How much will it cost to build a house?

Where did you get the rules?

Those are easy to find ...just google them ...you can also look on youtube were the village people explains everything into details

sirrobcentral wrote:

Dimples, on my Facebook page I have been posting the progress videos of my house as it is being built. I started with just a shell and lot... cost P470,000,00. I showed from start to present... Upon completion it will be a 3bdr + a Master's Suite + a separate maid's quarters... it's all captured on video so there are no questions as to the facts. Upon completion my out of pocket for construction cost will not be over P600,000,00. I will inbox you my Facebook contact information so you can view for your self. I have a lot of videos I have made that I share with my friends from the United States because many are Pensioners like me that just want to live stress free.

How did your home building project go? I am beginning to build a home (looking for a design build company) here in Davao. The lot has already been purchased. Please PM me. If you are near Davao, I am happy to buy you a drink or coffee.

Mario1508 wrote:

...trusting my inlaws and even my ex wife costed me a lot of money...to build a house in Osmeña , surigoa del norte, dinagat islands.....every month i send money for almost a year because i am on disability and wanted to retire there coz that was better for my health ...after one year sending money and me and my ex were ready to move over and leave everything here behind ...i was stunned when i arrived ...the house was supposed to be ready to move in but all i saw was 4 walls and a roof 😳😳😳
No floors , no tiles , no windows ...in short terms something that should look like a house after 2 to 4 weeks ...i went sick to my stomach when i saw it ! ...but my ex and her family really showed me what there true intentions were when we met in 2011.... just using me and taking advantage of my good heart ...i hate them but i hate myself even more for trusting those people

I feel very bad for you.

God bless
Wayne

Frode wrote:

Hello. Plan to build houses in Davao. Do you have any advice?

Greeting Frode.

Oversee EVERYTHING yourself.   Check materials for quality and correct installation. Make sure concrete is mixed properly.  From footers to finish watch everything.

Like a lot of things in the Phils. Its not what you know but who you know. We have just finished a house in Cebu and are going the motions of furnishing it. It was done remotely from outside the country with a few visits from us.
The house construction and workmanship are all above board and to our satisfaction. It was handled by a house building company that is related to the family of my wife.
It can be done but really need to know who your dealing with and whatever it takes get this info you need to do it. There are trust worthy Philos in every walk of life both in the Phils and abroad.

Hi, could you inbox me a link also please. Many thanks

Hello i like ure post om wondering to move and build a house in Davao City , any possibilities to see your building progress in facebook ?

My Facebook I'd is***

Best regards

Alf

You can find me under thewoodenpotter. The house now virtually complete largely cosmetic touches

Dont really have a link as such find me on FB under same name as here on messenger

Foreigner cannot own a land in Philippines, right? How to build a house then?

It is true, I think this is common to everyone, at least I have always been told by property agents

treyzhang wrote:

Foreigner cannot own a land in Philippines, right? How to build a house then?

On land owned by your wife.  To play it safe you can have a lease formalized.  Plenty of info on other threads, when in doubt ask CaliforniaNative.

A foreigner cannot own land unless it is bequeathed to him or her...and then they must sell to a Filipino.

It is quite acceptable to lease a piece of land from the owner for say 20 years and then build your home on it or a rest-house. Baring in mind that if the lease is not renewed, the property will become the property of the land owner ...unless its a caravan when you can can move it somewhere else.

To potential house builders who rely on family to have their homes built from overseas BE CAREFUL. When the house is finished there is no sign of poor quality building work, no sign of undersized rebar in the concrete, no sign of weak concrete mix and depth of concrete slab in the ground.

Some of these problems show themselves after a few years or rough weather.  We know a couple who live in Dubai and had their large house built by a recommend architect who has also built other houses on the Subdivision.  Instead of having a rain gutter round the roof edge like conventional systems they install a stainless steel gutter close to the roof edge but underneath the tile surface. This looks nicer than seeing the gutter but any problems with the gutter leaking will be almost impossible to repair without removing the tiles.

