Do Condos In Thailand Last Forever?

[j0hnga1t]

My girlfriend told me I should buy a house in BKK and not a condo. I know if I buy a house that I can put it in here name and have her sign over the right for me to live in the house for the rest of my life so I'm okay with buying a house, BUT with regards to condos. She tells me that they only last 10-20 years then they fall apart. Is this true? She maybe talking about the older or inexpensive ones. What is the lifespan of a condo in BKK?

I find it hard to believe that condos don't last forever, but then again I am a farang and am not familar with the quality of condos in Thailand.

Any insight would be good. I'm curious.....

ps don't laugh too hard at my naiveness

[Gary A]

They are a bad investment for her because you can have it in your name.

[jonniebkk]

There was an article not too long ago in the Post on this very subject. They quoted a Bangkok developer saying that in general, a condo building would be expected to last (or are built to last) about 30 years. If use superior construction techniques or very well maintained maybe this could be stretched to 40-50 years but THAT'S IT.

The question was posed as to what happens then...the place would either be torn down completely and rebuilt or stripped down to the foundations/framing and then rebuilt. Basically, it's up to the owners what to do at that point and how much they want to spend. I guess a 3rd option would be, if it's in a good location, would be to sell the land to another developer and split the proceeds among the owners.

So I guess what you get with a Bangkok condo is a 30-50 year leasehold (even if you do buy it) as at the end of that time, if you want a place to live, you basically have to rebuild your condo (at the then current much more expensive prices).

Seems like a questionable investment to me.

Edited February 17, 2008 by jonniebkk

[jumnien]

I hate to dissappoint fans of housed in Thailand, but houses are going to need the same renovations as condos if they are to be in good condition. Nothing lasts forever, especially the surfaces we see. The steel and concrete superstructure of large condos will easily outlast most house construction here in Thailand. How many houses will survive a breakup of a relationship?

[Jingthing]

They could easily last 100 years if they receive basic maintenance. Much longer than Thai partners.

Edited February 17, 2008 by Jingthing

[percy2]

They could easily last 100 years if they receive basic maintenance. Much longer than Thai partners.

There are many RC buildings around that are already over 100 years old.

The Monolith in NYC is an example built 1905 , with Ingalls Building , Cincinnati 1903 , probably being the first high rise RC building.

Cheers

[Jingthing]

Thai culture does not value "used" buildings so much. Ghosts and tropical rot, don't you know. Therefore, decent management of the condo would be the key factor.

[jbaldwin]

Your girlfriend's claim that Condo fall apart in 10-20 years is clearly untrue.

When Thai ladies make false statements in connection with financial transactions you must consider whether it is a scam. This seems the be a tale to encourage you to buy a property in her name.

[PadThaiGuy]

You better rent for now. ...and why are you taking investment advice from a girl?

This is Thailand, you're the man.

[chownah]

With a condo you are stuck with whatever the majority of owners decide to do....this could easily be swayed by one rich person owning a large number of units....this rich person's ideas might be just what you want or it might not. With a house you can decide by yourself what you want to do for maintenance and the disposition of a dilapidated structure. Understanding what will happen in the future with a condo is not well understood and is even unknown as you do not know who the other owners will be or what they will want to do further down the line....in this respect the condo is much riskier....

Chownah

[wangsuda]

I bought a ten-year old condo last year. The complex is well maintained. When I first looked at the unit I bought, it had no paint and there were no cracks in the walls. The water pressure is great. The electricity is grounded. All in all, I consider it money well spent. Do your homework, look carefully at what you will buy, and make sure that whatever YOU spend YOUR money on,it's in YOUR name. Additionally, ask yourself this: would you buy a house in your country and put it in someone else's name (thus denying you all legal titles to it)? Probably not. So why do it here?

[corkscrew]

Guy, go condo.

[think_too_mut]

Your girlfriend's claim that Condo fall apart in 10-20 years is clearly untrue.

Is it that clear?

View Talay 1 in Pattaya (I call it that, I never came very close, could be something else but size and style made me call it View Talay 1, when driving from Lotus it's to the right before that T-intersection with Theprassit rd) looks like it is falling apart. Looks like a dump. It's about 20 years old?

Good buildings in BKK have been around for less than that, they should last 50+ but regular run of the mill turn into slums after 20 years or less.

Edited February 17, 2008 by think_too_mut

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

If you select a good quality building it should outlast you with reasonable maintenance. If it is in your name your GF has to be nice to you or you can give her the boot. In her name it is the other way around. Condo is the way to go.

