Pattaya Real Estate Market - Need Advice

[stgrhe]

I am retiring 31/12 and will be moving to Thailand sometime in the first half of 2008 and I need advice about the real estate business in the Pattaya area. I have been coming to Thailand more than six times yearly in the past twenty-five years, mostly on business but occasionally also on leisure. I have thus learnt quite a lot about Thailand over the years and I am also married to a well-educated Thai woman, but I am quite a novice when it comes to Pattaya having maybe not spend more than three months there altogether.

The reason why we are considering Pattaya is that it is relatively close to Bangkok, its airports but mostly it is close to the sea. The latter is important to me since the ocean in one way or another has played an important role to me throughout my life.

For nearly four years now I have on weekly basis been monitoring the real estate business in Pattaya on the internet, and recently also with sincere interest taken part of interesting topics on this forum. I see many houses on sale that were on the market already then, and read about con agents. Therefore, any good advice that you ladies and gentlemen can provide would me most appreciated. My wife, our two children (14 and 9) and I will be looking for a house preferably with a chanote; definitely no lease. We are not prepared to spend more than 10k baht in the house.

What I primarily need help with is:

(1) Name an contact number of a good solicitor with good reputation;

(2) Name of a good western house building engineer who would be interesting in helping me surveying the house I would be interested to buy;

(3) Real estate agents that you can recommend. There are so many and the one I read about is mostly those who you people complain about. (Note, I would never sign a contract directly with an agent - only with the owner); and

(4) Good areas to live in, preferably close to the beach, safe but not necessarily close to the city. I do believe there are more factors than the price, which determine a good place to live in.

Rgds,

Göran

[eljeque]

Rent in south Jomtien and snd your kids to school to Aksorn on Theprasert.

You are more than likely not in need of owning property here, and can use the money that you would otherwise be spending on alternate investments out of the country.

Tha way, you will always be able to pack up and move if anything does not suit your fancy. Selling here is a lot of work.

[JimmyTheMook]

We are not prepared to spend more than 10k baht in the house.

You may want to clarify this figure. 4 people will not do so well in what 10,000 baht offers.

[stgrhe]

We are not prepared to spend more than 10k baht in the house.

You may want to clarify this figure. 4 people will not do so well in what 10,000 baht offers.

Correct, my fingers slipped and I ment of course 10M baht and not 10K.

[dickie58]

I am retiring 31/12 and will be moving to Thailand sometime in the first half of 2008 and I need advice about the real estate business in the Pattaya area. I have been coming to Thailand more than six times yearly in the past twenty-five years, mostly on business but occasionally also on leisure. I have thus learnt quite a lot about Thailand over the years and I am also married to a well-educated Thai woman, but I am quite a novice when it comes to Pattaya having maybe not spend more than three months there altogether.

The reason why we are considering Pattaya is that it is relatively close to Bangkok, its airports but mostly it is close to the sea. The latter is important to me since the ocean in one way or another has played an important role to me throughout my life.

For nearly four years now I have on weekly basis been monitoring the real estate business in Pattaya on the internet, and recently also with sincere interest taken part of interesting topics on this forum. I see many houses on sale that were on the market already then, and read about con agents. Therefore, any good advice that you ladies and gentlemen can provide would me most appreciated. My wife, our two children (14 and 9) and I will be looking for a house preferably with a chanote; definitely no lease. We are not prepared to spend more than 10k baht in the house.

What I primarily need help with is:

(1) Name an contact number of a good solicitor with good reputation;

(2) Name of a good western house building engineer who would be interesting in helping me surveying the house I would be interested to buy;

(3) Real estate agents that you can recommend. There are so many and the one I read about is mostly those who you people complain about. (Note, I would never sign a contract directly with an agent - only with the owner); and

(4) Good areas to live in, preferably close to the beach, safe but not necessarily close to the city. I do believe there are more factors than the price, which determine a good place to live in.

Rgds,

Göran

You would be better buying some land & having a house built, nice areas around Pattaya within your price range are, Hua-Yai & Bang Saray, some good international schools for your kids are Regents, or St Andrews, but both quite pricey!!

If you want help in building a house look at one of the Sponsors in the Pattaya news clippings section: -

"Rosegate Building Consultants"

clicking on the banner in that section will take you to there web site.

Or please pm me for further details?

For 10m baht your not going to get very much close to the sea, although you may a get a decent size new built condo around Bang Saray with the possibilty of a sea view?

You can also own a condo outright

[plasticpig]

Wait, a year or so,

to spend 10m in pattaya right now. is mad.

Rent a place.

[PattayaParent]

Why move to Pattaya?

