House Living Vs Condo Living -- Experiences?

[Pravda]

One thing why I prefer living in a condo instead of a house is it's just simple to keep it clean.

 

In Thailand no matter if hiso - loso village the house is guaranteed to be infested with ants and cockroaches.

 

Just something to think about. 

[sucit]

I will never go back to a condo. We have a huge backyard and a pool, although the pool was more of a pain than I thought so it goes unused. I do not need the pool but I need the outdoor space.

[Logosone]

40 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

I think we need to differentiate between a house in the city and a house in the sticks.  The OP was talking about houses in central Bangkok - they are not burning rubbish, there are no rice fields etc.

I have lived in my house in Bangkok for ten years after living in condos for several years.  Never had an issue with neighbours and they are as kind as anything; there is a real community.  I have even had random strangers in the moo ban offer me lifts when I have been walking - several times.  I really couldn't disagree more with your antisocial comment: even the ones I don't know say hello or smile in the street.  At New Year they bring round food and booze and give gifts.  Other times they just give food or fruit for no reason other than they have some extra.  A lot of them do have dogs and maybe I've just been lucky but no barking hounds around.  Again, maybe that is more out in the sticks (or maybe I've just been lucky).  I even see some of the Thais picking up after their dogs when they walk them!  (Alas, some don't)

So, context and location make a big big difference.  If the OP is looking at houses around Thonglor / Ekkamai then it is very very different from country houses.

I'm not out in the sticks, I live in one of Thailand's major cities, Chiang Mai, and am 21 minutes away from Central Festival. 

 

But yes, this may be a particular Chiang Mai issue, this area feels like a village, not a city, it's true.

 

Of course it is different in a Moo Ban, as you'll more than likely have non-Thai neighbours there, that's why I originally counselled to consider a small Moo Ban. I live in an independent house, as I didn't want the restrictions in a Moo Ban like sharing a pool, controlled access all that controlling if you go in etc. 

 

I lived in Ladprao in BKK for a short time, and though it's a lovely residential neighbourhood, I still had the dog issue, loose dogs in every soi accosting you. I still had the loudspeakers going in the morning, there was the added noise pollution of major building works all around. But it's true, howling dogs, garbage burning and such were less of an issue, but then you had the polluted Bangkok air.

 

Still, glad to hear you've been lucky with neighbours and noise issues.

[Hanuman2547]

I prefer a house.  You just have more room.  Unfortunately that leads to acquiring more stuff!  It is nice to have room to move about.  Yes, there are more issues with the mozzies but all the windows and doors have screens so it isn't too bad.  Haven't had much trouble with snakes.  Security has been good and luckily I have never had a break-in.  I do own a condo in Pattaya (Jomtien) on a high floor.  Only stayed in it about 5-6 nights over the 14 years I've owned it but I just couldn't see myself living in a 37sqm box.  

[Old Croc]

There's no real comparison, it revolves around factors such as location, lifestyle, budget, personal preference, convenience, etc.

 

When I was younger, so much younger than today, I didn't need heath in any way. I lived in a succession of small dog boxes (we called them flats) and was happy to do so at that time. Eventually graduated into houses with space and gardens and vowed to never live long term in a box again.

 

What works for a party animal in Pattaya or Bangkok is usually very different from what someone with a family in north-east Issan wants.

[Logosone]

1 minute ago, Old Croc said:

When I was younger, so much younger than today, I didn't need heath in any way.

I never needed Edward Heath as a young man either, but now I find he was a great politician.

[samtab]

Condo are only good at high floor with sea view, but high floor can become boring if you go out a lot. Having to wait for lift and share it with dirty people is not fun.

House are only good with a swimming pool and big garden in front, but sometimes living near a house where 20 Thai are staying is not so fun...

 

 

[Logosone]

On 5/1/2020 at 10:05 AM, samtab said:

Condo are only good at high floor with sea view, but high floor can become boring if you go out a lot. Having to wait for lift and share it with dirty people is not fun.

House are only good with a swimming pool and big garden in front, but sometimes living near a house where 20 Thai are staying is not so fun...

 

 

Yes, you'd want a high floor also on the grounds that you'd have nobody making noise above you. The noise from neighbours is a big minus for condos. Then again, as I found out living next to two older Thai guys who are so bored that all they do all day is DIY, living in a house can be even worse for noise pollution. Fantastically inconsiderate people.

