|  Living in the Philippines and,retire in Philippines,Cebu Philippines. Living in Camotes Islands is a unique experience for a foreigner. The cost to live in Camotes can be very inexpensive, but what you spend depends on what type of lifestyle you want to live. Many of the locals living in Camotes live on approximately P1,000.00 to P2,000.00 a week. That’s about $20.00 to $40.00 per week. Presently the exchange rate: $1.00 is P41.00. Now, that doesn’t mean you can do the same unless you want to eat dried fish and rice everyday. On average a carpenter in Camotes makes P200.00 a day when he can find the work. A laborer makes about P150.00 per day. In the city a sales girl working in a Department store makes between P160.00 to P200.00 per day. Remember, for all the beauty and charm the Philippines it’s still a third world country. Your money goes a long way here, so you can live a very good life for very little money. The phrase a big frog in a little pond could be used for a foreigner living in Camotes. Camotes Islands consists of: Pacijan Island with the Municipality of San Francisco and 15 Barangays. Poro Island with two Municipalities, Poro with 17 barangays and Tudela with 11 Barangays. Ponson Island with one Municipality of Pilar and 13 Barangays Tulang Island is a tiny Island that is part of Barangay Esperenza of the Municipality San Francisco of Pacijan Island. Please note, a Barangay also called Barrio, is a term used for village or District Ward of a Municipality. In the Philippines a Barangay is the smallest local government unit. A Municipality is composed of cities and Barangays.  Camotes is located in Region VII (Cebu) Central Visayans of the Philippines. Cebu City is the capital city. Cebu City is the second largest city in the Philippines and is called the Queen City of the south. Cebu City has a population of approximately 1,500,000. Region VII has a population of approximately 6,000,000.
Typical homes in Camotes are a mix of Nipa Huts which is woven bamboo and grass or tin roofs. Concrete and block homes and then wood homes or a mix of all three. Water is available in all three of the towns. However, many of the Barangays located in the interior of the Islands don’t have water piped from the towns. This means you need to dig a well. Electric is now available for all the areas of the four Islands. Land line phone is only available in the main towns. However, cell phone coverage is all through the islands. There is no cable TV, but Dream Satellite TV is available throughout all the Philippines. Internet has just come to the Islands in 2006 through Smart Communications Inc. via Smartbro wireless. Hence many internet cafes have just opened throughout the four islands.  Where to live in Camotes. The main municipalities are Poro, called the hub of Camotes, San Francisco the commerce center and Tudela the bread basket. There is always more happening in San Francisco, but it ain’t the city in California, no big buildings and no traffic jams. Poro too, can be a little more stimulating, but still lazy and relaxed. Tudela is a sleepy area with many small farms and barangays on the water or overlooking the water from the mountains. All three of the towns are located on the National road and on the coast. By far, living in one of the interior Barangays is the cheapest way to go if you are buying land. As the old saying in Real Estate goes, Location, Location, location. You can still buy land and build a concrete house on the water from $10,000.00 to $20,000.00 and up, depending on what type and size of a house you want and of course location. 
Renting a house in Camotes is also an option. There are no newspapers in Camotes. However, all you need to do is ask people in Camotes who has house to rent. The more Filipinos you know in Camotes the more information you are privy to, bottom line, make lots of friends. Good Filipino friends are your life line and they will always be there to help you. That is, provided you treat them with the respect they deserve. As a new foreigner to the Island the word will get around very quickly you are on the Islands. Get to know the store and business owners as they can network for you. When my wife I first went to Camotes looking for land to build on we were approached by many folks wanting to sell. We were also offered a rental house right in the middle of Poro on the seacoast. The owners lived in Cebu City and wanted to rent the place to us for just $120.00 a month. This was a three or four bedroom, two baths, two story house. Pension House. Staying in a Camotes Pension House is a good and inexpensive way to get to know Camotes and what area you want to settle. A pension House is basically a House with sleeping rooms that are rented out. Normally they all have a shared a bathroom. Most will allow you to cook in the kitchen. The old Pension House in Poro rents rooms on their main floor nightly for P300.00 to P500.00. However, they have monthly rooms available for just P1,500.00 a month. Hey that’s just about $1.00 per day. The downside is they don’t have aircon and the place is old and gritty. A Filipino friend of mine and his wife operate two Bakeries in Poro. They have just built a new Pension House in Poro with nice rooms and aircon, and private bath. Their main Bakeshop is on the pier in Poro, Jestrera’s Bakeshop, their names are Numer and Lorna Estrera. When you arrive in Poro you walk right by their main shop to exit the pier area, so stop in and say hi to them. They are really great folks. Building a concrete house in Camotes can cost as little as $5,000.00 to $10,000.00. As stated above, it depends where in Camotes you build and the type and size of house. You can build a monster size five bed rooms, three bathrooms house with maid’s room for $40,000.00+. Again, it just depends on what you want and how much you can spend. Building in Camotes costs just a fraction of the cost of building a house in the USA. Building a house in Camotes can also be confusing. Many local carpenters will want the job, but don’t have the skills or tools to build a good western style home. This is where your Filipino friends can guide you as to who to hire. Once you obtain the land, get someone to help you design and make a blueprint of the house. If you know how to do it, that’s OK. There are several folks that can do blueprints for you in Camotes. Once you have the blueprint just go to your Municipality for a permit. It’s really very simple. Most all of the building materials are available in Poro. For items not available you can go into Cebu City and have the items sent over by a local shipping company. This too is inexpensive.  Buying Land in Camotes: As, a foreigner you can’t own land in the Philippines. However, if you are married to a Filipino you can buy the land in your wife’s name. Another option is to form a corporation with a Filipino friend or your wife. In this, you can own 40% of the land. It takes a little time to complete the process for a corporation, but it is a simple process. Finally, another option is to lease, not buy the land. In this, you can lease the land for 50 years with a 25 year renewal. The house you build will be all yours, but the land remains in the leaser’s name. I think 75 years is long enough to own a house. That is unless you think you will be around longer. Once again, before buying or leasing talk to a Filipino Lawyer. 
Finding land to buy in Camotes: Remember there are no local newspapers in Camotes. The Cebu City papers do list Real Estate, but not many small land owners in Camotes will advertise their properties in the paper. Once again, this is where your Filipino friends can help you find land as well as word of mouth that you are looking for land. Before long you will be approached by lots of folks wanting to sell to you. A word to the wise. Many Filipinos think ALL foreigners are rich. Remember, you have money to buy airfare to the Philippines, so you must be rich. A property owner may want to sell his one hector of land for say, P50,000.00 However, when you, a foreigner show up at his door the price goes up to say P150,000.00. I always let my wife or Filipino friends ask around as to who has something for sale and then I let them negotiate deals involving land, houses or vehicles. I stay at home and out of the picture and that’s how I save money. Besides, my wife and Filipino friends already know what the land, house or vehicle is worth. A very good site to check out is Garces Real Estate http://www.garcesrealestate.com/ To read the process I went through to build my house please click here Moving to Paradise Part 2 "Building a House and Starting a New Life"
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