Condominium In Chiangrai

[ivr]

Does anyone know if there are any condominiums for sale in Chiangrai which can be bought by foreigners??

[soap]

Does anyone know if there are any condominiums for sale in Chiangrai which can be bought by foreigners??

try the condo next to the land office

[ivr]

Does anyone know if there are any condominiums for sale in Chiangrai which can be bought by foreigners??

try the condo next to the land office

Thanks, does anyone happen to know the name.

[chang35baht]

it`s called the Condotel. I know at least 1 foreigner who has purchased 1, so it is possible.

Drive past Samakee school towards Den Ha, turn right at the end of the road, go thru the lights and it`s at the bottom of the road.

Edited February 17, 2007 by chang35baht

[phosphorescent]

Last time i checked it was legal for a foreigner to own a building or part of a building but not the land that it is on so a condo shouldn't be a problem.

[ivr]

Thanks for all your comments. sorry but does anyone know a telephone nr of the Condotel.

[bram]

Does anyone know if there are any condominiums for sale in Chiangrai which can be bought by foreigners??

as far as i know can you only buy a condor in bkk and pattaya as a farang

[Mahseer]

Not true. I legally own a condo in Chiang Mai so would be stunned if this was not allowed in Chiang Rai. One rule that must be adhered to is that the building has to be 51% Thai owned which mine very much is.

[mumbojumbo]

Not true. I legally own a condo in Chiang Mai so would be stunned if this was not allowed in Chiang Rai. One rule that must be adhered to is that the building has to be 51% Thai owned which mine very much is.

This 51% owned by Thais used to be true. But i have heard that BKK and Pattaya have got the

rules relaxed for lack of Thais buying and frarang wanting.?

Actually, there are a total of 2 condo's in CR. The Condotel, which i cannot give you a #, and one

by the sports stadium. If you are interested in a condo in CR, come up and look.

[blue eyes]

Not true. I legally own a condo in Chiang Mai so would be stunned if this was not allowed in Chiang Rai. One rule that must be adhered to is that the building has to be 51% Thai owned which mine very much is.

This 51% owned by Thais used to be true. But i have heard that BKK and Pattaya have got the

rules relaxed for lack of Thais buying and frarang wanting.?

Actually, there are a total of 2 condo's in CR. The Condotel, which i cannot give you a #, and one

by the sports stadium. If you are interested in a condo in CR, come up and look.

I would be very carefull of buying a condo IF it does not fall within the offical,at the time,rules /laws of Thailand.As far ad I understand it is still allowed if as said before that the building is majoraty Thai owned.

[brahmburgers]

contrary to popular myth (and its name) the Condotel does NOT have condominiums! I know this for a fact. The only condos there are retro-fits made by farang who have bought 2 or more rooms and joined them up by knocking a door between - and adding a tiny kitchen space. The standard rooms there are just that - hotel-type rooms that are a tiny bit larger than the one-size-fits-all rooms you find throughout Thailand.

As far as I know, there are no condos in Chiang Rai. I spoke with a Thai man who was building a 52-room hotel there, and suggested he change it to condominiums. He said he'd consider doing it (he didn't). Trouble is, Thais (outside of heavily touristed areas) don't understand what a condo is. They understand tiny college apartments, and townhouses and houses. But an apartment with one or two bedrooms and a decent kitchen is an alien concept to all but western-influenced Thais.

[CSS]

Thanks for all your comments. sorry but does anyone know a telephone nr of the Condotel.

They may be outdated but these are the numbers I have for the Condotel:

053-716-135, 053-716-060

[mumbojumbo]

contrary to popular myth (and its name) the Condotel does NOT have condominiums! I know this for a fact.

As far as I know, there are no condos in Chiang Rai. tiny college apartments, and townhouses and houses. But an apartment with one or two bedrooms and a decent kitchen is an alien concept to all but western-influenced Thais.

A condo has to have bedrooms and a kitchen???-wrong

[brahmburgers]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the description of a condominium included at least a rudimentary kitchen. Other than farang retro-fits, Condotel's rooms don't have any kitchens.

Reminds me of a place in a little town called San Ignacio in Belize. It was a funky guest house with uneven floors, but its name was the Ritz Hyatt hotel.