There are plenty of beaches in close proximity to Bangkok that are better for family living than Pattaya. The only reason to be in the Pattaya / Jomtien / Nahklua area is the bars and nightlife.

[suiging]

If you are honest, the "beaches" close to town are not worth the extra money their so called views command. For retirement, the east of the city around Mabprachan lake is well worth a look. Close enough to town for the amienities, but far enough away to keep you sanity at weekends with easy access to what infra structure exists for access to BK, Rayong or where ever you may wish to go. Cleaner air, nice people and golf on your doorstep. Well worth the effort for a look at least.

[moo9]

Why move to Pattaya?

There are plenty of beaches in close proximity to Bangkok that are better for family living than Pattaya. The only reason to be in the Pattaya / Jomtien / Nahklua area is the bars and nightlife.

No, for me! There are maybe 5 Places I would stay as a farang in Thailand (BKK, Pattaya, Ko Samui, Phuket, Chiang Mai). That's it, and it is not primarily for the bars but for shopping (international food) and convenience.

As for beaches, which ones are closer to BKK? Except for Bang Sean.

Moo9

[Irene]

[

With your fixed direction of buying a house immediately, you would have more chances of making mistakes, especially in Pataya. Like many others' advices, rent a property first and get acquainted with physical residence and environment. Your past short stays even frequently had different mentality than when you intend to be a resident and an intended commitment of 10M. You need to judge on the long-term prospect, like expected development of the area. You don't want to end up in a dead-end situation when you cannot find one single buyer which is quite frequent in Thailand where second-hand houses are not that popular as in the west. (You might have a better chance with a condo.) To locate a right location to buy is an art and no one can teach you better than yourself. I learn by making mistakes and blaming myself for not being more careful and diligence.

Talk to all the agents you like but my recommendation is to start with Richard Ellis in Bangkok to learn from their viewpoints and their offered services. Promise yourself NEVER to commit to buy within the first six months of your stay though go around searching and talking. Your chance of making a mistake is greater because of your changed environment especially after your retirement. Your perception would be fresh and not yet coloured by the normal mistakes that other residents have experienced. It is better to buy when your mind is more settled. I am not even sure whether a six-month period is enough.

[thaimate]

if you would like a good agent,p p a on www.pattayapropertyagents.com and speak to michael,say geoff recomended you ,he was very honest.

but as others have said ,i wouldnt buy untill you are really sure you know where and if you want to.

as for living in pattaya ,dont listen to the its all bars crowd,if you live here with your familly you dont have to frequent them. also a good school is assumption in sri racha.

[stgrhe]

I am retiring 31/12 and will be moving to Thailand sometime in the first half of 2008 and I need advice about the real estate business in the Pattaya area. I have been coming to Thailand more than six times yearly in the past twenty-five years, mostly on business but occasionally also on leisure. I have thus learnt quite a lot about Thailand over the years and I am also married to a well-educated Thai woman, but I am quite a novice when it comes to Pattaya having maybe not spend more than three months there altogether.

The reason why we are considering Pattaya is that it is relatively close to Bangkok, its airports but mostly it is close to the sea. The latter is important to me since the ocean in one way or another has played an important role to me throughout my life.

For nearly four years now I have on weekly basis been monitoring the real estate business in Pattaya on the internet, and recently also with sincere interest taken part of interesting topics on this forum. I see many houses on sale that were on the market already then, and read about con agents. Therefore, any good advice that you ladies and gentlemen can provide would me most appreciated. My wife, our two children (14 and 9) and I will be looking for a house preferably with a chanote; definitely no lease. We are not prepared to spend more than 10k baht in the house.

What I primarily need help with is:

(1) Name an contact number of a good solicitor with good reputation;

(2) Name of a good western house building engineer who would be interesting in helping me surveying the house I would be interested to buy;

(3) Real estate agents that you can recommend. There are so many and the one I read about is mostly those who you people complain about. (Note, I would never sign a contract directly with an agent - only with the owner); and

(4) Good areas to live in, preferably close to the beach, safe but not necessarily close to the city. I do believe there are more factors than the price, which determine a good place to live in.

Rgds,

Göran

You would be better buying some land & having a house built, nice areas around Pattaya within your price range are, Hua-Yai & Bang Saray, some good international schools for your kids are Regents, or St Andrews, but both quite pricey!!

If you want help in building a house look at one of the Sponsors in the Pattaya news clippings section: -

"Rosegate Building Consultants"

clicking on the banner in that section will take you to there web site.

Or please pm me for further details?

For 10m baht your not going to get very much close to the sea, although you may a get a decent size new built condo around Bang Saray with the possibilty of a sea view?

You can also own a condo outright

Thank you for your recommendation. Yes I have heard about that company and I will keep it my mind should we decide to buy land first. However, it seems like others strongy recommend us to rent first and we will most likely do that.

