how to attract clients for purchase or rent of condos

[scubascuba3]

No reason to doubt my veracity! I did not include my condo name, etc because I didn't want people to think I was flogging my property here. I am in Jomtien near the beach. The units are nice, roomy, low floor with small sea views.

What am I doing? I have listed with 4 agencies. Incidentally, I don't live full time in Thailand. My agents tell me the market is low - primarily because of competition from the many builds now. My prices seem commensurate with others in the bldg., but after so long.... "Scuba Scuba's" is a good idea.

Common consensus here seems to indicate I should lower my price? It's a buyers' market?

If you'd like to give us the condo name and size then we can give our opinion of price, ideally photos. Up to you

 

It didn't surprise me when you said Jomtien

 

[Destiny1990]

On 6/22/2018 at 1:44 PM, janclaes47 said:

Must be a troll post because I read here all the time that real estate is in good health in Thailand, with no over supply whatsoever, and most on this forum make fortunes flipping condos.

Actually it is a troll post only Smotherb doesn’t know it.

[Destiny1990]

Its either lack of buyers or an oversupply of units or both..

probably both.

[xylophone]

On ‎6‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 12:44 PM, janclaes47 said:

Must be a troll post because I read here all the time that real estate is in good health in Thailand, with no over supply whatsoever, and most on this forum make fortunes flipping condos.

Def an oversupply here and just talking to a friend who has sold his condo in an upmarket location, close to sea, swimming pool and shops/restaurants and one is on the market for 1.69 m baht (35 sq m)……….he sold his (30 sq m) for 100,000 baht less than he paid for it about 5 yrs ago AND it has taken him an age to sell.

[watcharacters]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

I have sold two houses in Thailand over the past four years, and although I listed the houses with a few select real estate agents, I sold them through my own efforts, the most successful of which I am willing to share.

 

– – I put together a montage of four photographs, filling one half of an A4 sheet of paper, and these were of the kitchen, bathroom, main bedroom and the front of the house.

 

The intro to the property was short and sweet with just a few key important/positive points.

 

Under that I listed, bullet point fashion, the key attributes I thought the house had and which would appeal most to buyers. And of course names and telephone numbers.

 

– – I then e-mailed this to all of my friends and acquaintances here and overseas and asked them in turn if they would send it on likewise. I stated I would pay 3% commission for a sale.

 

– – I also e-mailed it to a few contacts I knew who had their own businesses (one was an insurance agent, for example) and asked them if they would approach/send on the details to any customers they thought would be interested, commission as stated above.

 

– – I ensured that the word was spread through any Thai friends I or my G/F had, with the offer of 3% commission payable to them and you would be surprised how well that worked.

 

– – I put small ads in two of the local newspapers and ran them for two weeks at a time, then a gap, then again.

 

– – The houses were advertised on the "Thaivisa" website, as well as "Baht & Sold" and I sourced some websites from Germany, Sweden and Norway which allowed me to advertise free.

 

– – I laminated some of the A4 sheets and put them behind the bars of friends I had in that business.

 

– – There are many real estate "booths" in my town, so I carried with me quite a number of my A4 sheets whenever I went out in the shopping malls, and when I saw people chatting to the folks manning these booths, I would hang around and when these people left, I would approach them and see if they were interested in buying a house, giving them my details.

 

– – As there were a few similar "estates" like mine, I visited the caretakers/overseers of the estates and gave them my details in case there were interested parties who didn't like what they saw in that estate. Of course commission mentioned again.

 

My marketing produced just about all of the prospects I had on these two houses (they were sold separately, perhaps a year apart) and I sold both of them through my own efforts.

 

If you have good real estate agents, then by all means use them but don't rely on them to work hard on your behalf, because they simply won't.

 

Finally, as regards price, mine was priced the same as four other houses for sale in my soi, and I was willing to negotiate a few hundred thousand baht, which I did, and as I made money from the initial purchase price, I was happy. A win-win situation.

 

Having said that, if your condo hasn't sold in a while then it is possibly a case of being priced too high AND not being marketed widely enough, both of which you can easily fix.

 

Good luck.

 

 

Congratulations, xylophone.

 

You clearly did a thoughtful and through job of successfully marketing your properties and you achieved the results you wanted.