When you buy stainless steel you have 2 choices, the interior which is quite thin and the exterior sheeting that is much stronger and of course longer lasting than the former. To make money out of the owner an architect will substitute the cheaper interior stainless for the  dearer exterior type.  I have had this explained to me by a hardware shop here in San Pablo who warned me to check the thickness of the stainless before I bought it.  I have seen a rain gutter made from the cheap grade blown and twisted from a new house roof. The  newly built house with stainless gutter system inside the roof has been made with the cheap stuff......I know because I touched it and  cut my finger. They will not have any problems for some years but when they do it will be expensive.

Another expat began his build but his builders found problems bending the rebar supplied by the architect where the bends broke the bar. Luckily my friend returned the bar to the Chinese hardware store and found a supply of steel bar made in the Philippines. ....it really does pay YOU to be here during the house build to check on the building quality before the concrete sets!

The sun is so powerful here in the Philippines and only small windows are necessary to light up a room. I find that the style of houses here have tiny windows in kitchens and bathrooms allowing more space to put cabinets or racking. HOWEVER I've been brought up with windows to look through and curtains to draw and have built this into my houses. I enjoy looking through my window when shaving in the morning also looking through the kitchen window when washing the dishes. Planning your new home has to consider the sun and its powerful rays....you should also consider it when buying a lot to build your home...facing the East...do you want to drive your car into the sun  every morning and return into the sun again in the evening? The West is of course the hottest direction after midday but wash the laundry in the morning there,  then hang it out in the sunshine later.  The South is also a sunny spot and ideal garden area with shady trees, with the sun moving across your plants/patio creating shadows where you can sit and read...or browse laptop?

Very interested in watching your videos. Where in the Philippines did you built your house? I am trying to build one in Davao City and currently researching as to how and where to start.

It's an old thread. But there are lots of YT vids online. And Peter Clark gives some great advice. Hopefully you're planning to be there in person. As he and others mention, and also have seen myself, you can't expect it to be done properly if you're not there in person, won't matter even if you have involved family.

Yesterday (8:23PM, 21Jan2021) a Magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit  Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental .
Aftershocks were felt all the way here in Surigao City.
Hope everyone is safe there.

getel_gwapa wrote:

Very interested in watching your videos. Where in the Philippines did you built your house? I am trying to build one in Davao City and currently researching as to how and where to start.

Welcome to the forum, plenty of info here and on the net but ultimately boots on the ground harvests the fruit. Perhaps introduce yourself and others in your chosen area can/will offer their experiences.
Ask away, good luck.

Cheers, Steve.

dimplesz14 wrote:

Hi there, please advice - we're wondering how much would it cost to build a 120sqm house with 3-4BR and 2BA (bungalow/ranch style) doesn't need to be expensive but decent/strong enough materials to live for many many years. I just want to know ROUGHLY how much it could cost and how long would it take to build it? I am thinking Cavite, Batangas or Cebu.

Thank you!

more than they tell you bfore you start building

A small bungalow of 80 sq mts interior space will cost 1.8 mil pesos. A large house of double that would cost 4 mil pesos. Land prices depend on the area and if a subdivision. 6 to  9 pesos a sq mt.
The price to build a bungalow will be the same as a 2 story residence with the same accommodation.

All properties will require a building permit and be according to Philippine Law. Whether the builder or architect as they are called here builds to the plan, well that's up to you to make sure !!!!

Cement and steel saved is  money in the builders pocket and when its completed you will not know the difference until years later when the concrete shrinks and cracks appear.

Peter Clark wrote:

A small bungalow of 80 sq mts interior space will cost 1.8 mil pesos. A large house of double that would cost 4 mil pesos. Land prices depend on the area and if a subdivision. 6 to  9 pesos a sq mt.
The price to build a bungalow will be the same as a 2 story residence with the same accommodation.

