Hua Hin Real Estate Agents

[monkeytunes]

Im not trying to ofend anyone but I really dont understand, Ive tried contacting a number of real estate agents, firstly about buying property a property as well as selling one, both by emails and telephone calls, but they just dont seem to be interested, theres only one that I have had contact with that seems to take the Job seriously, I thought with the current climate that they would be trying there hardest to build a good reputation or am I living in cloud cookoo land? plus most are looking for 5%, and I am not really sure what they do for it. Is it just me, is it just Hua Hin or does it happen all over TH, please share your experiences.

[tominchaam]

Im not trying to ofend anyone but I really dont understand, Ive tried contacting a number of real estate agents, firstly about buying property a property as well as selling one, both by emails and telephone calls, but they just dont seem to be interested, theres only one that I have had contact with that seems to take the Job seriously, I thought with the current climate that they would be trying there hardest to build a good reputation or am I living in cloud cookoo land? plus most are looking for 5%, and I am not really sure what they do for it. Is it just me, is it just Hua Hin or does it happen all over TH, please share your experiences.

I like your nickname which might be part of the answer.

[monkeytunes]

Im not trying to ofend anyone but I really dont understand, Ive tried contacting a number of real estate agents, firstly about buying property a property as well as selling one, both by emails and telephone calls, but they just dont seem to be interested, theres only one that I have had contact with that seems to take the Job seriously, I thought with the current climate that they would be trying there hardest to build a good reputation or am I living in cloud cookoo land? plus most are looking for 5%, and I am not really sure what they do for it. Is it just me, is it just Hua Hin or does it happen all over TH, please share your experiences.

I like your nickname which might be part of the answer.

sorry, dont understand

[pothai]

If you are a serious buyer/seller PM me with details and I will find you a property. Possibly sell your current home

[FarangFatal]

Have a sniff about the farang shot snippet and then do would research.... Seems there are some things to bring the buyer beware concept into play here... Schetchy... Very Schetchy. Seems there is a big clot of something in the system and the agents may be part of the problem.....

[hhfarang]

Im not trying to ofend anyone but I really dont understand, Ive tried contacting a number of real estate agents, firstly about buying property a property as well as selling one, both by emails and telephone calls, but they just dont seem to be interested, theres only one that I have had contact with that seems to take the Job seriously, I thought with the current climate that they would be trying there hardest to build a good reputation or am I living in cloud cookoo land? plus most are looking for 5%, and I am not really sure what they do for it. Is it just me, is it just Hua Hin or does it happen all over TH, please share your experiences.

In Hua Hin at least, buying and selling are two different things. Most agencies have a glut of homes listed for sale and not enough buyers so they don't want any more listings to have to try to sell unless they are beach front or on a golf course. I was told this by one of the big agencies a month ago when I asked if they wanted to list my home. Not only that, they said that if they were ever to list it in the current market, they wouldn't list it for more than about half of my asking price. It is a huge, spectacular, one of a kind home built to the highest western standards sitting on a Rai and a half of land that is landscaped to a standard like the big hotels, but it probably won't sell in the current market even though I am asking four million less than I think it's worth (in a normal market).

Now, if you are in the market to buy a home, that is a completely different story. I would think you would have all the agents beating down your door because there is a real shortage of serious buyers here at the moment.

If your looking to sell and/or buy in Cha-am, that could be another problem as some of the agencies just are not interested in working that far north of Hua Hin. I'm not sure why this is but they seem to concentrate on condos and homes from just north of town and south all the way to Pranburi. Maybe it's because that's where all the big developments are. I've never heard of a big real estate development in Cha-am (even looked myself once and couldn't find anything but older resales and condos, no new developments).

[maccaroni man]

Im not trying to ofend anyone but I really dont understand, Ive tried contacting a number of real estate agents, firstly about buying property a property as well as selling one, both by emails and telephone calls, but they just dont seem to be interested, theres only one that I have had contact with that seems to take the Job seriously, I thought with the current climate that they would be trying there hardest to build a good reputation or am I living in cloud cookoo land? plus most are looking for 5%, and I am not really sure what they do for it. Is it just me, is it just Hua Hin or does it happen all over TH, please share your experiences.

