How many CM condos?

[chingmai331]

What is your estimate of total number of condos within 1km of city moat, any direction? 

 

I tried google maps and found about 10 on the map but excluding Nakornping, Floral and Riverside condos.  So i assume many other condos also not listed on google.

Sure real estate agents will steer a buyer to select properties but i would like to investigate myself.

Condos include only those open to purchase by farangs.  No apartments, serviced or not, if not for sale.

[lkn]

45 minutes ago, chingmai331 said:

What is your estimate of total number of condos within 1km of city moat, any direction? 

 

I tried google maps and found about 10 on the map but excluding Nakornping, Floral and Riverside condos.

If you include Riverside as “within 1 km” (it’s probably closer to 3 km) then I think there would be closer to 50, possibly more.

 

Another question is how you define condo, because there are some buildings that look like “room for rent” but where each room has an owner, so technically a condominium.

[chingmai331]

I am surprised at how far Riverside is from nearest moat corner.  Yes, 3km.  

And my definition of condo is personal ownership, regardless of size of room or size of building.  One problem for me is identifying condo buildings.  Sure, if front door says 'condo' things are obvious. But i do think some condos buildings are poorly identified as such.

 

So if 3km or less to moat, some readers think more than 50 such condos here.

[mikey88]

Some places called ‘mansion’ are actually private owned apartments...

and some aren’t...

[1FinickyOne]

I think you can shop it on some of the real estate broker websites. Get the names of the buildings and they go investigate on your own. Most of the buildings have bulletin boards with apartments for rent or sale... 

 

Good luck. 

[lkn]

8 hours ago, chingmai331 said:

So if 3km or less to moat, some readers think more than 50 such condos here.

Going from Riverside toward the moat (so South/Eastern quadrant), you have Galae Thong Tower, The Shine, Tree Boutique Condo, Ping Condominium, Changklan Resident, Astra Condo, Twin Peaks, Peaks Garden, Peaks Avenue, and Anantara. So already, that is 10 condos, and I’m sure I am not familiar with all of the condos in that area.

 

Now look at the Western side, which includes Huay Kaew and all of Nimman (Maya is only 1.5 km from the moat), and you can find at least a few dozen more condos, too many for me to start naming…

Edited January 1, 2018 by lkn

[NancyL]

They're throwing up new condo buildings on the west side so fast that Google maps isn't keeping up.  Also, some buildings don't actually have the word "condo" in their name or in English on the outside.  Even the venerable Nakorn Ping Condo has nothing but the name in Thai on the front.  Yes, it says Nakorn Ping Condo, but you have to read Thai to understand that.

 

I would suggest that if the OP is reduced to trying to find condo buildings via google maps that he might be a little "green" to be actually buying a condo here.  There is a wide standard in quality in the condos, both in quality of construction and the building management.  It helps to be here for a while to get a feel for the desirability of the area around a specific building and the quality of the building itself before targeting a building as a candidate for purchase of a unit.  If the OP is looking for a place to live, rent is cheap relative to the cost of a condo and it might be a good idea to rent a unit in a building of interest for six months or a year before deciding to buy a unit in the building.

[chingmai331]

Um, Nancy.  How do you know those buildings going up on the west side are indeed 'condos'?  Sure lots of housing around but my original Q related to identifying the damn condos from the outside, not especially considering interior, construction, noise, cost..etc.  

 

May i ask you Nancy, in your opinion or knowledge, what is the % of farang that own units in your condo building?  I have heard that max ownership by farang is 49% in any condo building, but of course probably some condos have very few farang, or even none.

[Shoeless Joe]

....and then there are other "condos" like the Smith Residences which aren't called condos.

 

Regards,

 

Joe

[lkn]

37 minutes ago, chingmai331 said:

Um, Nancy.  How do you know those buildings going up on the west side are indeed 'condos'?  Sure lots of housing around but my original Q related to identifying the damn condos from the outside, not especially considering interior, construction, noise, cost..etc.  

 

May i ask you Nancy, in your opinion or knowledge, what is the % of farang that own units in your condo building?  I have heard that max ownership by farang is 49% in any condo building, but of course probably some condos have very few farang, or even none.

I’m not Nancy, but the structure of a condo building looks very different from say, a mall or a townhouse, so you can generally tell quite quickly what they are putting up, but they also tend to have posters announcing what they are building or even a nearby showroom.

 

As for the occupancy rate, you are correct that foreigners can only own 49% of the total floor space. If I were to make a bet, I would say you find the foreign quota filled in the more expensive buildings, because regular Thais have been priced out of these.

 

[sfokevin]

I agree with Nancy that one should rent in a building before buying to get a feel for the building and the neighborhood...

 

Rent is cheap... Selling is hard...

 

The only condo I’d move into sight unseen would be The Embassy House ;-)

[lordblackader]

20 hours ago, chingmai331 said:

I am surprised at how far Riverside is from nearest moat corner.  Yes, 3km.  

And my definition of condo is personal ownership, regardless of size of room or size of building.  One problem for me is identifying condo buildings.  Sure, if front door says 'condo' things are obvious. But i do think some condos buildings are poorly identified as such.

