w11guy

My wife is usually busy with her business during banking hours, and I'm more for doing this than she is.

As far as being legally involved in the purchase I want zero to do with it. Paying half the monthly mortgage as rent is all I want out of it, plus seeing my wife own her house of course.

I don't think you should be encouraging your wife to do this. It seems like she doesn't want to, and you think it's so risky that you don't want to be involved at all. Maybe she doesn't want to be lumbered with a mortgage that she may not be able to pay in future years. And why don't you want to be involved? Are you already panning your exit in case things go wrong? Doesn't sound good to me, unless I've missed something.

In any case, if your wife doesn't have a little time to find out basic facts from the bank then she won't have time to go house hunting and actually applying for a mortgage.

I think mortgage applications here are decided more on individual circumstances than they are in UK/USA. So depends if her relatives have savings to show the bank, whether she has a good credit record, how long her business has been running and is income pretty regular, etc. You really need to sit down and discuss with at least one bank in order to get some idea.

I have a rule in life that if I do something really stupid I don't post it on a public forum. That all those domain names were available should tell you something. That something is that no-one wants them.

Why didn't you get the Birma domains as well as the Burma ones? You could have cornered the market for those that can't spell.

People start buying condos and houses at retail prices.

They want to sell them later at similar prices.

A second-hand buyer usually does the same, unless he gets it at an auction or a fire sale. Even if he gets it at a good price, there are so many condos for sale, that even a well-priced one will take a while to be seen.

Then there are transaction costs at the land office. Approx 6%, depending on how long the unit was owned by the prior owner, and then how long you own it.

If you are buying for monthly income, and then sale in 10 years, that is fine, but only for flipping in a few months to a year, the transaction costs including the agent fees and the land office costs will eat away any profits.

I didn't realise that taxes were so high here. But it also explains why there are so many dilapidated houses in Bangkok, as there is no incentive for builders to buy and renovate. There should be 0% tax on properties being completely renovated, as that will help bring the housing stock up to a good standard. But getting that way in the UK now. Property taxes are shockingly high.

This business model, buy-renovate-sell, is only feasible during the down swing of a property cycle.

Buy - when there are many distressed properties with favourable locations for selection.

Renovate - when prices of materials fall and contractors lacking jobs.

Sell - when there is a lack of new projects being launched offering easy financial terms.

I found it to be easier during a rising market in the UK because it is so easy to sell the finished house. With rising prices you are also less likely to make a loss. When prices are falling you may be able to buy at a good price but by the time you've renovated prices have fallen further and it's harder to sell because many are waiting for prices to fall further.

If you start getting petty, expect similar treatment in return. I think you need to accept the majority decision and move one. The ones that don't want to pay have rights as well. Maybe they don't have the money or prefer to spend it on other things. I understand you're in a difficult situation but if there is legal basis for them paying then they don't need to. You can't force others to pay for services that you want.

The requirement is indeed 10 baht stamp but expect it will be delivered with postage due if postage is actually short - it is normal for return to be several weeks after reporting date so would not be anxious yet. They do not even process until the actual reporting date regardless of when received.

ok, that's all good. Thanks for your help.

"Is there a way to find out past sale prices like you can in the UK?"

No. Any such information here would indeed make for fascinating reading.

There are people in Pattaya who buy cheap older condos (usually "fire sales") and renovate them. Sometimes this means replacing everything with modern stuff of dubious taste, and sometimes it just means a coat of paint badly applied. They then put them up for sale at the usual inflated asking prices and wait for an eventual pigeon to land. I have seen similar techniques being employed in Rayong.

As far as I know most of them rely on being told in advance about potential fire sales in order to buy at reasonable prices, thus leaving some potential for profit. They often seem to get this advance info from agents involved in selling units for people who aren't around to check on what is happening (ie the executors of dead people, ill people, people in jail etc).

So I need to pop along to the Bangkok Hilton and see if the inmates have any property to sell.

I just read that and seem to have made two mistakes...

I. I posted about 8-9 days before expiry, and not 15 days.

2. I put a 3 baht stamp on the return envelope instead of 10 baht. The guy at the post office insisted that was all I needed.

Any idea what they do if the return envelope doesn't have a 10 baht stamp?

I sent off my 90-day address reporting for by registered post and the tracking shows that it was received on 27 June. But I haven't got a reply yet and now I'm past the 90 days. What should I do? I'm tempted to just wait until the next 90 days and then just go in person with proof of delivery? If I phone I doubt I'll get any sense out of them, and I don't want to trek all the way there, as there probably isn't a special queue for lost in post.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Along sukhumvit (Bts 300 meters) 4 bedroom/3 baths rent 11.000 baht (2.7 Mb to buy). 3-4 bedroom townhouse 4-5000 baht (2.1 Mb to buy) both with schools, 7/11, market, tesco express all withing a 5 minute walk. It is a renters market at the moment.

Of course these examples are more targeted to Thais, but newsflash there are more thais then foreigners.

I decided long ago that it would be best for us to invest in the smaller units around 25-30sqm. Now around 300K to buy, we bought around 200K. 2-3K for rent unfurnished (that's a neat 11-12%). Nothing flashy. Maintenance costs are very low as most of the stuff is owned by the renter. The biggest problem is a faulty toilet and that can be fixed quickly for a few hundred baht. 100% occupancy for the last 10 years. We started offloading the oldest ones last year for a neat 60-100% profit often to the renter and are shifting to "newer" buildings (10-15 year old instead of 20+) hoping to do this cycle again and again.

