51% Thai Ownership In Condo Complex

[n2ojones]

It is said that a property is only worth what someone is willing to pay. With that said, we all know (many) prices are inflated ...catering to the farang.

Are we to believe that Thais are paying these same inflated prices for their 51% or are Thais (rightfully) getting signifiant breaks in order to sell some of that 51%?

I ask this because it seems to me prices should start going down all across the board. This Thaksin thing combined with the downward spiral of the pound and Euro should crimp the spending of the Brits and who knows what the $$ is going to do in this crisis the Americans are experiencing. Then we have the Aussies etc.

In short...I am a Yank and my wife Thai. Shouldn't I have her contacting realtors in hopes of getting a better deal if she puts her (Thai) name on the title instead of mine?

Thanks in adavance.

[glyph]

"It is said that a property is only worth what someone is willing to pay."

That's true.

"With that said, we all know (many) prices are inflated ...catering to the farang."

If you believe that, it's OK.

"Are we to believe that Thais are paying these same inflated prices for their 51% or are Thais (rightfully) getting signifiant breaks in order to sell some of that 51%?"

It does not matter what we believe.

"I ask this because it seems to me prices should start going down all across the board."

Across the board, outside of Thailand.

"This Thaksin thing combined with the downward spiral of the pound and Euro should crimp the spending of the Brits and who knows what the $$ is going to do in this crisis the Americans are experiencing. Then we have the Aussies etc."

Huh? I thought you wanted to discuss real estate in Thailand.

"In short...I am a Yank and my wife Thai."

Ah!

"Shouldn't I have her contacting realtors in hopes of getting a better deal if she puts her (Thai) name on the title instead of mine?"

Why not? Of course, then the condo belongs to her, not you.

"Thanks in adavance."

You're welcome.

[n2ojones]

Why so glib....Gllph?

LOL..Please tell me you're not in Thailand. After traveling to the Kingdom (extensively) for the better part of 20 years....my biggest fear is that when I ultimatel retire there...I will be as bored as yourself.

Putting a condo in my wife's name is a much lesser fear. Zzzzzzzz

...and moving right along...

If anyone else could answer this simple question:

Do you feel it likely that the Thai-owned 51% of these complexes are being bought and sold at a signifiicantly reduced rate (compared to the advertised, english language prices)?

[think_too_mut]

If anyone else could answer this simple question:

Do you feel it likely that the Thai-owned 51% of these complexes are being bought and sold at a signifiicantly reduced rate (compared to the advertised, english language prices)?

Hard to tell 100% sure but seems unlikely you will get 1 baht discount, in a new development.

The brochures and price lists are pre-printed and the pile (may well be a truckload) lasts for months even years until sales are complete. Not only at sales office but published in magazines, newspapers, real estate brochures and fliers, large billboards...no secret there.

After that, I can't imagine (for a new development, with sales office) someone pulling different price lists for different nationalities.

How about Indians or Kenyans, they are assumed to be less affluent than Americans and Brits?

Where I bought my condo all brochures were already in Thai, back in July.

Some other projects (Nusassiri, Sukhumvit Plus) that I inspected a few years ago had both Thai and English for the same single figure.

Ah, what happens to unsold Thai quota? Most likely, the developer would keep trying to sell them until their tenure is over (1-3 years, could be and usualy is longer), turn them over to some serviced apartments company, rent them as serviced or plain apartments themselves and turn them over to next building administrator.

If they are still many (and do not bring in significant amount of money for building upkeep) the body corporate (that is formed 1-3 years after building completion) may decide to handle them or sell them in a different way but then it will be the BC members to grab any discount first. According to your post you may be light years away from that situation.

Edited October 28, 2008 by think_too_mut

[glyph]

"Why so glib..."

I answered your questions truthfully, in the order that you asked them. You don't like the answers, so be it.

[think_too_mut]

Do you feel it likely that the Thai-owned 51% of these complexes are being bought and sold at a significantly reduced rate (compared to the advertised, English language prices)?

Actually, there may be some discount, I got it (120K baht). That (may have snowballed from mouth to mouth) could be the source of your misinformation.

Here is how it works:

When the developer realized that sales are not doing well and that half of 1250 condos had not been booked (they say "sold" although only peanuts money had been put as deposit) they decided to rush the project and avoid rising cost, also to speed up the sales by offering discounts.

The thing was - everybody got that discount. Those who already deposited the money, will see it in their final invoice.

How did the developer found the room for price reduction against rising cost?

Firstly, having units unsold was their biggest worry that may push them in arrears with their investors and make the delay expensive.

