Need help and advice

[daveduke007]

(mirimark @ Feb. 04 2007,04:37) After all the Jacks are put in their boxes and all the Clowns have gone to bed.
  And the wind,  it crys,  MARRY.
The Traffic Lights they turn BLue tommaro.

 

Fuckin love that track by Jimi

[Guest]

hey dude i wonder, you never sleep?

[stogie bear]

Currently I would see the Thai real estate market as being in favour of the renter as there are so many new building going up and the demand is not there to meet the amount being build.

There's a lot to be said for that. Rent is cheap... (I pay about $115 US a month About 60 Quid.) And it's not a claustrophobic apartment either... nice little town house in a quite area south of Bangkok. And I've been here since I moved to Thailand, so I like it!

Buying your own place IS a big commitment but property is so cheap that many people can afford the loss if it goes tits up.

Also - you can pay as much as you want but you can get a purpose built villa made by a British builder in a nice part of Hua Hin for 3 million Baht. That includes a pool and it's plenty spacious for a family to live in.

I intend to do A LOT of investigating into the legal ins and outs before I plonk down some of my money. If I don't like what I see then I'll get Kui to buy it in her name! I've already spoken to her about it.

[Guest]

I have participated in these discussions before. Being a 65 year old male, i tend to look at purchasing property abroad a bit differently. At my age, even though i can afford to make the purchase and live with the consequences if it does not work out, it is not worth it. Even though I would prefer to have an active sex life at age 100, reality is what it is. I would only be making a purchase for a short period of time. Renting is much more practical. However, if i were 20 years younger and had 30 years of life ahead of me, I would purchase something in a heartbeat. I believe age is the factor, not the money.

Thank you for permitting me to add my 2 cents worth.

[thaibound]

(stogie bear @ Feb. 04 2007,06:46) you can get a purpose built villa made by a British builder in a nice part of Hua Hin for 3 million Baht. That includes a pool and it's plenty spacious for a family to live in.

I intend to do A LOT of investigating into the legal ins and outs before I plonk down some of my money. If I don't like what I see then I'll get Kui to buy it in her name! I've already spoken to her about it.

can she buy two?

your future neighbor,
thaibound

[stogie bear]

At the momet she may be buying 4! We have some commited people who want to own their own property and are serious about the investment required.

We could have our own LB lovers neighborhood!

I'll know more in April...

[thaibound]

(stogie bear @ Feb. 04 2007,12:13)  At the momet she may be buying 4! We have some commited people who want to own their own property and are serious about the investment required.

We could have our own LB lovers neighborhood!  

I'll know more in April...

that's too funny!
i started to add a tagline to my post: 'anybody else interested?' but then i thought, damn, i can't be inviting the world to come screw with stogie's little get-away now can i?....
no need since you're ready to open it up yourself.
damn if that wouldn't beat hell out of any 'ladyboy villa' we'd pondered earlier!

i'll be working my ass off here in the in april but count me in for sure. i'll take a two bedroom, four bathroom (you know ladyboys!!) place wrapped around a courtyard with a lap pool.

where do i send the check?

[Guest]

(stogie bear @ Feb. 04 2007,18:13) We could have our own LB lovers neighborhood!  

And call it Cockermouth  

[PigDogg]

I would rent for a few months wherever your going to buy.

I think the main advantage of buying is not potential appreciation but rather diversification.

Let's say a nuclear bomb wiped out your home country and most of your money.  Then having property in Thailand would come in handy.

But I think buying is a big hassel and there's lots of reasons you might want to move in a year or two after you buy.

Think the Nirun Condo in Pattaya is a good deal.

Some prominent posters from Pattaya Secrets Forum  live there and pics are posted on that Forum.  Think coayt is about 1 million and the complex is new with two swimming pools.

[moe666]

Renting makes so much more sense than buying in Thailand. Outside of Bangkok you can rent some unbelievable places for peanuts.

[TTChang]

(newcomer @ Feb. 04 2007,12:51) Do you know the people in the ajoining apartment, villa or condo you are buying and do they fit the profile of people who wish to live with.

WTF? You mean like fellow forum members, moderators, other ATS pervs? .........yes, perhaps I would like the neighbours in a Hua Hin villa! 

LB lovers neighbourhood watch    Count me in too, Stogie!

