For years, I thought buying a condo in the Philippines was one of the biggest financial mistakes I’d ever made.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
When I bought my condo in 2016, I imagined spending weekends with family, escaping the cold Korean winters, and maybe using it as a vacation home one day.
Instead, life had other plans.
I moved back to California before the building was even finished. The condo sat mostly unused, and every time I thought about it, I wondered if I had made an expensive mistake.
Looking back now, I realize I wasn’t wrong about buying the condo.
I was wrong about how my life would unfold.
Today, that same condo has become one of the cornerstones of my long-term retirement plan.
If you’re thinking about buying a condo in the Philippines—or wondering whether a financial decision that feels like a mistake today might make sense years from now—I hope my story helps.
Buying a Future I Couldn’t Live In
Back in 2016, I was living in South Korea.
Life was simple.
The Philippines was only about a four-hour flight away, which meant I could visit family a couple of times each year without much planning. Every visit ended the same way—I was packing my bags to head back to Korea, wishing I had just a little more time.
That’s when the idea of owning a place in the Philippines started to grow.
I wasn’t thinking about investing.
I wasn’t trying to build wealth through real estate.
Retirement wasn’t even on my radar.
I simply wanted a place that felt like home whenever I came back to visit.
When Fern Residences (Tower 5), part of The Grass Residences development in Quezon City, opened for pre-selling, I decided to take the leap.
I bought a 26-square-meter condo on the 35th floor with a south-facing view overlooking Manila.
At the time, it felt like the perfect decision.
I imagined drinking coffee on the balcony in the mornings.
Walking across the private bridge into SM North EDSA for groceries or dinner.
Having family over instead of booking another hotel room.
It wasn’t just a condo.
It was a small piece of the future I thought I was building.
Looking back, I smile a little at how certain I was.
Because while I was busy making plans…
Life was quietly making different ones.
Then Everything Changed
Buying a pre-selling condo requires a lot of patience.
You’re not buying a finished home.
You’re buying floor plans, artist renderings, and the promise that one day you’ll finally get the keys.
I was excited.
Every update from the developer made the condo feel a little more real.
Then, before construction was even finished…
Everything changed.
An opportunity brought me back to California.
The life I had imagined in South Korea was suddenly over, and the condo I had planned my future around was now nearly 7,000 miles away.
When I finally received the keys, I should have been excited.
Instead, I kept asking myself one question.
“Did I just waste my money?”
I wasn’t visiting the Philippines nearly as often anymore.
The condo wasn’t part of my everyday life.
It had become something I owned…
…but couldn’t really use.
For a while, every time I thought about it, it felt less like an opportunity and more like a reminder that my plans hadn’t worked out the way I expected.
At the time, I couldn’t see the bigger picture.
I only saw a condo that no longer fit the life I thought I’d be living.
Buying a Condo in the Philippines Isn’t Always a Straight Line
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that life rarely follows the timeline you expect.
When I bought my condo, I thought I knew exactly how I’d use it.
I’d visit often.
Spend holidays there.
Maybe even live there someday.
Instead, life took me somewhere completely different.
I moved back to California.
Built a career.
Started investing more seriously.
Discovered financial independence.
Began thinking about retirement in a way I never had before.
None of that was part of the original plan.
And that’s the funny thing about long-term decisions.
They don’t exist in a vacuum.
As your life changes…
The reasons behind those decisions can change too.
For years, I looked at my condo as a purchase that no longer made sense.
Today, I see it differently.
Not because the condo changed.
Because I did.
Sometimes we judge a decision too quickly simply because life hasn’t caught up to it yet.
Looking back, buying a condo in the Philippines wasn’t a straight line from purchase to retirement.
It was a series of unexpected turns that slowly led me back to the same place—with a completely different perspective.
The Condo Stayed the Same. I Changed.
For several years, the condo quietly faded into the background.
Whenever I visited the Philippines, I’d stay there for a few days.
My parents used it occasionally.
But most of the time…
It simply waited.
Meanwhile, my life kept moving forward.
I built a career in California.
I became more intentional about saving and investing.
I discovered financial independence and started thinking less about retiring early and more about building a life with choices.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped asking myself whether buying the condo had been a mistake.
Instead, I started asking a different question.
“What kind of life do I actually want when I retire?”
The answer surprised me.
I kept coming back to the Philippines.
Not because it was the cheapest place to retire.
Not because I thought it was perfect.
But because it felt familiar.
My family was there.
The food.
The culture.
The language.
The simple routines I had almost taken for granted.
Little by little, the condo stopped feeling like an old purchase.
