How nice of a house to build?

[Cashboy]

59 minutes ago, Khun Jean said:

Land price go up, house price depreciates rather quickly. After 15-20 years the value is 90% in the land. 

Something to consider when building.

 

Spot on !!

Thais do not want a second hand house.

Second hand houses struggle to sell.

 

My advise would be:

Build a single story house because the land is cheaper than the structure of a second floor in most places in Isaan except the major towns and villages on major highways.

Build only for your requirements to avoid wasting your capital and to avoid a whole tribe moving in at a later date.

Build with simple concrete posts and 150mm wide aeriated blocks.

Build a roof covering the whole building as opposed to overlaping roofs that tend to leak at a later date.

Regarding a western kitchen;  I would be inclined to spend the money on a concrete outside kitchen for the Thai woman as you will find they are out there most of the time in Isaan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[InMyShadow]

you do realize this new house will be second hand the minute the key goes in the door righr?

[khunPer]

4 hours ago, Khun Jean said:

Land price go up, house price depreciates rather quickly. After 15-20 years the value is 90% in the land. 

Something to consider when building.

 

Correct, don't consider a house in Thailand as an investment; however for long-term use compared to renting something, that is never felt like one's own, it might be worth the money.

 

A Thai friend told me, that one should normally calculate 10 persent price drop every year for a house – i.e. 1 million baht house is worth only 900,000 baht after one year, and 810,000 baht after two years, and 730,000 baht after three, a.s.o. – however, I presume the first few years the house will keep the value, and in certain areas where a house can be sold/resold, even gain a bit, before it begin value-drop. The land value's increase may sometime compensate, or partly compensate, for the drop in house-price.

[Allen Ginsing]

Many buildings are 100's of years old in Asia. It is just the way they build houses these days is they fail in many ways and get mould problem in Asia. (see my post on common mistakes in house construction in Asia.)

 

Another thing to consider: No low-VOC materials are used in Asia. It might take 1 year to build your house but it will take 1-2 years to off gas! The chemicals are toxic, it the short you might suffer from headaches in the long term...who knows.

[KMartinHandyman]

Many buildings are 100's of years old in Asia. It is just the way they build houses these days is they fail in many ways and get mould problem in Asia. (see my post on common mistakes in house construction in Asia.)
 
Another thing to consider: No low-VOC materials are used in Asia. It might take 1 year to build your house but it will take 1-2 years to off gas! The chemicals are toxic, it the short you might suffer from headaches in the long term...who knows.

I guess you haven’t looked into your claim of “ No low-VOC materials are used in Asia.” very hard since 2013. You might try any building and hardware shop as most everyone of them sells TOA paint which would be the greatest source of off-gassing being as there’s not to many Thai homes with carpet.
I think their presence in Myanmar Malaysia Vietnam Cambodia Laos and Thailand would be parts of Asia.
“2013
Ultra Low VOCs Technology
We developed a non-toxic colorant paint mixer product that had a VOC level 10 times lower than other then-existing paint products (“Ultra Low VOCs Technology”).

We established TOA Paint (Myanmar) Company Limited in Myanmar, a joint venture with Mantakanok Co., Ltd., MK Co., Ltd. and Ms. Thet Thet Nu Aung.”

[Denim]

8 hours ago, Cashboy said:

Spot on !!

Thais do not want a second hand house.

Second hand houses struggle to sell.

 

My advise would be:

Build a single story house because the land is cheaper than the structure of a second floor in most places in Isaan except the major towns and villages on major highways.

Build only for your requirements to avoid wasting your capital and to avoid a whole tribe moving in at a later date.

Build with simple concrete posts and 150mm wide aeriated blocks.

Build a roof covering the whole building as opposed to overlaping roofs that tend to leak at a later date.

Regarding a western kitchen;  I would be inclined to spend the money on a concrete outside kitchen for the Thai woman as you will find they are out there most of the time in Isaan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not wishing to seem argumentative but it is simply not true that secondhand houses struggle to sell.

 

I have sold four in Thailand all within a month of going on the market.

 

If you are careful to buy in an up and coming area you can not only easily sell, but make a tidy profit too.

 

Our last house in Thonburi was bought for 1,000,000 and sold for twice that 4 years later. First viewer bought and we can two other definite buyers waiting.

 

Thais do sometimes have trouble selling because they don't know how to present a house for sale ( ie , they try to sell it still full of their own junk etc ) plus they often try to sell at a stupid price on the assumption that there are plenty of idiots like them out there. Also , many don't look after their property and let it deteriorate rather than spend a couple of thousand baht keeping it freshly painted etc.

 

Even so...our Thai neighbors also sold their properties without the slightest difficulty. If you buy wisely then resale is not a problem.

 

Research is the key.

[Allen Ginsing]

15 hours ago, KMartinHandyman said:

I guess you haven’t looked into your claim of “ No low-VOC materials are used in Asia.” very hard since 2013. You might try any building and hardware shop as most everyone of them sells TOA paint which would be the greatest source of off-gassing being as there’s not to many Thai homes with carpet.
I think their presence in Myanmar Malaysia Vietnam Cambodia Laos and Thailand would be parts of Asia.
“2013
Ultra Low VOCs Technology
We developed a non-toxic colorant paint mixer product that had a VOC level 10 times lower than other then-existing paint products (“Ultra Low VOCs Technology”).

