I guess if you have another 20-25 years of life then buy, otherwise rent

Buying is the way to go provided you only pay as much as you can expect to sell for.

If you buy a new condo you may only get half back

On 3/1/2026 at 9:52 AM, SamSpade said:

I agree with everything you said, but looking at it from the other side (I am in this dilemma at the moment)...

1. Buying means you're no longer at the mercy of your landlord wanting to sell the place (1 month after moving in on this place, but we're still there 3 years later) or jack your rent up (33% on my last Condo, in fairness it was worth it as I'd rented cheap during Covid but still, they could have increased it gradually rather than hitting me with such a huge increase - Place ended up empty for 4 months, I know as I had the PEA bills on my phone)

2. The condo is now your home, you want to spend a lot of money on beds, High End TVs, Fridges, Furniture etc... they're all yours... Want to paint the walls a different colour or put in a power shower instead of the <deleted>ty bath, do it...

3. If you are retired & this is your "Forever Home", It shouldn't matter what it's worth when you die as long as you enjoy your life while living there.

I'm still on the fence, but am leaning to buying...

I agree. My main complaint with most rentals is that the furnishings are "okay" but don't even rise to the level of "good". My priorities are different from the average renter.

2 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

Buying is the way to go provided you only pay as much as you can expect to sell for.

If you buy a new condo you may only get half back

It depends....if I'm going to retire in buying for comfort and somewhere to live out my days

15 minutes ago, technoronin said:

I agree. My main complaint with most rentals is that the furnishings are "okay" but don't even rise to the level of "good". My priorities are different from the average renter.

My concern about buying is having neighbours who turn out to be fu*king annoying, smoking, noisy - or a new construction close by. So many risks because it's hard to sell. With renting, you can easily get out of a bad situation.

7 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

It depends....if I'm going to retire in buying for comfort and somewhere to live out my days

As you say, 'it depends'. Since you are aggravated by the slightest things, do you really want to put your saving in one location. Surely within the first year, you'll find so many things wrong with living in that complex. or that neighborhood, you'll regret buying in.

How old are you ?

How long do you think you'll live till ?

Do you have someone to pass it on to ?

I was 45, so buying was a no brainer, and have wife & daughter, so they will continue to utilize. If I retired at 65 ish, and single, then hell now, I wouldn't have bought in, unless visiting TH for many years, at different locations, not just Patts. You're never completely happy on holiday here, so don't know why you'd want to live in TH, or at Patts.

Even in between house #2 & #3 (present house), I rented for 3 yrs, in an area, I was very familiar with, before building. As didn't know if staying in TH, since no real reason to actually stay, as daughter done Uni, or if basing myself here, was a good idea.

1 hour ago, Des1 said:

My concern about buying is having neighbours who turn out to be fu*king annoying, smoking, noisy - or a new construction close by. So many risks because it's hard to sell. With renting, you can easily get out of a bad situation.

"... fu*king annoying, smoking, noisy ..." and there's more. I hada big not cheap condo in downtown Bkk. Unit opposite was vacant then suddenly 3 girl's moved in. Door always left open, then regular severe arguments and fights with the security team / office team in the lobby who refused to allow a regular stream of previously unseen visitorsto get to the lifts / stairs.

Then an incident - one of the girl tenant dumpers pile of fresh kitchen waste / veg peelings, past age opened food packs in the hallway, none of it wrapped. Several 'normal' tensnts and owners demanded the office come and look. They did and told the 3 tenants that this is not allowed, all garbage must be wrapped and then put in closed plastic bags and into the bins provided in the 'rubbish room' adjacent to the lifts on every floor.

The 3 girl tenants refused yo listen and one kicked the unwrapped garbage arounf the hallway.

Owners committe asked to help. They contacted the owner of the unit and demanded the tenats be removed within 24 hrs. If not, the office will contact xxx company and have the 3 tenants instantly physically removed, and the costs will be added to the monthly service bill given to the owners.

Quick smart the owner arrived with 2 adult Thai sons and was horrified. it was soon discovered that a new member of the condo admin. office had rented the unit and the owner didn't know. Condo office lady was sacked on the spot.