 

What you won't have in a condo is what I had the other day, after the rain I had 100 moths try crawling over every mosquit net in every window and door. It was like a scene from a horror film. Thankfully I was well prepared and had lots of poison gas, so I was able to spray them into the afterlife. Clean up was not pretty, with little black moth babies crawling on the floor, which I then dispatched with boiling water.

 

Again, I live in the city. In a house.

 

 

[moontang]

Too many of the houses aren't properly vented to prevent sewer/septic gas. It isn't terribly difficult to fix, but how may renters are going to do that?  Also, the decision on condo vs house is as drastically different as the land prices.  One wah in the NE, where some of you live could be worth as little as 2000 THB.  Compare that with Lower Sukhumvit or Silom at 2,000,000 per wah.  So after the first step of "Where," most will not realistically even have a choice.

[Logosone]

4 minutes ago, moontang said:

Too many of the houses aren't properly vented to prevent sewer/septic gas. It isn't terribly difficult to fix, but how may renters are going to do that?  Also, the decision on condo vs house is as drastically different as the land prices.  One wah in the NE, where some of you live could be worth as little as 2000 THB.  Compare that with Lower Sukhumvit or Silom at 2,000,000 per wah.  So after the first step of "Where," most will not realistically even have a choice.

Very true, land prices are dirt cheap in Chiang Mai compared to Bangkok. And I only have three months of bad air, not 12.

 

Not as overcrowded as Bangkok. Yet still Central Festival. Not quite as many facilities but enough.

[BobbyL]

If I was single then a condo all the way due to its ease. 

 

We bought a house in one of the modern moo baans this year and it is definitely nice to have the space, although I do still miss the condo life and the secluded feeling you get being high up above the city. Even though we have a gym, pool and park / playground area in the moo baan the facilities aren't as good as you find in the new condos which is a shame.

 

I guess they are some of the sacrifices you have to make as there is no way we could have afforded a four bedroom condo. 

[Logosone]

There are moo baans and then they are moo baans, they're not all the same. Some of the new ones have outstanding facilities. Things is you'll share them with 120 Chinese families. Small moo baans are the way to go. Or even better, independent house.

 

I also miss condos, but I thought carrying the shopping up the elevator to the condo was not easier.

[teatime101]

On 4/27/2020 at 7:04 AM, ExpatOilWorker said:

Mosquitoes,  geckos, ants and dust get in everywhere.

I moved from a condo recently to live in a villa. We get very annoying small flies and occasional infestations of flying ants, but strangely no mosquitos, which is great. Geckos don't worry me at all. Dust is no big deal. I'm already growing watermelons from seeds thrown away by the builders. Also planting shrubs, etc.

 

Just got a water filter + tap installed in the kitchen sink.

 

Probably the most annoying thing is the sound of the water pump outside the bedroom window.

 

No more condo living for me.

[moontang]

23 minutes ago, Logosone said:

Very true, land prices are dirt cheap in Chiang Mai compared to Bangkok. And I only have three months of bad air, not 12.

 

Not as overcrowded as Bangkok. Yet still Central Festival. Not quite as many facilities but enough.

But, people actually noticed and cared when the Bangkok nightlife closed down..except for the Nana Carpark, which never closes.

Edited May 2, 2020 by moontang

[teatime101]

On 4/27/2020 at 9:59 AM, josephbloggs said:

Are there soi dogs?

Does the Earth spin?

[rumak]

On 4/29/2020 at 8:33 AM, Logosone said:

Neighbours in Thailand are pretty antisocial unless you're next to a civilized German gentleman like me, and not everyone is that lucky.

I had a dream many years ago that if i could get 3 friends to go in with me ,  so that we could

buy around 30 rai of land ,  then we could afford it.   Divided up into seperate lots, of course.

Maybe a shared swimming pool.   But most important.....  have some security in numbers, and

friends around when someone left for vacation or whatever.

We love our land here.  But one bad neighbor,  and no family to take care of it when we

want to escape the burning season.     

[rumak]

On 4/29/2020 at 9:39 AM, Logosone said:

I'm not out in the sticks, I live in one of Thailand's major cities, Chiang Mai, and am 21 minutes away from Central Festival. 

Doi Saket area ?    i did live there for a number of years.  Pretty area

[Logosone]

5 hours ago, rumak said:

I had a dream many years ago that if i could get 3 friends to go in with me ,  so that we could

buy around 30 rai of land ,  then we could afford it.   Divided up into seperate lots, of course.

Maybe a shared swimming pool.   But most important.....  have some security in numbers, and

friends around when someone left for vacation or whatever.