All properties will require a building permit and be according to Philippine Law. Whether the builder or architect as they are called here builds to the plan, well that's up to you to make sure !!!!

Cement and steel saved is  money in the builders pocket and when its completed you will not know the difference until years later when the concrete shrinks and cracks appear.

Peter, did you mean around 6 to 9 thousand pesos per square meter in a subdivision?

Prices vary according to where the subdivision is located, upmarket ones may be over 10 thousand per sq mt.  lots on corners are dearer...cannot understand the reason maybe because you have 2 sides of the road to look at. However consider the position as vehicles stop and the noise from them as they move, and also consider at night time when vehicles turn and swing their headlights across your home. This is also a consideration for selecting the lot to build on, privacy and security. Do not build against a wall or at the end of a road.

Philippines / Building A Home & Life in general that you can expect in a 3rd class province/city.
1) Tap Water approx 4-6m3/month...(Will be billed for 10m3/month like thats the minimum charge) which is supplied via a black heavy duty hose to which steel pipes are fitted by respective owners into their homes.
I had to build my own above ground 5m3 rain water collection cemented trough.
2) Tap Water is NOT safe to drink & need to arrange for the blue 5gallons tops ups at the drinking water filling stations (I still reboil the portion that I personally drink)                                       3) Used tap water after washing of plates/showering in toilets goes through the common exit pipes also onto vacant land which may actually over flow onto the neighbours land during heavy downpours. So when building I had to carry out a massive landfill & then a solid brick (hollow block) wall of at least 5ft high with another 3ft of cyclone wire fence.
4) Electricity supply/brown outs : Approx 80% reliable with approx 2-3 power interuptions per month (ranging fm 1hr to 10hrs)                                        5) Wifi is slow to unreliable/poor signal strength so I don't bother taking up any contract plan & use only the mobile sim plan that is renewed weekly. (Forget about large downloads)                                             6) LPG gas required for cooking is purchased by the cylinder (11kgs good for 1.5months)                                           7) No rubbish collection from individual  households..the rubbish collection centre is approx 1.5km away so big bulky rubbish items are  sent to these collection centres by motorbike/car & the rest of it is burnt openly on vacant land. (smell of burning plastics is not uncommon) Infact some inconsiderate residents dump large plastic bags of rubbish onto vacant land.                                  8) Underground sewage dumping tanks need to be fitted up by land owners prior building of home & when that eventually fills up they need to plan for their next sewage dumping tank.                                                          9)  Open defacation is now at a bare minimum but open urinating is still a common practice.
10) So its not just building a beautiful house/home but getting to know your terrain/neighbourhood that you are planning to build in.
Again Omho.

All good stuff Manwonder but we must not judge all the Philippines by our own observation. Tap water in San Pablo is safe to drink as is the well water. Even outside the city the well water is heavily tainted with the iron but the locals drink it because they don't have piped water from the Company in town!
We have an enterprising Israeli Expat who has a business bottling up piped water and selling it to the locals who have only wells. He does need to have his water tested every month but nothing too difficult.
Rubbish is an issue and some subdivisions have a wet and dry pickup or degradable and non degradable. Our pick up times keep varying so a built a small furnace from a steel barrel and cut slots in the bottom, gets rid of paper and plastic stuff very fast but I watch the wind 'cos the neighbours wash their clothes nearby. the next day I spread the ash on the garden but first have to remove the burnt foil. My bro in law sells our metal to a passing trolley  man for a few pesos.

Peter Clark wrote:

All good stuff Manwonder but we must not judge all the Philippines by our own observation. Tap water in San Pablo is safe to drink as is the well water. Even outside the city the well water is heavily tainted with the iron but the locals drink it because they don't have piped water from the Company in town!
We have an enterprising Israeli Expat who has a business bottling up piped water and selling it to the locals who have only wells. He does need to have his water tested every month but nothing too difficult.
Rubbish is an issue and some subdivisions have a wet and dry pickup or degradable and non degradable. Our pick up times keep varying so a built a small furnace from a steel barrel and cut slots in the bottom, gets rid of paper and plastic stuff very fast but I watch the wind 'cos the neighbours wash their clothes nearby. the next day I spread the ash on the garden but first have to remove the burnt foil. My bro in law sells our metal to a passing trolley  man for a few pesos.

