Considering Buying A Condo In Bangkok

[iminthailand]

hello,

I am looking at buying a condo in Bangkok. Right now I am looking at one for ~2.5M baht that is about 40 sqm studio kitchen nook and pool+fitness. It is near soi convent. Does that sound like a good deal? It is clean and I have been renting here for a few weeks w/o complaints. The room rents for around 25K baht and the building is almost full. Anyone know if there are any major construction projects planned in the area that could effect price?

I would probably go back to the USA for awhile and hopefully they can rent it for me. Does this work OK here?

Also foreigners can buy condos straight up right? Like I don't need to screw around with a Thai corporation or anything like that?

This would be the first piece of real estate I buy.

Anyway if you can answer any of these things Iw ould very much appreiciate it.

Thanks.

[Jingthing]

Lots of project specific questions, but yes, you can and should buy the condo in your own name. That is allowed for 49 percent of any building. If the developer cannot guarantee that you can buy in your name or if the quota is already full, RUN don't walk away from the deal. There is no good reason to buy a condo using a fake shell company. The only people who say there is are developers who don't have any foreign owned units left or current owners of fake company condos hoping to unload their mistake on a sucker.

Edited September 17, 2007 by Jingthing

[alyx]

hello,

I am looking at buying a condo in Bangkok. Right now I am looking at one for ~2.5M baht that is about 40 sqm studio kitchen nook and pool+fitness. It is near soi convent. Does that sound like a good deal? It is clean and I have been renting here for a few weeks w/o complaints. The room rents for around 25K baht and the building is almost full. Anyone know if there are any major construction projects planned in the area that could effect price?

I would probably go back to the USA for awhile and hopefully they can rent it for me. Does this work OK here?

Also foreigners can buy condos straight up right? Like I don't need to screw around with a Thai corporation or anything like that?

Well I confirm you can buy this unit although I find the price a little bit high (60K per sqm) It should be around 50K but as you are not here on a permanent basis and won t have time to search properly go for it (consider which part of Convent you buying)

Regarding the 25K a month for the rent make sure you have an excellent location as well as a good design

Do not forget that you have to pay a certain amount for the transfer on the day it is made (and that you have the proper paperwork from the building)

Last point: you have to have the money transfered from abroad to Thailand in dollars/euros specifying the purpose: buying a condo in Thailand

I hope this will have been helpful

Alyx

This would be the first piece of real estate I buy.

Anyway if you can answer any of these things Iw ould very much appreiciate it.

Thanks.

[backflip]

What condo development are you considering buying?

[typist]

I would probably go back to the USA for awhile and hopefully they can rent it for me. Does this work OK here?

I wouldn't count on that. Agents and building management won't exactly go out of their way to find you a tenant. There are quite a few apartments available for rent currently.

If you want to rent out a place, do it yourself, or at least create leads yourself, and make sure someone (eg. a friend) follows up.

I had a place available for rent earlier this year, and invited a couple of agents to help (including bigger players like cbre, as well as small shops). Some took pictures, but never posted them anywhere, not even on their own website. I never heard back from any of them.

On the other hand: Within one week of advertising myself, I had two leads who were both willing to 

pay a competitive rent. Signed a contract - quick and painless.

Just out of curiosity, I spoke to one of the big agents to ask how they were doing:  they said they would need at least 3 more months. Judging by the ads which have been on their website for 1-2 years, 3 years is probably closer to reality. 

Relying on agents alone - without doing anything myself - would have cost me a six figure thb amount.

With the benefit of hindsight, next time I wont bother to contact agents.  Unless it's someone who has helped you before, or you already know they have someone who is desperate for your place, forget about agents.

Edited September 21, 2007 by typist

[JimmyCA]

hello,

I am looking at buying a condo in Bangkok. Right now I am looking at one for ~2.5M baht that is about 40 sqm studio kitchen nook and pool+fitness. It is near soi convent. Does that sound like a good deal? It is clean and I have been renting here for a few weeks w/o complaints. The room rents for around 25K baht and the building is almost full. Anyone know if there are any major construction projects planned in the area that could effect price?

I would probably go back to the USA for awhile and hopefully they can rent it for me. Does this work OK here?

Also foreigners can buy condos straight up right? Like I don't need to screw around with a Thai corporation or anything like that?

This would be the first piece of real estate I buy.

Anyway if you can answer any of these things Iw ould very much appreiciate it.

Thanks.

Based on this information, and especially as you will not be living in this condo full time, I would not wvwn consider this purchase. If you are OK not getting any rent at all, then maybe.

[backflip]

Based on the rent you are paying and the condo cost, you're expecting a 12% return on your investment. If those numbers were correct, the building would have sold out in a few hours. The problem is that you're paying way too much for a studio apartment and, when you consider a realistic rental income, minus the property management fees, you'll probably end up with a 5% return. Is that good enough for you? Too, I question your ability to make a qualified decision in this matter. You've been living in the condo for several weeks and, assuming that you are ambulatory and have the sense of sight, YOU should be able to tell if there is any construction in the area - why would you ask us? Rather than buy real estate in a country that you've just landed in, you should concentrate on your home country.