As the title suggests - we are thinking making an investment on a condo which we'd then look to rent to the diplomatic corps here in Bangkok.

 

We are long term residents here, so know the city well, and have friends who work in this field both with embassies and the UN. We are familiar with some of the security and safety requirements, however I am keen to understand the experiences of those who actually might be land lords to this class of tenants.

 

Does anyone have any experience they'd like to share?

This "class"  will be no different to many other renters especially where "the company pays".

Youre also restricting your market to a tiny minority and with condo prices now at ridiculous levels the returns unless you can buy at bargain prices ( like I did) simply arent worth it.

13 minutes ago, kannot said:

This "class"  will be no different to many other renters especially where "the company pays".

Youre also restricting your market to a tiny minority and with condo prices now at ridiculous levels the returns unless you can buy at bargain prices ( like I did) simply arent worth it.

Thanks for your response. Surely when the company pays however, there is more potential for a premium on the return? Or am I missing something here....

2 words: diplomatic immunity

make of it what you will

I would assume that a “diplomat” would most likely be staying in a high end condo.  From what I have seen, the P/E ratio for the high end units is terrible.  

When company pays they usually require receipt for tax purposes and accounting purposes. Headaches for owner. Also many request clause that allows them to break lease if company transfers them. Negotiable obviously but....

But yes they often have bigger than avg budgets.  

Have not been a renter but was a rentee.  A lot of countries have people that do all the renting.  Thereby they will rent on a year to year basis and when one dip leaves they will move another in.  It can be good but again it depends on the country and what their standards are.

 

I would not hesitate to rent to Canada, UK, Germany France,  or US.  But would have definite reservations about India Pakistan and African countries and I would definitely not rent to a diplomat directly.  If they don't pay you the only thing you can do is wave as they are sent back to their countries what deny any involvement.

6 hours ago, Weddings Parties Anything said:

Thanks for your response. Surely when the company pays however, there is more potential for a premium on the return? Or am I missing something here....

The size of the market youre  going after.

Sorry all I saw was the thread title "but to let" very disappointed lol thought it was going to be the thread of year!

I don't want to come across as a racist but be careful to which country/tenant you

rent to. I have read some horror stories. Once a diplomat gets in they are impossible

to get rid of. With diplomatic immunity, they are pretty much free to do as they please.

Their home country may not care and may be the reason the rent is not being paid. 

Make no mistake, don't confuse the job with the morals/ethics of the renter.

13 hours ago, maprao said:

Sorry all I saw was the thread title "but to let" very disappointed lol thought it was going to be the thread of year!

yea - dang auto-correct on the iphone. At least that is what I'm blaming it on.

 

To everyone, thanks for your thoughts.

On 4/3/2018 at 10:31 AM, Weddings Parties Anything said:

Thanks for your response. Surely when the company pays however, there is more potential for a premium on the return? Or am I missing something here....

Foreign office staff at all levels are not that highly paid.  Diplomatic staff (other than ambassador)  often are very restricted how much they can spend. Plus many countries run "austerity" campaigns.

Of course it varies from country to country. Just like "ordinary" tenants, there are good and bad ones. 

On 4/3/2018 at 3:07 PM, Airalee said:

I would assume that a “diplomat” would most likely be staying in a high end condo.  From what I have seen, the P/E ratio for the high end units is terrible.  

The consular staff can't afford highend. In many enbassies these are the larger no. of staff. 

Some years ago I was doing work for the British Government and based in Bangkok (not a diplomat - was related to trade). They organised a condo for me (can't remember how it was done) - but trust me when I say the budget was very modest. Can't speak for other countries but with the British government, unless you are one of the big dogs, they are pretty mean.