I agree, I have 4 sperate locations of 5/3/4/8 rai plots that I have written agents to list and gotten the automated reply but nothing else. I guess the majority of them are order takers rather than sales pros. I finally ran an ad in the bkk post with measurable results but still do not have a reliable agent.

[pothai]

Not only that, they said that if they were ever to list it in the current market, they wouldn't list it for more than about half of my asking price. It is a huge, spectacular, one of a kind home built to the highest western standards sitting on a Rai and a half of land that is landscaped to a standard like the big hotels, but it probably won't sell in the current market even though I am asking four million less than I think it's worth (in a normal market).

Thats the problem....."YOUR ASKING PRICE"...what you think it is worth....same everywhere, a property is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Agents worldwide will value a property, however in Thailand, THE OWNER wants to value the property....dont work that way am afraid...ask a sensible price and you will sell for sure...bet you are asking about a 300% mark up....property works like this....land cost,plus build cost, plust 30%...thats the value of your property..now....whats the value, probably 8 million Baht less than you want....dont be greedy....

[pothai]

Im not trying to ofend anyone but I really dont understand, Ive tried contacting a number of real estate agents, firstly about buying property a property as well as selling one, both by emails and telephone calls, but they just dont seem to be interested, theres only one that I have had contact with that seems to take the Job seriously, I thought with the current climate that they would be trying there hardest to build a good reputation or am I living in cloud cookoo land? plus most are looking for 5%, and I am not really sure what they do for it. Is it just me, is it just Hua Hin or does it happen all over TH, please share your experiences.

In Hua Hin at least, buying and selling are two different things. Most agencies have a glut of homes listed for sale and not enough buyers so they don't want any more listings to have to try to sell unless they are beach front or on a golf course. I was told this by one of the big agencies a month ago when I asked if they wanted to list my home. Not only that, they said that if they were ever to list it in the current market, they wouldn't list it for more than about half of my asking price. It is a huge, spectacular, one of a kind home built to the highest western standards sitting on a Rai and a half of land that is landscaped to a standard like the big hotels, but it probably won't sell in the current market even though I am asking four million less than I think it's worth (in a normal market).

Now, if you are in the market to buy a home, that is a completely different story. I would think you would have all the agents beating down your door because there is a real shortage of serious buyers here at the moment.

If your looking to sell and/or buy in Cha-am, that could be another problem as some of the agencies just are not interested in working that far north of Hua Hin. I'm not sure why this is but they seem to concentrate on condos and homes from just north of town and south all the way to Pranburi. Maybe it's because that's where all the big developments are. I've never heard of a big real estate development in Cha-am (even looked myself once and couldn't find anything but older resales and condos, no new developments).

Not true...Cha am is buzzing...Ban Tawan, Sport Village, numerous indenpant builds everywhere, and they are selling.....

[pothai]

Monkeytunes....no reply from you yet...are you a serious seller...PM me if want to find somewhere

[monkeytunes]

Not only that, they said that if they were ever to list it in the current market, they wouldn't list it for more than about half of my asking price. It is a huge, spectacular, one of a kind home built to the highest western standards sitting on a Rai and a half of land that is landscaped to a standard like the big hotels, but it probably won't sell in the current market even though I am asking four million less than I think it's worth (in a normal market).

Thats the problem....."YOUR ASKING PRICE"...what you think it is worth....same everywhere, a property is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Agents worldwide will value a property, however in Thailand, THE OWNER wants to value the property....dont work that way am afraid...ask a sensible price and you will sell for sure...bet you are asking about a 300% mark up....property works like this....land cost,plus build cost, plust 30%...thats the value of your property..now....whats the value, probably 8 million Baht less than you want....dont be greedy....

