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jboy · Post by **jboy** » July 4th, 2013, 3:15 am

Home based web business is a good start while you are still learning the ropes of the country before plunging in to start a business. I deal in real estate, import-export, farm management (for expat friends who don't trust their pinoy partners lol) and a host of other things. Don't expect to do only one thing and live the life in the Phillies, but if you know how to play your cards right, you can live the high life round here.

xiongmao · Post by **xiongmao** » July 4th, 2013, 8:37 am

I've heard you can get 6 month tourist visas now. Anyone confirm this?

I'd doubt you can get a visa for a job that a Filipino can do, so that would write off call centres.

Plus working for an employer in the Phillies would truly suck. I got a contract through for a job and it was grim.

Thailand is another possibility - English is very widely spoken plus the food here is better than you'd ever get in the Phillies. And there's less crime and less extreme weather.

I don't know what all the foreigners do to make ends meet here, but pretty much every cafe is full of bloggers - lol!

mguy · Post by **mguy** » July 4th, 2013, 8:46 am

Ghost,

I can confirm when I touch the ground. The call center pay for me will be approx $1k a month and thats the low end. That is with night differential and 2+ languages. I am a good approximate of Filipino male std of beauty (as f***ed as it sounds). There is stigma with call-centers so I'm just going to use it as a back-up if my plan fails.

I have a list of ESL schools if you are interested PM me for a site that I am building. It is for Tourism focused ESL schools.

mguy · Post by **mguy** » July 4th, 2013, 9:07 am

I might do a month reconnaissance of the call center industry, let me know your concerns.

Ghost · Post by **Ghost** » July 4th, 2013, 9:51 pm

Ghost · Post by **Ghost** » July 4th, 2013, 10:01 pm

jboy · Post by **jboy** » July 4th, 2013, 11:14 pm

Ghost wrote:
jboy wrote:Home based web business is a good start while you are still learning the ropes of the country before plunging in to start a business. I deal in real estate, import-export, farm management (for expat friends who don't trust their pinoy partners lol) and a host of other things. Don't expect to do only one thing and live the life in the Phillies, but if you know how to play your cards right, you can live the high life round here.
I don't have a business online, but last year I started writing e-books and freelancing online. So that was a start. Seeing my Filipina makes 500 pesos a day, I could easily do 3 or 4 times that in a day just from the internet. I'll keep searching for more online options though. It has lots of potential and I am most interested in that. Real estate sounds great since you get rent. If I could collect just $1000 a month in rent for something, that would be more than for the Philippines. I'm in China now though and I don't think foreigners can own land here. Aside from that, I'm planning to complete my contract and then head to the PI, then back home for a while.

I'm not looking for the high life. Just to live. $1000 a month would be enough. Or at least that's an easy benchmark to aspire to. My main concern right now is staying longer without marriage. So a business or work visa is my only option I think. I could live on savings for a while I guess, and renew a tourist visa for extensions. I'll have to see as I get closer to doing this.

IMHO, tourist visa with extensions is best. Have worked for me for the past 3-4 years.

Man, u need more than $1000, as a foreigner, u will soon realize things will always cost more for u, hence $1500 is a safer target. I make more than 5x that on real estate a month but only 15-30% of that is the actual profit so it isn't my bread and butter. I see it more as an investment which fortunately is paying off as early as now. Business consultancy and management is where I get funds for my day to day expenses and then some. I don't rely on that either but its good to be doing something on the ground that covers the lifestyle I want. The rest (businesses and deals abroad, import-export, etc) goes directly to my savings which means it gives me freedom to retire anytime I want in the next few years. U'd want security, not jus sustenance, but that is jus my 2 pesos worth.

Take for instance pinay I used to know earns $100-$1500 a month from teaching (that she tells me) but she gets passive income from her blogs ($200-400 a month), from writing online she gets $100-$500, from royalties from her other writing $50-$180 a month, from selling a painting once in a blue moon she gets $500-$1000. She could have stopped with jus one thing going on but she gets all those income from her hobbies which is great IMO. If u got some talent, u'd get more than she does in a month. In a bad month of doing almost nothing, she still can get around $450 accdg to what she told me. In a great month, she's averaging $1500-$2500 still with plenty of time for recreation and rest. Sounds good if u ask me.

Rock · Post by **Rock** » July 4th, 2013, 11:57 pm

Ghost wrote:
jboy wrote:Home based web business is a good start while you are still learning the ropes of the country before plunging in to start a business. I deal in real estate, import-export, farm management (for expat friends who don't trust their pinoy partners lol) and a host of other things. Don't expect to do only one thing and live the life in the Phillies, but if you know how to play your cards right, you can live the high life round here.
I don't have a business online, but last year I started writing e-books and freelancing online. So that was a start. Seeing my Filipina makes 500 pesos a day, I could easily do 3 or 4 times that in a day just from the internet. I'll keep searching for more online options though. It has lots of potential and I am most interested in that. Real estate sounds great since you get rent. If I could collect just $1000 a month in rent for something, that would be more than for the Philippines. I'm in China now though and I don't think foreigners can own land here. Aside from that, I'm planning to complete my contract and then head to the PI, then back home for a while.

I'm not looking for the high life. Just to live. $1000 a month would be enough. Or at least that's an easy benchmark to aspire to. My main concern right now is staying longer without marriage. So a business or work visa is my only option I think. I could live on savings for a while I guess, and renew a tourist visa for extensions. I'll have to see as I get closer to doing this.

1. Actually, if I understand correctly, nobody can own land in China, foreigner or local. PRC land belongs to the state. With urban residential properties, I believe you are granted a 70 year lease which might be renewed on expiry. I never bought any condo in China cus I only buy freehold. But I regret not buying now given the dramatic appreciation since early/mid part of first decade of 2000s.

2. If you have access to around 150K USD of capital, there are straightforward ways secure a rental property in Asia which could generate around 1,000 USD per month net.

3. Phils may look cheap on the surface. But there are some anomalies which make it relatively expensive for a reasonable quality of life. Power there is like 5 times what it costs in say Thailand or Taiwan. Sometimes landlord figures out a way to add an additional surcharge to you bill or even fudge it. That means if you run your A/C a lot (and most of Phils is very hot year around), your monthly power bill might alone might be like $200-300. And that's just for a nice sized studio! When you get sick of eating the local garbage generally available out and about, you may start eating a lot at Korean or foreign owned restaurants. Those meals can cost like $7-15 USD for a rather modest lunch with a drink. And if your in Metro Man, you better learn the complicated Jeepny routes and how to use MRT/LRT. Cus during rush periods (7:30-9:30 am / 4-9 pm) taxis often want like $7-10 dollars for each trip in the crawl speed traffic. And its super stressful getting around the city except on Sundays.

4. Foreigners I've met in Phils who seem to be doing well dabble in various businesses - call center investors, exporters, film industry, dating sites, food, condos, etc. Many locals I've met there seems to think that an American can easily get hired at call center for medium level (around 30K per month) or as an English teacher at a Korean school for maybe around the same. I've not checked that out tho. I've gotta admit, that's good pay relative to what's easily available to expats in most poor to very poor countries.

Ghost · Post by **Ghost** » July 5th, 2013, 1:40 am

Ghost · Post by **Ghost** » July 17th, 2013, 9:13 am

mguy · Post by **mguy** » July 17th, 2013, 9:40 am

No prob.

I have a much much longer list of ESL schools in the Phils sorted in excel. One could technically just e-mail bomb them or do a phone campaign. If anyone is interested PM me.

Ghost,

Try jobstreet.com.ph