Finds your apartment and meets your plane
Our partner on the ground. On Cebu since July 2024, fluent in English. He finds the apartments, talks to the owners, waits for you at the airport and helps you through your first weeks.
Retire to the Philippines. Your apartment is ready before you fly.
We help retirees settle in Cebu, an island city in the central Philippines. We find your apartment before you fly, meet your plane, and you move in that day.
Write to us
Free to ask. We write back within hours, not days.
- More than 120 people have settled on Cebu with our help.
- No money goes to any owner before you have stood in the apartment.
- Met at any hour. Night flights included, no hotel night.
How it works, from your first message to your keys
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Step 1: You write to us
Tell us your budget, when you would like to come and what matters to you. Ask about the areas, the money, the visa, anything. Real people in Cebu write back within hours, not days, and nothing is paid at this stage.
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Step 2: A short written agreement, then the deposit
We email you a short agreement in plain English, and you accept it by reply: the price, the steps, your budget and your must-haves. You pay the deposit on our invoice, and only then do we start the search.
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Step 3: We find your apartment while you are still at home
We send you 5 to 10 apartments for your budget and area, with photos and video of each. Before you fly, we bargain with the owner for you: the rent, a smaller deposit where we can, the lease terms, and what the owner fixes or buys before you move in. We do our best; the owner decides. You choose, and the owner holds it for your date.
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Step 4: We meet your plane, whatever hour it lands
We wait for you past customs, 2 a.m. included. A car is ready and your SIM card is registered on the way. No hotel night.
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Step 5: The same day: a last look, the lease, the keys
We read the lease with you line by line. Then you sign, pay the owner and move in. The internet is already on.
Then a month of help
For your first 30 days, message us on WhatsApp whenever you need to; we come in person when it matters. You also get a written arrival sheet: the taxi app, where to shop, the visa office, the nearest hospital, how to top up your SIM.
The people who will look after you
Answers you before you pay
Lives on Cebu. Reads every message, answers your questions about areas, money and visas, and sends the written agreement and the invoice.
One of us lost 10,000 pesos of a deposit to his first landlord here, over a rusted shower tap. That is why we started this.
Write to us
Life on Cebu, the first weeks
How much do you need to live in Cebu?
People live here on about $820 a month on their own, or $1,100 as a couple. Type what comes in each month, from your pension and anything else, and see what is left over at three ways of living.
Watching the budget
$820 a month
$380 left over each month
A studio or small one-bedroom further out. An older building, no pool, no guard. Aircon at night, and you cook most days.
- Area Edge of city
- Aircon Nights
- Pool, gym No
- Gate guard No
- Eating out Rarely
- Imported food No
- Cleaner No
Comfortable
$1,400 a month
$200 short each month
A furnished one-bedroom in a decent building with a pool, a gym and a guard at the gate. Aircon whenever you want it.
- Area Mid-city
- Aircon All day
- Pool, gym Yes
- Gate guard Yes
- Eating out 2× a week
- Imported food Yes
- Cleaner No
Nothing skipped
$2,000 a month
$800 short each month
A new one-bedroom in IT Park or on the water. Aircon around the clock, restaurants when you feel like it, help in twice a week.
- Area IT Park
- Aircon 24/7
- Pool, gym Yes
- Gate guard Yes
- Eating out Any time
- Imported food Yes
- Cleaner Yes
Pictures show real Cebu apartments of each kind. Every figure is a whole month: housing, power and water, food, and everything else. Our own figures, checked August 2026. Health cover sits inside “Everything else”, and the cheap local HMO cards stop taking new members between 60 and 65, so past that age you are budgeting for international cover instead. See every line in the full calculator.
Want to know what your money gets in the part of Cebu you have in mind? Ask us.
Write to usWhat our help costs
Three ways to work with us. Choose by how ready you are to move.
Scout Day
$500 a day
You want to see Cebu with your own eyes before you decide.
- Met at the airport at any hour, with a car
- A SIM card, and money changed at an honest rate
- Driven to your hotel and helped with check-in
- A day out with us: the areas, the market, the hospital, whatever you want to see
- A checklist to prepare before you fly
- Seven days of answers on WhatsApp afterwards
Paid in full, at least 3 days before the day. No apartments in this one.
Cancel at least 24 hours ahead and 85% comes back. Later than that, nothing comes back.
Book Soft Landing or Soft Landing Plus within 12 months and you get 15% off it: $1,700 or $3,315, paid in two halves.
The one we recommend
Soft Landing
$2,000 for one or two of you
You are ready to move and want your home waiting when you land.
- 5 to 10 apartments for your budget and area, with photos and video, before you fly
- Every apartment checked against our list before any deposit
- Before you fly, we negotiate with the owner for you: the rent, a smaller deposit where we can, the lease terms, and what the owner fixes or buys before you move in. Our best effort; the owner decides
- If an apartment falls through, another one found at our cost
- Met at the airport at any hour, with a car and a SIM card
- The lease read with you line by line, and moved in the same day
- Internet, utilities and the small things in your home set up
- A checklist to prepare before you fly
- Thirty days of help after you move in
$1,000 to start, at least 3 weeks before your flight; $1,000 on the day you move in.
Nothing suits you before your flight, or you change your mind: $800 of the first $1,000 comes back.
Soft Landing Plus
$3,900 for one or two of you
You want us beside you for your first 90 days: the visa office, the hospital, the bank.