Hi There,

I agree with what your saying, but when Ive manged to eventually get agents around and asked them to put a value on the property they dont seem to want , the automatic answer has been what do you want, then Ive said what do you think based on local real estate knowledge they say its difficult as all the house are different, Ive only had one agent that told me what they believes is a realistic asking price. mind you Ive only managed to get a couple of agents to the property, the rest said, we dont come round to house as there so much property availalbe, just bring in a CD with photos, details and price then they will put it on the website and charge 5%, it must be difficult to sell a property if you havent seen it?

[hhfarang]

...Thats the problem....."YOUR ASKING PRICE"...what you think it is worth....same everywhere, a property is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Agents worldwide will value a property, however in Thailand, THE OWNER wants to value the property....dont work that way am afraid...ask a sensible price and you will sell for sure...bet you are asking about a 300% mark up....property works like this....land cost,plus build cost, plust 30%...thats the value of your property..now....whats the value, probably 8 million Baht less than you want....dont be greedy....

Yes, you're right, I used to be in real estate in the U.S. (my wife is in real estate here) and I know how to value homes... comps... I originally put my home on the market based on comps (prices of other homes that had sold in the area, with adjustments up or down depending on the differences in the homes and location) and because of the current market conditions, I have already reduced it by four million baht. I left very little room to haggle and to pay the fees and taxes above the lowest price I am willing to accept. I still expect to have to ride out the financial downturn before it sells... and no, my markup is closer to your 30% rule than your bet of 300%! I have no doubt that it would have sold easily at my first asking price if I had put it on the market this time last year... I was just a year late in deciding to sell.

[thucydides]

The illiquidity of the Thai market is well known but farang never quite seem to comprehend this nor can they reconcile the phenomenon of a saturated market which can see a new build achieving a price well in excess of what they may have paid for theirs previously.

A realistic valuation of a house may be an assessment of what it would cost to build now including the price of the land less an amount reflecting the fact that it is no longer new.

You might shift it but I should eschew any notion that your acquisition was an " investment " unless of course it is next to the beach with uninterrupted views

and adjacent to the Sofitel et al.......in which case, location, location,location.

[soundman]

While you are waiting for an agent to take up interest in selling your house, why not advertise privately?

Doesn't cost much to advertise in the papers, I'm sure there would be many internet sites with free listings (inc. this one in the classifieds section) and a few small signs strategically loacted around town.

Not much money & a little bit of your time.

Cheers.

[FarangFatal]

While you are waiting for an agent to take up interest in selling your house, why not advertise privately?

Doesn't cost much to advertise in the papers, I'm sure there would be many internet sites with free listings (inc. this one in the classifieds section) and a few small signs strategically loacted around town.

Not much money & a little bit of your time.

Cheers.

Houses are NOT sellsing in HH right now and probably forever...... too many problems there and from the reports seems to be comingled within in the industry as to builder, sellers and ad people. Considering what happened there last month have you should think about getting it heavly insured and the just have it burnt to the ground! If the place is cost you over 5Mill Baht it aid going to sell! I doubt selling against a market full of debt owned by the big builders would be a smart move. things are in dire straights in that lovely little hamlet by the sea! Made a few visitis there to see an old friend whom likes the very slow pace of life. Nice town but I would never want to live there, not even consider it!. Torch it and save youself what might be some problems as the place is now monikered.. "Trouble in Paradise"

[Burgernev]

Houses are NOT sellsing in HH right now and probably forever

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

While you are waiting for an agent to take up interest in selling your house, why not advertise privately?

Doesn't cost much to advertise in the papers, I'm sure there would be many internet sites with free listings (inc. this one in the classifieds section) and a few small signs strategically loacted around town.

Not much money & a little bit of your time.

Cheers.