 

[baansgr]

30 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Def an oversupply here and just talking to a friend who has sold his condo in an upmarket location, close to sea, swimming pool and shops/restaurants and one is on the market for 1.69 m baht (35 sq m)……….he sold his (30 sq m) for 100,000 baht less than he paid for it about 5 yrs ago AND it has taken him an age to sell.

So in theory he has managed to live in a condo for less than 1,650 Baht a month the past 5 years. Yes there are maintenance fees etc but that would be anywhere he lived. Good example that ownership wins over renting.

[1FinickyOne]

Easy answer is price... your false expectations cannot be met... 

 

I am currently looking for a home to buy and finding a buyers market with inflated prices, which makes no sense at all... 

 

People are asking 30-40% over what might be a real market value when buyers are few and far between...

 

Most buyers are not stupid - they want to buy but at a realistic price... they do not want to become immediately one of the many who have a property they can't sell...

[1FinickyOne]

1 minute ago, baansgr said:

So in theory he has managed to live in a condo for less than 1,650 Baht a month the past 5 years. Yes there are maintenance fees etc but that would be anywhere he lived. Good example that ownership wins over renting.

But shouldn't you also figure in the cost of the money? If that same money would have been well invested last year, the return on investment was quite high.

[baansgr]

3 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

Easy answer is price... your false expectations cannot be met... 

 

I am currently looking for a home to buy and finding a buyers market with inflated prices, which makes no sense at all... 

 

People are asking 30-40% over what might be a real market value when buyers are few and far between...

 

Most buyers are not stupid - they want to buy but at a realistic price... they do not want to become immediately one of the many who have a property they can't sell...

Its really hard to say what market value is. Its obvious there are thousands of overpriced properties in Thailand with no chance of selling. But getting back to market value. I advertised my condo at a very realistic price for the quality of furniture etc, only asking for what I paid for it as had lived there a few years. Priced well below others that were of a lower quality. I advertised myselfe and had 16 enquiries with 4 offers of 20% less without the buyers even bothering to come, so they were really just chancers. I was so fed up, increased the price by 10% and had 2 genuine offers at the full price within 3 days and a deposit paid. There are definately a lot of owners asking silly prices but the flipside is, there are also a lot of buyers that havnt a clue and just think that 20,30,40% less is a fair price.

[baansgr]

7 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

But shouldn't you also figure in the cost of the money? If that same money would have been well invested last year, the return on investment was quite high.

Please dont quote bitcoin.  Returns have been rock bottom for 10 years, unless you know what you are doing or take risks.

[poanoi]

when i want to know market value,

i read all i can about what it has been sold for,

pay no attention at all to asking price.

after a couple of weeks of reading on what it has been sold for,

pick those cheapest examples and you know the market value

[catman20]

On 6/22/2018 at 12:35 PM, scubascuba3 said:

I agree, a lower price will get interest. See the prices of others for sale and go lower

also give the whole condo a lick of paint first impressions always count.

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, baansgr said:

So in theory he has managed to live in a condo for less than 1,650 Baht a month the past 5 years. Yes there are maintenance fees etc but that would be anywhere he lived. Good example that ownership wins over renting.

That's where theory loses out I'm afraid...……….

 

Lived in it for about a year then moved up country a little, rented it for a while but didn't like the way it was treated, so left it empty and just stayed in it on the odd occasion he visited here.

 

Took a loss and knows it, but not unduly perturbed about it. 

 

On another note a friend sold his 64 sq m 1 bed condo on a golf course here and took a 40% loss on the purchase price, although he did manage to rent it for a while, but then again he did have to pay body corp fees etc, so overall he took a loss. He had been trying to sell it for 2 years so settled for a low price of 1.5 m baht just to get rid of it...……far too many on the market with new ones going up "almost daily" so older ones just don't sell and the only way to sell is to accept far less than one paid for it.

[InMyShadow]

Agents are hopeless. They don't even respond to emails. 

12 years ago when buying my condo in Asoke I had to close my own deal with the agent. 

I made all the right buying noises but he never once asked me if I would like to buy! 