Owner quickly spoke to the cleaning supervisor and she agreed to help clean the unit thoroughly when the tenants and their bags had gone.

Owner told the 3 girls (obviously all prostitutes) to be gone within 2 hours. They refused, insisting they would never leave and insisted raw garbage in the corridor is normal in all Bkk condos / apartment buildings.

Owner called a snr. cop, his cousin. Three cops arrived quickly, they roughly packed the suitcases / gags of the 3 girls and then put the bags / girls in a police van and they were taken to a bigger police station to be locked up.

Many units in this building were occupied by Thai families, many with 1 or several young children. The yelling, raw garbage in the corridor and more was quite upsetting for many of these kids (and their parents).

2 hours ago, technoronin said:

I agree. My main complaint with most rentals is that the furnishings are "okay" but don't even rise to the level of "good". My priorities are different from the average renter.

My priorities are different too.

Okay & Good miss the mark. I like my home to be luxurious with the highest quality decorations, furnishings and fabrics.

Renting doesn’t cut it for me either.

3 hours ago, TimBKK said:

Rent versus buy is always pretty nuanced and compelling arguments can be made for both sides. Before we get too carried away, though, just think about what that condo money would have done in the market over the same period of time - S&P 500 versus Thai (BKK) condo appreciation, for example. For gains there is a clear winner and it is not the condo market. Not saying there aren’t compelling reasons to buy here, just that the “gains” argument may not be the best one to make.

Most people who rent rather than buy a condo or use an agent for retirement extension won't be investing in S&P500, still won't stop them pretending it's an option

34 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Most people who rent rather than buy a condo or use an agent for retirement extension won't be investing in S&P500, still won't stop them pretending it's an option

Everybody has different circumstances which push them which appraoch to use 'rent' or 'buy'.

Ultimately their choise, either direction possibly with good reasons.

Recently I saw a listing for a condo for sale at one of Pattaya's new super-projects, nearing completion. One-bedroom, 45 sqm. Over 8 million baht. Not a typo! That's an 8, not a 3. Big project with, I'm sure, lots of nice amenities--but these days all the big, new projects have lots of nice amenities.

Over 8MB for just 45 sqm. 45 sqm is not large. We owned a 1-bedroom ocean view condo at Northshore that was 79 sqm and it was certainly a nice, comfortable size for a 1-bedroom but I wouldn't say it was super-spacious. We sold that condo for 9MB, a reasonable price, I think, for a condo that size in that prime location, and almost oceanfront.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around that 8MB+ price for 45 sqm. Especially since this project is not oceanfront. I used to live near it so I know the location well.

For more contrast, my spouse and I sold an ocean view 32 sqm 1-bedroom condo at Centric Sea for 3.5MB and a top floor 35 sqm 1-bedroom ocean view condo at The Base for 4.25MB. Slightly smaller but both, I would argue, sitting in much better locations than the new condo.

Although pricey, this project I don't think is the most expensive new, large project going. That honor might fall to the new Riviera project getting off the ground in Wongamat. By coincidence, my spouse and I used to live next door to this proposed project in a very small, low-rise oceanfront project called Garden Cliff, so I know this location, too. The Riveria project will be sitting on a very nice piece of oceanfront real estate--getting scarcer in Pattaya--which helps explain its high price.

Not so, the other project. Will there be buyers willing to pay over 8MB for a small 45 sqm 1 bedroom/1 bath non-oceanfront condo? We'll see. On the plus side, and I always try to find the positive, Pattaya seems to be, despite all the negative AN comments, a place desirable enough to attract buyers willing to pay high prices to own a property here.

And, new, good things keep springing up. Spouse and I took a drive out today to see the new Highgate private school, slated to open this August, near Siam Country Club. I was expecting maybe one building. Instead, it's a quite large undertaking with a number of buildings, including what looked like a stadium. The campus looked large, as well, from what we could see from a distance, as it is still under construction. Imagine the huge financial outlay to get something like this off the ground. And, it's not the only big investment like this. Rugby School is an even bigger undertaking, with supposedly the largest campus in Thailand.