Houses are NOT sellsing in HH right now and probably forever...... too many problems there and from the reports seems to be comingled within in the industry as to builder, sellers and ad people. Considering what happened there last month have you should think about getting it heavly insured and the just have it burnt to the ground! If the place is cost you over 5Mill Baht it aid going to sell! I doubt selling against a market full of debt owned by the big builders would be a smart move. things are in dire straights in that lovely little hamlet by the sea! Made a few visitis there to see an old friend whom likes the very slow pace of life. Nice town but I would never want to live there, not even consider it!. Torch it and save youself what might be some problems as the place is now monikered.. "Trouble in Paradise"

As a rule concrete and tile do not burn, so your idea of torching a place does not make any sense. Unless you haven't noticed property is not selling anywhere at the moment. For someone who has visited a few times you seem to know a lot about the area.

[ThaiPauly]

Unfortunatley you have to factor in the "second hand" problem when trying to sell.

Most Farangs that are in the market are hooked up with Thais...they do not like second hand because they beleive in ghosts.

In CM I have seen some unbeleivable bargains, probably priced at 50% of their build price.....all still for sale...because they are second hand, even though some are only a few years old.

One property was absolutley breathtaking....but was built 5 houses along from a Chinese cemetary........that one is gonna take litterally a "life time" to sell

[Bochum]

Unfortunatley you have to factor in the "second hand" problem when trying to sell.

Most Farangs that are in the market are hooked up with Thais...they do not like second hand because they beleive in ghosts.

In CM I have seen some unbeleivable bargains, probably priced at 50% of their build price.....all still for sale...because they are second hand, even though some are only a few years old.

One property was absolutley breathtaking....but was built 5 houses along from a Chinese cemetary........that one is gonna take litterally a "life time" to sell

Sensible answer at last.

Truth as a whole, nothing is selling.

Reason's;

World economy, Thai political situation, Foriegner's cannot buy land so can now only lease.

The only people stating the opposite are Estae Agents, Developer's and Builder's, many of which have posted here.

[GayGordon]

Unfortunatley you have to factor in the "second hand" problem when trying to sell.

Most Farangs that are in the market are hooked up with Thais...they do not like second hand because they beleive in ghosts.

In CM I have seen some unbeleivable bargains, probably priced at 50% of their build price.....all still for sale...because they are second hand, even though some are only a few years old.

One property was absolutley breathtaking....but was built 5 houses along from a Chinese cemetary........that one is gonna take litterally a "life time" to sell

Well id buy near a cemetary if the price was right, wouldnt bother me in the least that someone was trying to put the willies up me !

[Burgernev]

Truth as a whole, nothing is selling.

Reason's;

World economy, Thai political situation, Foriegner's cannot buy land so can now only lease.

There are some sales still happening but very few and far between due to world economy and exchange rate. Don't believe much is down to land ownership as half the customers that come are not even aware of limited companies, leases, 30+30+30's, they just don't seem to have done any homework on it, and just go with what the lawyer advises. Obviously some dont even come to an agent due to this, but then they never would have when it was booming.

The buyers you see lately are ex-pat workers in mid-east, HK and Singapore and elderly wealthy Skandi's who all seem to have cash and do not need to re-mortgage back home etc. They are looking to pick up bargains (as is norm in depressed market) but they are 20-25% down straight away due to exchange rate. Many want to do deals on the exchange rate, developer take risk, they take risk by deferring building much later in the hope the rates improve their way.

Forcast: Many sites will be left half-built (the developers without proper funds behind them), many developers and agents will close up, many people with cash will be looking to pick up their land etc ready for when it all starts off again. Positive may be that it eliminates some of those that do not really have the set-up/backing to be involved in handling peoples life saving etc.

That's how I honestly see it, am involved but honest views.

Burgernev

Edited November 24, 2008 by Burgernev

[ThaiPauly]

Unfortunatley you have to factor in the "second hand" problem when trying to sell.

Most Farangs that are in the market are hooked up with Thais...they do not like second hand because they beleive in ghosts.

In CM I have seen some unbeleivable bargains, probably priced at 50% of their build price.....all still for sale...because they are second hand, even though some are only a few years old.