Agreed Peter I am not judging any country/province. I am just laying out my life in this 3rd class province/city.
Here the land cost was only 1000p/sq.metre (2013) which is a 500m2 so called vacant residential non-land filled/mangrove swamp corner plot (that was also used as a dumping ground by some residents prior our purchase)
(Some neighbours said it was way overpriced & should I have been half as much)
So when you do buy a land parcel & intend to spend thousands of pesos
bear in mind the inconviniences you may face and be prepared for it.
Btw Life here is still really good as I knew exactly what to expect (well nearly) before investing & am still looking at expanding my investments here.

Peter Clark wrote:

Prices vary according to where the subdivision is located, upmarket ones may be over 10 thousand per sq mt.  lots on corners are dearer...cannot understand the reason maybe because you have 2 sides of the road to look at. However consider the position as vehicles stop and the noise from them as they move, and also consider at night time when vehicles turn and swing their headlights across your home. This is also a consideration for selecting the lot to build on, privacy and security. Do not build against a wall or at the end of a road.

An old post resurrected is always a good one, most times. I appreciate your and others input here as well as other topics.
While I can see the differences in land/house and lot prices are relevant no different to labour costs depending on where you decide to live, 1st or 3rd class province. One always needs to research and shop.
The vacant lot next door is 13M and the houses on lots one block off the beach are 21 to 25M. One 3 doors up that is on the beach is 35M, think it has sold as it disappeared off the net. In saying that you can also purchase a vacant lot one block off the beach behind us for 2,500 to 3,000 per M2, go figure.  We looked at vacant lots on the beach in San Juan La Union asking 10 to 15K per M2 for 300M2 lots, lots of noise and undesirable locations, they are still for sale after 4 years.

We have had prices to build a fence from architects and builders for a 29L/m fence on the road side and 59L/m on the neighbours side, total 88L/m. 2 Metres high, rendered both sides, a set of timber gates ( so less 5L/m of concrete fence).
Architects cost/quote was 1.16M pesos. The builder that also brought along an engineer quoted 1.45M pesos and that didn't include any gates. Neither included drawn plans or fees to the local municipal.
Based on these figures it's cheaper to buy a block of land. Here 3,500 pesos per M2 and a 3 bed 2 bath home and large studio for free, on the beach, no barking dogs etc.

We did some figures. If we employ (yes sss and philhealth, accomodation erected next to an existing outside bath/toilet etc) 6 workers for one year it would only cost 900,000 pesos or less. Foreman, leading hand and 4 labourers. Properly managed you can build a lot with 6 workers in a year, the fence we want, 2 to 3 months, material for that fence is less than 450,000 pesos and say 300,000 pesos for labour. Bend over and take it? Nope, they are taking the piss. no different to land prices the dreamers ask or for vacant condos.
I get annoyed and Ben simply says that's the crab mentality here and from my opinion? Welcome to the Philippines.

OMO and beach.

Cheers, Steve.

We have the experience to pass on to expats coming here and that's great.  I have seen expats build homes on subdivisions without research on the local area or knowledge of expertise of builders and know that at the end I'll be tempted to say "Why didn't you ask?" Suppose expats are too proud to do that and go with local advice which is always according to how much money they will cream off the expat. One consideration is the expertise of the plasterer and you see the results on walls when the house is finished. Of course the local mason is not expensive but the results speak for them selves. This is the time to pay a it more for a good mason. We built a rest house in San Luis Batangas  and experienced the effects of salt air on the steel. Sadly the locals were building their walls onto ordinary wall foundations with infill of concrete, where they should have built on a "Slab" that would be more solid and stable. Despite keeping my tool box closed all my things became rusty. I just built some boats with marine ply and moved on.                                                                                Let me say something about drinking water. where ever you settle down in the world, it is quite possible to adapt your body to the local water PROVIDED you do it gradually. I lived and worked in Nairobi Kenya for 4 years and drank the local water taking pleasure in the extra allowances the company paid us for bottled water haha.