More to the ground, they stripped units of 1 aircon each:

I have 2 aircons but living room does not have one and the developer provided me with instructions how to fit it (and buy it) at my own expense.

No water heaters.

No bum-washing hose guns int he toilets.

Taps look cheaper than in the showroom.

And probably more that I did not notice.

That comes near to 120K baht worth of "discount" that I got.

[ray08]

Do you feel it likely that the Thai-owned 51% of these complexes are being bought and sold at a significantly reduced rate (compared to the advertised, English language prices)?

Actually, there may be some discount, I got it (120K baht). That (may have snowballed from mouth to mouth) could be the source of your misinformation.

Here is how it works:

When the developer realized that sales are not doing well and that half of 1250 condos had not been booked (they say "sold" although only peanuts money had been put as deposit) they decided to rush the project and avoid rising cost, also to speed up the sales by offering discounts.

The thing was - everybody got that discount. Those who already deposited the money, will see it in their final invoice.

How did the developer found the room for price reduction against rising cost?

Firstly, having units unsold was their biggest worry that may push them in arrears with their investors and make the delay expensive.

More to the ground, they stripped units of 1 aircon each:

I have 2 aircons but living room does not have one and the developer provided me with instructions how to fit it (and buy it) at my own expense.

No water heaters.

No bum-washing hose guns int he toilets.

Taps look cheaper than in the showroom.

And probably more that I did not notice.

That comes near to 120K baht worth of "discount" that I got.

So no discount at all , you paid for what you got ,can they give you less aircon than in the specs ?

[think_too_mut]

So no discount at all , you paid for what you got ,can they give you less aircon than in the specs ?

True.

When we came, it was more than 2 years since development had started and then they knew about what corners to cut to make some profit.

What I posted was just what we noticed.

[jimmybkk]

In Pattaya some developers are quite open about the two-tiered pricing structure. Mind you, it's a big problem offloading the Thai quota in Pattaya - I'm guessing more so than in BKK.

[jdinasia]

n20jones

the very short answer is "no"

[thaiwanderer]

Significant discounts against advertised prices (whether advertised in thai or english) are achievable for both thai and farang quota units.

Thai quota units are cheaper than farang quota units because they fundamentally are not worth the same (because they are thai quota).

Comparing apples and oranges.

However do you want to own a slightly more expensive fruit or pay for a cheaper fruit that is not yours?

[zorro1]

So far just speculation and hearsay. Surely one of you rich married to an even richer Hi-So gal did some homework before purchasing right? didn't anyone send their wife in first to try and negotiate a deal? I wouldn't even get a coat of paint without the G/F organising it. I put my hand up! on second condo purchase (off plan) I sent the g/f in after some quick sales training. No discount on Thai or farang quota. Anyone actually do this and get a discount?

Edited October 29, 2008 by zorro1

[think_too_mut]

Significant discounts against advertised prices (whether advertised in thai or english) are achievable for both thai and farang quota units.

Thai quota units are cheaper than farang quota units because they fundamentally are not worth the same (because they are thai quota).

Comparing apples and oranges.

However do you want to own a slightly more expensive fruit or pay for a cheaper fruit that is not yours?

I would understand that if "Thai units" are cheaper, that may be because the units could be in a less attactive part of a building, cheaper anyway.

In my building, the most attractive units were sold (mickey mouse money) to foreigners or Thai speculators, linked to, or developer's staff themselves.

Hundreds of them for resale.

[thaiwanderer]

Significant discounts against advertised prices (whether advertised in thai or english) are achievable for both thai and farang quota units.

Thai quota units are cheaper than farang quota units because they fundamentally are not worth the same (because they are thai quota).

Comparing apples and oranges.

However do you want to own a slightly more expensive fruit or pay for a cheaper fruit that is not yours?

I would understand that if "Thai units" are cheaper, that may be because the units could be in a less attactive part of a building, cheaper anyway.

In my building, the most attractive units were sold (mickey mouse money) to foreigners or Thai speculators, linked to, or developer's staff themselves.

Hundreds of them for resale.

Thai quota units are cheaper. However the same unit can be either thai or farang quota unit until sold.

[think_too_mut]

Significant discounts against advertised prices (whether advertised in thai or english) are achievable for both thai and farang quota units.

Thai quota units are cheaper than farang quota units because they fundamentally are not worth the same (because they are thai quota).

Comparing apples and oranges.

However do you want to own a slightly more expensive fruit or pay for a cheaper fruit that is not yours?

I would understand that if "Thai units" are cheaper, that may be because the units could be in a less attactive part of a building, cheaper anyway.

