Whats the future?

[GinBoy2]

So before anyone blasts me as some Thai hater. I love the country for all it's absurdities, corruption et al.

 

But we haven't been back in 2 years because of covid, and my Thai wife, who never wanted us to move from Singapore to Thailand in the first place is becoming less and less interested in our original plan of snowbirding to our Thai house.

 

So I'm left contemplating what do we do?

We have a great house there, but what's the point of hanging on to an asset which lets face it, is worth a fraction of the cost it took to build it, ot just cut and run, hotels are cheap when we do finally go back for a vacation

[Yellowtail]

Nothing good happens to vacant properties.

 

Any competent, reliable in-laws?

 

Is it in an area where you could rent it? 

hire  

Is it in an area where you could hire a property management company? 

 

If it's in Bangkok I might be interested...

[cardinalblue]

It’s a buyers market so what’s the point of selling? Unless the house is costing you money to hold onto it,  you lose a lot in a depressed market…

 

she’s Thai so some day she might want to return home…

 

 

[sirineou]

we were in a similar situation. Trapped in the US for a little over two years and just got back last may.

But we had Sister in Law who has a house next door to us and will help take care of it and keep an eye.

Even so when we got back , two of the air-conditions not older than two years did not work, As it turned out there were nests in them that prevented the fan from turning.

Empty houses in Thailand do not to well.

Selling market is nor very good right now. If you are not going to be there see if you can rent it. 

Perhaps offer a reasonable rent and you can have someone in the house taking care of it and at the same time have some income. 

[Pedrogaz]

Future is bleak....but then again, it is everywhere. Thailand just raised the debt ceiling to 70%, it had 40% of GDP debt in the Yingluck days. That money will have to be paid back.....and we are facing high inflation. 

[bkk6060]

Haha.  Of course she does Singapore one of the richest countries in the world why would she want to come back to an economically depressed Thailand?

[Peterw42]

OP, I am finding it hard to believe a house is now worth "a fraction of the cost it took to build it".

 

Did you massively overpay initially, did you over capitalise on the build ?

 

Yes, covid has had an effect on prices etc, but not to the point you are quoting. Most of the impact is on "asking" price, rather than actual sales prices.

 

If you genuinely believe your house is now worth a fraction of its past worth, then why would you even consider selling it. Put a tenant in it and hold it.

[smutcakes]

46 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, I am finding it hard to believe a house is now worth "a fraction of the cost it took to build it".

 

Did you massively overpay initially, did you over capitalise on the build ?

 

Yes, covid has had an effect on prices etc, but not to the point you are quoting. Most of the impact is on "asking" price, rather than actual sales prices.

 

If you genuinely believe your house is now worth a fraction of its past worth, then why would you even consider selling it. Put a tenant in it and hold it.

Possibly because it is in a rural area and the only people who have any interest in living there are the people born and brought up there with all their family there. No one is simply going to turn up randomly and buy land and build there so the only market is local people who may or probably don't have much money or ability to buy a farang built house with presumably a lot more mod cons than they need or would pay for.

 

So the land is worth peanuts and the value is all in the house construction, which no one in the area wants, needs or can afford, and the chances of an outsider suddenly arriving in Nakhon nowhere and deciding to randomly buy a house in a village they have no association with is pretty much zero.

 

Hence you have a house you cannot sell for the money you put into it. Its land value minus demolition cost essentially.

[Yellowtail]

42 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, I am finding it hard to believe a house is now worth "a fraction of the cost it took to build it".

 

Did you massively overpay initially, did you over capitalise on the build ?

 

Yes, covid has had an effect on prices etc, but not to the point you are quoting. Most of the impact is on "asking" price, rather than actual sales prices.

 

If you genuinely believe your house is now worth a fraction of its past worth, then why would you even consider selling it. Put a tenant in it and hold it.

Is 15/16 not a fraction? 

 

In any event, it's not hard for me to believe that a high-spec, custom built home designed for a westerner in a remote area could be difficult to sell for 10-20% of the cost.