Peter Clark wrote:

A small bungalow of 80 sq mts interior space will cost 1.8 mil pesos. A large house of double that would cost 4 mil pesos. Land prices depend on the area and if a subdivision. 6 to  9 pesos a sq mt.
The price to build a bungalow will be the same as a 2 story residence with the same accommodation.

All properties will require a building permit and be according to Philippine Law. Whether the builder or architect as they are called here builds to the plan, well that's up to you to make sure !!!!

Cement and steel saved is  money in the builders pocket and when its completed you will not know the difference until years later when the concrete shrinks and cracks appear.

Good info.


Although no building permit needed at rural land not classified as Residental.    For instance if have lamnd with orchard, then can build living ouse there without building permit.   (If they haven't changed it since  I checked a few years ago.)

Building a house on ordinary land that is not residential has limits in size.....something like 20% Maximum.
Landco the developer did this at "Leisure Farms" up from Lemery towards Tagaytay. All their lots were around 1000 sq mts and we were given limits on size of house.
The municipal land tax was very cheap until the developer changed the farm land to "residential".

I have seen quite a few huge beautiful well built houses not far away from where I live & they have been vacant for years... with no apparant maintenance being carried out.
Its quite sad to see such beautiful homes going to waste remaining unoccupied for such a long time.
I've also seen many other empty lots that have huge main beams sticking out of the ground that have remained unfinished for years.
Could it be due to a bad marriage/relationship/death of owner or some legal issue/land title issues? I have no clue....Its just sad to see such beautiful things going to waste.

Peter Clark wrote:

Building a house on ordinary land that is not residential has limits in size.....something like 20% Maximum.

No problem with that when it's a big land (as an orchard, farm or forestry        as I want to built at. 

But interesting info    concerning others. I had some thought of giving away small lots as bohnus to other investors (if any other ever will be invited to invest.)

It nice to give away small plots to others specially expats but what I've experienced is that there are different types of expats and you could lumber yourself with a couple that you fall out with and then have to endure on your land or as neighbors. Newcomers do not see the need for a good friend and can view your offer of help as being "one upmanship" and steer clear only to regret their decision a few years later or when a problem crops up. I've experienced this in San Pablo. Maybe a family member would be interested in using a plot as a farming place and growing vegetables?  Fruit trees are not expensive to buy and could prove worthwhile and there are some good grafted trees that produce early and disease resistant.

Peter Clark wrote:

It nice to give away small plots to others specially expats but what I've experienced is that there are different types of expats and you could lumber yourself with a couple that you fall out with and then have to endure on your land or as neighbors..

I will sure NOT give lot as bohnus to investors to foreigners, because I want all max 40 % foreigner part myself      (Except a few percent to a friend from back in Elementary school, because he will be the other foreigner in the board of the bussiness. But he don't want to live there anyway    he want to live at beach.) 
The land bohnuses I ment for Filipino investors. A Filipina teacher has told allready she is interested.

They will not be any close neighbours to me anyway, because theses lots I thought be closest to public road so they kind of become as a "fence" protecting the business,
while I plan to live at least 200 meters behind to get away from people 

Peter Clark wrote:

Maybe a family member would be interested in using a plot as a farming place and growing vegetables?  Fruit trees are not expensive to buy and could prove worthwhile and there are some good grafted trees that produce early and disease resistant.

