in the eyes of this lady who has had us waiting all morning. Can’t understand that thinking, but if I do not want to add to my misery, I have to put my feelings aside and gun the engine.
• 1:15 – arrive at specified meeting place only to find no one there. My wife re-texts, which for 15 minutes go unanswered. 7:30 appointment shows up at 1:30 and immediately involves my wife in one of those 10 minute hand waving, animated conversations that I of course can understand less than 5 words.
• 1:45 – off we go, stopping along the way to pick up the usual “people in the know”.
• 2:10 – we arrive at what I believe to be our intended destination, where another animated, hand waving conversation is carried on with an old coco-wine inebriated gentleman. Turns out no one is getting his land, lololol, “but not to worry sir” he has a friend or cousin or nephew down the way who does want to sell his land. The convoy loads up, and away we go “down the way”.
• 2:20 – we arrive “down the way” to discover a nice find . a well proportioned lot right on the main cemented road, and believe it or not, he only wants 1,400 P/sqm. He has the title, which is clean as well as the sketch plan. I am now happy that my day may not have been wasted. My wife makes arrangements for the man to come into the office with a photocopy of the documents and to sign an agreement with us for the right to market his property. Will see him at 4:00
• 3:00 – meet 11:00 appointment and some of the people who seem to have an interest in the property. Well the fun begins! No sketch plan, but “it is ok sir, just pay us some money and we will go get it” . ya right. and the real kicker, 1 of the 6 cannot be reached because he is off traveling, and the another just seems to have died. Another waste of time that is just not worth pursuing.

• 4:00 the man from”down the way” shows up photocopies in hand, and with all the people of the convoy that accompanied us earlier. hmmmm,,,. well now seems that the price is 2,000 per sqarere meter and every single one of the “convoy” wants a cut of the commission. Oh ya, don’t forget sir , that is my “net price”, if you want commission you have to add that on top as well as all costs for the transaction. Another huge waste of time.
• 4:30 – finally peace and quiet. everybody has left the building leaving my wife and I to reflect on the day. hmmm, did we not miss an appointment somewhere along the way? We just laugh and get ready for the same adventure tomorrow.

Well, if you are reading this line now you may have exhibited enough patience and perserverance to actually go out and try searching for a house and lot yourself here. But why would you? A good professional will save you most of this time and aggravation and will leave you enough time to actually go out and enjoy the beautiful city stress free.

If you want help searching for a house and lot in Negros Oriental,  or Siquijor, we would love to hear from you.

contact us at info@philippine-islandproperties.com

to learn how you can protect your real estate investment in the Philippines, please check out this post