FlameAura

From Google research it seems 20k php per sq metre is an average price?

Would be looking at Samar island.. near Calbayog, maybe in the mountain area so price of land shouldn't be as much as it would be in the city?

Can someone give me a rough ballpark figure how much it would all cost in TOTAL? Land/materials/labour. Not exactly sure on the size, but would ideally be looking at 3/4 bedrooms with the rest of the usual.

Thanks.

Gazza-d

Just built a house and excluding the land came to 20,100 pesos per square metre, that's including labour. If you are remote the land and labour will likely be cheaper but materials more expensive due to transportation. I think labour was about 30% of the cost. We already owned the land so you could add another 400-500k if we had to buy it. As there has been a big clampdown on building residential property on agricultural land be careful you aren't sold a pup that looks a bargain.

mikek1

This is a a good and accurate figure. We are going through the process of Building a House, and have had 3 quotes. The quotes are coming in at 20k-23k per sq.mtr. When we have looked carefully at the quotes it was obvious that there were items that were overpriced to gain the contractors more profit. Having had several meetings with architects ,contractors, plus checking the prices of Internal fittimgs, and construction materials it is posible to accertain if a quotation is honest and acceptable.
The cost of any house will be dependant on the quality of the Internal fittings, wc’s, faucets, shower units, doors,windows, tiles, kitchen units, appliances, light fittings, etc. etc.These items make up a large cost of construction, and having some knowledge of their costs is helpful.
As Gazza points out, the location of a House Will have a bearing on the cost. Expect Manila to be more expensive than the provinces. The cost of a lot will vary considerably, depending on the location. Beach front, and sub division will be far higher. Access to any lot is paramount, it is no good buying a cheap lot then finding you have limited access, or have to cross other peoples land to enter your lot. Research on buying lots is imperative.

A major problem we have incurred is finding a reliable contractor. There are many contractors, however most are very unreliabe, promise the earth and deliver nothing. My firm advice would be to thouroughly research any project, gain knowledge of the costs involved, get a few quotes, make sure a contract is in place. You Will need a legal contract, defining terms of payment, completion date, guarrantee, etc.etc.

Do not rush into anything. A House and lot can be a very large purchase, best to be wise.

Raffin

Another cost may be Revolutionary Tax. There have been a number of NPA incidents around Calbayog. And you are thinking of building outside the town in elevated country. We owned a beach front property in Bicol up to a few years ago. Despite that an approach was made by the local NPAs for revolutionary tax. Luckily one of my wife's brothers was acquainted and we just paid a one off P10,000.

Gazza-d

We had a set of drawings made, just a copy of my own drawing really but more official. We then got qoutes for labour only, we supplied all materials. The foundations, block work and finishing was labour 550k, the roof labour 120k then everything else was pay by the job. Painting in and out was 120k (including materials), tiling throughout labour 40k. I did all the electrics and plumbing. Total area including the double garage is about 140 sq m.

Stokkevn

Price and quality of the workmanship will obviously depend on who you get to do the work. But in general -
Rule 1 - never employ family.
Rule 2 - never employ family.

Anyone you are looking to use try and speak to people they have worked for before and you might find a pearl. I needed a small section of clear roof replacing over the outside sink, finding no 'so called' professionals my wife got one of the pedicab cyclists to put it in, this will be a disaster says I, how wrong can you be, great job and quick, even cleaned up after he had finished. Since then have had him clean, derusted and painted main roof, replaced roof over dirty kitchen and done a couple of building jobs in the garden all completed well before I thought they would ( replacing the roof the first thing he did was prime the new tin, then remove the old roof by which time he could put the 1st colour coat on, then by the time he had finished installing the roof the final coat, all done in one day ). Each time he has come up the evening before to go through all the tools and materials required. Unfortunately have given him such glowing reports around the village that he is in great demand so instead of P300 a day I now have to pay him P500 but still well worth it.

Price per square meter will depend on how closely you get involved, manage the build and how well you can pick the good workers, quality is not the first or even the 10th concern here. Things to look out for are plumbing, electrics, laying of tiles and small reed bar appearing in the wall sections, mainly due to the correct size being delivered but then swapped for smaller size late that evening. Concrete mix is rarely the international standard of 4 sand, 1 cement, worst I have seen is 7 fly ash, 1 cement to make hollow blocks, the unused cement spirited away and sold to the next customer.

Sorry it all sounds a bit negative but fore warned is fore armed.

Gazza-d

One big proboem here is everyone is used to a shoddy job so recommendations are largely useless. The contractor that built our house came well recommended and on the whole did a resonable job, by Philippines standards a very good job. Saying that he wouldn't last 10 seconds in the UK. He himself did the floor tiling and it look ok but as a tiler he didn't really know how to tile properly, his workers made a complete gash of the bathrooms. We went through 3 more tilers doing other jobs. Even the best did a bodge job but was the neatest. They just don't have the range of materials here that we are used to in the west and the ones they do have they don't know how to use them effectively. Your best bet is if you can find someone who has worked abroad.

