How to find building land for a house in Bang Pong

[peterrabbit]

So the time has come for the family to move to Chiang Mai and after looking extensively we have decided that Ban Bong is the area we want to move to. Beautiful scenery, close to shops and schools in Hang Dong but out of the City makes it our ideal location.

 

However trying to find a piece of land, 1-2 rai with views, Elec water, land documents etc is proving an impossible task.

 

We have searched the internet, real estate agencies, forums etc with no success because all the agents are really interested in selling resorts. We have found that the small land that is listed is total fiction as it was sold ages ago.

 

We have thought about internet advertising, but it would just attract agents and not the landowners. 

 

There must be landowners out there looking to sell some land but how do we find them?

 

If you have any sensible suggestions  please reply.

 

[Dante99]

Did you drive around the area and call every phone number on every sign offering land for sale?  If it was not what you want did you ask if they knew about any that meet your specs? They would help in order to get a commission.  Did you get your feet on the ground and ask local shop owners or restaurant owners?  Did you ask the Puu Yai Baan?  Did you hang out at the local temple for a couple of days and talk to people who came in there?

 

It is actually quite straight forward but you have to get off your keyboard.

 

Do you mean Baan Pa Bong?

[peterrabbit]

Its Ban Pong in Ban Pong District which is on the 1269 running west from Chiang Mai just south of the Night Safari. Its about 8km from the 108 in Hang Dong.

We were there between Xmas and New Year and spent a few days exploring the area to narrow down where we are interested. 

 

We did note phone numbers and phoned a few that we thought could be of interest but generally found the following results.

1. It was the owner but they wanted a ridiculous price well above market prices

2. It was already sold but they didn't take the sign down

3. It was an agent, they had sold that land and didn't have any more in the area.

4. Dead phone number

5. We couldn't find the land or it was miles away from the sign

6. There were no signs in the area/soi we were interested in

 

We did ask locals when we came across them but generally they didn't know. We did however come across the ex Puu Yai Bann of Ban Pong and he took our details and will phone if anything comes up.

(If I could find a way of getting the phone numbers of the Puu Yai Baan for the villages in the area I would phone them)

 

My idea was to get "land wanted" signs printed in Thai and put them up in the sois we are interested in but the Mrs is dead against it because She thinks the authorities might want to hang us for doing so.

 

So I'm sure that with the local farmers are suffering economically like most people and would welcome a serious buyer for a piece of their land, the problem is how to find them.

 

[NotEinstein]

Whenever we wanted to buy land, we found out who the local agents were. The traditional way it works is there is a person that everybody goes to in the village/area who wants to sell - my father-in-law used to do this - usually an older guy - ex Puu Yai Baan type. He has contact with the local 'agents', who are usually chatty ladies that are the contacts for buyers. They know all the available plots and who to contact to quiz for more. You need to find these ladies and they will do the rest. While there are obviously western-style agents, they tend to focus on houses on moo baans and are outside of the traditional loop. We spent a few days touring available plots with different ladies, usually with expectant owners showing up and even the old guy contact too on occasion.

[clokwise]

I would reiterate what the above commenters have said, you need to go local if you want land in a specific area. I've just spent 6 weeks doing the same in the north of the city. Real estate agents are not gonna cut it, just forget about them entirely. Absolutely the best method is to talk to the aunties and uncles in the area you want. They gossip and know everything going on, and they are happy to drive you around, as they will get a small commission if it works out. Second best method is to stop and call EVERY suitable 'land for sale' sign you see. Facebook Marketplace also has some good property ads posted by owners (all Thai language), we found a number of good leads that way.

 

What we found, after 6 weeks of intensive searching, was that what we initially thought we wanted, in terms of location and land size, we didn't actually want. We initially thought we wanted one Rai of rural land surrounded by rice paddies, mountain view, and neighbors far away. It's beautiful and serene, but driving along narrow one-way roads, some paved some not, at night, with no street lights, just ain't gonna work out. No garbage collection. No utilities. Land which is still farmland needs truckloads of earth to raise it up and settle before building on it. A single house in the middle of nowhere seems like an easy target for thieves and other baddies as well. So we realized we need something more civilized.

 

We finally settled on a 300ish SqWa plot in a moobaan for the security and services, and the plots are quite large and spaced far apart by canals, with 20~30 year old trees everywhere.  Land is ready to build right now, plus we have a paved road and electricity already. We still have a mountain view. What I'm saying is, it's a process. Be open minded to broadening your search criteria.

 

One last thing, I understand Hang Dong appeals to a lot of people, but have you considered San Sai or Doi Saket or other areas in the north? I found the land prices are considerably cheaper, and generally larger, and there's many more empty lots available than around Hang Dong. You have Ruamchok and Central Fest at your doorstep, plenty of schools. What else would you need? It's the best area to live in Chiang Mai, IMO. Of course many who live in the north part of town would rather we keep this secret to ourselves, but you're welcome to join us. ????

 

 

[peterrabbit]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

After considering everyone's input I think the best thing to do is to stay in the area for a week at Songkran and hand out a load of leaflets to the locals in Thai and English detailing exactly what we are looking for. Hopefully they will find their way into the hands of the landowners who can then phone us directly.

[Cake Monster]

On 1/11/2022 at 8:03 PM, Dante99 said:

Did you drive around the area and call every phone number on every sign offering land for sale?  If it was not what you want did you ask if they knew about any that meet your specs? They would help in order to get a commission.  Did you get your feet on the ground and ask local shop owners or restaurant owners?  Did you ask the Puu Yai Baan?  Did you hang out at the local temple for a couple of days and talk to people who came in there?

 

It is actually quite straight forward but you have to get off your keyboard.

 

Do you mean Baan Pa Bong?

Its the only way.

If you rely on Agents Etc you will get ripped off, when, and if ever they find a property for you.

Do your own legwork. It pays dividends in the future.

A stop off at a local Mini-Mart can sometimes come up trumps, as they know everything about everybody in a Village.

[Cake Monster]

9 minutes ago, peterrabbit said:

Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

After considering everyone's input I think the best thing to do is to stay in the area for a week at Songkran and hand out a load of leaflets to the locals in Thai and English detailing exactly what we are looking for. Hopefully they will find their way into the hands of the landowners who can then phone us directly.

If that is your only plan, then expect to either not find anything at all, or something not quite to your liking at a rip off price.

You hand out a leaflet that has English on it, and it will be an open invitation for all the scoundrels from Kilos away.

To a Thaia, English = Farang = Money - I want some of that please.

Just sayin

[Dante99]

47 minutes ago, peterrabbit said:

I think the best thing to do is to stay in the area for a week at Songkran

only a week?    

[ramrod711]

On 1/12/2022 at 7:21 AM, NotEinstein said:

Whenever we wanted to buy land, we found out who the local agents were. The traditional way it works is there is a person that everybody goes to in the village/area who wants to sell - my father-in-law used to do this - usually an older guy - ex Puu Yai Baan type. He has contact with the local 'agents', who are usually chatty ladies that are the contacts for buyers. They know all the available plots and who to contact to quiz for more. You need to find these ladies and they will do the rest. While there are obviously western-style agents, they tend to focus on houses on moo baans and are outside of the traditional loop. We spent a few days touring available plots with different ladies, usually with expectant owners showing up and even the old guy contact too on occasion.

Exactly how we found our land in Pa Bong. My wife asked a few questions which led to a woman that had lived here her entire life. I asked about flooding, the woman took us to see her mother who was over 80, she said it had never flooded during her lifetime, good enough for me. We were led to several properties and introduced to owners. We paid the lady a fee, I can't remember how much, but there were no actual agents involved.