Thai style condo - Can I...

[anyone]

Can a foreigner buy a flat in such condominiums? A one-room apartment can cost 200-300,000 baht here.

 

[ezzra]

Yes you can, 2-300.000 thb will not buy you much, but good luck to you living in what looks like a dump...

[Rob Browder]

28 minutes ago, anyone said:

Can a foreigner buy a flat in such condominiums? A one-room apartment can cost 200-300,000 baht here.

 

As long as it is incorporated as a  "condominium" - then yes, it falls under the law allowing freehold / chanote title. 

Also, you don't have to worry about the foreign-quota - you may be the only non-Thai owner.  

Note that some condos are occupied by Non-Thais from certain 3rd World countries, so have changed to resemble the conditions where those people originated.  By contrast, Thais are generally good neighbors.  It will be easy to tell from appearances whether it is a well-managed, clean, Thai-occupied building or not.

[anyone]

I am considering the purchase as an investment to then rent out 3-4 thousand a month.
I wonder if payback in 10 years is normal or too much/too little.

[scubascuba3]

One advantage is always foreign quota available 

[FritsSikkink]

10 minutes ago, anyone said:

I am considering the purchase as an investment to then rent out 3-4 thousand a month.
I wonder if payback in 10 years is normal or too much/too little.

As you more than likely have Thai customers only with no knowledge of English, how are you going to manage that.

Contract, maintenance, people doing a runner and trash the place.

Will you be paying tax? Setup a business with 51 % Thai ownership?

Edited August 1 by FritsSikkink

[anyone]

2 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

As you more than likely have Thai customers only with no knowledge of English, how are you going to manage that.

Contract, maintenance, people doing a runner and trash the place.

Easily. Just like I do all the years I've lived here.

[timendres]

38 minutes ago, anyone said:

I am considering the purchase as an investment to then rent out 3-4 thousand a month.
I wonder if payback in 10 years is normal or too much/too little.

 

I would be surprised if the rent could pull even 2,500 per month. More likely 2,000.

[FritsSikkink]

37 minutes ago, anyone said:

Easily. Just like I do all the years I've lived here.

If you done it for years, why do you need to ask all these questions on a forum?

[OneMoreFarang]

Yes.

I know a farang and his Thai gf. First, she bought a condominium like that as an investment. Then he also bought one. Buy now, both of them own several such condominiums, and it seem they are a good investment. 

[Rob Browder]

1 hour ago, FritsSikkink said:

As you more than likely have Thai customers only with no knowledge of English, how are you going to manage that.

Contract, maintenance, people doing a runner and trash the place.

Will you be paying tax? Setup a business with 51 % Thai ownership?

You use an agent to list it, to avoid "work permit" rules - if you are smart - many to choose from.  They generally take 1-mo-rent as payment for a successful rental.  The deposit takes care of "runners" and minor-damage.  Major damage is criminal, and unusual.

[anyone]

31 minutes ago, timendres said:

 

I would be surprised if the rent could pull even 2,500 per month. More likely 2,000.

for 2,000 a month I could live on my own 😉

[Rob Browder]

34 minutes ago, timendres said:

I would be surprised if the rent could pull even 2,500 per month. More likely 2,000.

That depends on location / proximity to public-transit and whether it has air-con or not +/- furnishings and appliances.   The 2K rooms tend to be cheap apartment tiny-rooms, with a bath you can barely turn-around in.  The older condos are often larger than newer ones.

Edited August 1 by Rob Browder

[newbee2022]

Ask the management. 

Doesn't look inviting but better than a dog hut

[OneManShow]

I used to have a gf who owned this type of cheap condo near Don Muang. The problem is if you renovate it still you have cheap neighbors. 

[Grumpy one]

Go for one on the top floor, the lack of an elevator should keep you fit enough to outrun the muggers

[arick]

On 8/1/2024 at 1:44 PM, anyone said:

I am considering the purchase as an investment to then rent out 3-4 thousand a month.
I wonder if payback in 10 years is normal or too much/too little.

It will never pay back cuz you'll be paying condo fees. And in those old buildings sewer pipes can break water pipes will break The water tank could be totally rusted out on the roof.

[arick]

Investment it's not an investment sinceanity put the money in the bank and collect interest on it

[john donson]

On 8/1/2024 at 1:44 PM, anyone said:

I am considering the purchase as an investment to then rent out 3-4 thousand a month.
I wonder if payback in 10 years is normal or too much/too little.

 

more like 1500

[newnative]

Seems like a lot of work for such a tiny payoff.

[SAFETY FIRST]

On 8/1/2024 at 1:37 PM, Rob Browder said:

Note that some condos are occupied by Non-Thais from certain 3rd World countries

In Pattaya we have several condominiums similar looking (slum)......... Flybird, Nirun. 

 

Lots of foreigners from the west living in these dumps. 

 

Edited August 3 by SAFETY FIRST

[Njoku]

On 8/1/2024 at 2:24 PM, timendres said:

 

I would be surprised if the rent could pull even 2,500 per month. More likely 2,000.

No, In BKK depending where 5 to 6000 easily for a studio dump, been to a a couple of Thai gfs living quarters I certainly couldn't and wouldn't stay more than a night...

[Rob Browder]

On 8/3/2024 at 3:02 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

In Pattaya we have several condominiums similar looking (slum)......... Flybird, Nirun. 

 

Lots of foreigners from the west living in these dumps. 

 

I looked at Flybird - not lived-in by Thai people, that I saw - and looked like where the inhabitants come from.  I did see one Westerner among the others. The best "deal" I saw was 400K for a completely trashed unit.
Nirun was not bad, but prices were too high (relatively speaking) - most of the trashed-units having been bought-up and refurbished, apparently. 

In Bangkok, it is a mix.  There are 200K units in bad-looking buildings, but ~300K in "not bad" buildings - paint not peeling, floors not torn up, etc - and much larger than the little 24 sq/mt "newer" units going for over 1M Baht.

[stratocaster]

To give an idea here is a Bangkok APARTMENT not a condominium asking 200,000 baht and yes it is in the boonies of Bangkok. 30 sg meters

[NativeBob]

yes, there are plenty of those in Huay Kwang area. Rent around 2-3K. Horrible places but can get used to it.

[stratocaster]

To show the other side this is a 1,00,000 baht CONDO with swimming pool and top notch gym 800 meters from MRT. 32 sq meters

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, stratocaster said:

To give an idea here is a Bangkok APARTMENT not a condominium asking 200,000 baht and yes it is in the boonies of Bangkok. 30 sg meters

Not something to buy if you suffer from depression 

[scubascuba3]

On 8/3/2024 at 2:56 PM, newnative said:

Seems like a lot of work for such a tiny payoff.

Yes one of the problems with these LOSO condos is you can't spend much money on it, because it will out price everyone, so it's basically LOSO for ever