Straight answers

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 the prices.

Yes. A Scout Day is $500 a day, paid at least 3 days before the day; cancel at least 24 hours ahead and 85% comes back. If you then book Soft Landing or Soft Landing Plus within 12 months, you get 15% off it: $1,700 or $3,315, paid in two halves.

We meet the flight you actually arrive on. If your arrival moves to another day, your Scout Day moves with it once, free. If a typhoon or something like it stops the day, you choose: a new date, or that day's money back in full.

No. Every price is for one person or a couple moving together into one home.

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.

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.

Your first payment stays valid for 12 months from the day it arrived, however many times the dates move. After 12 months without a flight, we treat it as a change of mind and refund under the usual rule.

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.

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.

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.

The search usually takes about two weeks once you pay the deposit, and the first payment is due at least 3 weeks before your flight. If you are thinking of coming within the next three months, write now, so we have time to find and hold a good place before you fly.

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.

Yes. Before you pay anything, we email you a short written agreement, and you accept it by replying "I agree". It names the price, the steps, the refund rule, your rent budget and your must-haves. The same money rules are public on /terms.

No. Write to us on WhatsApp or by email, or leave your details in the form, and we write back within hours, not days, in writing. Our consultant button on every page answers at once, at any hour. Take as long as you like to decide.

Most visitors from the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and Europe arrive without a visa and can extend their stay as tourists. The SRRV retirement visa is optional: a refundable deposit that buys permanence. See Retirement visas for both routes. Visa fees are never part of our price. On Soft Landing Plus we go with you to the immigration office.

Before you pay, one of us answers every message and sends the agreement and the invoice. After you pay, our partner on the ground takes over: the search, the airport, move-in day and the weeks after. Both of us live on Cebu.

No. This is a private arrival service. We find apartments for you, talk to owners on your side and meet you on the ground. We do not sell property, and we take nothing from owners on rentals. If you want to buy, we bring in a vetted agent.

All three services cover Cebu City and the towns around it. Most of our search is on Mactan, in Lapu-Lapu City, because that is where the good condos are. Want a place out in the province? We can do it, and we agree that price with you separately.

Usually not right away. Local banks want an ACR I-Card and proof of address, which often takes around three months. Bring a card that works abroad for the first stretch. On Soft Landing Plus we go with you for the card and to the bank. See Banking and money.

Fiber runs 100 to 300 Mbps for about $20 to $28 a month in most areas. That is plenty for video calls and streaming. It varies by building, so we check the internet before you choose an apartment.

Cebu does get typhoons. Serious ones are not frequent, but they are real. In the season, keep water, food and cash at home, and skip ground-floor apartments in flood areas. Our map shows a flood score for every area. See Is Cebu safe for retirees.

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.

Yes. A place to stay while you look, price ranges by area, vetted agents, and one of us beside you at viewings. Many people rent first and buy later, once they know the area. Tell us what you have in mind.