YoungFarangNa

if you want to see rising prices go to a reality agent in HK.

zing.

I feel very bad because I shorted the dollar 2:1 over the last 18 month so I have been robbing you guys blind. The Fed has no choice but to cut interests rates again. The subprime crisis is in full blast. If the Fed does not cut rates another .5 points (twice) the market will tank 5-10% quickly. Next year will likely see very slight growth or a possible mild recession. Of course, there will still be money to be made. But, sadly the USD is going to slide furthor. A weak dollar is much better than a weak economy. Get out of the USD. Youve been warned.

buying property in Thailand as an investment(you dont plan to live there) seems like an all around bad idea.

It generally is - wrong. What might pay is a low end property that is always rented out.

Someone I know, built a 10 rooms (36sqm with bathroom and balcony each, Pattaya, the other side of the Sukhumvit) building for 4 mil baht. Rents them out at 2000B per month. Minimal maintenance (no pool, no security), always full. One farang rents 1 room as his storage.

Still, it's 20K baht per month income on 4 mil baht investment. It's not 5% as he has some expenses about the property.

That same money in an Oz bank would bring more in interest per month and no hassles. Free to pack up and go.

My friend purchased 3 free hold condos today, 1 for 4,900,000 Baht and it has tennants at 40k per month for 1 year (signed contract)

the other two he purchased at 3.5 each and has a rental return of 25k per month for 1 and the other he will stay in while here in Bangkok..

A lot of people say dont buy at the moment and I would agree in some regards, but as the uncertainty from investors has been going on a for a while now, prices are dropping.. Freehold condos with an average return of 8% are not bad in my book.

If I were to rent a condo, it would be in the 30-35K baht range, paying it myself.

That's where the problem is: people paying from their own pocket would be where I could be. Those on company's check will go for something much higher. Would not have a glance at the "middle priced" accommodation, 4-5 million baht.

The affordable properties (unless low end) may remain unoccupied for years or for decades. Or never see any inhabitants except the mosqitoes.

It may be even hard to abandon such a property and run away.

the Bangkok property market is a funny one when comes to rentals. I looked for 4 months on this site and contacting brokers also. There is not many properties for rent bewteen 25k to 40k, although plenty under and plenty over. Thats my experience anyway.

As you pointed out, it is a "middle priced" apartment, but the one I saw (4.9) was really nice. The decor is brand new, it came fully furnished with 3 flat screen tv's, two double beds, fridge etc etc.. Everything brand new! It even had an ensuite bathroom with a bath. It was originally priced at 6mil and sat on the market for 9 months. My friend offered 4.8 and the guy settled (within 12 hours) on 4.9.. bargain and fantastic location on wireless road. 10 minutes walk to everything.

Im going to buy one on the floor below him at the same price from the same guy, if Im quick enough.

make sure you think everything through and make sure nothing is wrong with the property. its pretty strange for him to be selling a 6m property for 4.9m.

"My friend purchased 3 free hold condos today, 1 for 4,900,000 Baht and it has tennants at 40k per month for 1 year (signed contract)

the other two he purchased at 3.5 each and has a rental return of 25k per month for 1 and the other he will stay in while here in Bangkok.."

sounds like he caught him a farang fish. i am renting in sala daeng area a minute from the bts for 25k/month. it is 1 or 2 years old. id would be very surprised if it is less than 85-90K/m2 to own.

i guess if you can find the right places to advertise you could consistently book farang at inflated rental rates you could do very well. 10%+ in rents is pretty perfect.

sorry I should of been more clear. The 4.9 "condo" is an apartment, with two beds and is 88sqm.

the other two are also "apartments" of 65 ish sqm.

Im not sure if your last sentence was aimed at me, but I dont book anyone anything or take a commission.. He is a friend of ten years and he bought from a reputable broker..

i meant 40k times 12 month is a 10% return on the value of the property. which is very good and i probably not so common.

i pity the guy. im not giving him money but i cant imagine why anyone would feel animosity towards him. perhaps a look in the mirror is needed?

just assume that i am an alcoholic and drink 100k worth of (expensive) liquor if that is easier for you to stomach

If that's the case, you won't live long enough to worry about a family .

OK, then just assume that some people have more $ than you.

some people got mad at me in another thread when i said i spend 100k baht a month on average. i didnt really think this figure was very high and would expect many farang spend more than that (someone has to be renting those pent house condos).

so two questions

1. how much do you spend per month?

2. why do people get angry when you say that you spend a certain amount?

just assume that i am an alcoholic and drink 100k worth of (expensive) liquor if that is easier for you to stomach

i speak thai at an intermediate level. lately bangkok feels more like I'm in a Western country than an Asian country. Perhaps that is just the lifestyle I lead, the places I go, etc. But it hardly feels like I live in Asia anymore with all these fluent english speakers around.

I don't think Thailand is perfect. I would rather live in HK, Singapore, or South Korea... but not enough to pay 5 times as much for everything as I pay in Thailand. That is what it always comes down to. My life style in Thailand runs about 100k baht a month. When I start a family, I imagine it will double. But even if I made five times as much as I do now, I would still rather save that money than spend it getting the same thing in Seoul, only a little bit better. For me, I believe the number would be around $4,000,000 before I would consider living in these places over Bangkok.

"My friend purchased 3 free hold condos today, 1 for 4,900,000 Baht and it has tennants at 40k per month for 1 year (signed contract)

the other two he purchased at 3.5 each and has a rental return of 25k per month for 1 and the other he will stay in while here in Bangkok.."

sounds like he caught him a farang fish. i am renting in sala daeng area a minute from the bts for 25k/month. it is 1 or 2 years old. id would be very surprised if it is less than 85-90K/m2 to own.

i guess if you can find the right places to advertise you could consistently book farang at inflated rental rates you could do very well. 10%+ in rents is pretty perfect.