Everything in Soft Landing, and:
- You come first: viewings and trips planned around you, and a personal WhatsApp line
- We go with you to the visa extension and the ACR I-Card, up to two visits
- We go with you to the hospital: the emergency room, a patient record, a doctor
- An emergency file: blood type, medicines, insurance, family contacts
- We go with you to open a bank account (the bank decides, not us)
- A home helper found and checked
- A welcome kit, and breakfast in the fridge for your first morning
- An introduction to the expat clubs and meetups
- Ninety days of help after you move in
$1,950 to start, at least 3 weeks before your flight; $1,950 on the day you move in.
Nothing suits you before your flight, or you change your mind: $1,550 of the first $1,950 comes back.
Refunds
On Soft Landing and Plus, there are two kinds of refund.
- You change your mind before you fly. Or none of the apartments we found is for you: most of the first payment comes back. On Soft Landing, $800 of the first $1,000. On Plus, $1,550 of the first $1,950.
- We have not shown you 5 that fit. If within 30 days of that payment we have not shown you 5 apartments that fit your area, budget and must-haves, you can cancel and all of it comes back.
Scout Day: cancel at least 24 hours ahead and 85% comes back; later, nothing comes back. If we cannot do a day we booked, all of it comes back.
What we promise, in writing
- If we let you down, your first payment comes back. If we cancel, or within 30 days of your first payment we have not shown you 5 apartments that fit your area, budget and must-haves, you may cancel and the whole first payment comes back.
- Your trip moves, your payment waits. If you keep moving your trip, your first payment stays valid for 12 months from the day it arrived.
- Apartment not ready? A hotel on us. If your apartment is not ready on move-in day, we arrange a hotel and pay for up to 3 nights. If it would take longer, we move you to another place we showed you.
- Not as shown? We replace it. If the place you chose is clearly not as it was shown, we find you another one at our cost.
- Scout Day: late flights and typhoons. A late flight is still met. If your arrival moves to another day, your Scout Day moves once, free. If a typhoon stops the day, you choose a new date or that day’s money back in full.
The same promises are in the agreement you accept before you pay, and on our terms page.
One price for a couple. All three cover Cebu City and the towns around it. Flights, hotels, government fees, and the apartment’s own deposit and rent are paid by you, the rent to the owner in person.
Before any payment you accept a short written agreement by email, and you pay on our invoice by Wise or bank transfer. We are paid only by you. We take nothing from landlords.
Planning to buy, not rent? We help with that too. Tell us what you have in mind.
Write to usAsk anything first. Nothing is paid before we have talked.
Questions people ask before they write
Your question is not here? Ask us. Free to ask, and we write back within hours, not days. Our consultant button answers at once, at any hour.
Write to usWhat do I get at each price?
Scout Day, $500 a day: we meet you, set you up and show you Cebu, no apartments. Soft Landing, $2,000: your apartment found before you fly, airport, same-day move-in, 30 days of help. Soft Landing Plus, $3,900: all that, plus visa, hospital and bank visits with you and 90 days of help. See all three side by side.
What happens to my deposit if nothing suits me?
On Soft Landing and Plus, there are two kinds of refund. If none of the apartments suits you before you fly, or you change your mind, $800 of the first $1,000 comes back on Soft Landing, and $1,550 of the first $1,950 on Soft Landing Plus; the rest pays for the search work done. And if within 30 days of your first payment we have not shown you 5 apartments that fit, you may cancel and the whole first payment comes back. Both are written in the agreement you accept before you pay anything.
What if something goes wrong on your side?
If we cancel, or within 30 days of your first payment we have not shown you 5 apartments that fit, you may cancel and the whole first payment comes back. If your apartment is not ready on move-in day, we pay for a hotel for up to 3 nights. A place clearly not as shown is replaced at our cost.
Do I pay the owner before I have seen the apartment?
No. You see photos and video of each apartment before you fly, and you choose. Before you fly, we also negotiate with the owner for you: the rent, the deposit, the lease terms and what the owner fixes or buys before you move in. We do our best; the owner decides. The lease, the apartment's deposit and the first month's rent are paid on the day you arrive, in person, after you have walked through it with us.
My flight lands in the middle of the night. Is that a problem?
Not at all. We meet you whatever time you land, 2 a.m. included, with a car ready. If your flight is late, we meet the one you arrive on. You go straight to your apartment, with no hotel night in between.
I'm not American. Can you still help me?
Yes. We help retirees from anywhere who want to live in the Philippines. Everything we do happens in Cebu, so it works the same whether you come from Canada, Australia, the UK or Europe. Tell us where you are and when you would like to come.
What about health insurance?
US Medicare does not pay for care outside the United States. The cheap local plans stop taking new members around age 60 to 65, so past that you budget for international cover, which takes people into their 70s. See healthcare in Cebu for the full picture.
Will people ask me for money?
It can happen anywhere you are seen as having savings. Keep your finances private at first, and ask us if a request ever feels off; we will tell you what we think.
Write to us
Ask anything about retiring in the Philippines. We are real people in Cebu, we write back within hours, not days, and nothing is paid at this stage.
Message us directly
On WhatsApp or by email, whenever it suits you. Tap one to start.
We answer in the same app you wrote from, within hours, not days.
Or let us write to you first
Leave your name and your email or WhatsApp number. We write to you within hours, not days.