[poanoi]

3 hours ago, xylophone said:

Def an oversupply here and just talking to a friend who has sold his condo in an upmarket location, close to sea, swimming pool and shops/restaurants and one is on the market for 1.69 m baht (35 sq m)……….he sold his (30 sq m) for 100,000 baht less than he paid for it about 5 yrs ago AND it has taken him an age to sell.

but, danny on pattaya news said the pattaya property market is, and i quote:

"pretty vibrant"

Edited June 23, 2018 by poanoi

[Sprigger]

Probably the biggest mistake of your life buying condos, there’s thousands of them up for grabs here in Pattaya. Can’t give them away. Just put it down to experience, when there’re 20 baht each I might consider buying a few but would need to consider the risk.

[1FinickyOne]

3 hours ago, baansgr said:

Please dont quote bitcoin.  Returns have been rock bottom for 10 years, unless you know what you are doing or take risks.

Who said anything about bitcoin? Try something more traditional that has been around for longer... like the stock market... 

[rott]

Ripley you came on asking for advice but giving no info on which to base said advice. So you get the.only possible comment "lower your price", which I think you could have come up with yourself. Now you reluctantly concede that.the condos are in Jomtien.

But are you already asking a low price? Or high? Or median? How many viewngs? Any solid bids? Are they in foreigner name? If it is Baan Suan Lalana let me know.

[Ulic]

I have seen essentially the same condos in some buildings have up to 80% difference in asking price.

Some selling for 1 million baht, most asking for 1.25-1,35 and at least the same number of sellers

asking 1,750- 1,850. Price to sell and it will sell. Ask what you paid for it and it will sit. Real estate agents

don't do much. Especially if you are in the top figure.

[English Engineer]

Many people seem to price on the basis of what they paid and even add a margin. We just sold our house but I used the price paid less the likely rental we would have paid. On that basis we just broke even. It sold in less than 3 months. I have to say luck does come in.

[KittenKong]

Many people seem to price on the basis of what they paid and even add a margin. We just sold our house but I used the price paid less the likely rental we would have paid.

In most countries it is a reasonable assumption that property will not lose value over time, unless perhaps prices were initially too high or there was some sort of financial crash in between times.

Certainly no property that I have ever owned outside of Thailand has ever lost value, and in fact it all increased in value by a minimum of 8% per year on average. Thai property is completely different.

If you are going to deduct the cost of rent saved from your calculation, surely it would make more sense just to rent and save money on transfer taxes and agency fees, and also get bank interest on the purchase amount during the period of the rental?

[Pattaya46]

40 minutes ago, English Engineer said:

Many people seem to price on the basis of what they paid and even add a margin. //

That's the way it works in most countries, where property price nearly always goes up on long term. Thailand is not different. I sold a condo last month and of course I added a large margin on the price I paid.

[KittenKong]

That's the way it works in most countries, where property price nearly always goes up on long term. Thailand is not different. I sold a condo last month and of course I added a large margin on the price I paid.

I would say that Thailand is completely different. I know far more people who have had Thai property depreciate in value than appreciate.

[newnative]

       So, if I am reading your post correctly, your condos are on low floors, have limited views, and have not been renovated.   As someone who buys condos in Thailand, that's not sounding very appealing.  Being on the market for several years with no buyers points to possibly unrealistic pricing of a not-so-attractive product.   If possible, check other low floor condos in your project to get some idea of pricing, then maybe deduct some from those prices since yours are not renovated.

     You mention you have the condos listed with 4 agents.  That's not nearly enough.  There is no MLS in Thailand so you need to list with as many agencies as you can.  Start with the agencies closest to your condo and work out from there.  Ask the agents for pricing help and maybe take an average of what they think the price should be.  List the condos, yourself, on Craigslist, Hipflat, and any other free websites, with good photos.  Consider offering an agent bonus on top of the commission.  When your condo is nothing special, the bonus could be an incentive for an agent to take a buyer to your nothing special condo rather than the nothing special condo for sale a few doors down.

     As an occasional flipper, I don't mind when a condo is unrenovated because I usually hate most renovations and I would rather tear out old, bad decoration rather than new, bad decoration.  However, and it's a big however, I am an exception and I think most buyers will prefer a condo that has been fixed up to some degree rather than one that requires them to do all the work. 

      So, maybe consider fixing the condos up and making them more attractive.  If you are selling more than one condo you might leave one unrenovated, renovate one, and see how the sales go.  You also mentioned renting the condos.  If that is also in the picture as an option then you definitely need to do some work to make the condos attractive for a renter.  