NOT family members to wife any close, because I don't like suprise visits       Best if they live at an other islands so I now when get visit.
But others can get a lot big enough for house, kitchen garden and some fruit trees, but not a farm because space is wanted for the business.
Yes fruit trees are nice.  (Exzcept mango don't suit there because of an evil Weevil    for mango there.)

jesus.., dont trust anyone here.least of all what people tell you. if you plan to build here, your question is open ended. are you rich?
my house cost me 18,000 US.
its 2 story 2 bedroom and extremely strong.
you will NEVER get this price or quality by hiring some 'crew".

dont trust anyone EVER to build anything here. .

if you are serious , you need to be there %100 of the time  to babysit every tiny detail.or end up spending 3 times what is needed and getting less than half what you expected.

no joke, even the "educated" builders or designers are not worth the cost and corruption free to even come close to what you would want or expect dollar for dollar. you are  a scam waiting o happen.
dont make a move to spend a f^^kin penny.

i am being honest here.

We meet the expat and make our judgements but then along comes the expended family and everything changes. At least if you lease some land and build a cheap place for yourself it gives you the option of "Walking away"
I watched a new place being built on an upmarket subdivision and they were taking size 12 mm rebar up to the second floor roof beams in each post ......and only 4 bars even! the owner is probably an OFW sending money home for the job. I also watched interior stainless steel plate being used for guttering, i know its interior grade because I cut my finger on it. I used some on my house and its much thicker...last forever.

Soonretired wrote:

jesus.., dont trust anyone here.least of all what people tell you. if you plan to build here, your question is open ended. are you rich?
my house cost me 18,000 US.
its 2 story 2 bedroom and extremely strong.
you will NEVER get this price or quality by hiring some 'crew".

dont trust anyone EVER to build anything here. .

if you are serious , you need to be there %100 of the time  to babysit every tiny detail.or end up spending 3 times what is needed and getting less than half what you expected.

no joke, even the "educated" builders or designers are not worth the cost and corruption free to even come close to what you would want or expect dollar for dollar. you are  a scam waiting o happen.
dont make a move to spend a f^^kin penny.

i am being honest here.

That's it mate get it out and I agree, 120% the owner needs to be there every day. I would question $18K US for a 2 story 2 bed house though, small house? At 900,000 pesos I can't get a fence according to builders but I will achieve for much less. Septic, services, municipal fees etc. are included in your costings?

BTW, hope things have sorted out with the squatters.

Cheers, Steve.

Again why the need to spend such a large sum of money on a house when you live in a 3rd class province?
I have the largest plot of land/perimetered fence (500m2) in my neighbourhood...but I never built a 2 storey house like many of my neighbours...I first built a single storey 2rm wooden house with a zinc roof back in 2013 (bad move :  got infested with termites) which has now been fully converted to a stone house with only the same zinc roof that remains....yup the conversion was all done 100% by me & one local mason.
Am very happy that it did not break my bank account & looking to expand whatever i have here.
Again omho

How much to build a house is a bit like asking how much does it cost to be happy. 

When I was young I lived in a tiki hut on a tropical Island.  Cost, only my time.

The cost is dependent only on you.  Where, how big, your budget, comfort, finish, furnishing, style,  etc.

In the Philippines if you're not building it yourself, you at least need to be there everyday to see that it is being built to your specifications and the materials purchased are not only the proper materials, but used properly.

One of the most important things is to familiarize yourself building in the RP,  the correct materials, their quality, and proper construction before you even start building.  What type of soil are you building on, proper mix of cement and concrete, properly sized and installed rebar, what size block (if you're using block), and has the block been made using the correct mix of materials for strength and durability, how deep is the foundation, trusses, roofing material, properly sized electrical panel and wiring, plumbing, septic tank and more. 
Do the people building your home actually have the experience to build it properly? 

Something cheap can be very expensive and something very expensive can be built very cheaply.

If you educate yourself, purchase your own materials as needed and oversee the job daily.  The long term cost will likely be less.