Living in the Philippines

Finding a house or place to live in the Philippines

I know that there are a lot of people out there who desperately search all over the web, trying to find an apartment, a flat or a house for rent in the Philippines. They think they can book such a long term accommodation just like a holiday.

Well, you can not and you will never find those "Houses For Rent" in the Internet. You'll find some, but mostly condominium style apartments in the bigger cities and quite expensive, too.

But do you really want to stay in a dirty big city, in a skyscraper with pissed stairways and noisy walls while you are in the Philippines, where you should stay maybe near a beach, close to nature.

Keep in mind, that you can easily find a small house for rent from about 3,000,- Peso onwards all over the Philippines, if you just go a little out of the cities in the province.

House for rent on Bohol Island, Philippines
This Townhouse I found near Alona Beach, Bohol. Just as a sample, not for rent anymore I guess

Think for a moment you are a Filipino and you have a small piece of land left near a tourist region and you build a small house on it to make some extra money from it by renting it out to some foreign Expats.

Would you make a web page for that? No! You would draw a sign and hang it in the window: "House For Rent, contact Tel..." and that's it and that is what the Filipinos are doing!

What I want to say is, if you want to find a reasonable cheap accommodation, a nice small house in the province: Fly to the Philippines, check in some guest house for a couple of days, rent a motorbike or a car and go and look around. Ask people, friends, taxi drivers etc.

You'll have to go about 2 -3 km from the tourist centers and you find dozens of "Houses for Rent". Guarantied. If you plan to stay near a tourist spot however, you should come before the High Season starts, otherwise most of this houses are gone to the 6 month expats like diving instructors, retirees and others. Good Luck!