7 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

When you see the same place for sale for years, it's safe to assume the seller should accept less. Amazing Thailand.

One unit I'm looking at went on the Market last March for 11.9Million, sat there for 6months doing nothing so they listed it with another agent for 12Million, 3 months of doing nothing & it's now listed with another agent for 12.5Million!

I was thinking of offering them 10Million (The unit looks to be perfect for us & I feel an offer below this might be seen as time wasting) but am still debating whether to bite the bullet and buy in Once Wongamat.

I worked with a guy who tried to low ball an owner when the UK Property market was booming, owner was so insulted by his offer that he told the agent he wasn't interested in anymore offers from him, he ended up paying 10% over the asking price as the house was perfect for his family & homes coming up for sale in the catchment area for the school they wanted their kids to go to were few & far between.

4 hours ago, TimBKK said:

Rent versus buy is always pretty nuanced and compelling arguments can be made for both sides. Before we get too carried away, though, just think about what that condo money would have done in the market over the same period of time - S&P 500 versus Thai (BKK) condo appreciation, for example. For gains there is a clear winner and it is not the condo market. Not saying there aren’t compelling reasons to buy here, just that the “gains” argument may not be the best one to make.

Rewind to 2010. Thai spouse and I arrive in Thailand with 1MB and two paths we can take. Path 1, we invest the 1MB in an S&P 500 index fund and rent a condo to live in. Continue to merrily rent to the present day. Path 2, we use the 1MB to buy a beachfront studio condo in Rayong that needs fixing up.

We chose Path 2. We bought the condo, fixed it up while we lived in it, sold it at a profit, bought another condo in the same project, and did the same thing. Sold that one at a profit and decamped to Pattaya. We used our Rayong condo profits to buy the first of a succession of View Talay condo shells, fixing them up one by one, then selling them after living in them for awhile.

We mostly owned and lived in one condo while we finished the next property to live in, only renting twice for short periods while a new property was being finished. So, we have around 14 years of rent savings on top of the profits we made on each property. The properties gradually got bigger--from studio condos, to bigger condos, to 3 and 4-bedroom pool villas.

Fast-forward to today. Google tells me that had we taken that 1MB, around $32,000 in 2010, and invested it in an S&P 500 index fund, our investment would now be worth about $260,000, if the dividends had been reinvested. Not bad, I guess. But, without buying a condo to live in rent-free, we need to subtract 15 years of rent money spent to keep a roof over our merry heads. 15 years equals 180 months. Figuring, say, 25,000 baht a month in rent equals 4.5MB spent on rent over the 15 years. 4.5MB equals around $140,000. Subtracting $140,000 in rent money from $260,000 leaves $120,000 made on the initial $32,000. That $120,000 would have only bought about two-thirds of our Bangkok getaway condo.

Leaving aside altogether the hypothetical rent money spent, which could have been a lot more in 15 years, the $260,000 S&P 500 money Google says is in the account today would not be nearly enough to pay for the pool villa we are now building in Pattaya, nor for the current house we own. Nor would it have funded our US stock portfolio--yes, we do have a US stock portfolio, as well as the real estate. All our eggs are not in one basket. Are our results typical? Likely not, but we are not the only ones to make some money with real estate here.

If I may, a final thought. We did not choose Path 2 because we were smart. We chose it because in 2010 we were poor, and we wanted to invest the little money we had in ourselves, rather than a landlord. That's us. For others, renting and investing in something else might be just the ticket.

9 hours ago, scorecard said:

Sure, many Thai people are fixed in their thinking on this; they would never buy a second hand house or condo because .there's no status value in such properties.

I put my very big (3 bed, 3 baht full kitchen high level floor) condo on the market, 1 yr old, fully repainted etc., in downtown nice green area of Bkk.

A Thai couple arrived, I opened the door and they were arguing, she came in, husband stayed in the hallway.

She liked the property, and she shared that her husband was adamant he would not come in because he had told his wife 'I am not going to tell my family or friends that I bought a second hand poperty, there's no status value in second hand.'

