| Renting in Manila can be cheaper than you think, | | | | might be expensive for some, in which case you |
| without having to sacrifice simple things like a | | | | might have to sacrifice size or convenience and |
| great view, location. It is easy if you know what | | | | rent somewhere a little more out of the way) |
| to look for and how to look for it. | | | | The tourist belt areas such as Makati and around |
| I've personally seen a lot of condos that I've | | | | Manila Bay are usually expensive, although bargains |
| considered renting in Manila and Metro Manila area, | | | | can be found if you look hard. If you have your |
| and I've learned a few things during these visits. | | | | own transport, you can find some places a little |
| First of all, certain locations in Manila are actually | | | | out of the way for much cheaper than you'd |
| cheaper and at some parts of the year you'll be | | | | expect. Some places I'd mention are the slightly |
| able to get better bargains than others. | | | | older (but very nice) condominiums right next to |
| One thing I'd recommend for those who want | | | | Manila bay. |
| easy access to Makati, Ortigas and most of | | | | A good time to look for condos is at the end of |
| Quezon city is to go and check out condos along | | | | the college year (around April), a lot of students |
| the MRT and LRT lines (these are the transit rail | | | | come here from overseas and will be renting for |
| systems that run across Metro Manila) for work | | | | the term of their study only, after this you'll find |
| these are very convenient as there is an MRT | | | | that a lot of unit owners are renting out (since |
| station right in Ayala, Makati! Some particular | | | | the students go home) and will have a harder |
| locations which are well known to be surprisingly | | | | time renting at a higher price, therefore they will |
| cheap are the Vito Cruz and Pedro Gil areas, the | | | | lower it meaning you can pick up some great |
| reason for the cheaper price tags around this | | | | bargains. |
| area is that that the Universities of De La Salle | | | | A few things you should know about rental in the |
| and several others are around this area, which | | | | Philippines: |
| means a lot of renters are students. | | | | The common practice in the Philippines is to ask |
| One condominium group I'd look at is Cityland in | | | | for 1 month deposit, 2 months advance and for |
| Vito Cruz, there are 3 buildings to this | | | | the standard contract to be 12 months. Make |
| condominium unit and a group of friends of mine | | | | sure you get your owner to write down the |
| were able to get a 35th floor condominium (with | | | | existing damage (if any) to the apartment and |
| a great view of MOA, Manila Bay and Makati) for | | | | both sign it and take a copy, if possible take |
| only 16,000 pesos a month, this apartment was | | | | photos as proof. This is just to make sure that |
| reasonably sized with 2 bathrooms (one on-suite) | | | | you are going to get your deposit back (by the |
| and since it was a corner unit, there were actually | | | | way.. be sure to ask the owner if its a returnable |
| 3 balconies. I actually plan to look for a condo in | | | | deposit and again sign on this.. because in some |
| this area, when I do decide to move out of my | | | | cases the owner will claim that the deposit was in |
| current house. | | | | fact non-returnable as happened to a friend of |
| I checked other apartments in other areas around | | | | mine). |
| Vito Cruz also and asked about the prices, they | | | | An easy way to find condominiums is to check |
| range depending on the condo building condition | | | | the noticeboards in the condo building lobby.. many |
| (brand new or old), size of the unit and the | | | | renters will list their condos here first for rent. As |
| urgency of the rental. A good price for a | | | | well as this a lot of places have their own rental |
| reasonable sized 1 bedroom apartment is around | | | | offices on the ground floor too. Just visit an area |
| 16,000pesos - 20,000pesos.. studio apartments in | | | | with a lot of condos and spend a day touring |
| Makati will cost around 20,000pesos and higher, | | | | around comparing sizes, prices etc. |
| expect a higher price for short term rentals. (This | | | | |