[SeeJo]

contrary to popular myth (and its name) the Condotel does NOT have condominiums! I know this for a fact. The only condos there are retro-fits made by farang who have bought 2 or more rooms and joined them up by knocking a door between - and adding a tiny kitchen space. The standard rooms there are just that - hotel-type rooms that are a tiny bit larger than the one-size-fits-all rooms you find throughout Thailand.

As far as I know, there are no condos in Chiang Rai. I spoke with a Thai man who was building a 52-room hotel there, and suggested he change it to condominiums. He said he'd consider doing it (he didn't). Trouble is, Thais (outside of heavily touristed areas) don't understand what a condo is. They understand tiny college apartments, and townhouses and houses. But an apartment with one or two bedrooms and a decent kitchen is an alien concept to all but western-influenced Thais.

To me this ia a confusing post. Why would a Farang go to the expense of remodeling/combining two units if he did not own a vested interest in the units? (Which would imply that he had purchased in his own name as opposed to that of a thai wife??

SeeJo

[asiaworld]

Hmm interesting thread.. R u serious there's only 2 condos inCR ?!? Actually i still wonder if foreigner is able to buy the 'apartment' as well, in Bkk it seems place is littered with 'condominiums' mostly thai owned ok:) . If you walk around CR & read names in thai, you may stumble on more than 2 apartment/condo ?! i guess..

It leads to the second question !! How are the unit prices in CR ?!? If anyone can post some leads would be very interesting ..

[klikster]

contrary to popular myth (and its name) the Condotel does NOT have condominiums! I know this for a fact. The only condos there are retro-fits made by farang who have bought 2 or more rooms and joined them up by knocking a door between - and adding a tiny kitchen space. The standard rooms there are just that - hotel-type rooms that are a tiny bit larger than the one-size-fits-all rooms you find throughout Thailand.

As far as I know, there are no condos in Chiang Rai. I spoke with a Thai man who was building a 52-room hotel there, and suggested he change it to condominiums. He said he'd consider doing it (he didn't). Trouble is, Thais (outside of heavily touristed areas) don't understand what a condo is. They understand tiny college apartments, and townhouses and houses. But an apartment with one or two bedrooms and a decent kitchen is an alien concept to all but western-influenced Thais.

If you go back to the beginning .. when the place was built .. it WAS built as a condo and a number of farangs and Thai bought units. While it was built as a series of rooms (2 or 3 versions, if I recall), they were condos. I think it turned into a rental place after it started to get a bit shabby from poor management .. and a company bought out some number of units.

I don't know what retrofitting has to do with determining whether a structure is a condominium or not. A condo is a condo based on the principles of ownership. Sorry to be so blunt .. but I'm actually a bit surprised that someone in the RE business wouldn't know that.

Another development of condos was actually scheduled and sold off plan on Dusit Island. By the time I learned about it, all were already sold. Then the owner(s) changed their mind and had to buy them all back .. at some significant profit for the should-have-been owners. That was '89 I think .. might be wrong on the date.

[Cornishboy]

Did you manage to buy a condo in Chiang Rai then. I am looking to purchase myself at the CR Condotel. prices vary from 370,000 to 1,450,000 baht. Just wondered how you got on, and if living there how is it?

[klikster]

Did you manage to buy a condo in Chiang Rai then. I am looking to purchase myself at the CR Condotel. prices vary from 370,000 to 1,450,000 baht. Just wondered how you got on, and if living there how is it?

If your question was addressed to me:

No, I didn't buy one. At the time, the property boom in Chiang Rai was well under way. My memory from 1990 is a bit hazy, but I believe a 40 (60?) sq m condo was selling for 600K plus. They didn't strike me as being good value for money.

I never lived there and have heard mixed reviews about the place.

I believe some members of this board have lived there as renters.

IMO, given Thailand's political climate and the world financial climate is to go to CR, ask lots of questions, do lots of snooping ..

.. then put your money in the bank .. and rent a place.

[svenivan]

.. then put your money in the bank .. and rent a place.

Very good idea!

[brahmburgers]

If a person wants a room slightly larger than a standard small hotel room, with tiny bathroom, tiny porch, and no kitchen space, then the Condotel might suit your needs. Has nice views though, particularly on the west side. The pool has no chairs, no benches, no charm, no tables, and no one hangs out there - which is somewhat indicative of the dour overall mood of the place. If you want to call it a condominium, you can, but I would call it a bunch of hotel rooms costing about a third of a million baht each.

