A few questions in my Chiang Mai apartment hunt

[sqwakvfr]

I am in Chiang Mai and looking to move soon. I have found a place that i like but a few things have me concerned:

 

1.  The electricity is charged at 8 Baht per unit.  This seems rather high?

2.  The common area maintenance fee is 500 Baht per month. I have never heard of this before.

3.  21 Baht per unit of water.  What exactly is a unit of water?  The office did not give me a clear answer

4.   Residents have to pay 50 Baht to use the swimming pool or 1000 Baht for unlimited use.  Then what is the 500 Baht common are fee for?

 

Has anyone seen similar conditions on an apartment or condo that is for rent?  At this time I am inclined to look somewhere else.

[CharlieH]

The Electric is high, standard is around 4.6bah. With the hottest time of the year here that bill will sting. Not unheard of for some Landlords to offer a lower price for a unit and sting them on the electric.

 

Water I believe is a cubic meter, mine is 5 baht.

 

Common areas generally refer to walkways gardens communal seating area etc.

 

Charge for the pool at 50bt is not unreasonable, although many include it.

 

Seems this place is all about the "extras".

 

 

 

[Mike Lister]

8 baht for leccy is not unusual for a condo in these part.

 

Owners will pay a Service Charge which includes all the extra's you're being charged for, I'd be suspicious.

 

20 baht a cubic meter seems correct to me in these parts, we use 7 cm a month for a bill of 140.

 

 

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, sqwakvfr said:

I am in Chiang Mai and looking to move soon. I have found a place that i like but a few things have me concerned:

 

1.  The electricity is charged at 8 Baht per unit.  This seems rather high?

2.  The common area maintenance fee is 500 Baht per month. I have never heard of this before.

3.  21 Baht per unit of water.  What exactly is a unit of water?  The office did not give me a clear answer

4.   Residents have to pay 50 Baht to use the swimming pool or 1000 Baht for unlimited use.  Then what is the 500 Baht common are fee for?

 

Has anyone seen similar conditions on an apartment or condo that is for rent?  At this time I am inclined to look somewhere else.

8 baht for electric is high, maybe that's paid via the office so more expensive, pay direct, should be 4+

 

my unit of water is 40 baht s unit i use around 6, plus they add on 100 to cover meter replacement.

 

Only pay common fees if you're the owner, can be thousands a month

[Mike Lister]

OP - my water charge of 20 baht per CM is for a house, a subsequent poster is charged 40 baht per CM in a condo, hence the difference. 20 Baht is the normal price without any markup.

[sqwakvfr]

To all thanks for the replies.  

[lkn]

On 3/24/2024 at 10:05 AM, Mike Lister said:

OP - my water charge of 20 baht per CM is for a house, a subsequent poster is charged 40 baht per CM in a condo, hence the difference. 20 Baht is the normal price without any markup.

 

Price of water is based on consumption, so there is no fixed price, and building will pay one bill to the provincial water authority for all of the building’s consumption, i.e. including common areas, and it’s then up to the building to try to split this bill.

 

I tried to calculate a “fair price” for our co-owners and ended up with 25 baht per unit.

[Mike Lister]

28 minutes ago, lkn said:

 

Price of water is based on consumption, so there is no fixed price, and building will pay one bill to the provincial water authority for all of the building’s consumption, i.e. including common areas, and it’s then up to the building to try to split this bill.

 

I tried to calculate a “fair price” for our co-owners and ended up with 25 baht per unit.

Yes agreed. I can only quote from experience however, for us, it's 20 baht per CM, regardless of whether we use 2 CM or 10 cm....(we've never used more)