It started feeling like a possibility.
The condo hadn’t changed.
I had.
The Moment Everything Clicked
When I visited the Philippines in 2025, I spent a few nights at the condo.
One evening, I walked out onto the balcony just as the sun was beginning to set over Manila.
The view hadn’t changed.
The city was just as busy.
The traffic was still there.
The familiar sounds drifted up from the streets below.
But something felt different.
I wasn’t looking at the condo through the eyes of someone wondering whether it had been worth the money.
I was looking at it through the eyes of someone imagining everyday life.
I pictured myself making coffee in the morning.
Walking over to the mall for groceries.
Meeting family for dinner.
Reading a book on the balcony as the city slowly came to life.
For the first time, I wasn’t thinking about what the condo had cost me.
I was thinking about what it could give me.
Not just a place to stay.
A place to belong.
That’s when it finally clicked.
The condo had never been the mistake.
I had simply bought it long before I understood why I needed it.
Why I’m Renovating It Now
As I’m writing this, my condo is being completely renovated while I’m sitting nearly 7,000 miles away in California.
It’s exciting.
It’s also a little terrifying.
Managing a renovation from another country isn’t exactly how I imagined this process.
There are late-night messages.
Video calls.
Photos of construction progress.
And a lot of trust in the people doing the work.
The renovation will cost more than ₱600,000, making it the biggest investment I’ve made in the condo since I bought it.
One of the biggest changes is removing the bedroom wall.
Whenever I tell people that, I usually get the same reaction.
“Wouldn’t a one-bedroom be worth more?”
Maybe.
But I didn’t make this decision for a future buyer.
I made it for my future self.
When I visit the Philippines, I’m usually there for two or three weeks at a time.
I’d rather have one open, bright living space that feels spacious and comfortable than a tiny bedroom I’ll rarely use.
Could that hurt the resale value?
Possibly.
Am I okay with that?
Absolutely.
Because not every financial decision should be optimized for the highest return.
Sometimes it’s okay to optimize for the life you actually want to live.
That’s something I probably wouldn’t have understood when I bought the condo in 2016.
Today, it makes perfect sense.
What Buying a Condo in the Philippines Taught Me About Retirement
If you had asked me a few years ago whether buying a condo in the Philippines was worth it, I probably would’ve hesitated.
Today, my answer is simple.
Yes.
Not because it doubled in value.
Not because it made me rich.
Not because everything went according to plan.
I’d do it again because it gave me something that’s much harder to put a price on.
Options.
It gave me a place to come home to whenever I visit family.
It gave me the freedom to imagine a different kind of retirement.
And it reminded me that some financial decisions aren’t meant to pay off immediately.
Sometimes, they quietly become more valuable as your life changes.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from pursuing financial independence is that retirement isn’t just about having enough money.
It’s about having enough choices.
Fifteen years from now, I may decide the Philippines is exactly where I want to retire.
Or I may decide somewhere else is a better fit.
I honestly don’t know yet.
And that’s okay.
Owning this condo doesn’t lock me into one future.
It simply gives me another option.
Looking back, that’s what this purchase was really about all along.
Not certainty.
Freedom.
What’s Next
One question I’ve been asked more than once is:
“Why did you buy in Quezon City instead of BGC?”
Back in 2016, the answer was easy.
If I were buying today, I’m not so sure I’d make the same decision.
Quezon City was the right choice for that chapter of my life.
Whether it’s the right place for my retirement is a different question entirely.
That’s a story for another post.
Final Thoughts
When I bought my condo in 2016, I thought I was purchasing a vacation home.
What I was really buying was an option.
At the time, I didn’t know I’d move back to California.
I didn’t know I’d discover financial independence.
I didn’t know I’d start dreaming about retiring abroad.
And I certainly didn’t know it would take nearly a decade before this purchase finally made sense to me.
That’s the funny thing about long-term decisions.
You don’t always understand their value right away.
Sometimes they quietly wait for your life to catch up.
Today, I no longer see this condo as a financial mistake.
I see it as one of many choices I’ve created for my future.
Maybe I’ll retire here.
Maybe I’ll split my time between countries.
Maybe fifteen years from now, I’ll decide somewhere else is a better fit.
I honestly don’t know.
But that’s the point.
Financial independence isn’t about knowing exactly where you’ll end up.
It’s about giving yourself the freedom to choose when the time comes.
What About You?
Have you ever made a financial decision that didn’t make sense at first…
…only to realize years later it was exactly what you needed?
Or if you could retire anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Would you stay close to family?
Or would you start a completely new chapter somewhere else?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
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