[stgrhe]

Wait, a year or so,

to spend 10m in pattaya right now. is mad.

Rent a place.

Thank you for your advice. Others have recommended the same and this is most likely what we will do.

[stgrhe]

Why move to Pattaya?

There are plenty of beaches in close proximity to Bangkok that are better for family living than Pattaya. The only reason to be in the Pattaya / Jomtien / Nahklua area is the bars and nightlife.

Well, my first choise is Hua Hin but my wife does not like that place since she prefers to have an easy access to the BKK airports. She is originally from Khon Kaen and is a nurse. Lately her mother has taken ill reumathism and my wife like to be able to leave for KK on a short notice. I on the other hand like, apart from being close to the sea, like to have access to western reastaurants from time to time and social clubs such as Rotary ets. A social life is important.

Can you recommend any better places?

[stgrhe]

[

With your fixed direction of buying a house immediately, you would have more chances of making mistakes, especially in Pataya. Like many others' advices, rent a property first and get acquainted with physical residence and environment. Your past short stays even frequently had different mentality than when you intend to be a resident and an intended commitment of 10M. You need to judge on the long-term prospect, like expected development of the area. You don't want to end up in a dead-end situation when you cannot find one single buyer which is quite frequent in Thailand where second-hand houses are not that popular as in the west. (You might have a better chance with a condo.) To locate a right location to buy is an art and no one can teach you better than yourself. I learn by making mistakes and blaming myself for not being more careful and diligence.

Talk to all the agents you like but my recommendation is to start with Richard Ellis in Bangkok to learn from their viewpoints and their offered services. Promise yourself NEVER to commit to buy within the first six months of your stay though go around searching and talking. Your chance of making a mistake is greater because of your changed environment especially after your retirement. Your perception would be fresh and not yet coloured by the normal mistakes that other residents have experienced. It is better to buy when your mind is more settled. I am not even sure whether a six-month period is enough.

Thanks Irene. You and the others have already convinced me to rent first to try out the place. I remember when we moved to Sydney in the 80´s it took eleven moths before we finally decided to buy land and build a house. What we wanted we could not afford and what we afforded we did not want. I think this story must be familiar to many of you. Once again, thanks a lot.

Edited December 26, 2007 by stgrhe

[stgrhe]

if you would like a good agent,p p a on www.pattayapropertyagents.com and speak to michael,say geoff recomended you ,he was very honest.

but as others have said ,i wouldnt buy untill you are really sure you know where and if you want to.

as for living in pattaya ,dont listen to the its all bars crowd,if you live here with your familly you dont have to frequent them. also a good school is assumption in sri racha.

Thanks Geoff. At this time after reading the advices we will most likely go slow and rent first. Nevertheless, I shall call on Michel once we have arrived in Pattaya. Their web site is one of the better sites.

In my opinion I do not judge people and if some prefers the life of hanging around at the bars it is up to them but it is not my life stile nor would I have anything in common with them on an intelectual level but thanks anyhow for our concern.

[PattayaParent]

Why move to Pattaya?

There are plenty of beaches in close proximity to Bangkok that are better for family living than Pattaya. The only reason to be in the Pattaya / Jomtien / Nahklua area is the bars and nightlife.

No, for me! There are maybe 5 Places I would stay as a farang in Thailand (BKK, Pattaya, Ko Samui, Phuket, Chiang Mai). That's it, and it is not primarily for the bars but for shopping (international food) and convenience.

As for beaches, which ones are closer to BKK? Except for Bang Sean.

Moo9

Bang Saen, Sri Racha, Ang Sila, Rachaburi, Phetchaburi, Cha Am, Hua Hin

[PattayaParent]

Sorry multiple posts as my computer stopped responding

Edited December 26, 2007 by PattayaParent

[PattayaParent]

Sorry multiple posts as my computer stopped responding

Edited December 26, 2007 by PattayaParent

[PattayaParent]

Why move to Pattaya?

There are plenty of beaches in close proximity to Bangkok that are better for family living than Pattaya. The only reason to be in the Pattaya / Jomtien / Nahklua area is the bars and nightlife.

Well, my first choise is Hua Hin but my wife does not like that place since she prefers to have an easy access to the BKK airports. She is originally from Khon Kaen and is a nurse. Lately her mother has taken ill reumathism and my wife like to be able to leave for KK on a short notice. I on the other hand like, apart from being close to the sea, like to have access to western reastaurants from time to time and social clubs such as Rotary ets. A social life is important.

Can you recommend any better places?

Hua Hin has an airport, have you checked on flights availability from there to KK?