 

A lot has to do with the land value to build-cost ratio. If you spend five million to build a house on a 100k plot of land you're in bad shape when trying to sell, and the home absolutely depreciates while the land generally appreciates. Nothing wrong with it as long as you're not overextended, which I do not believe the OP is. 

 

 

 

[Yellowtail]

5 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

Possibly because it is in a rural area and the only people who have any interest in living there are the people born and brought up there with all their family there. No one is simply going to turn up randomly and buy land and build there so the only market is local people who may or probably don't have much money or ability to buy a farang built house with presumably a lot more mod cons than they need or would pay for.

 

So the land is worth peanuts and the value is all in the house construction, which no one in the area wants, needs or can afford, and the chances of an outsider suddenly arriving in Nakhon nowhere and deciding to randomly buy a house in a village they have no association with is pretty much zero.

 

Hence you have a house you cannot sell for the money you put into it. Its land value minus demolition cost essentially.

Exactly, took me a little too long to submit.....

[2009]

13 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Nothing good happens to vacant properties.

 

Any competent, reliable in-laws?

 

Is it in an area where you could rent it? 

hire  

Is it in an area where you could hire a property management company? 

 

If it's in Bangkok I might be interested...

Some very good points; you seem quite knowledgeable about this.

 

Any tips for a vacant home?

[Yellowtail]

27 minutes ago, 2009 said:

Some very good points; you seem quite knowledgeable about this.

 

Any tips for a vacant home?

A lot of variables and every situation is different, but generally, if you are not going to use it, you can't rent it, you have no one to watch it and it is not likely to appreciate in value, the sooner you can get rid of it the better. 

 

I'm 63. I'd rather have $10K in a brokerage account than a house "worth" $100K in another country that I can't sell, I can't rent, I have no plans on using and that my wife does not care about. 

 

If I relocated back to the US and was planning on visiting Thailand for a month a year, I would not want to spend  a week of it getting my house straightened out. 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

15 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Nothing good happens to vacant properties.

 

Any competent, reliable in-laws?

 

Is it in an area where you could rent it? 

hire  

Is it in an area where you could hire a property management company? 

 

This is good advice.

 

Also be aware that many insurance companies' policies will automatically suspend coverage if a residence remains unoccupied for more than 30 days or so. 

[newnative]

4 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, I am finding it hard to believe a house is now worth "a fraction of the cost it took to build it".

 

Did you massively overpay initially, did you over capitalise on the build ?

 

Yes, covid has had an effect on prices etc, but not to the point you are quoting. Most of the impact is on "asking" price, rather than actual sales prices.

 

If you genuinely believe your house is now worth a fraction of its past worth, then why would you even consider selling it. Put a tenant in it and hold it.

     I find it hard to believe it's worth 'a fraction', too.  We just had two houses sell in our small project of 38 homes, fairly quickly and at good prices.  

[chalawaan]

What's the future? For me, it's a grab delivered Cheeseburger, fries with skin on, and a glass of "fruit" wine from a cardboard box. Life is humble, but good, and I never forget that I could wake up dead tomorrow.

[chalawaan]

5 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

Future is bleak....but then again, it is everywhere. Thailand just raised the debt ceiling to 70%, it had 40% of GDP debt in the Yingluck days. That money will have to be paid back.....and we are facing high inflation. 

If that money will have to be paid back, then the USA with its gazillion dollar deficit has no chance! I don't think sovereign debt works in quite the same way as it does for you and I, old boy.

[chalawaan]

4 hours ago, 2009 said:

Some very good points; you seem quite knowledgeable about this.

 

Any tips for a vacant home?

Letting a decent couple or well bred lady house sit for free is always better than leaving it empty. Anywhere. There are websites to help you find these trustworthy people.

[smutcakes]

49 minutes ago, newnative said:

     I find it hard to believe it's worth 'a fraction', too.  We just had two houses sell in our small project of 38 homes, fairly quickly and at good prices.  

You are talking in a real residential project... I presumed the OP was referring to greenfield village provincial/upcountry situation. Big difference between the 2.