One property was absolutley breathtaking....but was built 5 houses along from a Chinese cemetary........that one is gonna take litterally a "life time" to sell

Well id buy near a cemetary if the price was right, wouldnt bother me in the least that someone was trying to put the willies up me !

Me too, mee too, I showed my Wife the pictures on the web site and she loved it...then I told her where it was ...the end

Trouble is YOU can't buy it if you wanted too (assuming you are single).....but if you are not ask your other half if she would buy in such a location?

[pauleddy]

I have been offered a bungalow (3 beds but one is small) just out of central Cha Am, off the Klontean Road. It is said to be 5 mins from the beach and about 2 mins from the hospital. It is in a normal soi with other bungalows. Soi Tarun wattana. It looks OK but the woman wants 3.3-3.5m. She says it was valued at 3.6. and that she could ask 4.0m.

I told her its a buyer's market now.

Sorry I dont know the exact place, but is this a good deal? I think that it has been on sale for quite a while. I know that it is hard to give perfect advice, but generally???

Is that beach (at 5 min) any good? Full of jellyfish and/or Thais?

Is the hospital private/public/good reputation? My partner has a small heart problem.

Is the area a dump?

Eddy

[pothai]

I have been offered a bungalow (3 beds but one is small) just out of central Cha Am, off the Klontean Road. It is said to be 5 mins from the beach and about 2 mins from the hospital. It is in a normal soi with other bungalows. Soi Tarun wattana. It looks OK but the woman wants 3.3-3.5m. She says it was valued at 3.6. and that she could ask 4.0m.

I told her its a buyer's market now.

Sorry I dont know the exact place, but is this a good deal? I think that it has been on sale for quite a while. I know that it is hard to give perfect advice, but generally???

Is that beach (at 5 min) any good? Full of jellyfish and/or Thais?

Is the hospital private/public/good reputation? My partner has a small heart problem.

Is the area a dump?

Eddy

That is expensive, I know the houses in question. You should take a better look around. The Klong Tian area is fast becoming the place to build, land isnt that cheap but it is considered the better part of Cha am. Hospitol road is cheaper, Ban Tawan is off the hospitol road, very nice developement but start around 6.5 mil. Why not consider buying land and building yourself....you get the house you want and you save money. 3 bed 2 bathroom, good build with western kitchen and good furniture will only cost around 1.2 mil thats for 160sqm of house, pcc bricks dmac plaster, quality windows doors, marble and granite finishings....if you can wait 4-6 months, you can easily get half a rai for under a mil, makes total cost around 2 mil

[hhfarang]

I have been offered a bungalow (3 beds but one is small) just out of central Cha Am, off the Klontean Road. It is said to be 5 mins from the beach and about 2 mins from the hospital. It is in a normal soi with other bungalows. Soi Tarun wattana. It looks OK but the woman wants 3.3-3.5m. She says it was valued at 3.6. and that she could ask 4.0m.

I told her its a buyer's market now.

Sorry I dont know the exact place, but is this a good deal? I think that it has been on sale for quite a while. I know that it is hard to give perfect advice, but generally???

Is that beach (at 5 min) any good? Full of jellyfish and/or Thais?

Is the hospital private/public/good reputation? My partner has a small heart problem.

Is the area a dump?

Eddy

That is expensive, I know the houses in question. You should take a better look around. The Klong Tian area is fast becoming the place to build, land isnt that cheap but it is considered the better part of Cha am. Hospitol road is cheaper, Ban Tawan is off the hospitol road, very nice developement but start around 6.5 mil. Why not consider buying land and building yourself....you get the house you want and you save money. 3 bed 2 bathroom, good build with western kitchen and good furniture will only cost around 1.2 mil thats for 160sqm of house, pcc bricks dmac plaster, quality windows doors, marble and granite finishings....if you can wait 4-6 months, you can easily get half a rai for under a mil, makes total cost around 2 mil

Yes, building is better, if you can handle the hassle, and if you are here to oversee the project every day, and if you know something about building so you'll see it when something is going wrong, and if you can find a trustworthy builder.