You may be half right. We sold four condos to Thai buyers, plus one house. I think all but one were bought as investments to rent out, not live in. We also sold one condo to live in to a farang with a Thai wife, with the condo put in her name--not sure where that fits in the equation.

21 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

I owned half the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors and all the 6th floor in an 8 story condo building. All sold now and all in foreign name. There is no restriction on floor level for foreigners.

New condos are usually sold for double what they are really worth.

Are you sure? I recall hearing there was but IIRC it was on ground floor and low units, many of which end up as businesses.

On 3/1/2026 at 12:35 AM, georgegeorgia said:

Anyway my Airbnb that he is selling It's on the ground floor, the balcony facing the big swimming pool

So just metres away from your balcony you have people on banana lounges making noise ,so if you open your balcony door on a weekend you will hear their conversation.

Why would you even think about buying a condo where you are already not happy while renting?

Rent for a while at least in the same builduing where you want to stay, check out your neighbors (you buy them with the unit and are stuck with them forever!), see if you feel good when staying there.

Then, only then, would I start thinking financials.

The cheapest condo was not worth the investment if you do not enjoy living your life there.

58 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Are you sure? I recall hearing there was but IIRC it was on ground floor and low units, many of which end up as businesses.

Sometimes there is a floor designated as commercial and it is the only floor permitted to be used commercially, but it can also be mixed use residential & commercial, but the residential floors cannot be used commercially.

I know of 2 buildings where the 2nd floor is designated commercial, one of them has a separate staircase from reception.

On 3/3/2026 at 6:56 AM, henryford1958 said:

I hate people like this. Waste everyone's time then offer a stupid low amount.

You are in Thailand I suppose?? Bargaining is a way of life here, I would never pay asking price and always offer up to 20% of asking price……….Condo below mine, owner Scandanavian, asking almost double what its worth, never goes down on his price - its been for sale since 2015……..and now is moldy and windows so dirty you can’t see inside…………my next offer will be 1.2MB, it’ll cost another 150K to fix it right.

On 3/3/2026 at 7:27 PM, newnative said:

Rewind to 2010. Thai spouse and I arrive in Thailand with 1MB and two paths we can take. Path 1, we invest the 1MB in an S&P 500 index fund and rent a condo to live in. Continue to merrily rent to the present day. Path 2, we use the 1MB to buy a beachfront studio condo in Rayong that needs fixing up.

We chose Path 2. We bought the condo, fixed it up while we lived in it, sold it at a profit, bought another condo in the same project, and did the same thing. Sold that one at a profit and decamped to Pattaya. We used our Rayong condo profits to buy the first of a succession of View Talay condo shells, fixing them up one by one, then selling them after living in them for awhile.

We mostly owned and lived in one condo while we finished the next property to live in, only renting twice for short periods while a new property was being finished. So, we have around 14 years of rent savings on top of the profits we made on each property. The properties gradually got bigger--from studio condos, to bigger condos, to 3 and 4-bedroom pool villas.

Fast-forward to today. Google tells me that had we taken that 1MB, around $32,000 in 2010, and invested it in an S&P 500 index fund, our investment would now be worth about $260,000, if the dividends had been reinvested. Not bad, I guess. But, without buying a condo to live in rent-free, we need to subtract 15 years of rent money spent to keep a roof over our merry heads. 15 years equals 180 months. Figuring, say, 25,000 baht a month in rent equals 4.5MB spent on rent over the 15 years. 4.5MB equals around $140,000. Subtracting $140,000 in rent money from $260,000 leaves $120,000 made on the initial $32,000. That $120,000 would have only bought about two-thirds of our Bangkok getaway condo.

Leaving aside altogether the hypothetical rent money spent, which could have been a lot more in 15 years, the $260,000 S&P 500 money Google says is in the account today would not be nearly enough to pay for the pool villa we are now building in Pattaya, nor for the current house we own. Nor would it have funded our US stock portfolio--yes, we do have a US stock portfolio, as well as the real estate. All our eggs are not in one basket. Are our results typical? Likely not, but we are not the only ones to make some money with real estate here.