Can you please give more details on alternative areas to live in Bangkok besides those located by the BTS or Ratchada/MRT line? I dont work in Bangkok and I am wondering if I could double the size of my apartment if I weren't so Central.

Please give details on Places like Pinklo, Bangkapi, Thonburi, Banglamphu etc

In the USA, you can buy a house for 10% down, rent it out, perhaps the rent pays your mortgage payments, or perhaps you lose a little bit. In time, you can you sell the property, pay off the mortgage and make a profit. So if the property was $250K, you invest $25K and if it goes up to $300K you can sell at a $50K profit minus fees and a slight loss on each mortgage payment. You return somewhere in the 150% range on your investment. If you sell the house in 5 years, you don't pay tax on your gains.

Now lets look at Thailand, you buy a property for $250K (8.5m Baht). You rent it out (rental rates in Thailand are worse than the USA and its more likely you wont find a renter but lets ignore that). You get to keep the rent each month, around 50k baht a month. You make 11 months rent a year (1 to the agent who finds the renter) so 600K baht/17.6k USD yearly which is around a 7% return. You have pay tax on this, and if you have $250K in cash Id imagine you are in the 30%+ tax range so you are making 5% annually on your investment minus keeping the property up, paying insurance, and not having a renter. You will also profit when the property price increases. It reaches $300K USD and you decide to sell, you have to pay tax to the Thai government on your gains (how much?)...Rate of inflation is around 3% so you made 2% compounded(in rent) + $50K USD(minus the Thai tax rate)... This is the profit of your initial investment of $250K...

Correct me where I went wrong but buying property in Thailand as an investment(you dont plan to live there) seems like an all around bad idea.

<a href="http://www.trendycondominium.com/unitplan/unit_b3.html" target="_blank">http://www.trendycondominium.com/unitplan/unit_b3.html</a>

Neither bathroom has a tub. Why not make it one large bathroom acessible from both the bedroom and the living room? Why do you even need two bathrooms? It is a big waste of space. I would rather use the space for a big walk in closet.

I'm confused. Can't you read the drawing ?

You have 1 bathroom (with a bath tube) + 1 "toilet".

Which makes perfectly sense !

Your guests can use the "second toilets". And you have one private, in your bedroom.

Again, it's perfectly rational.

not all of them have bath tubs.... that was just an example i wanted to link for people who arent good at visualizing stuff.

I have one two-bedroom unit with two bathrooms. One bedroom has to share its bathroom with the living room. This is the only unit I have not been able to rent out for ages and yet the unit is beautifully situated facing the Lumpini park. The complain has always been that lack of bathroom for guests. So the idea of a separate bathroom for guests is not stupid after all.

for sane people, it is. your condo isnt even big enough to have people sleep over. where are they sleeping, the couch? so when guests come over they arent allowed to use the bathroom in your bedroom? seems pretty silly to me.

Perhaps in the Klong Toey area of Bangkok or the rural, poorer regions of Thailand.

http://www.trendycondominium.com/unitplan/unit_b3.html

i see the same layout that perhaps some people like, but for the life of me I cant understand why.

for condos in the 60-70m2 range its 1 bedroom and 2 bathrooms. There is one bathroom in the bedroom, and another in the living room. The living room and bedroom are seperated 50/50...

Neither bathroom has a tub. Why not make it one large bathroom acessible from both the bedroom and the living room? Why do you even need two bathrooms? It is a big waste of space. I would rather use the space for a big walk in closet.

there are quite a few resales from 68-73K/m2 and a couple of jokers advertising 36m2 for 25k/month

I have been monitoring this thread for some time as i find the whole thing fascinating. Until recently i lived in Suk Soi 13.

Let me see if i have this right. You signed a contract on a 70sqm unit and they built you a 71sqm unit instead? And as if that wasnt amazing enough you actually have to fork out extra cash to pay for the extra size? I cannot believe people are actually considering completing on oversized units. Don't you think you should consult your lawyer?

i imagine this was covered in his contract.

15-20K/month on sukhumwit or silom, very close to BTS, swimming pool. 50-60m2.

very expensive for a third country. that is just the way i come out.

I think that there is/will be rental oversupply. And there are also a lot of very rich locals (I know one friend's mum just bought 4 units in a new project on a whim!). But everyone is forgetting how bloody long it takes to do a place up to be ready to rent!! My condo as finished at the start of 2006 but was deserted for a year while everyone decorated. Now it is really pretty full, with 1/4 wealthy Thai residents, and 3/4 Japanese/foreign renters. In a year tell us about Centric scene again...

My land lord has five units in this building. Three units in the new building next door and owns a small serviced apartment. The unit I am renting previously sat idle for about a year. I guess there are a limited number of investment outlets for Thais. A shame really as I doubled my money in Chinese stocks this year.

"Some bought it as spare guest room to accommodate their family members who will visit Bangkok occasionally."

It is funny that you mention there not being any lights on in the building. I noticed the same thing frequently. I asked my friend the other day if Thai people don't like lights or something. I will look up a condominium and there are maybe five or six lights on at 8 pm. It must be nice to have been handed that kind of money.

I am looking to buy something in Central Bangkok 50-60m2's at a price range of 80k/m2 w/ an absolute maximum at 90k/m2... So which project do you like?

Trendy seems to be in a good location to rent it out in the future if I want to leave Thailand but the interior pictures are depressing. It looks as cheap as can be and the project was previously plagued with problems which makes me fearful that it will be poorly managed. The exterior is also as ugly as can be, though I really dont care.