Old Condo On Freehold Land

[Lazy Sod]

Is the land sold off and the proceeds divided amongst the owners? If so it seems a low rise is "worth" more long term, or am I wrong.

[torrenova]

I have always wondered about this one. Do you actually own the air space where your condo was or do you just lose everything ?

[englishoak]

own air space ?

[briley]

It is covered in condo law - the value of the common area (this includes the land) is divided up among the owners, ownership is cancelled and everyone goes home.

Not something you want to happen but can only happen voluntarily if 75% of the votes are in favour. I think it would only happen if the value of the land was such that it was economically beneficial to pull it down and build again.

Of course if the building falls down due to a bullock hitting the building you have insurance - you are insured aren't you. The management is only required to have 3rd party insurance for accidents to people.

[pkrv]

It is covered in condo law - the value of the common area (this includes the land) is divided up among the owners, ownership is cancelled and everyone goes home.

Not something you want to happen but can only happen voluntarily if 75% of the votes are in favour. I think it would only happen if the value of the land was such that it was economically beneficial to pull it down and build again.

Of course if the building falls down due to a bullock hitting the building you have insurance - you are insured aren't you. The management is only required to have 3rd party insurance for accidents to people.

Correct for example I will own 0.26% of the common property, the penthouses have 1.21%. Ownership of the common areas is based on the size of the unit, but a large majority vote (based on votes, not land owned) is required to sell up so to speak. I would only consider this if something drastic happened or 'the price was right'.

[quiksilva]

It is covered in condo law - the value of the common area (this includes the land) is divided up among the owners, ownership is cancelled and everyone goes home.

Not something you want to happen but can only happen voluntarily if 75% of the votes are in favour. I think it would only happen if the value of the land was such that it was economically beneficial to pull it down and build again.

Of course if the building falls down due to a bullock hitting the building you have insurance - you are insured aren't you. The management is only required to have 3rd party insurance for accidents to people.

That might be the legal position but some buildings carry an all risks policy on the structure too. At least they did when I was managing them anyway.

[pkrv]

It is covered in condo law - the value of the common area (this includes the land) is divided up among the owners, ownership is cancelled and everyone goes home.

Not something you want to happen but can only happen voluntarily if 75% of the votes are in favour. I think it would only happen if the value of the land was such that it was economically beneficial to pull it down and build again.

Of course if the building falls down due to a bullock hitting the building you have insurance - you are insured aren't you. The management is only required to have 3rd party insurance for accidents to people.

That might be the legal position but some buildings carry an all risks policy on the structure too. At least they did when I was managing them anyway.

I see this all risks clause included under my contract (which is about 2 and 1/2 cm thick), warranties out to 5 years, and special conditions for damage - more than 50 % of units destroyed etc.

[briley]

We (the condo management) are just looking into insurance - currently there is none!

When people talk about 'all risk on the building' does that mean you cover all the risks associated with owning property so the owners do not need insurance? Or do you just cover the common area.

If only the common area is insured - how do you reach a value to insure?

If the whole building is insured how can you afford it?

[pkrv]

We (the condo management) are just looking into insurance - currently there is none!

When people talk about 'all risk on the building' does that mean you cover all the risks associated with owning property so the owners do not need insurance? Or do you just cover the common area.

If only the common area is insured - how do you reach a value to insure?

If the whole building is insured how can you afford it?

My contract states (A bit of a mouthfull)

"It is the obligation and responsibility of the Condominium Juristic Person to insure against any unforceen or accidental loss or damage under all risk insurance and other appropriate coverage to all real properties of the Condominium as approved by the Committee under full replacement cost basis at the date of the policy; and

Any other insurance that the Committe or the General Meeting approves as being necessary for the benefit of the Condominium."

Our service charge is/will be 50 THB psm/month - Don't know if this helps.

[briley]

Thanks, helpful information. You pay a LOT more than we do for service charge, even with our proposed increase 4 times our rate.

It is cheaper for me to insure myself than pay that amount!

[Irene]

You have a point if the proceeds from the land sales are distributed to a lesser number of owners for a low-rise. However, the low-rise tends to be in a hinterland when compared with the high rise so their value may not be all that great.

[pkrv]

You have a point if the proceeds from the land sales are distributed to a lesser number of owners for a low-rise. However, the low-rise tends to be in a hinterland when compared with the high rise so their value may not be all that great.

Oddly flying out to Bangkok tonight (2 weeks) Bingo can have a field day . However I didn't understand the comment, its % of condominium owned nothing else matters - sorry will not be able to contribute for a while

[Lazy Sod]

You have a point if the proceeds from the land sales are distributed to a lesser number of owners for a low-rise. However, the low-rise tends to be in a hinterland when compared with the high rise so their value may not be all that great.

Thanks Irene. However the condo I'm looking at is CBD (this condo location is the centre of the centre) and 2 min walk BTS. 7 storey well maintained building, 73m2, 7 years old, the land around there is selling for at least 350,000 per TW. So, as a rough calculation, 73m2=18 TW divided by 7 stories = 2.57 TW*350,000=899,500. In other words, the share of the land that comes with this condo should be worth around 899,500. Bit silly to calculate this on a 7 year old condo I know, but if you are looking to leave something for the kids in 20+ years then I guess it should be a consideration. As we all know, the condo buildings in Bangkok seem to deteriorate pretty quickly and so eventually the underlying land value may be all you have left in 20+ years.

[Moonfruit]

You have a point if the proceeds from the land sales are distributed to a lesser number of owners for a low-rise. However, the low-rise tends to be in a hinterland when compared with the high rise so their value may not be all that great.

Simply not true.

More than 50% of condo buildings in Bangkok are low rise, I.E. less than ten storeys. Only in the recent past have high rise buildings been the norm.

O have no idea about the OP's original post, but anybody with a computer and google can figure out their way around this place.