Does anyone here own a condo in Pattaya ?
If Yes,   was it a good or bad decision to buy the Condo? 

My friend, the golden rule in Thailand, is never buy...always rent...should it be for a house or a lady !!

35 minutes ago, Sigmund said:

My friend, the golden rule in Thailand, is never buy...always rent...should it be for a house or a lady !!

Just curious,   What do you pay in Rent?

Too many variables to provide a good answer, but if you can buy a nice condo and not have to think too much about the money, it might not be a bad idea. If you're planning on dumping your life savings into it, don't. 

2 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Too many variables to provide a good answer, but if you can buy a nice condo and not have to think too much about the money, it might not be a bad idea. If you're planning on dumping your life savings into it, don't. 

 

okay thanks,      I have plenty,   it's more for peace of mind,  and knowing i can stay forever.

3 minutes ago, ThaiNoobie101 said:

Just curious,   What do you pay in Rent?

A better question is how much it would cost to rent the condo you are thinking about buying. 

 

Advantages and disadvantages to both owning and renting. 

1 minute ago, ThaiNoobie101 said:

 

okay thanks,      I have plenty,   it's more for peace of mind,  and knowing i can stay forever.

Owning a condo is not a guarantee you can stay in Thailand forever. 

 

I own a condo in Bangkok and rent one in Pattaya. Buying a condo in Thailand has been one of the worst investments of my life simply because the Thais do not maintain their buildings even premier condo projects. My condo has depreciated since I bought it ten years ago where as in many Western countries prices have doubled in that amount of time. If I had to do it over again, I would rent.

     Spouse and I have owned a number of condos in Pattaya, at a number of different projects.  We never lost money on any of them.  We always bought seaview, and almost always in foreign name, which I would highly recommend. 

     To answer your question, buying was always a good decision for us, even with a couple of the projects that became over-run with illegal daily renters when airbnb became popular.  I would steer clear of these types of projects, unless that isn't a concern for you.

     We would still buy--here or anywhere else--even if we thought we might lose some money or only break even on a property.  We are owners, not renters.  We had to rent a few times when condos we were buying were being finished and we hated renting.

     Not for us living in someone else's property, tip-toeing around hoping we don't accidently break or spill something on a piece of likely lousy furnture, and likely not in our taste.  Not for us looking at art we didn't select and watching Netflix on probably a way too small tv.  Not for us throwing the rent money out the window every month, paying someone else, rather than ourselves.

    Not for us not being able to make major changes and improvements in a place when we feel like it.  Not for us always knowing, this is not your place, it's someone else's.  The older I get the more I realize that life is short.  I have no intention of spending my remaining wonder years in someone else's space.  No thanks.

    I know from comments on threads like this that some are perfectly happy being renters--although I think everyone we know in Pattaya also owns.   Nothing wrong with renting, if that's your thing.  Just not for us.

    Someone will likely be along, if they haven't already, to tell you how much money you can make if you rent instead of owning and invest in stocks or whatever instead of property.   But, nothing stopping a condo owner from also making other investments--which we do.  For us, though, owning is a lifestyle choice, a quality of life choice, more than anything else. 

It's generally a bad choice. You can be lucky and it works as an investment or be lucky to be allowed to live in your condo in 20 years. Or not.

 

The only use case is to store value, that's why people buy them and let them sit empty. But if you aren't rich it's obviously not working, except for those anecdotes about how some random bough a condo and sold it for 3x the price. You can't repeat it.

I recently bought a condominium in Bangkok in a 30 year old well enough maintained building and I renovated it from scratch (down to concrete, all new). I bought it to live there for the rest of my life.

I did not buy it to make money. I bought it so that I can change it exactly the way I want it. I.e. I have non-slip tiles everywhere and for that reason I will never slip. Most (all?) condominiums have slippery tiles, even in the bathroom. I wanted to make sure I won't slip, even when I will be old and grey one day. I wanted one big room, and not several small rooms. And that is what I have now. Good sound isolation, and many other details.

I am pretty sure I would not have been able to rent what I really want. So, I created it myself.

Will I be able to sell it for what it cost me? Probably not, because it is according to my taste and not what others want.

I also have and still work on home automation in that condominium. And I do it myself, I like projects like that.

Most of this would not have been possible if I rent.

 

If I would just want somewhere to live, and if I could easily find what I want, then probably I would rent. 

But in my case, buying and doing it the way I want it, is at least for me the better choice.

Renovating it, however, was more stressful than I anticipated. Most Thais think different - to describe it friendly.

 

 

35 minutes ago, newnative said:

     Spouse and I have owned a number of condos in Pattaya, at a number of different projects.  We never lost money on any of them.  We always bought seaview, and almost always in foreign name, which I would highly recommend. 

