Investing a townhouse/villa for airbnb doable?

[TheJoker999]

Currently thinking of buying a villa/townhouse in pattaya to rent on airbnb. (Gona retire in this house in the future) 
Have been living in thailand for 7 years and plan to live here till i die. 

 

Have some spare cash lying around and was wondering if purchasing a house in pattaya just to do rentals on airbnb would it be able to generate income for me? 
Staying in bangkok for work purposes and i want to retire in pattaya in the future. 

Anyone currently doing this and have any positive or negative experiences? 

[OneMoreFarang]

I think one question is enough: What could possibly go wrong?

 

There are probably pages of possible answers to that question. Do you really want to do that against all odds?

Next thing: Invest in a bar... 

 

[PoorSucker]

By law you can only rent it out for at least a month without a hotel license. 

[TheJoker999]

13 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I think one question is enough: What could possibly go wrong?

 

There are probably pages of possible answers to that question. Do you really want to do that against all odds?

Next thing: Invest in a bar... 

 

I plan to stay in the house when i retire thats why it sounds like a good plan but i would like to hear other people opinions too ????

[TheJoker999]

6 minutes ago, PoorSucker said:

By law you can only rent it out for at least a month without a hotel license. 

This is new to me! just that i always thought thailand didnt have any laws to start with ????

[OneMoreFarang]

18 minutes ago, TheJoker999 said:

This is new to me! just that i always thought thailand didnt have any laws to start with ????

They have lots of laws. And often they are not enforced, and people get used to not enforced laws. Until that moment when someone decides to enforce a law or two - and maybe only especially for you.

I.e. maybe a police officer owns a villa next to you and he has the same business concept in mind. Good luck in such a situation...

 

[jacko45k]

8 hours ago, TheJoker999 said:

This is new to me! just that i always thought thailand didnt have any laws to start with ????

Thailand has plenty of laws... enforcement may be lacking. How do you intend owning the property, lease or shell company? We have seen a few villas and houses being used as party houses and during covid they often got raided. What is the problem with simply renting long term rather than airbnb?

[1FinickyOne]

Another thing is that people can be slobs in many ways... 

 

I went to look at a house on a river - decent house - they had airbnb people for the weekend... a bit messy but the a/c was on full blast and all the doors were open... 

[RichardColeman]

8 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Until that moment when someone decides to enforce a law or two - and maybe only especially for you.

Usually as a result of a nosey neighbour tip off

[jacko45k]

20 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Usually as a result of a nosey neighbour tip off

Or simply one who is being disturbed and is at the end of their tether.....

[LarrySR]

If you plan on renting to hundreds of various random strangers over the next 7 years, better have another nest-egg to remodel the place....perhaps more than once if you consider the calibre of people (budget alcoholics) visiting Pattaya.

 

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by LarrySR

[Peterw42]

As other have mentioned, under a month stay, airbnb is technically illegal. Also who is going to run it ? you need someone to check guests in/out, someone to clean it, wash linen etc, do TM30s ? By the time you pay airbnb, wages, electricity, utilities, moobaan fees, company fees etc, you probably need to charge 1,000 a night just to break even, (presuming 100% occupancy). People can get a pretty nice hotel for that price, with all the trimmings, with daily room clean etc.

You can grab your dream retirement villa, and put a long term tenant in (6 month plus), help cover the outgoings on the property, keep it maintained, maybe even realize a small profit. But 5 years from now, you can probably buy the same property, for the same price, without the rental hassle.

Villas/houses (affordable ones) dont really exist west of Sukhumvit road in the tourist area, so any villa/house is only going to attract long term rental

Edited September 14, 2022 by Peterw42

[newnative]

       I think you'd be better off buying a property and renting it long-term.  Time your last rental to when you will be needing the property for yourself.  You might not earn quite as much income but you will likely have far fewer headaches.  Likely far less damage to your property.  Likely far fewer run-ins with the law. 

     Then there's the question of who will manage your property?  Who will check in and out the illegal renters?  Who will inspect the property for damage/lost items and clean the property after each check-out?   Who will be on hand to handle all the problems that come up?--and there will be problems coming up with short-term renters here to party hearty.  Who will take care of arranging for repairs?  Who will find someone to do the work, inspect the work, and then pay the repair person? 

      If you don't plan to do all this work yourself you will need to pay people to do it, cutting in to your profit, supposing there is a profit when non-rental, no income days are figured in.  Which brings up whether you still pay your workers even when there are no rentals.  If not, will they still be available to work for you when you do have a rental?   I'd rather deal with one tenant on a long-term contract, if I was inclined to be a landlord, which I am not having done it.

[Baron Samedi]

If you can stomach uncertainty, go for it.

I wouldn't invest in Thailand.

Too many political, legal and economical unknowns.

Tourism in Thailand might never recover fully.

Its nature might also change radically.

More Asians, less Westerners ?