       I get top prices with the condos that I flip because I start with a high floor condo with a great seaview in an excellent location and then I make it one of a kind and even more special.  Low floor condos with no view will usually not command high prices unless the location is really outstanding but there are some things you can do to help your cause, renovated or unrenovated.  Make sure the condos are always neat and clean with no clutter.  Fix anything that is broken.  Take a fresh look at how the furniture is arranged.  Make sure the condos are always 'ready for their closeup' and available for viewing when an agent calls with a buyer.  Good luck!

 

[Fairynuff]

On 6/22/2018 at 12:44 PM, janclaes47 said:

Must be a troll post because I read here all the time that real estate is in good health in Thailand, with no over supply whatsoever, and most on this forum make fortunes flipping condos.

Speaking of trolls.....

[moontang]

18 hours ago, baansgr said:

Its really hard to say what market value is. Its obvious there are thousands of overpriced properties in Thailand with no chance of selling. But getting back to market value. I advertised my condo at a very realistic price for the quality of furniture etc, only asking for what I paid for it as had lived there a few years. Priced well below others that were of a lower quality. I advertised myselfe and had 16 enquiries with 4 offers of 20% less without the buyers even bothering to come, so they were really just chancers. I was so fed up, increased the price by 10% and had 2 genuine offers at the full price within 3 days and a deposit paid. There are definately a lot of owners asking silly prices but the flipside is, there are also a lot of buyers that havnt a clue and just think that 20,30,40% less is a fair price.

I did the same thing.  Got tired of lowballers who hadn't even looked, and bold faced liars telling me there were others in the building with lower price, but couldn't show me one.  And then I raised the price.  Grandma, daughter, and grandson were there the next day with a cash deposit...they had been stalking me for a while.  And people that call you, expecting  you to drop everything and come show............make them wait at least an hour...don't accommodate people on whirlwind tours of buildings not really ready.  oh, and the lowballers..ask for proof of funds, and you will quickly see they are very low on funds and possibly looking to be a middleman on a deal.

Edited June 24, 2018 by moontang

[baansgr]

19 minutes ago, moontang said:

I did the same thing.  Got tired of lowballers who hadn't even looked, and bold faced liars telling me there were others in the building with lower price, but couldn't show me one.  And then I raised the price.  Grandma, daughter, and grandson were there the next day with a cash deposit...they had been stalking me for a while.  And people that call you, expecting  you to drop everything and come show............make them wait at least an hour...don't accommodate people on whirlwind tours of buildings not really ready.  oh, and the lowballers..ask for proof of funds, and you will quickly see they are very low on funds and possibly looking to be a middleman on a deal.

The common thing they said was, market is down, things gonna get worse so I just asked them why did they want to buy if thats what they think. Look on their faces was priceless. Yes, they were also quoting the price of empty shells which to bring upto my spec would be 400k or more. 

[moontang]

There is a group of pirates out there, who think they can do easy flips, like one they see you are American or farang, they think you will cut it loose, because you are going home....like that is much more important than the view or the newish inverter.  Even if they make a ridiculously low offer, ask for POF or a bank letter of credit...most are all talk.

[newnative]

20 hours ago, xylophone said:

Def an oversupply here and just talking to a friend who has sold his condo in an upmarket location, close to sea, swimming pool and shops/restaurants and one is on the market for 1.69 m baht (35 sq m)……….he sold his (30 sq m) for 100,000 baht less than he paid for it about 5 yrs ago AND it has taken him an age to sell.

But, on the plus side, he did sell it.  And, he saved on rent for 5 years.  10,000 baht a month rent for 5 years would have cost 600,000 baht.  

[newnative]

17 hours ago, Sprigger said:

Probably the biggest mistake of your life buying condos, there’s thousands of them up for grabs here in Pattaya. Can’t give them away. Just put it down to experience, when there’re 20 baht each I might consider buying a few but would need to consider the risk.

    There are thousands of condos for sale in Pattaya but not thousands of high floor seaview condos in excellent locations--which would be the smart thing to be buying in a beach town.  A few months back someone posted that this glut of condos for sale in Pattaya meant that everything was selling for half of what the owners paid.   I replied back then that if anyone has a half price high floor seaview condo in an excellent location for sale, let me know.  So far...nothing.