Home Search · Philippines

Home search in Manila, from the shortlist to the keys in your hand

Finding a home in the Philippine capital means choosing between three business districts and their gated villages, and it ends with a document most arrivals have never signed: the Letter of Intent. Asia Relocation Philippines runs the search with you, negotiates from that letter, and is in the unit on handover day.

Start a home search → What the search covers
In the Philippines since 2011 Consultants in English, French and Filipino Metro Manila, Cebu and Clark
3business districts in the capital: Makati, BGC, Ortigas
2011finding homes in the Philippines since
5steps, from assessment to move-day supervision
1consultant from the brief to the handover

Metro Manila does not have one centre; it has three, and they are not interchangeable at eight in the morning. A tower in Makati, a unit in Bonifacio Global City and a house on the edge of Ortigas look alike on a listing and can put an hour between you and your desk. So the search starts with the office and the school.

The second surprise is the paperwork. Here the owner receives a Letter of Intent before any lease exists, and that letter fixes the terms the lease is built on. A search that stops at the viewing leaves the household to negotiate the part that matters most, alone.

Asia Relocation Philippines has run home searches in the capital since 2011, and in Cebu and Clark. The consultant who takes the brief views with you, drafts the letter and stands in the unit on move-in day, in English, French or Filipino.

The perimeter

What the home search carries, and what stays with a sister service

Both columns are the offer: households read the second one too late, when a bridging address or a school turns out to be another file.

Carried by the service

  • An assessment of the household: the districts that make sense for your office, the budget, the commute to a workplace or a school, whatever narrows the field.
  • A shortlist from our own listing agents, drawn from a network built in the capital since 2011, not from a portal you could read yourself.
  • Accompanied viewings with a licensed broker who reads the building as well as the unit: management, parking, what the association allows.
  • The Letter of Intent, drafted with you, sent to the owner and negotiated; then the lease checked back against it before you sign.
  • Move-day supervision: our consultant in the unit at handover, contract finalised, utilities set up, paperwork closed as the letter describes.

The perimeter is agreed in writing at the brief, before the first viewing is booked.

A different service

Each can be added to the same brief, with the same consultant. Name them in the inquiry.

Kinds of home

Condominium, village house or serviced unit: what each one decides for you

No listing is quoted here: what is on the market changes weekly.

Condominium in a business district

The shortest commute the capital offers: a tower in Makati, BGC or Ortigas, with security, a pool and a gym, and an association whose rules we read before you sign.

Most searches

Family home in a gated village

A garden, a quiet street, a guard at the gate, and a drive to the office that the village's position decides. We put the school run on the same map before the viewings.

Families

Apartment for a single professional or a couple

Smaller, closer, often furnished, with a lease length the owner is more willing to flex. The Letter of Intent is where that flexibility is written down.

Short lease

Corporate lease in the company's name

When the employer is the tenant, the owner asks for company papers and the letter carries your approval steps. We run the search to the policy and report to HR as well as to the household.

Company
How it works

Assessment, listing, viewings, the letter, then the handover

  1. The assessment

    An in-depth conversation with your consultant: preferred districts, budget, the commute to the office or a school, any special requirement. The three business districts are explained against your own week.

  2. The listing

    Our listing agents assemble the properties that match, from our network in Metro Manila and Cebu: a short document, not a hundred links, with the reason each unit is on it.

  3. The viewings

    A licensed broker accompanies you, or films the unit live if you are not yet in the Philippines. We look at what a listing does not show: management, parking, noise, the association's rules.

  4. The Letter of Intent and the lease

    We draft the letter with you, send it to the owner and negotiate from it: rent, duration, deposit and advance, inclusions, move-in date. The lease is then checked against it before you sign.

  5. Move-day supervision

    Our consultant is in the unit at handover: contract finalised, utilities connected in your name, condition recorded, and any surprise raised with the owner on the spot.

Who it's for

Four households, and what each one brings to the brief

Families arriving with a school already chosen

The school fixes the district and the village; the search is about the drive at seven in the morning, so we map the school before the first viewing.

Professionals posted to Makati, BGC or Ortigas

One district, one office, and a strong case for living inside it. The shortlist is towers; the questions are the building's, not the neighbourhood's.

HR and mobility teams with a housing policy

A budget ceiling, a lease length and an approval chain. We work to the policy, report at the interval you set, and write the approval steps into the Letter of Intent.

Households posted to Cebu or Clark

A smaller market, more in-person work, and a consultant who knows which owners are used to expatriate tenants. The same five steps, with a longer run-up.

Coverage

Metro Manila and its three districts, then Cebu and Clark

Searches in Metro Manila, Cebu and Clark; Davao on request for a specific posting.

In the capital, the choice of district is the choice of commute. Makati is the older financial centre, Bonifacio Global City the newer one, Ortigas the third, and the gated villages families favour sit around them. We search from your office outwards.

Cebu is a market of its own, with owners who rarely list on the portals the capital uses, and Clark has grown its own stock for the companies based there. In both, more of the search is done on foot and by phone.

FAQ

What arrivals ask before renting in the Philippines

What is a Letter of Intent, and why do we sign it before the lease?
In the Philippines the owner receives a Letter of Intent before any lease is drafted: it states that you will take the unit, and on which terms. The lease is written from it, so a term conceded there is hard to recover. We draft it with you and negotiate from it.
Condominium or house: which one should we be looking at in Manila?
It follows the commute. A condominium in Makati, BGC or Ortigas puts you minutes from the office, with security and a pool. A house in a gated village gives a family a garden, at the price of a longer drive. We show both, and say which one the traffic favours.
How much can be done before we arrive in the Philippines?
The assessment and the shortlist, entirely. Viewings can start on a video call with our broker on site. What we do not do remotely is commit you: the letter is signed after you have stood in the unit, or watched a viewing live with our consultant.
What does an owner ask for, and how much money moves before the keys?
A security deposit and an advance on rent; how many months of each is one of the terms the Letter of Intent settles. Owners also ask for identification and, on a corporate lease, company papers. Every amount is written into the letter before it is paid.
Who checks that the unit is actually ready on move-in day?
We do. Our consultant is in the unit at handover: contract finalised, utilities connected in the right name, condition recorded, paperwork closed as the letter describes. Anything missing is raised with the owner there, not from your phone a week later.
Do you also search in Cebu, Clark or Davao?
Yes. Metro Manila is where most searches happen; Cebu has its own market and owners, and we search there and in Clark for households posted to those cities. Davao is covered on request. Outside the capital, more of the search is done in person.
Can you work with our HR team rather than with us directly?
Both at once. The HR or mobility contact sets the policy: budget ceiling, lease length, who approves the Letter of Intent. The household sets the priorities inside it. One consultant reports to both.
What happens if something goes wrong with the landlord after we move in?
You call the consultant who found the unit. A repair nobody is scheduling, a clause read two ways, a building rule nobody mentioned at the viewing: those are the questions of the first weeks, and we take them up with the owner for you.
Not what you were looking for?

The two pages beside this one

You need a roof before the lease is signed

Serviced residences and extended hotel stays in Makati, BGC and Ortigas.

Temporary housing in Manila →

The whole relocation service

Housing, schooling, orientation and settling-in for the Philippines, on one file with one coordinator.

Relocation services in the Philippines →

Tell us the office and the month you land, and we open the listing

One consultant, in English, French or Filipino, from the assessment to the keys.

Start a home search →
Home search What's included
Volume calculator