[polymaj]

With a condo you will find they are all mortar and brick. Homes have some wood in the frame. Big problem here is termites and another kinda insect that eats dam_n near anything. If you plan on being here 360 then I guess you could get a house and take up your spare time killing them little critters. Thats not even putting the girlfriend in the equation. But, I would think if she has already told you condo no good buy house, you really need to put your thinking cap on. Interpretation of GF satement is condo no good for me, house good for me.

[palm]

With a condo you are stuck with whatever the majority of owners decide to do....this could easily be swayed by one rich person owning a large number of units....

If you read The Condominium Act Law of Thailand, you will see that this is simply not true. There are strict limits on voting rights in such situations.

[Irene]

BEENTHEREDONETHA... BEENTHEREDONETHATView Member Profile Add as Friend Send Message Find Posts ipsmenu.register( "post-member-1823777", '', 'popmenubutton-new', 'popmenubutton-new-out' ); Today, 2008-02-17 18:08:02

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#2

If you select a good quality building it should outlast you with reasonable maintenance. If it is in your name your GF has to be nice to you or you can give her the boot. In her name it is the other way around. Condo is the way to go. Do believe me, the above is your best answer!

[chownah]

With a condo you are stuck with whatever the majority of owners decide to do....this could easily be swayed by one rich person owning a large number of units....

If you read The Condominium Act Law of Thailand, you will see that this is simply not true. There are strict limits on voting rights in such situations.

I don't know if my comment is a real threat or not but I want to say the I believe that you are mistaken about what a rich person could do to take over a condo building....first thing they could do is to buy alot of units and put them in the names of their family members for voting purposes....another thing is that if a rich person lets it be known what they want to do and send a "representative" around to the other Thai owners you'd be surprised at how willing alot of people would be to do the rich person's bidding.....of course I am just a rice farmer so I might be completely off base here...but then again maybe his girlfriend is just as deluded as I am in this sort of thing....don't know.

Also, since when did rich Thai people ever let voting rights get in their way....the military dictatorship which has just stopped actively running the country shows that voting rights mean nothing to rich Thais.

Chownah

[Heng]

50 years is nothing. I have grandparents that are nearing twice that age.

With homes and buildings that you own yourself, you own the all important dirt (instead of 1/100 of the dirt in a 100 unit condo building).

p.s. not that I have anything against condos personally, I do own a few, you do get views and a low maintainence lifestyle.

Edited February 17, 2008 by Heng

[mark lamai]

this userfruct thing seems to be the new idea/scam/solution to the now faulty thai company voting rights thing.

some farangs seem to think its an ok solution.

one question.

yes, you legally have right to inhabit for lifetime,

but,

cannot the "owner" (your girlfriend etc) simply sell the property, take the money and run?

[percy2]

Also, since when did rich Thai people ever let voting rights get in their way....the military dictatorship which has just stopped actively running the country shows that voting rights mean nothing to rich Thais.

Chownah

I think you will find that it was the rich people who lost rights in that particular instance

Cheers

[frenchFARANGbkk]

My girlfriend told me I should buy a house in BKK and not a condo. I know if I buy a house that I can put it in here name and have her sign over the right for me to live in the house for the rest of my life so I'm okay with buying a house, BUT with regards to condos. She tells me that they only last 10-20 years then they fall apart. Is this true? She maybe talking about the older or inexpensive ones. What is the lifespan of a condo in BKK?

I find it hard to believe that condos don't last forever, but then again I am a farang and am not familar with the quality of condos in Thailand.

Any insight would be good. I'm curious.....

ps don't laugh too hard at my naiveness

... but not too hard as asked !

Actually she might not be as bad as some people think, especially if you know her for many years and can trust her, but the problem is that she is Thai and could believe many things....

Anyway, buy a condo at a good price and in your name, it seems a lot better.

[Irene]

this userfruct thing seems to be the new idea/scam/solution to the now faulty thai company voting rights thing.

some farangs seem to think its an ok solution.

one question.

yes, you legally have right to inhabit for lifetime,

but,

cannot the "owner" (your girlfriend etc) simply sell the property, take the money and run?

The answer to the bold type is "NO". First, a buyer would not have bought the land if it is attached with a lifetime burden. Second, even if you can sell it, the burden to the land is attached for life irrespective of the change on landownership.

[philliphn]

They are a bad investment for her because you can have it in your name.

Your girlfriend's claim that Condo fall apart in 10-20 years is clearly untrue.

When Thai ladies make false statements in connection with financial transactions you must consider whether it is a scam. This seems the be a tale to encourage you to buy a property in her name.

You better rent for now. ...and why are you taking investment advice from a girl?

This is Thailand, you're the man.

