Recommendations / Experience

[ConnectionNotGuaranteed]

We are wanting to buy a house in the Pattaya area and so are looking for recommendations or experiences from people who know the area well. We don’t really want to live too close to Pattaya centre itself i.e Siam Country Club area and so looking for outlying areas i.e Bang Saray or the opposite way towards Naklua.

 

We have an 11 year old daughter and so being close to a good international school is essential, preferably a secure type housing development and although I don't want to be in the thick of the action, I would like an expat nice local nearby but it doesn’t have to be buzzing.

 

Just a bit of background about us. I’ve been with my wife (Thai) for 15 years, we have a daughter together aged 11 and we don’t currently live in Thailand. However, my wife has a lot of land up north and on one parcel (2 Rai) we built a house which we visit 2 -3 times per year. We are getting to the stage where I want to retire and we want to live in Thailand but I don’t really want to live up North and the schooling isn’t the best for our daughter. I love going up there for short spells but that's about all I can handle. A condition of mine was that I only wanted (her) to own 1 house in Thailand at a time and she wanted to keep the home up North. Therefore, the intent was only to rent in the Pattaya area (once we had decided where). However, the wife has now realised leaving a property up north empty for the majority of the year is bad business and so she has now agreed to sell the land and house up North (we already have a buyer) and so we are looking at buying.

 

The wife and daughter will be going to Thailand next month for 2 months, so I want her to do the groundwork of looking at properties in the area and coming up with a shortlist for when I get there in August.

 

There are probably lots of housing developments out there that not many people know about so any recommendations would be greatly received

[Rimmer]

Two off topic posts have been removed, OP is asking:

 

We are wanting to buy a house in the Pattaya area and so are looking for recommendations or experiences from people who know the area well. We don’t really want to live too close to Pattaya centre itself

[KittenKong]

I think that if I wanted to be in a house, away from the centre and near a good school, then I would probably look at somewhere near the lake.

OK, there are currently a lot of road works due to the motorway extension, but that should be finished this year. And there were (still are?) problems with a small bridge that got washed out in the floods. But once those are done the location will be an easy and pleasant drive to SSCC which itself has recently been completely resurfaced, and which seems to contain a good number of small shops and restaurants and bars.

[ConnectionNotGuaranteed]

12 hours ago, KittenKong said:

I think that if I wanted to be in a house, away from the centre and near a good school, then I would probably look at somewhere near the lake.

OK, there are currently a lot of road works due to the motorway extension, but that should be finished this year. And there were (still are?) problems with a small bridge that got washed out in the floods. But once those are done the location will be an easy and pleasant drive to SSCC which itself has recently been completely resurfaced, and which seems to contain a good number of small shops and restaurants and bars.

Many thanks kitten. Will check out properties in that area.

[DrTuner]

Sounds like maprachan lake area. Only real international school is Regents. There are a few villages around there, that area starts to qualify as "the sticks".

 

As for websites with a map, www.fazwaz.com has one, plug in parameters for the house and zoom about.

 

www.thailand-property.com seems to have all the largest agents advertising. Bear in mind there will be multiple agents selling same house. Right click on house photo in chrome and "search for image", see google results.

 

Good luck.

[smutcakes]

Try Jomtien Park Villas.

[yankee99]

look for a village with the least amount of available houses.. 10% or less for sale would be ideal 

[catman20]

14 hours ago, smutcakes said:

Try Jomtien Park Villas.

or View Taly Villas, Majestic Residence. None of the above are cheap.

[animalmagic]

If near the lake then Rugby school is currently open and plans to take in boarders next school term; the facilities look like they will be very good when completed.  It's only a ten to fifteen minute drive from Lake Mabprachan.  We live in the same vicinity and both love the area; feel free to p.m. if you wish.

[peterb17]

My village Paradise Villas 1 seems to have heaps for sale - it only takes about 5 mins to get to Sukamvit ( Soi 87/ 89 ) - it’s very quiet, security is good. Houses are spread out - and have decent gardens / pool 

Minibuses collect kids for Regents etc  from other houses. 

It’s much quieter here - than towards Siam Country club - avoid going up Kao Talo - is always busy. 

Have a look?

It depends on your budget of course , most houses here are large . 

 

I don't want to get into the buy / rent endless debate - but would suggest that unless you are planning at least ten years into the future - don’t buy. 

You can get stuck with a property that unless you reduce the price to something very reasonable- they don’t sell.  

[Halfaboy]

1 hour ago, peterb17 said:

My village Paradise Villas 1 seems to have heaps for sale - it only takes about 5 mins to get to Sukamvit ( Soi 87/ 89 ) - it’s very quiet, security is good. Houses are spread out - and have decent gardens / pool 

Minibuses collect kids for Regents etc  from other houses. 