More sustainable tourism, less sex tourism ?

More bargain hunters, less money to be made ?

I'm not saying this is the way it's gonna go for sure.

I just think it's a tough one to figure out.

So think carefully before you act.

GL

 

[Brick Top]

13 hours ago, PoorSucker said:

By law you can only rent it out for at least a month without a hotel license. 

That is incorrect , if it has less than 4 bedrooms it does not need a hotel license.

Although having said this I am totally against this idea of renting out through Airbnb , one of our close neighbors does it and it has totally ruined my retirement plans. We now have minibus's turning up at our once before peaceful location every day full of noisy Indians ect. 

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Brick Top

[Bruno123]

8 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

As other have mentioned, under a month stay, airbnb is technically illegal. Also who is going to run it ? you need someone to check guests in/out, someone to clean it, wash linen etc, do TM30s ? By the time you pay airbnb, wages, electricity, utilities, moobaan fees, company fees etc, you probably need to charge 1,000 a night just to break even, (presuming 100% occupancy). People can get a pretty nice hotel for that price, with all the trimmings, with daily room clean etc.

You can grab your dream retirement villa, and put a long term tenant in (6 month plus), help cover the outgoings on the property, keep it maintained, maybe even realize a small profit. But 5 years from now, you can probably buy the same property, for the same price, without the rental hassle.

Villas/houses (affordable ones) dont really exist west of Sukhumvit road in the tourist area, so any villa/house is only going to attract long term rental

There are lots of 'villas/houses' west of Sukhumvit. I don't know why you imagine otherwise. They perhaps aren't sitting on Beach road or Soi Bua Khao.

 

Though I agree with you in exercising caution. High expectations can lead to disappointment. 

I know someone who was doing the same, in Jomtien. They weren't achieving the figures they imagined.

[JimTripper]

I would say, not worth it.

 

It's all based on peer reviews and in order to succeed you need to be in constant communication with people and know how to keep them happy (on a personal level). That usually entails meeting people in person as the platform attracts people who want to live in people's homes vs hotel type people.

 

If someone messages you on the app you need to respond right away or your rating goes down, stuff like that.

 

Just a few negative reviews by picky customers and your toast (everybody believes the review). If you challenge or respond to the reviews you look like a dick.

 

You can also add in the middleman factor. Your not getting paid directly so any complaints the funds are held and you need to fight to get them back.

Edited September 15, 2022 by JimTripper

[TheJoker999]

Finally after so many different views from so many people. 
i have decided NOT carry on with this idea ????????????

Edited September 15, 2022 by TheJoker999

[LarrySR]

12 hours ago, TheJoker999 said:

Finally after so many different views from so many people. 
i have decided NOT carry on with this idea ????????????

Ah shucks. I was looking forward to the follow up posts. 

-The renters trashed the place. Anyone know of a reliable contractor to do repairs?

-The contractor did a <deleted> job and it all needs redone.

-I found out my property manager was renting my apartment and not telling me.

-Can someone recommend a lawyer?

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by LarrySR

[TheJoker999]

3 minutes ago, LarrySR said:

Ah shucks. I was looking forward to the follow up posts. 

-The renters trashed the place. Anyone know of a reliable contractor to do repairs?

-The contractor did a <deleted> job and it all needs redone.

-I found out my property manager was renting my apartment and not telling me.

-Can someone recommend a lawyer?

 

 

 

-The renters trashed the place.

This was one of the main reasons i think i should not continue with my plan. 
Not too sure whether airbnb even covers enough for damages! more to say if its badly damaged, the next customer wont be able to check in. 

[Hanaguma]

If you have money to invest, then invest it in something reliable from a country with a good market.  Perhaps dividend paying ETFs if you want to generate income, market index based ETFs if you can just leave the money for a few years, hell even t-bills are paying more than 3.5% these days.  But real estate in a country you don't live in sounds like a recipe for stress, a stroke, and poverty. 

[JimTripper]

I'm never renting my place again. I had a tenant who let their dog live in a carpeted bedroom just like a human!

 

It crapped and pee on the rug. No way to clean it. Steam clean makes it worse. Whatever you do, don't allow pets unless your sure it's an outside animal, everyone promises they are well behaved but it's not true.

Edited September 16, 2022 by JimTripper

[Sparktrader]

On 9/14/2022 at 10:42 AM, LarrySR said:

If you plan on renting to hundreds of various random strangers over the next 7 years, better have another nest-egg to remodel the place....perhaps more than once if you consider the calibre of people (budget alcoholics) visiting Pattaya.

 

 

500 baht hotel rooms

 

Insurance, repairs

 

1 month a year

 

Hardly cover costs

[Leaver]

On 9/15/2022 at 2:37 PM, TheJoker999 said:

Finally after so many different views from so many people. 
i have decided NOT carry on with this idea ????????????

 

That's not good news for those that were hoping you were going to buy their anchor house off them.  ????