[Guest]

If you like Hua Hin but would like something a bit quieter especially in the silly season Nov- March have a look at Pranburi. You would need a car as it is around 25 - 30 kms from HH but I consider this to be the next Hua Hin and in Real Estate terms picking the next up and coming suburb is the key to finding a good captial gain.

In terms of reading about foreign ownership there is so much stuff out there but really I would be speaking to an english speaking Thai Lawyer who has expertise in this area. If the law changes concerning foreign ownership at least he will be able to navigate the Thai laws. May cost some money up front but there is nothing better than sound advice not expats thinking they understand everything about Thailand and their laws.

[stogie bear]

I think the main advantage of buying is not potential appreciation but rather diversification.

Er... I just wanna place to live!

[looktoyou]

Many factors need to be considered.  An investment requires acceptable return vs acceptable risk.  Buying outside your known home town means you will never really know the market and local economy.  Add to currency risk, legals, title of ownership, etc.  It is quite daunting.  

However each person must decide their goals in life.  This is by far the most important factor.

In my case I bought condo for B8.8m.  Located in Asoke area.  If I could have bought in Siam Square on top of  the BTS station it would have been better (just joking).  Purpose is to rent it or be able to rent it - always.  I mentioned title, so no stuffing around with Thai companies.  Ultimately the only thing you own for the money is the Title.  Bankok is the only place worth considering for me as there is plenty of land in Thailand.

I am not a sharp investor and have always desired blue ribbon investments and paid the premium.  The reason they are blue ribbon is that they are desireable and most likely not going to fail.

Having said the above I also accepted that I might lose A$50k on this decision but I can afford it.  My purpose is to secure against the risk of higher rents in Bangkok.  I would hazard a guess that hotel rates have gone up by 50 to 60% in about 10 years.  My goal is to have the opportunity to live there one day.

I sought advice from local people and leaned towards those I thought were competent in their views.

Thailand is located between two great economies.  China & India.  The world's industry appears to be relocating to China.  A lot of industry is setting up in Thailand.

My investment may not work out but that would not be the first time.  Only time will tell if I got my decisions right.

Cheers

[mardhi]

Condos in Pattaya realy fall into two distinct categories - Grade A and Grade C - there aint much in the middle. Grade A would be the top end conod's like Northshore, Saranchol, Royal Cliff. Grade C would be likes of Nirun condo and most of the rest. Personally I include likes of View Talay as being in the middle undetermined category - they are not despite what anybody says, desirable places to live as you just need to look at who is in there to come to that conclusion. Thats the problem with condo's - you really have little or no control over what happens there. Condo's are in the A category incredibly expensive by Thai standards and up with some of the best Bangkok real estate price wise.

in pure value terms, a house and land is a far better investment option however you have the uncertainty about ownership. Lots of ways around that, some maybe more robust than others but the long and short of it is that leases are likely to be the main way forward. You can lease the land from a Thai for a 30 year term and the lease is shown on the title deed - conversly you can own the building on that land as well - just not the land itself. If you have a trusted Thai, the best thing to do is agree in very simple terms some kind of a leaseback deal. You fund the land acquisition and they own it in their name. After 30 years expect to walk away. You can buy farm land for a pittance, but its a long and expensive haul to get it up to a decent standard. As an example if 4 people puchased 2 Rai of land for 1,000,000 baht a rai, your obviously looking at 500,000 each. Added to that you need to budget for bringing power and water in - typically somewhere around 300,000b should cover that. Then you need to build a perimeter wall. Budget about 4,000 baht per linear meter. Then you need to build a road and drainage. Then you need to build a house - typically around 10,000baht a square meter, then you need to buy all the tiles, bathroom, kitchen,air con etc that goes into the house. Landscaping can cost a fortune if your not clever - its easy to spend as much as a 1,000,000b a rai for landscaping - plants are expensive and they add up.

As an average, I would expect that if you can get the land at a good price, you could do the whole lot for an average of about 2,500,000 baht for a 120sq m house, 3 beds 2 bathrooms. A pool would cost anywhere from 300-500,000 baht depending upon size and what type of filtration equipment you use.

So 2,500,000 / 30 years use would equate to 6,900 baht per month - personally I would not rely on any value going forward. Just look on it as a place to call your own and be done with it. Odds are you will be bored with it in say 10 years so its cost you circa 250,000 a year which is probably about the same as renting except your not of course running the risk of rent increases however your also not earning any money on that 2,500,000b being on deposit in a bank.

Cheers
Mardhi