I bought a ten-year old condo last year. The complex is well maintained. When I first looked at the unit I bought, it had no paint and there were no cracks in the walls. The water pressure is great. The electricity is grounded. All in all, I consider it money well spent. Do your homework, look carefully at what you will buy, and make sure that whatever YOU spend YOUR money on,it's in YOUR name. Additionally, ask yourself this: would you buy a house in your country and put it in someone else's name (thus denying you all legal titles to it)? Probably not. So why do it here?

If you select a good quality building it should outlast you with reasonable maintenance. If it is in your name your GF has to be nice to you or you can give her the boot. In her name it is the other way around. Condo is the way to go.

I echo all these previous posters!

Buy a condo.

Girlfriends are less likely to last as long as the condo will.

[Cuban]

There are clearly a couple of issues flying about in this thread:

...you own the all important dirt (instead of 1/100 of the dirt in a 100 unit condo...

I am no expert but I do not believe the title to a condo gives you "ownership" of the land, it might allow rights of access to a hole in the sky - however the real problem is that a condo can be great on the inside but if the management is bad, does not reinvest, employ poor security, skim the water and electric fees etc etc. you would be living in a bad place with little chance of selling on.

Homes have some wood in the frame. Big problem here is termites.....

Yes, my house has wood inside it, it is called furniture. The building is constructed from brick, concrete and steel.

..."owner" (your girlfriend etc) simply sell the property, take the money and run?

As another has posted, you place a charge on the land title so the land can not be sold or any loan taken out with the land used as security. As another great thread points out, you can own the building, keep your receipts.

Girlfriends are less likely to last as long as the condo will.

I think this is the basic point, the staus "girlfriend" is one I would not consider for all time, if the level of commitment is just girlfriend then it is better just to rent somewhere. Change happens.

As for buying a box in the sky lasting a long time, I'm sure many great buildings of this type will last a long time. However there are many that have been knocked down in the past to make way for the few that survive today. Concrete Cancer springs to mind as another issue that has affected the poorly constructed.

I think condos are like cars, they are great when you first have them, shiny and new, everything works well and the company that sold it are at hand to oil a sqeaky hinge. As time passes the management team the brought the condo project to a close move on to bigger and better condos and a cheaper second rate team are brought in to keep it ticking over, maybe they achive cost savings or make a back hander on the cleaning contracts or other fees. Time passes and the lift needs replacement or the outside is not cleaned as often as in the past. A car that's a few years old still has some life in it, but after 15 years it's time to recycle it.

We could talk about noise as well, but let's save that for another day...

[Furbie]

A condo building's fate is almost entirely determined by the management team involved - which is determined by the condo owners who elect a board who are responsible for hiring the management company. If you are that worried, get on the board- and no nonsense about non-Thais, two buildings I lived in had Western board members. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. If you live in a cheap building where the condo owners do not pay reasonable association fees, guess what, the building will fall into disrepair. If you live in a decent building, where the management fees are reasonable, the building will be maintained – no management company is in it for free.

I have lived in a number of buildings, all over 10 years old (one was 15), and I would say only one had management issues - the company lasted one year, but did manage to screw up a few things in the process, especially security. Every other building was constantly undergoing some form of upgrading or testing to make sure everything was functioning. The only caveat I add to this, older buildings have poor wiring, as most never envisioned everyone with a home computer, a washer and dryer unit and large screen TV; so who knows what a building will require 10 years from now.

[backflip]

"My girlfriend told me I should buy a house in BKK and not a condo."

Your girlfriend is not telling you the truth, simply because she wants you to buy her a home. Tell her: "I'm not going to buy a condo. I've decided to form a company to buy a home." I'd love to hear what she'll say to that.

[advice]

this is a troll. all the right ingredients for a thread.

if it aint, buy a house and put it in her name.

[stub]

If you are thinking about long term property investment in Bangkok, you need to decide if you believe in global warming or not. It won't take much of a sea level rise for Bangkok property to go through the floor (and floating down the klong out to sea). And from an investment point of view it might be shorter term than you think - it all depends on if or when property investors decide it is inevitable or not rather than if or when it actually happens.

[jonniebkk]

They could easily last 100 years if they receive basic maintenance. Much longer than Thai partners.

There are many RC buildings around that are already over 100 years old.

The Monolith in NYC is an example built 1905 , with Ingalls Building , Cincinnati 1903 , probably being the first high rise RC building.

<deleted> are you guys talking about...comparing Ameican [and European for that matter] buildings designed and engineered and built by skilled architects, engineers, and QUALIFIED tradesmen using high-quality steel, cement, and finishes.

Here in LOS, the design and engineering (currently) may be up to snuff but the construction supervision, materials, and construction workers (off-season Issan farmers and their wives and children) are definitely questionable.

Even many run of the mill condos in the West need major (and expensive) HVAC and plumbing system upgrades/replacement every 20-30 years.