     To answer your question, buying was always a good decision for us, even with a couple of the projects that became over-run with illegal daily renters when airbnb became popular.  I would steer clear of these types of projects, unless that isn't a concern for you.

     We would still buy--here or anywhere else--even if we thought we might lose some money or only break even on a property.  We are owners, not renters.  We had to rent a few times when condos we were buying were being finished and we hated renting.

     Not for us living in someone else's property, tip-toeing around hoping we don't accidently break or spill something on a piece of likely lousy furnture, and likely not in our taste.  Not for us looking at art we didn't select and watching Netflix on probably a way too small tv.  Not for us throwing the rent money out the window every month, paying someone else, rather than ourselves.

    Not for us not being able to make major changes and improvements in a place when we feel like it.  Not for us always knowing, this is not your place, it's someone else's.  The older I get the more I realize that life is short.  I have no intention of spending my remaining wonder years in someone else's space.  No thanks.

    I know from comments on threads like this that some are perfectly happy being renters--although I think everyone we know in Pattaya also owns.   Nothing wrong with renting, if that's your thing.  Just not for us.

    Someone will likely be along, if they haven't already, to tell you how much money you can make if you rent instead of owning and invest in stocks or whatever instead of property.   But, nothing stopping a condo owner from also making other investments--which we do.  For us, though, owning is a lifestyle choice, a quality of life choice, more than anything else. 

 

 

i think your lifestyle suits mine,   i think alike and i am over 55 years old so,   life is short and
no reason not to own a nice Condo and enjoy it.

 

1 hour ago, ThaiNoobie101 said:

Just curious,   What do you pay in Rent?

Currently living in a crappy small condo for 6,000 thb,  that i can't wait to leave.
i might as well buy something nice as i have the money,

I def do not want to fork over 25,000 to someone else every month.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, WhatMeWorry said:

I own a condo in Bangkok and rent one in Pattaya. Buying a condo in Thailand has been one of the worst investments of my life simply because the Thais do not maintain their buildings even premier condo projects. My condo has depreciated since I bought it ten years ago where as in many Western countries prices have doubled in that amount of time. If I had to do it over again, I would rent.

 

On the contrary, I bought my Bangkok condo in 2009 when it was just completed. It has given me stability and comfort and convenience and it truly is my home when in Thailand. Just 4 BTS stops from Siam Paragon, I paid 6 million Baht. Two double bedrooms, two bathrooms, balcony and 78 Sq metres. The low rise building has great, friendly, helpful management and staff. The rooftop pool in the late afternoons or early mornings is delightful. The building is well maintained and I attend the co-owner AGMs. I have my own art, decorations and everything as I like it. No landlord is going to tell me to leave or increase the rent excessivley. If I had to do it again, I would buy!

 

I didn't buy as a financial investment, I bought it as an investment in life. If I had been renting, it would have cost me 3,600,000 Baht in rent already and nothing to show for it. 

 

 

 

  

Depends on age, 50s definitely, late 60s or 70s not worth it.

 

Nice to change things if you want, new TV, bed, AC whatever and not pay rent.

 

It's not an investment though, can make more money elsewhere

It comes down to why you want to buy a condo. If you are buying to sell for a profit, then NO, its not a good idea. The Thai market doesn't work like that with flipping and capital gains. Properties can be worth the same 10 years later.

If you are buying to own, live in, not pay rent etc, then YES, its a great idea. They are incredibly cheap to buy, the fees are cheap. In as little as 8 years you can save the purchase price in rent not paid. Its yours, no rent increase, you can decorate to taste, and even that is not expensive.

The main thing to be aware of is there is no sales data in Thailand, often its hard to know what the realistic price is for a property. Asking price means nothing. You can see 1M baht condos for sale for 3M.

People buy the 3M baht condo then, when they cant sell it and see other similar condos selling for 1M, complain how bad the market is. 

 

 

6 hours ago, ThaiNoobie101 said:

 

 

i think your lifestyle suits mine,   i think alike and i am over 55 years old so,   life is short and
no reason not to own a nice Condo and enjoy it.

 

Wait until you get a nasty neighbor. Noisy all night, etc. Read all the threads about this topic and you'll see the best way, sometimes the only way out is to move. That's why I'd never buy a condo. Maybe a house in a gated community but never a condo.

39 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

The main thing to be aware of is there is no sales data in Thailand, often its hard to know what the realistic price is for a property. Asking price means nothing. You can see 1M baht condos for sale for 3M.

I think this and maybe other websites can give you a good idea about the prices.

https://www.fazwaz.com/

 

8 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I think this and maybe other websites can give you a good idea about the prices.

https://www.fazwaz.com/

 

They are still just listing the various asking prices, not what properties sell for. There is no official data or statistics they can draw on.