If I may, a final thought. We did not choose Path 2 because we were smart. We chose it because in 2010 we were poor, and we wanted to invest the little money we had in ourselves, rather than a landlord. That's us. For others, renting and investing in something else might be just the ticket.

I think I may have found my next hobby…………...

On 3/2/2026 at 5:04 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

That's probably because it's not true.

Yes it is

On 3/2/2026 at 5:04 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

That's probably because it's not true.

Yes it is

On 3/3/2026 at 6:29 AM, scubascuba3 said:

Interesting, i bought on the 4th floor foreign quota, case closed

Until you are found out

On 3/2/2026 at 5:04 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

That's probably because it's not true.

Yes it is

On 3/3/2026 at 6:29 AM, scubascuba3 said:

Interesting, i bought on the 4th floor foreign quota, case closed

Until you are found out

On 3/3/2026 at 7:59 AM, JBChiangRai said:

I owned half the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors and all the 6th floor in an 8 story condo building. All sold now and all in foreign name. There is no restriction on floor level for foreigners.

New condos are usually sold for double what they are really worth.

There always has been and still is. Agreed some places sell to non- Thais on those floors.

17 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

Yes it is

Until you are found out

Post a link of your ridiculous law no one knows about

On 3/1/2026 at 6:35 AM, georgegeorgia said:

drinking loud only metres away from the bedroom window so I don't want ground floor

I can't stand noisy drinking either, even from the same table as me.

On 3/1/2026 at 6:35 AM, georgegeorgia said:

1.5 million baht is cheap for this apartment 24sqm that he he wants , BUT the negatives,ground floor, close to noisy groups of drunks , swimming pool splashes

Then it's not cheap - location, location, location.

On 3/1/2026 at 6:35 AM, georgegeorgia said:

And my age , I still have 20 years left of life if I retire , so rent would be a waste for 20 years

Buy BTC 0.1 (Buy), then Borrow & Die (it's all over YouTube...)

24 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

3/2/2026 at 8:04 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

That's probably because it's not true.

Yes it is

Nope

58 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

Yes it is

Absolutely not true. I lived in a condo complex that only had 6 floors total. I owned a condo on the 4th floor, in foreign quota. Sold it to another foreign buyer, who bought it in foreign quota. All perfectly legal. Per Google:

No, foreign buyers are not prohibited by Thai law from buying a condo on the first 5 floors (or any specific floor) of a condominium project in Thailand.

Juslaws +1

Foreigners can purchase any unit in a registered condominium building on a freehold basis, provided the total foreign ownership in that building does not exceed 49% of the total floor area.

I would never buy a condo in Thailand as the Thais do not maintain them. The condo's in Thailand depreciate exponentially as the slum dwelling Thais move in.

6 minutes ago, Screaming said:

I would never buy a condo in Thailand as the Thais do not maintain them. The condo's in Thailand depreciate exponentially as the slum dwelling Thais move in.

Never bought one .... but you know about them.

I personally wouldn't buy into a condo, but not for the reasons you stated. If single & retired early enough, and know where you want to live, at least for 5 years, then probably a good buy, maybe.

There are condo buildings is Pattaya where all the owners are Foreigners. Half the units in foreign name and the other half in Thai companies or their Thai wives.

The Bay View Condominium on Pratumnak Soi 4 is exceptionally well maintained. The smallest unit there is 221m^2.and the largest around 500m² prices start at about 6.5M, pretty much a bargain, I think.

I used to own some there, but not recently.

36 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

There are condo buildings is Pattaya where all the owners are Foreigners. Half the units in foreign name and the other half in Thai companies or their Thai wives.

The Bay View Condominium on Pratumnak Soi 4 is exceptionally well maintained. The smallest unit there is 221m^2.and the largest around 500m² prices start at about 6.5M, pretty much a bargain, I think.

I used to own some there, but not recently.

Looks like a nice project. Prices have gone up, it seems. Gecko has two of the 221 sqm units listed. One is 8.69MB in FQ and the other is 8.5MB in company name. Northshore is another example of a Pattaya condo project that likely has a majority of foreign owners, in FQ and company name.