We love our land here.  But one bad neighbor,  and no family to take care of it when we

want to escape the burning season.     

That's a nice idea. I can't believe how unlucky I am with my neighbours. One is an old man the size of an 8 year old girl. But never stops working on his tiny mini-farm. 

 

I lived in Doi Saket for a while as well, nice area indeed. I'm in San Sai.

[Logosone]

5 hours ago, moontang said:

But, people actually noticed and cared when the Bangkok nightlife closed down..except for the Nana Carpark, which never closes.

 

Chiang Mai actually had a decent night life before the lockdown. Not in Bangkok's league, but you could go out and it was a nice atmosphere.

[talahtnut]

Thai ladies usually choose a house over a condo,

me too, but a word of warning, you need a well

stocked beer fridge outside to cater for your mates

and the missuses mates. if you dont like visitors

a condo is better.

 

[moontang]

3 hours ago, Logosone said:

 

Chiang Mai actually had a decent night life before the lockdown. Not in Bangkok's league, but you could go out and it was a nice atmosphere.

The number one thing they need to do, to revive their tourism sector, is to bring back the tour busses full of Chinese, which were so instrumental in ruining it in the first place.

[teatime101]

4 hours ago, talahtnut said:

if you dont like visitors

a condo is better.

No alcohol allowed in our house. Daughter won't let me touch it. I'm not particularly social and I like having a garden and my own room in which to play my musical instruments. Condo is way too small for personal space. The girls like to watch Korean dramas. TV bores me <deleted>less.

[josephbloggs]

On 4/29/2020 at 8:33 AM, Logosone said:

Neighbours in Thailand are pretty antisocial unless you're next to a civilized German gentleman like me, and not everyone is that lucky.

.....and right on cue there was a ring on my doorbell just now and it was my neighbour from the house diagonally from us - they had brought cakes.  Yesterday I accepted a parcel delivery for them when they weren't home, today I got cakes.

Thais have a real community spirit in my opinion and are quite generous.  If you make a little bit of effort they are not antisocial in the least.

[josephbloggs]

On 4/29/2020 at 9:39 AM, Logosone said:

Of course it is different in a Moo Ban, as you'll more than likely have non-Thai neighbours there, that's why I originally counselled to consider a small Moo Ban.

I am in a moo-ban.  There must be 250 houses here and I only know of one other farang in the whole place.  My street of 20 houses are all Thai.  

[josephbloggs]

On 4/29/2020 at 8:58 AM, Pravda said:

One thing why I prefer living in a condo instead of a house is it's just simple to keep it clean.

 

In Thailand no matter if hiso - loso village the house is guaranteed to be infested with ants and cockroaches.

 

Just something to think about. 

Not really an issue, but you do need to do something.  A pest control company to come and spray every three months does the job - literally never see ants or cockroaches at all.  And the spray is safe before anyone asks.

But yeah, if you don't do that then ants are a problem.

[BobbyL]

On 5/3/2020 at 11:24 AM, josephbloggs said:

Not really an issue, but you do need to do something.  A pest control company to come and spray every three months does the job - literally never see ants or cockroaches at all.  And the spray is safe before anyone asks.

But yeah, if you don't do that then ants are a problem.

Definitely. No problems with ants or cockroaches for us. Only thing that can be a nuisance are mosquitoes. 

[pineapple01]

A Condo is as Good as your Neighbours allow it to be.

[ExpatOilWorker]

53 minutes ago, pineapple01 said:

A Condo is as Good as your Neighbours allow it to be.

That statement to the power of 10 also apply for a house, where the neighbor can fire up a kilt and start industrial production of charcoal. 

[pineapple01]

That took some Brainpower seeing as you cant buy a condo in an unpopulated area and recon the area first

[Logosone]

On 5/3/2020 at 11:18 AM, josephbloggs said:

.....and right on cue there was a ring on my doorbell just now and it was my neighbour from the house diagonally from us - they had brought cakes.  Yesterday I accepted a parcel delivery for them when they weren't home, today I got cakes.

Thais have a real community spirit in my opinion and are quite generous.  If you make a little bit of effort they are not antisocial in the least.

They are not antisocial in the least?

 

You may want to tell my neighbour who is running his power tools non-stop, burning his garbage and playing loud music all the time.

 

Or my other neighbour who keeps five dogs, all loose, that let off a howling concert every other night and urinate and defaecate everywhere at will.

 

But of course keeping dogs loose is not a Thai practice, not at all, that's of course my fault for not making an effort...

 

Thanks for your well thought out input man!