Location is everything and we don't buy (for investment) if we can not pay cash. Leaving out the banks is the best thing for roi.

I know this is an old thread, but how do you find the is condos? Is it mostly word of mouth and walking the area or are they advertised somewhere. all the websites I find tend to only have the more expensive properties.

If they really cared about the children, perhaps they should get their sex trade, child sex trade, teen drug problem, poor education, and human trafficking problems in order. Then move on to the land issues.

Because with the poorly educated kids they are pumping out of their fail factories, they are not going to be worth much to anyone exact for farming and low wage factory work. So they are not going to be land owners anyway, unless their farming parents leave it to them when they die, which in most cases the child will sell it for money as soon as he can.

Lets also evict all Thai land owners from every country in the world. Reciprocity is a bitch. But we should do it for the kids, of course.

Stupid argument. There's a big difference between richer people buying up land in poor counties to an open policy like the UK has.

Foreigners are permitted to buy land in industrial estates because they generate income and employment.

We're nothing but walking ATMs to these people.

Same in most countries. Even in USA if you have enough money to invest you'll be allowed to live there. No money to invest, then goodbye. But nothing at all wrong with that. All countries need investment and so it needs to be encouraged. It's not good for poor countries to sell all their assets (land) to richer foreigners. That just leads to the company becoming poorer, as any profits are usually spend outside the country. Nothing at all to do with walking ATMs. I certainly don't get treated like that by any Thai people, and neither do most people I know. You obviously hang out with the wrong type of people.

Time to move. I hear Cambodia is nice.

Goodbye.

On my third rented place. First two I got deposit back in full. I have no reason to think this time will be any difference. You can tell he's a good guy.

I'd be interested to know where appreciation is currently 10% pa.

Prime London areas like K&C, Westminster are growing at 10%+ per year. Typical of Notting Hill - 2009 375K, now 550K. This appreciation is amazing. Lots of French and Greek people leaving their own countries and looking for a safe place for their money. Also tons of money pouring in from Russia and Asia. Prime London is a fantastic place to invest for the long term.

Strolling: what's wrong with property investment in Thailand? I understand a foreigner can't own land/house, but no such issues with owning a condo.

The country is far too unstable in the long term.

Future visa laws?

When the inevitable/unspeakable happens?

Long-term social and political instability.

As the Thais say, 'Thailand is for the Thais'... Rent, enjoy your life here, just don't get overly involved or start investing what you'll cry over if you lose.

And a foreigner can own a house. Just not the land it's built on unless they 'invest' 40 million baht.

But those things can happen in any country, including the USA/UK. USA property prices have crashed in recent years. Personally I think you'd get a better return in UK, but Thailand is a growing economy and has great long-term prospects. I know people on TV love to slag off everything Thai, but the US, UK and others have made a complete mess of their economies and will still be paying off all the money lost for the next 100 years or more. The UK is still paying back what it borrowed for the 1st World Word, and that was almost 100 years ago.

Just tried it and it works fine. I use Google Chrome.

"only 13m baht!"

Sounds cheap but when you say 'only $420,000' it doesn't sound so cheap.

That is very cheap for such a large house in a capital city. Would cost $3m-$20m or more in London.

Buy in a proper country, not in Thailand.

I agree with this comment. You will get better returns and probably better capital appreciation in the UK, USA, etc. The rental market in Thailand is not good for most landlords. There are 1000s of empty condos that have been up for rent for many months and often year or more. If you're not careful you could end up with a few unrentable condos.

I have only rented so far, but I would definitely advise renting first before buying. Some buildings seem great on your first visit but it's only after living there a few months that you spot the problems. Often only minor, but good to have the chance to try before you buy. In most buildings I've been to there are always places to both rent and buy. If you buy and then decide the place isn't for you, then you could have big problems selling, as the market is massively oversupplied in most of Bangkok. But I think you need to take a walk around areas you like and just walk into the buildings you like the look of. They will show you what they have and you can then easily compare prices.

I've renovated a few house in the UK for re-sale and was wondering if it's possible to do the same things here.

Some issues I see is that condos that need to be renovated are mostly in old buildings, and once renovated they may be difficult to sell because people might not be interested in buying in an old building.

Another issue is that many condos seem difficult to sell, so even after renovation you may be stuck with the condo. I know many condos in Silom and Suk that have been on sale for years. Owners won't drop the price at all. But I've seen a few farangs drop the price 20-30% for a quick sale, but mostly these price drops seem to be from an unrealistic price to a realistic price, so they may not be genuine discounts. Is there a way to find out past sale prices like you can in the UK?

Another option would be to rent until you can sell, but there are so many condos that can't be rented that even that seems a bit of a risk.

But the right condo in the right location might be what's needed.

Has anyone else had any success or failure with renovating for profit? If you've had a success, then what did you do that made you succeed? If you failed, then what do you think you did wrong?

A good collection on this youtube video...

http://youtu.be/YnMntZ3QmjI

Supermarkets in the UK are even worse. Bread rolls 20p each or 4 for £1. It really happens more often than people realise.

Jamesons is showing it.. It is also in UBC.... ASN now available again and also FOX premiere movie channel

I know UFC and FOX, but what are UBC and ASN?