In my building, the most attractive units were sold (mickey mouse money) to foreigners or Thai speculators, linked to, or developer's staff themselves.

Hundreds of them for resale.

Thai quota units are cheaper. However the same unit can be either thai or farang quota unit until sold.

Did you come out of woodwork to troll or you have some evidence?

My wife (Thai) inquired at many places, on her own, has never been oferred anything at a lower price than advertised, not even hinted such a thing may exist.

In Pattaya, View Thalay completed in 2001, was selling rooms together with shell companies who owned them.

[thaiwanderer]

I am not a troll.

I have plenty of evidence from personal experience.

thank you

[PattayaParent]

If anyone else could answer this simple question:

Do you feel it likely that the Thai-owned 51% of these complexes are being bought and sold at a signifiicantly reduced rate (compared to the advertised, english language prices)?

I have direct experience that this is indeed very true both in new developments and existing resales.

[n2ojones]

Wow....

Thanks for the many excellent replies. I apologise for not responding (with gratitude) earlier but had an out of town emergency that required my full attention.

Some very different opinions in this thread. I doubt anyone is (outright) BSing but merely voicing the results of their individual experiences.

I do want to report the results of some testing my wife and I conducted last week: I wouldn't want to refer to my wife as "hi-so" as that would likely p*ss her off. I will call her extremely educated (rediculously so). I had her write no less than 20 realtors. She explained our motivation in honest terms and made it clear that we had a generous amount of cash on hand. She continued to tell them we might be interested in more than one unit but had no intention of paying their (english advertised) asking prices....explaining she was Thai and the unit(s) would be in her (Thai) name.

The results......

Not one of them replied.

I was amazed by this as any realtor worth their salt, at least here in Hawaii, would say anything to get a shot at the cash.

For the record: My wife has her own money, though I would not ask her to buy our home. Like many of you, I have an exit strategy. My kids will be taken care of in one way and my wife will inherit our home. I report this only because the paranoia exhibited by one poster above should be viewed as a refection of his self and his own decisions.. There is good and bad, honest and dishonest the world over. Not every Thai woman is in just for the money. YMMV.

Thanks again.

[sangfroid]

Wow....

Thanks for the many excellent replies. I apologise for not responding (with gratitude) earlier but had an out of town emergency that required my full attention.

Some very different opinions in this thread. I doubt anyone is (outright) BSing but merely voicing the results of their individual experiences.

I do want to report the results of some testing my wife and I conducted last week: I wouldn't want to refer to my wife as "hi-so" as that would likely p*ss her off. I will call her extremely educated (rediculously so). I had her write no less than 20 realtors. She explained our motivation in honest terms and made it clear that we had a generous amount of cash on hand. She continued to tell them we might be interested in more than one unit but had no intention of paying their (english advertised) asking prices....explaining she was Thai and the unit(s) would be in her (Thai) name.

The results......

Not one of them replied.

I was amazed by this as any realtor worth their salt, at least here in Hawaii, would say anything to get a shot at the cash.

For the record: My wife has her own money, though I would not ask her to buy our home. Like many of you, I have an exit strategy. My kids will be taken care of in one way and my wife will inherit our home. I report this only because the paranoia exhibited by one poster above should be viewed as a refection of his self and his own decisions.. There is good and bad, honest and dishonest the world over. Not every Thai woman is in just for the money. YMMV.

Thanks again.

I've heard on Thai radio in the last day or so that the law requiring 51% Thai ownership of condominium buildings is to be lifted.

[joopjip]

In a normal economical situation I don't think any reputable property companies would give thai customers more discount because not only that is devaluing their own assets and destroying foreign customers' trust because but it will also look awful comparing to the projected cashflow which is not usually made with varied discount rates in mind. To sell fast you don't advertise your units' start price at 5 million and expect people to assume they could get it at 4million so normally the price is already fixed at an attractively low rate. If you know no one you can normally easily get up to 10% discounts. The discount depends more on the sales period, the number of units you buy, the market type (high-low), the connection you have and the economy not the nationalities of buyers at all.

[glyph]

"I had her write no less than 20 realtors. She explained our motivation in honest terms and made it clear that we had a generous amount of cash on hand...The results...Not one of them replied. I was amazed by this as any realtor worth their salt, at least here in Hawaii, would say anything to get a shot at the cash."

A shot at what cash? Neither you nor your wife offered anything - "I'm a Thai woman, and I want to know what the biggest discount is". There's a difference between "buying a house" and "talking about buying a house". You and your wife are part of the second group, and the people who received your letter know that. No matter what a response was, no matter how great the offered discount, your reply would be, "Uhh, I'll have to think about it."