My first couple of months in the Philippines, I did not like it.

In my first year my family was robbed, I overpaid on a lease for months without knowing it, and I waited almost two months on a bank account. I was a Filipino-American kid from Chicago who thought he had done his research.

Here is what I wish someone had told me before I moved to BGC.

One: Start in BGC, Not the Province

We started in Subic because the vloggers called it living the dream. It was too remote. We knew no one, and we had nobody to trust.

Once we moved to BGC, we figured out what we really wanted. We did not want to live in the province full-time. So BGC became our home base, and when we want the beaches, we set aside a day.

BGC is the softest landing in the country. Explore everywhere else once you know what you are doing.

Two: The Agent Gets Paid by the Rent

Their commission grows with the rent. Every agent we met pushed the most expensive unit, whether or not it fit what we asked for. We wasted dozens of viewings.

The photos were lies. A dark shoebox. Mold. Cockroaches.

Then there is the foreigner price. We signed a lease at ₱65,000 a month. The same model unit, same building, rented for ₱45,000.

Ask what a local would pay before you sign anything.

Three: Line Up the Place and the Paperwork Before You Land

Every night without a place cost us $60 to $100 in hotels. Nobody tells you how fast that meter runs.

I have watched expats stay in an Airbnb for two or three months and be down thousands of dollars before their life here even started.

Our bank account was supposed to take two to three weeks. It took almost two months. For us, every piece depended on another. We could not lock in a lease without the bank account, and the bank account needed the lease.

Learn the order before you land, not after.

Four: BGC Is a Bubble

BGC makes the Philippines easy. It is also not the whole Philippines.

Inside it, you can walk almost anywhere in 15 or 20 minutes. Outside it, the contrast is stark. Then there is traffic. One expat I interviewed said a drive to Quezon City that usually takes 40 minutes took him an hour and a half.

Know what you are getting, and what you are leaving at the edge of the bubble.

Five: You Can Live Better Than You Think

Not every lesson is a warning.

In the States, hire a driver or a maid and people assume you are rich. Here it is affordable and worth it. A driver with the car included is $800 a month. A maid who also cooks is $350. Groceries are extra.

And give it time.

I did not love it at first. The longer we lived here, the better it got.

I wish I had had someone to hand me this list in 2018. Now that is what our team does. From the day you book your flight, to your first property viewing, all the way to your visa, we hold your hand the whole way to your new life.

You do not have to learn these lessons the way I did.

If you plan to move in the next six months,

Click here to start your move to the Philippines the right way.

Travel Well,
Evan Lorezca
The Savvy Expat