newnative

Absolutely! Keeping a roof over your head is usually your biggest monthly expense. That's where Thailand shines vs. most western countries. Places like Pattaya offer a wide variety of condos and houses at a wide variety of price points, to fit every budget, big or small. Need a house to buy for 100 million baht? Got it. Need a condo to rent for 7,000 baht? Also, got it. The OP is laser-focused on the price of a sandwich or a pair of flip-flops when determining how expensive a place is when he should be looking at the big ticket budget items--and, he's not the only one. I often find myself chuckling at some poster on the Forum complaining about the price of some small item--I think one time it was a can of beans--and then declaring they can live so much more cheaply in the West. Well, maybe, if they can figure out how to live in an empty bean can. I would say, for the OP, why are you, with your apparently tight budget, spending $6 for a sandwich when there's so much better, cheaper food available? Ditto for your expensive flip-flops. Do some shopping around. Should you choose to leave, sending a big buh bye bye.

Although my Thai spouse and I have lived in a number of condos, we are now living in a large house with a pool on the Darkside of Pattaya. We enjoyed our seaview condos but now that we are older--I am 72--we wanted more space to host a large family of relatives who visit us. We now have all the space we need to do that. We also have space should we need live-in help at some point. Rather than going the Company route with the house, it is in my spouse's name on freehold, not leased, land. I said in a previous post that I didn't like leasing. As with you, I do like the idea that my spouse is set up and relatives will eventually inherit the house and land.

I don't think Thais necessarily take offense because you are a foreigner complaining. Several weeks ago my Thai spouse and I ate at a Thai restaurant and he complained about both the quality and the quantity of the chicken in his dish--what little chicken was there was mostly skin. The server seemed to be very offended that he had complained and said that their chicken came from a certain well-known food business--as if that would magically turn the few pieces of chicken skin into more and actual chicken. Needless to say, spouse was quite offended by the server's bad, disrespectful attitude and we shall not be dining at that establishment ever again. One thing I have noticed is the often lack of customer training with serving staff. A sincere apology, with another serving of the dish produced, would have gone a long way to keeping us as customers, rather than driving us away, for good.

Yes, they did, do to a variety of different factors, which would take too much time to go into detail here, but one factor being they were all seaview condos, to start. I have gone into detail on some of the factors in posts on other threads dealing with real estate. Closing costs were almost always split 50/50 between buyer and seller, which is common in Thailand. When calculating our selling price, we. of course, figured in both taxes and realtor fees, if any, when we were determining how much we needed to sell for to make a profit.

My Thai spouse and I have owned 18 condos in foreign quota and 2 condos in Thai name. We never had a problem selling any of the 18 foreign quota condos to another foreign buyer, while keeping the foreign quota. With a number of these condos, the foreign quota was full in the project. These condos were easy sells, each at a profit. What you describe in your post never happened with any of our sales. The two condos in Thai name were bought in projects where the foreign quota was full. They were more difficult sells, although one was easier than the other as the condo was in one of the most desirable projects in Pattaya. Buyers will buy there even without foreign quota, as we did, because they want to be in that specific project, which is in a superior location with few other condo projects as competition. With this project, foreign quota condos are priced higher than other units not in foreign quota. Both condos eventually sold at a profit but they took longer to sell. Unless a buyer is in a situation such as the above where they absolutely must be in a specific project, I would still recommend buying in foreign quota. You own the condo in your name, there's no Thai company directors to deal with, and no annual company paperwork you are hassled with every year. Easier to buy, easier to sell with more potential buyers, easier to own with no annual paperwork.

Yes. After owning a number of sea view condos facing west (we only buy sea view), we finally wised up and our final two condos in Pattaya had sea views facing north. Much better--we could use the balconies from morning through evening.

Your safest option if you want to own property would be to buy a condo in foreign quota. Your name would be on the title deed and you would be the sole owner of the condo, with all that entails. Foreign quota condos are often easier to sell, as they are seen as more desirable for a foreign buyer. This is especially true if foreign quota becomes full in a project, which can happen with some projects popular with foreign buyers. I would in most cases not buy a condo in Thai or Company name. Several posters have said only rent but if you think you will be here for the long haul, buying can have some advantages. I always like paying myself each month, rather than the landlord. As we have seen with a recent thread of a buyer complaining about airport noise after he bought his condo, it's important to take your time before any condo purchase. Do your homework and find out as much as you can about the project you are interested in, including condo fee, foreign quota availability, project financials, observations of project maintenance, condition of pool, gym and other amenities, ratio of owner-residents to renters, any problems with illegal daily renters, abundance of, or lack of, parking. If possible, talk with some residents and make a number of visits to the project at different times of the day. Buying property is a big purchase, at least it is for me. Select the area you want to live in and then see as much property available for sale as you possibly can. Again, go slow and gather all the information you need before purchase--it's too late to check on airport noise after you have bought the property. As the buyer, you are in the driver's seat. Don't be rushed by agents into making a purchase, whether condo or house. I would not even consider buying a house on leased land. Leasing is renting and I'm not a renter--but that's me. If you are only interested in a house purchase, buying in company name is an option.