 

So if 3km or less to moat, some readers think more than 50 such condos here.

If 3km is the point you're then you're adding the condos near Central Festival and in the Chiang Mai Business Park as well - Boat, Treasure, My Hip, Superlai Monte to name a few. 

[jonwilly]

I live in what is basically a block for Students next to CM Uni.

Yet I have a Yellow Book for Condo ownership issuded by the Ampure.

 

john

[masuk]

3 hours ago, NancyL said:

They're throwing up new condo buildings on the west side so fast that Google maps isn't keeping up.  Also, some buildings don't actually have the word "condo" in their name or in English on the outside.  Even the venerable Nakorn Ping Condo has nothing but the name in Thai on the front.  Yes, it says Nakorn Ping Condo, but you have to read Thai to understand that.

 

I would suggest that if the OP is reduced to trying to find condo buildings via google maps that he might be a little "green" to be actually buying a condo here.  There is a wide standard in quality in the condos, both in quality of construction and the building management.  It helps to be here for a while to get a feel for the desirability of the area around a specific building and the quality of the building itself before targeting a building as a candidate for purchase of a unit.  If the OP is looking for a place to live, rent is cheap relative to the cost of a condo and it might be a good idea to rent a unit in a building of interest for six months or a year before deciding to buy a unit in the building.

There is a sign in English - or was -  It said "Nescafe".   It took some finding on my first attempt a few years back!!

BTW  The NPK noticeboard has a few Condos up for sale and also rent.

[kalidescopemind]

Get an attorney you can trust before purchasing any Thai real estate.  You can get swindled very easily.

[Lacessit]

Owning condos in Thailand is like marriage - very easy to get into, a lot harder to get out of.

[sfokevin]

2 hours ago, kalidescopemind said:

Get an attorney you can trust before purchasing any Thai real estate.  You can get swindled very easily.

And pray tell where would one find one of those?... 

[NancyL]

7 hours ago, chingmai331 said:

Um, Nancy.  How do you know those buildings going up on the west side are indeed 'condos'?  Sure lots of housing around but my original Q related to identifying the damn condos from the outside, not especially considering interior, construction, noise, cost..etc.  

 

May i ask you Nancy, in your opinion or knowledge, what is the % of farang that own units in your condo building?  I have heard that max ownership by farang is 49% in any condo building, but of course probably some condos have very few farang, or even none.

Condos under construction almost always have big signs in front identifying them as condo buildings with units on offer, often with a sales office on-site.  Many times they set up sales displays in the malls, advertising in banks, magazines, online, etc.  It's a little different with a hostel, hotel or restaurant.  Normally, they don't start advertising until ready to open.

 

The restriction on 49% foreign ownership in a building isn't just about "farang" owners, but ALL foreigners, including Asian foreigners.  In our building there are a significant number of Japanese and other Asian owners.

[Truth2W]

4 hours ago, kalidescopemind said:

Get an attorney you can trust before purchasing any Thai real estate.  You can get swindled very easily.

Attorney, Community and Municipal is a minimum in case of any foreign countries. Be careful

[WinnieTheKhwai]

On 1/1/2018 at 1:46 PM, chingmai331 said:

I am surprised at how far Riverside is from nearest moat corner.  Yes, 3km.  

 

I'm not; it's clearly WAY out, pretty much as far as the Canal Road condos. 

 

I think the OP started out making a lot of sense to limit it to 1km from the moat. (Or even better: 1 km from Thapae Gate: being close-ish to Suan Dok gate still means you have another 1.6km to go before you get to Thapae for example.)

 

It's very puzzling why so many condos are built WAY out, where land prices aren't even all that high.  A condo needs to be IN THE CITY, otherwise the proposition doesn't work anymore. (Foregoing space, a garden, etc., but you get to walk out the door and be in town.  If you walk out the door and you're not in town then you're not doing it right.)

 

Anyway, 1km from the moat in any direction there aren't all that many.

 

It's something like this area: 

 

[NancyL]

Winnie -- love the map.  But, I would estimate there are probably close to 100 condos within that map, now.  Certainly more than 50.  Have you been out on foot in the NW section lately to see all the construction?  And in the area around and just south of Pantip Plaza in the SE.  

 

Perfect Homes website has a search function and map where you can search by region, i.e. "Nimman", "Muang", Huay Kaew", "Suthep" -- very specific regions.  No point in using it to list all the condo buildings -- it would take too long.

[mikey88]

What I’ve worked out (for me only that is) is that everything comes down to whether you own a car or whether you own a motor bike.

If you’re a car person then the biggest issue I’ve found is traffic and parking.

Designated parking is like gold....whereas in the west it would be taken for granted.

Coming  back to your codo with groceries and finding that there is no place to put the car is not fun.

Whereas my friends who have bikes have little problem with that.

So....for me....I wouldn’t even dream of anything near Maya or Huay Kaew Road...or Nimenn...or Chang Klang.....or Thae Phae....or Airport Central...or Hang Dong Road...or the Super Highway....

lol.....running out of places....

