Buying a Condomunium

[Confuscious]

I plan to buy a Condominium in Pattaya/Jomtien.

 

I have already looked at all the Legal stuff for the purchase and there is no problem to fulfill that part.

No need to post anything related to the purchase of a Condominiuim (although there will be a few TV-members, aka "keyboard warriors" who are going to post anyhow their "wisdom" related to the purchase).

I would like to read the Pro's and Contra's about the purchase of a Condominium from EXPERIENCE of owners/ex-owners and sellers of a Condominium.

 

TIA

[Peterw42]

OP, your post is a little confusing, you dont want peoples comments about purchase of a condo but want people to comment about purchase a condo.

 

[ezzra]

OP, a better choice of words would have been better to ask for the help/opinions of TV members... as many of us a "keyboard warriors" who for most parts, are helpful and givers of good advise... 

[Confuscious]

20 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, your post is a little confusing, you dont want peoples comments about purchase of a condo but want people to comment about purchase a condo.

 

Nothing confusing about my OP.

I want to hear from owners/ex-owners of a Condomunium:
- What will I expect as an owner from a Comdominium?
- Hidden or unexpected costs?
- Problems with the owner of the Condominium block?
- If problems with the water/electricity/others arise, have you been helped adequatly or was there no help?

- Long term problems.

- Etc.

 

I DON'T want to hear:
- Why do you plan to buy a Condominium?
- Do you have enough funds to buy a Condominium?
- The money need to come from abroad and be certified.
- Etc.
 

 

[AJBangkok]

As you said purchasing a condo is easy. Renovations are inexpensive compared to the west but finding someone competent do do them is difficult. As far as selling goes generally there is an oversupply so to some extent you have to make your money when you purchase the condo which means getting the absolute cheapest price in the best location. I would say always prioritize location over anything else because that’s the first thing that future buyers are going to consider. If you are in a great location then finding a buyer is easier.

[Confuscious]

1 minute ago, AJBangkok said:

As you said purchasing a condo is easy. Renovations are inexpensive compared to the west but finding someone competent do do them is difficult. As far as selling goes generally there is an oversupply so to some extent you have to make your money when you purchase the condo which means getting the absolute cheapest price in the best location. I would say always prioritize location over anything else because that’s the first thing that future buyers are going to consider. If you are in a great location then finding a buyer is easier.

Thanks for your input in this thread AJBangkok.
This is the kind of answers I look for.

 

[blackcab]

Buy into a well managed building. One hidden cost is potential depreciation. If the building management do nothing but somehow there is no money left, then your building will quickly start looking poorly maintained and unattractive.

 

Trying to sell will be difficult and you will probably be forced to discount the unit to get rid of it.

[AJBangkok]

As far as hidden costs go.

1. Check the latest accounts with the juristic person to see if all the owners are paying their common expenses and how much and how long owners are behind. How big is the sinking fund

2. What shape are the pipes in as if they need replacing it’s a big expense.

3. Are elevators being serviced 

4. Ask to see inside the electrical room and check if they have telephone wires hanging everywhere as it’s usually a sign of bad maintenance.

5. Ask other residents in the building

[KittenKong]

18 minutes ago, Confuscious said:

- What will I expect as an owner from a Comdominium?
- Hidden or unexpected costs?
- Problems with the owner of the Condominium block?
- If problems with the water/electricity/others arise, have you been helped adequatly or was there no help?

- Long term problems.

Strange questions.

 

Q1 makes no sense.

Q2. There will surely be some one-off infrastructure costs (elevator replacement, pump replacements, CCTV/alarm replacement, pool retiling etc.) but they cant really be described as unexpected. Funds may get stolen or misappropriated. There is safety in numbers and if your condo building has few units and/or many facilities the cost to each individual unit could be quite high. There may be other financial issues affecting the building and you will always have to pay your share of the cost. The time to investigate that would be before buying.

Q3. You are the owner, or at least one of them. What sort of problems would you expect to have with yourself? Or do you mean problems with your neighbours?

Q4 makes no sense either. What sort of problems could you have with water or electricity, and why would anyone help you with them apart from an electrician or a plumber? Your building may have in-house general maintenance men, and they may or may not be competent.

Q5. The building will wear and things will need replacing. Whether this is done well or badly will be largely down to the competence and honesty of the building management and the committee of the day. The odds are against you as Thai building management is generally pretty poor, and committee members are volunteers who usually have little or no knowledge of anything relevant to running a building. They also often still have their "isn't-thailand-wonderful" tinted glasses on. They are easy prey.

[jakubec]

3 hours ago, Confuscious said:

Nothing confusing about my OP.

I want to hear from owners/ex-owners of a Condomunium:
- What will I expect as an owner from a Comdominium?
- Hidden or unexpected costs?
- Problems with the owner of the Condominium block?
- If problems with the water/electricity/others arise, have you been helped adequatly or was there no help?

