Buying A New Condo

[lifeisrandom]

new condo 120k baht per m2

10 yr old condo next door 80k baht per m2

whats the point? in ten years your new condo will also be old. is there much difference between a ten and twenty year old condo?

it sort of feels like buying a new car that loses a percent of its value as soon as its driven off the lot.

anyone have experience with buying old condos and renovating them so that they are brand new? to what extent must one worry about the age of the building? they don't just fall down after x years do they?

Edited August 5, 2008 by lifeisrandom

[Jingthing]

Good question. My opinion about this (just an opinion) is that a poorly maintained cheaper building might be livable for 30 to 50 years, while a well maintained building could go for 100 years. So when looking at the 10 year old one, ask a lot of questions about the maintenance and management situation. It may well be a great buy. Part of the reason for lower cost for older is that Thais have a strong preference for new, and don't value "used" condos so much. This is not like the west that way.

Edited August 5, 2008 by Jingthing

[lannarebirth]

I would do amember search and read the posts of bilaaa777, Ithink you will find those most helpful.

[sriracha john]

whats the point? in ten years your new condo will also be old. is there much difference between a ten and twenty year old condo?

Yes, there is. While the well-established base law of the "2Fer1" formula for computing of effects of aging on buildings in Thailand remains constant in both instances, the actual number of years is significantly higher in the latter.

BTW, the fact-based, scientifically-proven, experienced-verified formula would stipulate that the 10 year-old building would have an actual appearance and state as that of a 20 year-old building elsewhere and the 20 year-old building would have an actual appearance and state as that of a 40 year-old building elsewhere.

[steveromagnino]

new condo 120k baht per m2

10 yr old condo next door 80k baht per m2

whats the point? in ten years your new condo will also be old. is there much difference between a ten and twenty year old condo?

it sort of feels like buying a new car that loses a percent of its value as soon as its driven off the lot.

anyone have experience with buying old condos and renovating them so that they are brand new? to what extent must one worry about the age of the building? they don't just fall down after x years do they?

there are some quality buildings from 10 years ago, but not that many; back then ceilings were 2.4m for instance, nowadays to get 120k you are up around 2.7 - 3m ceiling height.

All the interior has to be probably ripped out and replaced, guess on around 10-15k per sqm for that.

The facilities levels weren't so good back then either.

I can think of a few buildings that are 10 years old, a couple near the Park for instance, that sell for similar prices to grade A nowadays, thanks to meeting much of the criteria for a grade A building these days.

I can also think of a TON of Trendy type buildings which are indeed the 2X rule that Sriracha John mentions, perhaps even 3X.

It isn't solely the new vs. second hand thing.

That said, for Thais there is also the finance aspect, it tends to be easier to get up to 80% financing for a new project; whereas 2nd hand often it tops out at 50-60% because the banks also don't really like the idea of having an older asset as collateral; hence for many to buy a 100sqm unit in an old building or a 65 sqm unit in a new building for the same price, the difference is in having to save up say an extra 1m baht or so.....not always easy to do.

Combine that with the relative lack of liquidity of older properties, and no wonder that the premium exists.

There are some bargains in older buildings though; I know of one near the river that is around 50-60k per sqm whereas a brand new project nearby is selling now on higher floors at close to 180k-200k.

That's a big premium! But not wholely undeserved......

[glyph]

"new condo 120k baht per m2 - 10 yr old condo next door 80k baht per m2."

Yep. Not all real estate is priced the same.

"whats the point?"

Exactly what I thought when I read your post. As I mentioned before, not all real estate is priced the same.

"in ten years your new condo will also be old."

So, what's your point?

"is there much difference between a ten and twenty year old condo?"

Besides the age, probably.

"it sort of feels like buying a new car that loses a percent of its value as soon as its driven off the lot."

Then you're missing the point. Your question should be "what was the ORIGINAL price of the older condo", and you'll see that it was substantially lower.