 

[CMKiwi]

Galae Thong off Chang Klan has ample car parking as does Hillside 4 on Huay Keow.

 

That's for both car and motorcycle.  Although Huay Keow can be a very busy and at times gridlocked road.  But then many roads in Chiang Mai are during peak periods.

[mikey88]

1 hour ago, CMKiwi said:

Galae Thong off Chang Klan has ample car parking as does Hillside 4 on Huay Keow.

 

That's for both car and motorcycle.  Although Huay Keow can be a very busy and at times gridlocked road.  But then many roads in Chiang Mai are during peak periods.

That’s good to know ...thanks for that.

Still....I have nightmares about H K road......I avoid it like the plague.

[NancyL]

7 hours ago, mikey88 said:

What I’ve worked out (for me only that is) is that everything comes down to whether you own a car or whether you own a motor bike.

If you’re a car person then the biggest issue I’ve found is traffic and parking.

Designated parking is like gold....whereas in the west it would be taken for granted.

Coming  back to your codo with groceries and finding that there is no place to put the car is not fun.

Whereas my friends who have bikes have little problem with that.

So....for me....I wouldn’t even dream of anything near Maya or Huay Kaew Road...or Nimenn...or Chang Klang.....or Thae Phae....or Airport Central...or Hang Dong Road...or the Super Highway....

lol.....running out of places....

 

As Winnie says, what's the point of "giving up" a garden and extra space in buying a condo way-out?  The flip side is that in having a condo close to the city-center, yes, you "give up" a garden and perhaps some extra space that you have to pay people to maintain and clean, but you can walk to the park in the Old City, clean your condo yourself and lounge in the lobby of a five star hotel near your home for a lazy afternoon, pretending it's your living room if you feel cramped for space at home.

 

What do you "gain" in having a condo in the city?  The ease of popping out for 5 minutes (on foot) when you're cooking something and realize you forgot to buy an ingredient, constantly running into people you know on the sidewalks, being able to see a first run movie with 10 minutes of prior planning, the views of the mountains and city from your living room and kitchen windows.  Seeing more fireworks out the windows of your home during your first year of living here than you did your entire life in your home country.  

 

(We lived briefly for a time in a townhouse on a soi and I found it very catastrophic not to be able to see the horizon and sky from my windows. )

[mikey88]

1 hour ago, NancyL said:

As Winnie says, what's the point of "giving up" a garden and extra space in buying a condo way-out?  The flip side is that in having a condo close to the city-center, yes, you "give up" a garden and perhaps some extra space that you have to pay people to maintain and clean, but you can walk to the park in the Old City, clean your condo yourself and lounge in the lobby of a five star hotel near your home for a lazy afternoon, pretending it's your living room if you feel cramped for space at home.

 

What do you "gain" in having a condo in the city?  The ease of popping out for 5 minutes (on foot) when you're cooking something and realize you forgot to buy an ingredient, constantly running into people you know on the sidewalks, being able to see a first run movie with 10 minutes of prior planning, the views of the mountains and city from your living room and kitchen windows.  Seeing more fireworks out the windows of your home during your first year of living here than you did your entire life in your home country.  

 

(We lived briefly for a time in a townhouse on a soi and I found it very catastrophic not to be able to see the horizon and sky from my windows. )

All true Nancy.....there’s always wins and losses...

[CheGuava]

On 1/3/2018 at 12:00 PM, mikey88 said:

Designated parking is like gold....whereas in the west it would be taken for granted.

 

Maybe some part of the West, like Texas.  But in Western Europe I can assure you it's not just gold it's borderline holy grail territory. 

 

Quote

Coming  back to your codo with groceries and finding that there is no place to put the car is not fun.

So....for me....I wouldn’t even dream of anything near Maya or Huay Kaew Road...or Nimenn...or Chang Klang.....or Thae Phae....or Airport Central...or Hang Dong Road...or the Super Highway....

 

Or just right downtown, around the corner from Rim Ping supermarket at the river?  Really it's not that bad in Chiang Mai.  But yes, older condominiums were built without today's vehicle needs in mind.  On the other hand in a condo downtown you might not actually need a car.  Or with a basic little townhouse downtown you do get to park something there and use it only when going a longer distance. (Or hauling groceries at Rim Ping)

 

 

Edited January 5, 2018 by CheGuava

[chingmai331]

Thnx Nancy for that mention of the Perfect Homes location resource map.  I'll have a good look at my preferred CM areas and snap up a few bargains before the stock market takes a big dive and my cash evaporates.

[NancyL]

Actually, the older condo buildings near the city center have more parking for residents than the newer ones.  Rim Ping, Nakorn Ping, Hillside Condo 4 all have good parking for their residents in their parking garages on their lower levels.

 

On another note, I forgot to mention that the major supermarkets do home deliveries on order over 1500 baht. No need to have a car here.  Stock up on beer, soft drinks, kitty litter once a month!

[chingmai331]

Condos permit pets?  Barking dogs next door, smelly cats wandering the hallways, birds squawking in the morning; who wants those as neighbors?