- Long term problems.

- Etc.

 

 

 

Sorry if I write something obvious or something you know already:

- First of all, if you already choose a condo/project, try to rent condo for a while there first. You will see ho the building in maintained, if there is lot of short rentals etc, which can be hard to tell from just one visit.

- Try to speak with your possible neighbors (good place would be pool, gym, restaurant or bar inside the project)

- Unless you are pretty well established in Thailand, buy only in foreign quota

- Before signing a contract (assuming you buy second hand unit, not directly from developer), make proper due diligence about ownership of the property, possible mortgages etc. If you don´t speak Thai, invest few thousands for lawyers (some real estate companies can provide this service too).

- Check how much are common fees, as many years to past as possible (this could be possible biggest "surprise"

- Check how often committee of owners meet and if they actually do anything

 

Nobody can guarantee there won´t be unexpected costs in the future, things get broken but I think this will get you solid idea if things will be ok.

[Mavideol]

3 hours ago, Confuscious said:

Nothing confusing about my OP.

I want to hear from owners/ex-owners of a Condomunium:
1- What will I expect as an owner from a Comdominium?
2- Hidden or unexpected costs?
3- Problems with the owner of the Condominium block?
4- If problems with the water/electricity/others arise, have you been helped adequatly or was there no help?

5- Long term problems.

- Etc.

 

I DON'T want to hear:
- Why do you plan to buy a Condominium?
- Do you have enough funds to buy a Condominium?
- The money need to come from abroad and be certified.
- Etc.
 

 

very difficult to answer specific questions, let's try

1- don't expect too much thus will not be disappointed

2- it all depends who is managing the condo, is it the builder or people related to the builder or is the juristic a owner or is there an outside management company, to many if's but expect some "accounting" surprises with increase of fees, unexpected/unsupported expenses, etc.

3- that's a hard one...owner of condominium block... make sure all construction permits, land site, easements, etc. are up to the law and ask copy of docs, are you buying leasehold or freehold...

4- in my case always had problem fixed fast, that's the management job to help owners

5- only time will tell....that's why they are called long term problems

good luck

[Destiny1990]

What type of condo you look for?

sizes beds prices buildings new or resale?

etc.

[Mavideol]

3 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

Well, look at his name!

chinese philosopher with some great quotes and some not so great

[Confuscious]

I've got already a few tips and some of them are really worth to follow them at the purchase rather than to be badly surprised after buying the property.

 

Thanks to the members for their input.

 

Summerized:

 

- Look for condominiums in a good location as condominiums is a good location are easier to sell.
- Buy into a well managed building.
- Check the accounts with the jurisdistic person to see if all the owners are paying their common expenses.
- Check the state of the pipes.
- Check the electric room.
- Check with other residents of the building.
- More units = less general expenses.
- Rent the choosen condominium first for a few months and look how the building is maintained and if there are a lot of short rentals.
- Buy only in foreign quota.
- Make proper diligence about the ownership of the property, mortgages, etc.
- Let a lawyer invest the ownership.
- Check how often committee of owners meet and if they achieved anything.
- Don't expect too much.
- Check who is managing the Condominium.
- Check ALL the construction permits, land site, easement, etc.
- Check weither problems are fixed fast by the management.
 

[meand]

Pros are no rent and can rent it out. 

 

Cons are poor build quality and throwing your dice into the wind as you could get an annoying neighbor or bar pop up next to your room with 0 recourse. 

[Mavideol]

15 hours ago, Confuscious said:

I've got already a few tips and some of them are really worth to follow them at the purchase rather than to be badly surprised after buying the property.

 

Thanks to the members for their input.

 

Summerized:

 

- Look for condominiums in a good location as condominiums is a good location are easier to sell.
- Buy into a well managed building.
- Check the accounts with the jurisdistic person to see if all the owners are paying their common expenses.
- Check the state of the pipes.
- Check the electric room.
- Check with other residents of the building.
- More units = less general expenses.
- Rent the choosen condominium first for a few months and look how the building is maintained and if there are a lot of short rentals.
- Buy only in foreign quota.
- Make proper diligence about the ownership of the property, mortgages, etc.
- Let a lawyer invest the ownership.
- Check how often committee of owners meet and if they achieved anything.
- Don't expect too much.
- Check who is managing the Condominium.
- Check ALL the construction permits, land site, easement, etc.
- Check weither problems are fixed fast by the management.
 

and after you have done all of that, you will run away and decide it's better to rent

[ThomasThBKK]

Another one:

 

Go there at night, around 9 PM and check how many lights are on. The more the better, rented out flats are more likely to pay common fees and keep everything in order etc.

[YT3k72Em]

Check how much the similar unit rents out for. Calculate how many year's rent you are "pre-paying" by buying.