I met a hotel builder in Bandu who was halfway in to a multi-story project. I suggested he might consider joining-up the one-size-fits all small rooms - in order to make spaces that would appeal to farang (2 or more adjoining rooms with kitchens, rather than isolated small rooms like Condotel). He indicated he liked the idea, but went ahead and built the honeycombed style that's prevalent throughout Thailand. Last time I dropped by, it had been in biz for a year, and there was not one vehicle in the spacious parking lot.

[IraqRon]

I have a related question, does ownership of a shope house, within a row of shop houses, fall under the same law as a condo in Thailand??? Could a foriegner legally own a shop house in that case???

[svenivan]

I have a related question, does ownership of a shope house, within a row of shop houses, fall under the same law as a condo in Thailand??? Could a foriegner legally own a shop house in that case???

No, cannot!

It must be a condominium and must be approved by government they can sell to foreigners and foreigners cannot owe more than 49% of the place.

But I don´t know if it is 49% of the area, 49% of the value or whatever!

I have a friend that was going to buy a condo at Waterford. Luckily he contacted a lawyer that found out that they have sold much more than 50% to farangs already. At Waterford they said it was no problem because they were planning to build another building.

My friend did not listen to that and cancelled the buy. He lost some money on that transaction.

But today, probably 4 years later there are no more building coming up!

[IraqRon]

Thanks Sven, good info on Waterford, I will keep it in mind for the next time somone mentions buying one there. Seems like about every other time I play there, someone in the group brings up buying one of the condos.

[12DrinkMore]

But I don´t know if it is 49% of the area, 49% of the value or whatever!

Liveable floor area.

[sunholidaysun1]

CONDO - short for Condominium.

The definition is an apartment building in which each flat/ apartment is owned by the person living in it but the building and all the shared areas are owned by everyone together. (Oxford Dictionaries interpretation ).

However , again its a 49% foreign / 51% Thai ownership. What I think that means is that you can own as a foreigner any apartment 100 % as long as the building is inhabited also by Thai's or it could be that the whole building is at least 51% or 100% Thai owned , regardless of who the owners of the condo's are ?

Im sure someone will put us right .

You can also rent a place at condotel in CR. My personal advise is dont buy any property , just rent somewhere.

There are too many political/immigration issues for the foreigners here now and those who are planing on coming here should take heed.

Keep your money in the BANK , preferably in your own country . Its very easy to bring millions of Bht into the country but very hard to take it out.

[ThaiBasil]

Did you manage to buy a condo in Chiang Rai then. I am looking to purchase myself at the CR Condotel. prices vary from 370,000 to 1,450,000 baht. Just wondered how you got on, and if living there how is it?

For that price you can almost build your own house with 3 bed, 2 bath, kitchen, carpark, study, living, dining 2 terraces on 850 m2 land ...... well at least I did!!!

All I am saying is, stay open for all options! Don't look only at Condos, look at everything: second hand houses, regular apartments, built your own etc. and see what is best. Also chekc the rental option, lease option, purchasing through a company option etc.

[cdnvic]

Removed commercial posts/replies

[OneZero]

Removed commercial posts/replies

Not a commercial post. Just an example to illustrate general appearance of one of my rooms.

Approx 38sq meters (typical end rooms a bit larger), 11th floor, lite rehab, market valus 600-650K, condo fees 7-8K Baht/year.

End rooms a bit larger. Price depends upon floor/view & degree of rehab. Perhaps preferable to buy cheap fixer upper & rehab to fit your taste.

Repeat: Not a commercial post.

[OneZero]

Removed commercial posts/replies

Not a commercial post. Just an example to illustrate general appearance of one of my rooms.

Approx 38sq meters (typical end rooms a bit larger), 11th floor, lite rehab, market valus 600-650K, condo fees 7-8K Baht/year.

End rooms a bit larger. Price depends upon floor/view & degree of rehab. Perhaps preferable to buy cheap fixer upper & rehab to fit your taste.

Repeat: Not a commercial post.

Sorry for any repeats. Trouble attaching the pictures.