I sold a condo last week, fazwaz has no idea what I sold it for.

Look up your own condo block, often it will be very wrong.

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Depends on age, 50s definitely, late 60s or 70s not worth it.

 

Nice to change things if you want, new TV, bed, AC whatever and not pay rent.

 

It's not an investment though, can make more money elsewhere

     I have to disagree.  For me, it's always 'worth it' to own my space--and, even more so in my later years.  I've owned, for reasons I stated in my earlier post, in my 30s, 40s, and 50s.  Why would that change when I hit 60 or 70?  Or 80, if I live that long?

      If I can afford to own a nice place, to do with it what I want, and have the things I have collected over a life time, why not--at any age.   I'm 72 and my spouse and I are about half-way through building our next house here in Pattaya on the Darkside.  As always, it's been fun, interesting, and challenging.  Age is just a number.

Many I know hate that they own.  Noisy neighbors, stinky food from vents coming into your room, a new bar opens near the building, minimum appreciation, life changes relationships/ family, a newer better building opens nearby you wish you would have bought there, that empty lot next to you is now a construction site for the next 2 years, I need to say more?

 

The lack of flexibility, etc owning is not for me.  Lots of people stuck in their places trying to get out. No thanks.

I guess it was mentioned already.

It might be difficult to sell for a reasonable price in a reasonable time frame.

I.e. in the building where I live are the same units for sale since many years, some of them for reasonable prices. It seems only few people are interested at all to buy. Probably there are just so many condominiums for sale and there are not enough buyers for all of them (maybe in general or maybe only in specific areas). 

I have not enough experience, but I would guess if you want to sell for a decent price, don't assume this will be done within a couple of months.

owning a pool villa (to live in) and a beachfront condo to rent out, making about 6% p/a fully rented for years and planing to use it for myself in old age, peace of mind and never regret it 🙂, I am in Pattaya

 

If new in the market I advive using a trustful agent

4 hours ago, newnative said:

     I have to disagree.  For me, it's always 'worth it' to own my space--and, even more so in my later years.  I've owned, for reasons I stated in my earlier post, in my 30s, 40s, and 50s.  Why would that change when I hit 60 or 70?  Or 80, if I live that long?

      If I can afford to own a nice place, to do with it what I want, and have the things I have collected over a life time, why not--at any age.   I'm 72 and my spouse and I are about half-way through building our next house here in Pattaya on the Darkside.  As always, it's been fun, interesting, and challenging.  Age is just a number.

If you added in your labour costs you'd make a loss every time, you see it as a hobby fair enough, most wouldn't. Pointless buying in 70s if you plan to sell several years later, we all know how hard it is to sell plus loss, 5% agent commission loss straight off

I'd recommend saving yourself some time and just search and read the 100's of other threads on the same subject, inevitably you'll end up reading the same arguments for and against from the same people that inevitably will appear on here over the next couple of days, you'll just get there quicker. 

 

In short it's a personal decision based on your finances and preferred style of living - permanence or transient, I think other peoples experiences are irrelevant and will cloud your decision making.

Just now, kinyara said:

I'd recommend saving yourself some time and just search and read the 100's of other threads on the same subject, inevitably you'll end up reading the same arguments for and against from the same people that inevitably will appear on here over the next couple of days, you'll just get there quicker. 

 

In short it's a personal decision based on your finances and preferred style of living - permanence or transient, I think other peoples experiences are irrelevant and will cloud your decision making.

Imagine if this forum would have a good search function...

 

And imagine it would have a summary of 10-page threads.

But maybe, now that AN publishes AI generated news, maybe they could have AI generated summaries. So instead of reading 10 pages with at least half the posts irrelevant maybe there could be a short summary. Now that would be nice. 

 

16 hours ago, ThaiNoobie101 said:

Does anyone here own a condo in Pattaya ?
If Yes,   was it a good or bad decision to buy the Condo? 

I would never dream.There's a million condos everywhere and you can move whenever you get bad neighbors. In floating sky boxes you have zero control over your surroundings and so many things can go wrong.

Buying a condo is not a lot different than buying a car. The best reason to buy either is because you want to. 

1 minute ago, NorthernRyland said:

I would never dream.There's a million condos everywhere and you can move whenever you get bad neighbors. In floating sky boxes you have zero control over your surroundings and so many things can go wrong.

For example? 

I was going to buy a condo in Bangkok. Everything seemed perfect with this brand new shiny condo. However, last minute i changed my mind and just rented it. 

 

Great decision. For the first year condo was run well, those in charge were on top of everything. However it is now becoming over run with airbnb/short term rentals. They are now sending emails in Russian and Chinese. Those in charge seem powerless or have no will to stop this. It's essentially now just a hotel with huge turnover of guests in and out. 

 

I'll be out of here when my tennancy runs out.