We established TOA Paint (Myanmar) Company Limited in Myanmar, a joint venture with Mantakanok Co., Ltd., MK Co., Ltd. and Ms. Thet Thet Nu Aung.”

Paint is not that bad. You probably have to request for them to use the low VOC stuff.

 

The problem is the adhesive used on those fancy tiles - that is some nasty stuff.  Probably the tiles themselves have some super fine finished need to gas off too. Vinyl sheet used on furniture, etc.

 

I've experience the VOC problem first hand in new guesthouses. You can smell faint odor of plastic chemicals then i wake up with a blazing headache the next morn and know it is time to move on. The last place was finished in 2017 so i think at least 6 month i would allow for gas off at least.

 

Building a good house in Thailand required venting of heat and humidity. Venting of the roof, walls and foundation. The septic and pipes. Kitchens and bathrooms. Some how they missed this point. They make the building air tight for modern air con. But that air con needs to be kept running all the time to always remove the humidity.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2018 by Allen Ginsing

[smotherb]

On 2/9/2018 at 10:12 AM, wildewillie89 said:

You can build it heaps cheaper than buy. The Mrs went to look at some houses with a few of her engineers that were being built in estates in the heart of our city. For the price she paid for her house we would be getting a much smaller house built out of poorer materials, and also no land (living on top of the neighbours). I would rather drive the 3km for the extra land, space and stronger house. 

The Mrs house is posted earlier in the thread. Cost 1.5 million, would sell for a lot more than that being close to our rural city. Before being built they had an offer of 1.1 million just for the land. 

Yeah, if you have a contractor who you can trust, or you are your own foreman and you know what to do, where to source the materials and decent workers, and know all the paperwork required to be a long term renter, a renter responsible for all taxes, insurance, repairs and all other expenses; that is really all you are after all. But, how long does it take, how many hoops do you have to jump through to get it done and then how often is it a pile of crap? I've seen houses where it seems no one had any idea of the rise and run of stairways, where they build garages suited for stretch tuk-tuks, but are far too narrow for a normal car to open the doors inside, roofs that leak and ceilings which don't meet the walls. If you buy one already built you can at least see what you will get. Seems to me you are asking for a headache to have it built.

 

However, I suggested buying from one of the distraught farangs already trying to sell their dream house/money pit.

 

To each his own.

Edited February 10, 2018 by smotherb

[LukKrueng]

On 2/7/2018 at 11:21 AM, roiethome said:

My experience - For What It Is Worth

I built a house in 2015 in Buri Ram Province.

Very few off the shelf plans suit everyone. I found a great CAD program - Mysweethome.  With this I designed the house and was able to 'walk through' the house before building and knew where everything would fit in the house. Program was only a few dollars to buy on the web.

Give the plan drawing and each of the elevations to an experienced builder and he will be bale to work from these.

Our house is 2 bedroom, two bathroom (1 en-suite) dressing room, lounge and inside kitchen for me. Outside we have a large gardenroo, troilet, outside kitchen and an office room

Built to normal western standards, hot showers, kitchen water heater,  tiled roof, aircon etc.

Total floor area is 205 square meters and total construction and fit out costs work out at 10,000 thb per square meter.

You can keep budget under control by buying all materials yourself and avoid the mark up scam.

Also if you can take time to be on site every day to check and supervise, you will avoid costly mistakes.

can you send a link to the Mysweethome app? Tried google it with no success....

 

Thanks

[tlock]

26 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

can you send a link to the Mysweethome app? Tried google it with no success....

 

Thanks

I think he means sweet home 3d:

 

http://sweethome3d.com/

[wildewillie89]

On 2/10/2018 at 6:41 PM, smotherb said:

Yeah, if you have a contractor who you can trust, or you are your own foreman and you know what to do, where to source the materials and decent workers, and know all the paperwork required to be a long term renter, a renter responsible for all taxes, insurance, repairs and all other expenses; that is really all you are after all. But, how long does it take, how many hoops do you have to jump through to get it done and then how often is it a pile of crap? I've seen houses where it seems no one had any idea of the rise and run of stairways, where they build garages suited for stretch tuk-tuks, but are far too narrow for a normal car to open the doors inside, roofs that leak and ceilings which don't meet the walls. If you buy one already built you can at least see what you will get. Seems to me you are asking for a headache to have it built.

 

However, I suggested buying from one of the distraught farangs already trying to sell their dream house/money pit.

 

To each his own.

That is the same with everything you do in life. If the project isn't well planned for and isn't watched over then obviously the chances of it screwing up are higher. That is no ones fault except the owners.

I think you are looking at it from a whole and feeling intimidated, rather than completing it step by step. We had just finished renting and moved into the in-laws as it was closer, the Mrs was pregnant, we had just bought a new puppy, I had just started a new job and she obviously works full time also ...with so much going on in our lives the whole process still wasn't all that difficult. For farang/Thai who don't work, then it would be incredibly easy. 

If the Mrs was to buy a similar sized house in the same area it would have 2 million baht more. Yes, if someone lives overseas at the time, or their Mrs isn't capable of completing basic tasks then buying an already built house would be a better option. But if someone is living here, then the possibility of building a bigger house with better materials for a cheaper price, I think, is something worth pursuing. 

Edited February 11, 2018 by wildewillie89

[LukKrueng]

2 hours ago, tlock said:

I think he means sweet home 3d:

 

http://sweethome3d.com/

Found it, thanks :)