And if you need to be near an airport what about Phuket or Krabi? You could have flown to BKK / KK in the time it takes you to drive from Pattaya to BKK airport.

[stgrhe]

Why move to Pattaya?

There are plenty of beaches in close proximity to Bangkok that are better for family living than Pattaya. The only reason to be in the Pattaya / Jomtien / Nahklua area is the bars and nightlife.

Well, my first choise is Hua Hin but my wife does not like that place since she prefers to have an easy access to the BKK airports. She is originally from Khon Kaen and is a nurse. Lately her mother has taken ill reumathism and my wife like to be able to leave for KK on a short notice. I on the other hand like, apart from being close to the sea, like to have access to western reastaurants from time to time and social clubs such as Rotary ets. A social life is important.

Can you recommend any better places?

Hua Hin has an airport, have you checked on flights availability from there to KK?

And if you need to be near an airport what about Phuket or Krabi? You could have flown to BKK / KK in the time it takes you to drive from Pattaya to BKK airport.

Well, the Hua Hin airport is not serviced in a way that I would regard it as a factor to concider. But as I said, I do like that place myself. Krabi on the other hand is in my opinion a nice holiday area but living there...I don't know? There are so many things missing there such as e.g. good hospitals and schools. Phuket is an option but it too has its drawback. I actually owned a piece of land there before but sold it ten years ago. Phuket has its drawbacks too although we consider the place as an alternative to the Eastern Seaboard.

From your posting I take it that you do not like the Pattaya area very much. Apart from the noisy bear bars and gogo bars, which I have no intention to visit, can you please give me a clue of other things that are not good with Pattaya? I know of the water shortage problems.

Rgds, Göran

[CGW]

There is nothing wrong with Pattaya as a place to live, Rent initially though! i have 2 properties for sale her, had someone look at one yesterday and he commented on how he was stunned at the amount of quality properties were on the market! There are some bargains to be had, some crap too!

Good Luck

[PattayaParent]

From your posting I take it that you do not like the Pattaya area very much. Apart from the noisy bear bars and gogo bars, which I have no intention to visit, can you please give me a clue of other things that are not good with Pattaya? I know of the water shortage problems.

Rgds, Göran

Actually I DO like Pattaya, I've lived here for 13 years, firstly as a bachelor so the bars were an interest but lately as a family guy and they are no longer of any interest. I was just trying to give you other options.

I live here now mainly as it's central for work in the petrochem industries but if I were retired and not interested in the bar scene and had no connections to the place then I doubt it'd be top of my list of places to live.

Haven't experienced water shortages as my condo has it's own deep well but traffic is getting to be a problem.

[Irene]

[

Well, the Hua Hin airport is not serviced in a way that I would regard it as a factor to concider. But as I said, I do like that place myself. Krabi on the other hand is in my opinion a nice holiday area but living there...I don't know? There are so many things missing there such as e.g. good hospitals and schools. Phuket is an option but it too has its drawback. I actually owned a piece of land there before but sold it ten years ago. Phuket has its drawbacks too although we consider the place as an alternative to the Eastern Seaboard.

From your posting I take it that you do not like the Pattaya area very much. Apart from the noisy bear bars and gogo bars, which I have no intention to visit, can you please give me a clue of other things that are not good with Pattaya? I know of the water shortage problems.

Rgds, Göran

I also fall into your category of having no interest in those mentioned. I also did consider for a second/weekend home at Hua Hin, Krabi and Phuket and eventually pick a condo in Jomtien.

There are many seedy sights in Pataya that could upset some people but I am a tolerant type. Furthermore, I hardly visit the seafronts at Pataya beach and spend most of my time at the condo and Sataheep area. To look back, I conclude that I have made a right choice as to the usage and rise in value. The advantages override the disadvantages especially in the area of continuous development for the infrastructure to Pataya. For a property person, I believe this is the main basis for the rise in the property value.

[stgrhe]

From your posting I take it that you do not like the Pattaya area very much. Apart from the noisy bear bars and gogo bars, which I have no intention to visit, can you please give me a clue of other things that are not good with Pattaya? I know of the water shortage problems.

Rgds, Göran

Actually I DO like Pattaya, I've lived here for 13 years, firstly as a bachelor so the bars were an interest but lately as a family guy and they are no longer of any interest. I was just trying to give you other options.

I live here now mainly as it's central for work in the petrochem industries but if I were retired and not interested in the bar scene and had no connections to the place then I doubt it'd be top of my list of places to live.

Haven't experienced water shortages as my condo has it's own deep well but traffic is getting to be a problem.

I understood that you meant well when you were posting your advices. I just wanted to know if in fact there was something, which could have an important impact in my decission making, that I might be able to pick up from you. Thanks anyhow for your advices. I need as much information as possible.