Totally agree. Thank goodness my spouse and I didn't follow the 'don't buy, rent' mantra when we moved to Thailand. We started by buying a studio condo in 2010 and now, 14 years later, have worked our way up to a new 4-bedroom pool villa in Pattaya, on the Darkside, which we own mortgage-free. This type of house rents for about 70,000 baht a month. So, to live in this type of property, that's what we'd be shelling out each month to a landlord, with nothing to show for it except keeping a roof over our heads. Monthly expenses would be 70,000 baht rent plus around 4,500 electric plus 1,500 pool guy plus around 2,000 for water, internet, Netflix, trash pickup Total around 78,000 baht. By owning, our monthly expense is only around 8,000 baht, leaving 70,000 baht each month to do something else with. Nice. I'll be the first to say that renting can have some advantages, especially if one is only in a place for a short time or, perhaps, is not certain where exactly they want to be, or want to move frequently and try different areas or projects, etc. Some have the rental mentality, while others have the owner mentality. Whatever floats your boat. There is no one size fits all. For me, I learned early on that I had the owner mentality. I also learned early on that, with my low salary for most of my career, the only money I had available for investment was the chunk of money that was going for rent each month, enriching the landlord but doing absolutely nothing for my financials. With little in savings and only that monthly chunk of rent money to invest, and not wanting to live on the street, that left real estate as my one avenue of investment available. So, that's what I did in the US during my working years there; buying a condo, living in it while I fixed it up, and then selling it. Taking the profit and buying another slightly better condo the next time. Mortgage/taxes/condo fee on the condo were about the same as what I had been paying in rent and there were also some tax advantages. I chuckle when posters often say, instead of buying, rent and invest that $100,000, $200,000, or whatever you would spend on buying a property. That was not an option for me--no $100,000 in my pocket to invest during my Wonder Years. (Wonder if I'll have any money left at the end of the month.) What I had was a minimum down payment--I think $10,000 for the first condo I bought, half borrowed from Dad. What I had was a low-paying but steady job and a steady budget of around $1500 a month for a roof over my head. I could pay the landlord with it, or myself. I chose me.

Normally, he manages both at the same time.

Throw the book at that maid for serving drinks. That's a waitress job. The utter nerve!

After hacking my way through the first page--I got no further--I was reminded of the William Goldman quote, regarding Hollywood, but quite apt here, as well: “Nobody knows anything...... Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what's going to work. Every time out it's a guess and, if you're lucky, an educated one.”

Total claptrap. Yet another reason why I don't like or support any organized religion.

As with so many other things, that would be Pattaya.

He's right about the super importance of getting out the vote, especially in the swing states. Hope maximum effort is done between now and the election with no letup.

Got my ballot in the mail the other day for Harris.

If it's still in business, there's a good frame shop as you turn into Big C from South Pattaya Road. It's in a little row of shops on the right just before you turn the corner to the left to go to the Big C parking lot. We had some mirrors custom made several years ago and they turned out really nice, at a very reasonable price.

Same with my Thai spouse and myself, also with 30 years together.

Not maybe, he is right. We have them in Pattaya, too. As for the thread, it doesn't bother me in the least. As dear old Dad used to say, don't sweat the small stuff, and lots, like this, is small stuff.

Horrible, selfish, lying, thin-skinned, mean, deceitful human being. But, it explains why he gravitates to Trump.

Spouse and I came to the same conclusion when we were debating a new CR-V purchase or a BYD Sealion. The numbers greatly favored the Sealion, even if the depreciation is steeper, and we have ordered a Sealion.

They might have held on to more of those shares. Not sure which they have/had but BYDDY has gone from around $43 a share to around $83 a share in the last 52 weeks and is currently trading at $75.70 a share.

No surprise there. German luxury cars typically have some of the steepest declines in value.

my spouse and I know of several errors with land surveys. One of our neighbors had his land plot remeasured and he found that the developer had erected his boundary wall about 50 cm wrong along the whole front of his property. It made the road that much wider but he lost land that would have given him a little more space between his swimming pool and the wall. 50 cm might not seem like much but it can be when space is tight, and can be the difference between being able to navigate a space or not. We also know of people having their land resurveyed by the government, only to find its either larger or smaller than on their documents. No advice for the OP but anyone considering buying property with no visible land markers, and even those with markers, might consider having a new survey done before a purchase to verify what they are buying.

Off hand, I can't think of anything that I'd 'expect back home' that I don't have here. All the things I needed in America for my normal, everyday life I've found here--good shopping with all the different things I shop for--from food, to cars, to clothing, to housewares, to art and crafts, to furniture, etc., good dental and optical care, good housing choices (better than the US), good hospital care, good safety where I live, good restaurants with a wide variety, good friends, good airports and flight choices, good roads when I travel around Thailand, movies and bookstores in English, etc. Plus, better year-round weather for someone who hates winter. After a lot of thought, the only thing that came to mind was Reduced Fat Cheez-it. Saw only regular Cheez-it at Villa Market. Then I checked Shopee and saw it available there. So . . . nothing for me.

1994!!! You've got to be kidding! That's some fresh, helpful info. In any case, an application to the Just Can't Quit Pattaya Fan Club is on its way. For the OP, Nong Nooch Gardens is well worth seeing. Spouse and I have been there a number of times and there always seems to be something new.