Makati City, Philippines

[slang]

I need to go to Mercury Drug down the street to get some more booze as my asawa has only allotted me two Grande beers for the night and that is not nearly enough.

Slang shall return with more booze and photos of the Phils.

[slang]

If you are here in Makati in the last few years, you know that there are condos being built because you are hit up for sales pitches every other day for one of them.

This is one of many that you may have recieved a broshure about. It's the Serendra

Take a look around the site. The photos are amazing and the details of the condos are included.

The starting price for the condos is $137, 000. That's for the 750 sq ft condo. The cost more than doubles from there for the size of a middle class house in the US.

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by slang

The starting price for the condos is $137, 000. That's for the 750 sq ft condo. The cost more than doubles from there for the size of a middle class house in the US.

But it's not about the price, it's about the interest rates. Do they have a private banking system? Do you see ads for percentage rates and stuff?

[xoxoxoBruce]

But isn't the average income for Manila about $2,000?

[slang]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

But isn't the average income for Manila about $2,000?

These properties are for the very rich here. Foreigners that have moved here for business or have retired here or maybe just have a condo here but only spend a few months total here each year.

Phil-Americans are sending money back here in record numbers, as high as $12B from one source.

The trouble here is that there is a very slim middle class. What does it take to grow the middle class?

I'm listening because that's precisely what is needed here. My BIL says that a civil war is what's needed here. To redistribute the cash and to grow a middle class.

I don't know the how I just know the what.

[slang]

Let's try something a bit different.

This is a very bad clip but they will get better.

Listen to the growl of the exhaust in the beggining. Also notice that the driver merges left to make a turn cutting people off in the process.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by slang

There is a lot of excitement about the buildings going up in this area and the number of times that I've been handed a broshure or invited to a sales presentation is ridiculous.

Originally Posted by slang

These properties are for the very rich here. Foreigners that have moved here for business or have retired here or maybe just have a condo here but only spend a few months total here each year.

Is the excitement caused by the hope that rich people in the neighborhood will attract better services from the government, to the area?

[slang]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

But it's not about the price, it's about the interest rates. Do they have a private banking system? Do you see ads for percentage rates and stuff?

I don't regularly see ads for mortgages. There have been billboards for personal loans for things like LCD TVs and motorcycles.

Loans for items priced over say $5k are a very small portion of the business here.

Here is the link to one of the banks that I frequent here.

Here are the home loan rates

The Frenchman also says that getting a loan with less than 40-50% down is rare.

As you see the ads for new properties some also offer in house financing which is averaging about 10%