Raffin

Maybe the OP won't fancy or can't afford living in a new subdivision where you can either buy a house from the developer, an existing resident or, even after having read the spot on advice given in this thread chance having a house built. But that would be my advice after being involved with four properties here, two of which were new builds by us. In the larger subdivisions it is often possible to see a builder's past constructions and even talk to the resident owner.

Gazza-d

I think the point I was trying to make is that most owners here would not know a good if it bit them on the hiney. And unless they have been directly involved in the building trade most foreigners wouldn't either.

Raffin

I think that most Expats just have to greatly lower expectations. But at all costs avoid really serious problems showing up after moving in. Some good advice I was given, too late, was to withhold a final payment for a certain time after completion.

tropicofcancer

Ours was architect designed and built. In 2001. The main workers, were provided by the architect. The architect, was paid for the drawings, and a weekly payment. All work was overseen by him, a briefing every morning, and a walk round, plus a check, of the previous day's work. Spot checks made, and signing off, of major works, before being covered. Material requirement lists were given in advance. We were responsible for the purchase of same. Costs were high, because of a tiled roof, and the house was strongly built, with a quality finish. It cost five-million pesos plus just over nineteen years ago. The workers were first class, and paid accordingly.
We had a problem last year, with our kitchen units from UK, so we called the architect. Who designed a new one. Also a couple of ceilings, needed replacing. Treated mahogany beams, having been eaten by termites. So replaced with metal. The architect in question, is extremely proud of his designs and builds. As such only employs, first class workers. Anything you want to change, there to advise in a flash.
You need a good architect, with good workers, and good materials.

abner

Well that's one way, for those that can afford it.

This is an alternative take, from a retired workmate of mine, of modest means in Australian terms, but with two huge assets when it came to building a house in the Philippines:
- a Filipina wife, who didn't know much about house-building at first, but stuck to her guns in terms of getting local prices instead of "foreigner prices" for the major aspects of the build
- infinite patience, both to allow his wife to work the price down, but also to develop a build plan that reflected both cost-effective local practice and accommodation of Australian-level amenities in the house, and then to complete the work in a staged process that was frustratingly long, but cost efficient.

Total build cost $65K AUD (ex land) for a cleanly-finished fully-air-conditioned (his requirement) two bedroom two bathroom house.

Absolutely chalk and cheese from what 'tropicofcancer' describes. Yet after two long years, solidly build and very livable, even by Western standards,

And each close to representing the endpoints in terms of "retirement in the Philippines" good housing possibilities for OECD-30 types...

britishbull

It is often a question of making face for Filipinos, getting them lots of extra money out of the "rich" foreigner. The smaller building merchants will ramp up the cost and split the extra profit with the builder or even the wife if buying direct - I know unbelievable that when you are doing something nice for her you she turns around and rips you off. It is a good test of the honesty of one's wife, I guess. Doing it in stages seems like a good idea, getting the actual structure and roof done to the local standards (using concrete and metal) and ramping up the internal quality once it is watertight. I would make it as small as possible, though, otherwise it will just be filled up with the extended family, same for non-agri land... filipino's flow to whatever is free and you might end up feeding a small village in the backyard!

Stokkevn

Easy way to keep the family from moving in, get two ( or more ) feral dogs and feed them well, then make it to open the gate from outside you have to put your hand through a hole in a solid panel to pull back the bolt on the inside. In ten years no one has just opened the gate and walked in.

nonthaburi

Although not in the Philippines, I've built two houses in Thailand and witnessed many others experiences over the years . I believe there are a lot of similarities between the two. Of course, everyone's budget is different but there are some general things that apply no matter what the size or budget.

Anyways, IME, avoid paying the builders a complete price for the whole job. You're just leaving yourself wide open here, to the use of inferior materials, cheaper materials, the wrong materials. Anything that means the builder can save money on a shortcut. Seen some houses built this way where the foreign owner doesn't have a clue how much he was ripped off. But a quick look at the fixtures and fittings, types of brick used can tell you an awful lot. Just because it looks okay, doesn't mean it is okay.

Pay for labour only!!! Can't stress this enough. It's a bit more of a pain to do the running around to builders' yards etc getting materials , but you guarantee getting what you want, the quality you want, and only paying for the quantity you want.

Also, different builders for different things. Just because someone makes a good post, doesn't mean they can lay a tile flat . Ask around, look at jobs they've done previously. Get recommendations. Personally we use Burmese guys these days because we've found they're more reliable with a better work ethic.

Get the job you want. Often builders like to do things a certain way. You're paying, you get to say how it's going to look, not the other way round. Be careful of over complicating things, a village builder might struggle with your ideas.

Pay step by step. Make sure that the builder has always done more work than you've paid him for. If he walks off the job, you've not lost anything.

Keep your builders happy. Buy them some beer or whiskey at the end of the day sometimes. Not every day but every two to three days. Simple things buy you loyalty.

Never employ family. Don't just accept whatever your partner says . Just because someone is from the Philippines doesn't make them an expert on building in the Philippines.

Building can be very stressful, but done right it can be very rewarding.