It’s much quieter here - than towards Siam Country club - avoid going up Kao Talo - is always busy. 

Have a look?

It depends on your budget of course , most houses here are large . 

 

I don't want to get into the buy / rent endless debate - but would suggest that unless you are planning at least ten years into the future - don’t buy. 

You can get stuck with a property that unless you reduce the price to something very reasonable- they don’t sell.  

I am also amazed that there are so many house for sale on this estate. It is a beautiful area. I also would recommend the OP to heave look here.

[gandalf12]

Try Pattaya Park Hills 4 (and 5 if they have one)

[peterrabbit]

I would NOT buy as you don't know the area yet. I would suggest you rent for a year and then when you are more familiar with the area you can make a more informed decision on what and where to buy. You also need to decide which International school to use, of which there are plenty in Chonburi, as this will affect your decision on where to buy. There are plenty of houses to rent in Pattaya across a whole range of prices but make sure you get a lawyer to check the lease agreement BEFORE you pay or sign anything especially as the rental contract law has recently changed. Try looking at Google Earth and its street view function to get a bit of knowledge about different estates and areas etc.

[LongTimeLurker]

12°55'10.2"N 100°58'03.8"E

 

There's a nice housing estate at this location, handy for all you want.

 

Depends on your budget though, and I don't know if anything is available but it may be worth asking.

[Rimmer]

A commercial post has been removed

[spetersen]

East Pattaya is a good area, Try Green Field Villas 1 Just one or two houses for resale of 56. if you want more info drop me a privat message on Thai Visa 

[jimn]

6 hours ago, peterb17 said:

My village Paradise Villas 1 seems to have heaps for sale - it only takes about 5 mins to get to Sukamvit ( Soi 87/ 89 ) - it’s very quiet, security is good. Houses are spread out - and have decent gardens / pool 

Minibuses collect kids for Regents etc  from other houses. 

It’s much quieter here - than towards Siam Country club - avoid going up Kao Talo - is always busy. 

Have a look?

It depends on your budget of course , most houses here are large . 

 

I don't want to get into the buy / rent endless debate - but would suggest that unless you are planning at least ten years into the future - don’t buy. 

You can get stuck with a property that unless you reduce the price to something very reasonable- they don’t sell.  

I would agree with this post. Paradise Villas is very good as is my village Central Park Hillside a little further up. Stay away from Soi Siam Country Club area as its prone to flooding and far too much traffic. Soi's 87/89 are at this time relatively easy to get to town and are close to good markets for the lady and Tesco Lotus/Big C for the main shop. I hope this helps.

[daniel66]

So many options. I hope you read mine too.

I live in Huay Yai. 14 km from Pattaya.

Many English people nearby and most of them visit a nice local pub frequently.

My son is at satit eudomska international school just 10 minutes direction Pattaya near soi 89.

Plenty of houses in this area in all price classes.

Wondwrfull country side living only 15 minutes to Pattaya.

Good luck

[Media1]

On 6/3/2018 at 4:58 PM, smutcakes said:

Try Jomtien Park Villas.

To far from school

[Wake Up]

I know an expat married like yourself. He rented for two years in Pattaya and loved his neighborhood. So he bought a house in same neighborhood. The two years he spent on rent he said was well worth it as he saved money on buying the house and already knew he loved the neighborhood and had some friends in the neighborhood. One of the people he met was the thai builder that built about 50 houses in the neighborhood. Can’t tell you the name of the neighborhood and my friend has passed on but renting and then buying made a lot of sense to him. Good luck. 

[ConnectionNotGuaranteed]

Many thanks for all of the recommendations and pm's gents. It really is appreciated and they are all on the list for the wife to check out and see what's available.

 

With regards the rent/buy dilemma. It's definitely a subject that we have discussed and the option of renting first is the one I prefer and the one we will most probably go for. It'll give me 6-12 months to take my time ensuring the area, school, amenities etc are all what we need and if not plenty of time to find alternatives. However, buying will be the end result as I like to do DIY and put my own stamp on a property which is difficult to do in rented.

 

Once again, many thanks for those of you who have taken time to reply ?

[thaibeachlovers]

22 hours ago, peterrabbit said:

I would NOT buy as you don't know the area yet. I would suggest you rent for a year and then when you are more familiar with the area you can make a more informed decision on what and where to buy. You also need to decide which International school to use, of which there are plenty in Chonburi, as this will affect your decision on where to buy. There are plenty of houses to rent in Pattaya across a whole range of prices but make sure you get a lawyer to check the lease agreement BEFORE you pay or sign anything especially as the rental contract law has recently changed. Try looking at Google Earth and its street view function to get a bit of knowledge about different estates and areas etc.

Best advice. A 5* post.