Suan Sawarn Condo development

[gerry1953]

I came down to Jomtien and took a ride around my old area and found an old condo development which never opened and deteriorated appears to have new life in as the Ivy Jomtien. 

[johng]

So you are saying the "troubled" Suan Sawun development  somehow eventually got finished but is now called "The Ivy Jomtien"  ?

[gerry1953]

It was years late in 2014 and people who had paid (some maybe partial amounts) sued and some were apparently awarded judgements BUT there was no money left to pay them as the money disappeared?  There was numerous postings on this forum in 2014 and the people who lost their investments tried to form a support group as information from the developer was non existent. 

 

Since 2014 the structure was mostly finished with work being done finishing and outfitting them.  Over the last 4 years they have deteriorated, glass has been broken and it seems parts went missing.  The new developer is now trying to sell the same units at 75,000 Baht a square meter which is a pretty nice profit as the units were already built?  If I had invested and couldn't get my money back I would be pretty upset they are reselling the units I paid for without giving compensation. The Ivy Jomtien has a website and showroom listed on its onsite sign.  It just makes one very leery to purchase off plan, unfinished or speculative condo's in this area.

[JohnC]

Apparently the bank foreclosed and the development was sold at auction with the buyer having no liability occurred by the original builder. The original builder transferred the money to UK hence the empty bank account, I have a friend who had B2M invested in two units and has been told he has no recourse to the new developer.

[gerry1953]

In most countries deposits and payments for real estate are held in trust to safe guard against dishonest developers absconding with the cash.  It seems to happen far too often here with no regulations to prevent it from reoccurring?  I heard of one project where the developer started putting posts in, put in a showroom then sold a number of units (first payments) then left with the money and he didn't even own the land it was being built on?

The risks of buying off plan seem crazy here unless you get a developer with a great long term performance record.  Even with these should the markets drop dramatically you may be left losing as there would be no incentive to finish the project.