[lkn]

On 9/22/2021 at 8:34 AM, chalawaan said:

If that money will have to be paid back, then the USA with its gazillion dollar deficit has no chance! I don't think sovereign debt works in quite the same way as it does for you and I, old boy.

The U.S. is a little different because most commodities are traded in USD (oil, wheat, corn, soybeans, coffee, gold, etc.), and is effectively the world’s reserve currency.

 

So there is enormous demand for USD, even when the U.S. has a trade deficit, and this demand is why they can issue low interest bonds, and most are willing to buy these bonds (despite the low interest).

 

Other countries do not have this luxury, although currently countries that are just somewhat functional can issue low interest bonds, but this won’t last forever, and the yield on the 10 year Thai government bond has been going up since the start of the pandemic.

[pomchop]

I had a nice house in a rural area that i used about 5 months a year...in spite of many different efforts of hiring a gardener and maid to come twice a month I never came back to a clean well kept house or yard....then i tried the route of letting a "reliable farang" stay for free along with free motorbike usage turns out he was a total moron who left a giant mess and a broken motorbike (rather than pay a couple hundred baht to fix what he broke)....i got used to expecting to come back to a mess.  There was little to no rental opportunities and i was afraid to rent to thais as it was a big house and i suspect could have ended up with 10 or so living there and i did not want to deal with that.

 

Not easy.  In the end i was able to sell it to a farang at a good price but that was several years back and i got about twice what i had in it....mostly luck as the thai realtor was worthless and farang just showed up from a road sign, said it was exactly what he was looking for and he made a good cash offer.  Title was in trusted thai friends name with a 30 year lease back to me...i gave her a nice commission, she signed title over to farang's thai gal, i signed over my cxld lease and moved on.

 

Good Luck.

[2009]

On 9/22/2021 at 1:39 PM, chalawaan said:

Letting a decent couple or well bred lady house sit for free is always better than leaving it empty. Anywhere. There are websites to help you find these trustworthy people.

Interesting

 

Though in Thailand, I'd rather just about any farang rather than a Thai woman. I have seen horrors.

 

My EX is as domesticated as a pig, as careful as an orangutan, as thoughtful as a goldfish, and as reliable as 2 year old Thai car battery.

[siam dreamers]

Who knows the future but I can give you my take on your current situation. My advise is to put it up for sale at a fair price. I just purchase a home in Hua Hin two weeks ago at a very good price from an owner that wanted a quick sale to move back to Pattaya. I think the property was on the market for under a month. No matter the economic conditions there are always buyers looking for a deal on quality properties, in fact that is when the rich are out shopping.

 

I also agree with your concern about  hanging on to an asset you are not using and instead renting hotel for the short time you spend in Thailand. My definition of an asset is something that puts money in my pocket, and a liability being something that takes money out. A house that you are not using and is  sitting is a liability in your cash flow. I have been in your situation a few times before and in fact have two house right now and am planning to  put one on the market. I alway find it better to bite the bullet, accept todays market price, and move on to my next adventure. You house is worth exactly what you get for it on the day you sell. Most times I am about 10% less than my initial assessment but since I try to buy right and renovate a little it still works out. Good luck on whatever you. 

[chrisandsu]

I had a house I would use 6 weeks a year (winter) let me tell you it was an utter pain in the <deleted> !! Would come back and it would be falling to pieces everything from the cheap furniture to the air conditioners would be broke and I’d spend 4 out of the 6 weeks putting it right just to enjoy it for two weeks . Wasn’t worth the hassle so I sold it . 

[Will B Good]

On 9/22/2021 at 7:39 AM, chalawaan said:

Letting a decent couple or well bred lady house sit for free is always better than leaving it empty. Anywhere. There are websites to help you find these trustworthy people.

Trustedhousesitters.

 

We use this site (as sitters)....very professional.

[The Hammer2021]

On 9/22/2021 at 8:07 AM, bkk6060 said:

Haha.  Of course she does Singapore one of the richest countries in the world why would she want to come back to an economically depressed Thailand?

There are plenty of wealthy people in economically depressed countries.