Considering investment in condo for rental income and want some feedback on area with the best potiential.....lowest price to buy and highest rental potiential as well as resale value. Hoping to find a unit furnished and turn key, but would consider a 'fixer-upper' in Cm area as i live up north.

any suggestions would be appreciated.

Considering investment in condo for rental income and want some feedback on area with the best potiential.....lowest price to buy and highest rental potiential as well as resale value. Hoping to find a unit furnished and turn key, but would consider a 'fixer-upper' in Cm area as i live up north.

any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi,

I own 2 condos in CM and am buying one in Pattaya. All studios. I rent out the 2 in CM. There are various factors u should consider:

1. Rental income.

2. Cost of a managing agent if your condo is far from home so u can't manage it yourself (there are always some kinda problem to sort out meaning u have to travel to the condo).

3. Capital cost.

4. Capital increase.

5. Looking to rent long-term (6 months or above) or short-term, eg. holiday let (best to be flexible, but short lets mean u really need a manager, if not near to your home).

6. How to attract customers and vet customers (word of mouth, own web page, agent's web site etc).

I think that includes most of the important things off the top of my head.

It is sometimes better to accept a lower rent for a longer term rental (eg. in low season when it can be very difficult to find customers). I mention all this because they all interact when choosing a place to buy. Eg. Pattaya may be better for holiday lets, whilst BKK is better for longer-term rentals. CM is cheaper to buy than BKK, but the capital increase is less. Rents are higher in BKK but the annual % yield may be higher in CM.

I think by far the most important consideration is where u will get greater occupation rates and I believe (but have no hard evidence as I don't own there) that Bangkok is the best place because there are more long-term visitors and more low season visitors (eg on business or to work, eg. language teachers). However, there is also a lot of rental accommodation in BKK, and business customers may require top-end accommodation, so the competition is stiffer, so to speak.

Renting in Thailand only really gets u pocket money - I think it is not easy to make a living on a small scale.

Hope this helps.