Outgrown Rented Room, But What / Where To Upgrade To?

[TomBrown]

I have outgrown the rented room with balcony on a soi off of Naklua-Pattaya Road and am looking to rent something a bit bigger. Basically as our baby is starting to move / walk around more, the space we are in is just not ample any more.

At some point maybe later this year I’ll re-visit the idea of buying a house, but at the moment I am happy to rent, which gives me the best flexibility.

I was thinking I would be able to get a townhouse to rent for around 8,000 baht per month, but it seems like town houses are renting for much more, 15,000 upwards. I thought it wouldn’t be as expensive now that we are into the less busy season. Even some of the adverts posted on the Carrefour notice board seem over priced for what or where the property is.

Where I am at the moment, the electricity is charged at 7 baht per unit, so the price clocks up a bit, but if I can get somewhere at a reasonable price with move favourable electric rate, it should work out okay.

A house on the beach side of Sukhumvit would be preferable. Basically for better transport options and amenities.

Able to have ADSL installed, no phone number required.

Has air con.

No furniture required.

Might seem like a silly thing, but earthed electrical sockets would be favourable too.

Maybe I’m just asking for too much, anyway I would appreciate any advice on where to look and pointers on what to watch out for, for example tricky landlords, etc.

Tom.

[RichieH]

I've spent some time looking around over the last couple of years and on this side if Sukhumvit I think you'd struggle to find anything like that for 8k.

Head to the dark side and there's plenty. Chok Chai village 4 I know are 6-8 k furnished 2 bedders - and plenty other little village types on Nern Plab Waan offer similar.

West of Sukhumvit I think the minimum you'd expect to pay would be about 12k for anything half decent.

[raro]

I concur....the East (dark) side is the way to go. much nicer living at affordable prices.

downside: you need your own transportation, at least a motorbike.

[TomBrown]

Yeah the dark side of Sukhumvit would have been an option if I had transport.

As I'm not ready to buy a vehicle (or house) yet, I'll have to look at renting something priced over what I had originally planned to spend, but I'll likely want to be beach side of Sukhumvit for the easier transport unless anyone has a work around idea?

Any recommendations for this side of Sukhumvit (not the dark side)?

By the way, what is your opinion on the Thepprasit Road area for living / property? I was thinking it’s conveniently in between Jomtien and Pattaya beaches, but away from the noise of the bar scene, yet has nearby transport at Thappraya.

On the buying side, albeit not yet, I was looking at a development in Thepprasit by a company called Ratanakorn, but couldn't find anything mention of that company here on TV. Anyone have anything to say about them?

[NanLaew]

Try looking on some of the soi's leading off Soi Potisan, nearer to the Pattaya-Naklua Road end. In my soi, there's at least 2 recently refurbished townhomes opposite my house but I don't know the asking price. Also there's a house up for rent next door to me; the owners approached me to see if I know any farangs looking to rent.

PM me if you want location details. I am out of the country or else I would pop over and ask myself!

[TomBrown]

Well after the first day of looking around, it looks like nearer 15k for something reasonable this side of Sukhumvit, just as you guys said. Best I could find in the North of Pattaya as well as most other places was 13k on a one year contract.

NanLaew, I visited the soi and seen the townhouses you mentioned in your private message, but none of the townhouses had for rent signs (or for sale), or contact details. Possibly they are all occupied. Thanks anyway.

I'll continue to look around and see what else I can find. Had hoped that others who might have known of reasonable places around the 8k - 12k mark would have posted something, but it early days yet.

Thanks,

Tom.

Edited May 28, 2008 by TomBrown

[torrenova]

As stated, past Sukhumvit you can get quite reasonable houses for 10k and under. However, some of the older ones have old aircons, tatty kitchens if at all, old fridges and perhaps no TV so it depends upon how much stuff you have. Newer places can be a tad smaler but will have newer aircon, furniture etc.

2 agents which handle lower prices houses are BB Lets and Golden Homes (google for links). Other agents don't want to handle this market. Otherwise go to the pattaya mail website in classifieds and look for properties adverties by Tip. her email is something like tippawan 123 at hotmail or something. She'll handle the lower end stuff.

Naklua is hard sub 12k. Jomtien near impossible unless a condo. Some rubbish in town but ?????

There are some houses between Carrefour and North Pattaya Road on the left. Single story town houses but not sure about the area - perhaps dodgy.

Personally, I left town a year ago just before the baby was born and I prefer Khaotalo as a Soi to the rest. Some ok villages and plenty in your price range. Trouble is that there are no buses at all (I never see any) so we bought a truck. Markets all over so you don't have to travel and the easiest way for a big shop is to phone one of the car / taxi people and ask him to go to Carrefour and wait. Inside an hour / 90 minutes and you're looking at Bt250/300. Not bad once a month. Everything else on your doorstep.

[sweetchariot]

I concur....the East (dark) side is the way to go. much nicer living at affordable prices.

downside: you need your own transportation, at least a motorbike.

If you are a cheap charlie, and like traffic jams

[sweetchariot]

Try either soi Bongkot, or soi Arunthai. Both have mainly Thai style houses, and you could probably rent for 10-12k for a 2 bedroom.

Edit to add: an acquaintance of mine rents a fairly spacious 2 bed bungalow for 10k per month. Suksabai Villa off soi 17, 3rd road, south Pattaya. It's just around the corner from me and not a bad area. Thai style again, and not luxurious, but that's what you're gonna get for that price range.

Edited June 2, 2008 by sweetchariot

[Meg_2003]

Keep looking.. It would be best to drive around the small soi's and look for 'For Rent' signs. Try looking down Soi Arunothai and Soi U-mae. I did this and found my house this way. 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 storey corner townhouse, unfurnished 6,000 bht/month. Soi Arunothai very near to Pattaya Klang/Carrefour

There was one just around the corner for 9,000 bht/month which has just been rented out.. So it just shows, it IS possible, and you don't have to live East of Sukhumvit to have a fairly priced house.

The best thing to do is drive around and look for for rent signs.

Good luck!

[frankpelagic]

I have a one bedroom, lounge room, kitchen and hong nam in Pattaya Centre Condo. 2 x A/C's, nicely furnished. I'm really happy with it, only paying 12000 per month plus water, lekky etc. The convenience to town may be worth the odd couple of K.