I hired a builder to build my 585 sq mt house on 2 rai of land. The whole thing was supposed to cost 7 million and be completed in 8 months. Two years later the builder walked out on me without finishing and I had to finish the house by hiring sub-contractors by myself. The 8 month house took nearly 3 years to finish and ended up costing nearly twice the original budget...

...so you can go that route, or you can buy an already built home and you can see what you are getting and you don't have to go through the nightmare of stress that many of us have.

Both ways have their advantages and disadvantages. It just depends on your willingness to do your homework and your level of patience.

[monkeytunes]

I have been offered a bungalow (3 beds but one is small) just out of central Cha Am, off the Klontean Road. It is said to be 5 mins from the beach and about 2 mins from the hospital. It is in a normal soi with other bungalows. Soi Tarun wattana. It looks OK but the woman wants 3.3-3.5m. She says it was valued at 3.6. and that she could ask 4.0m.

I told her its a buyer's market now.

Sorry I dont know the exact place, but is this a good deal? I think that it has been on sale for quite a while. I know that it is hard to give perfect advice, but generally???

Is that beach (at 5 min) any good? Full of jellyfish and/or Thais?

Is the hospital private/public/good reputation? My partner has a small heart problem.

Is the area a dump?

Eddy

That is expensive, I know the houses in question. You should take a better look around. The Klong Tian area is fast becoming the place to build, land isnt that cheap but it is considered the better part of Cha am. Hospitol road is cheaper, Ban Tawan is off the hospitol road, very nice developement but start around 6.5 mil. Why not consider buying land and building yourself....you get the house you want and you save money. 3 bed 2 bathroom, good build with western kitchen and good furniture will only cost around 1.2 mil thats for 160sqm of house, pcc bricks dmac plaster, quality windows doors, marble and granite finishings....if you can wait 4-6 months, you can easily get half a rai for under a mil, makes total cost around 2 mil

Yes, building is better, if you can handle the hassle, and if you are here to oversee the project every day, and if you know something about building so you'll see it when something is going wrong, and if you can find a trustworthy builder.

I hired a builder to build my 585 sq mt house on 2 rai of land. The whole thing was supposed to cost 7 million and be completed in 8 months. Two years later the builder walked out on me without finishing and I had to finish the house by hiring sub-contractors by myself. The 8 month house took nearly 3 years to finish and ended up costing nearly twice the original budget...

...so you can go that route, or you can buy an already built home and you can see what you are getting and you don't have to go through the nightmare of stress that many of us have.

Both ways have their advantages and disadvantages. It just depends on your willingness to do your homework and your level of patience.

Id opt for a ready built home, like you say there pluses and minuses both ways, but with the stories you hear, im my view its best to know what your getting.

[Nignoy]

Unfortunatley you have to factor in the "second hand" problem when trying to sell.

Most Farangs that are in the market are hooked up with Thais...they do not like second hand because they beleive in ghosts.

In CM I have seen some unbeleivable bargains, probably priced at 50% of their build price.....all still for sale...because they are second hand, even though some are only a few years old.

One property was absolutley breathtaking....but was built 5 houses along from a Chinese cemetary........that one is gonna take litterally a "life time" to sell

Well id buy near a cemetary if the price was right, wouldnt bother me in the least that someone was trying to put the willies up me !

Cemetaries are the dead centre of town

[chiangmaibruce]

Well we just got back from a week and a half exploring Hua Hin and Cha-am for the first time. We looked at quite a number of properties for rent as we are considering a temporary change of address. So our comments on agents are from that perspective only. (I would also note that we didn't just rely on agents to source places)

Anyway the two agencies that we dealt with were "Hot Property" and HuaHinThaiProperty Co. We found both helpful in terms of willingness to show us places with no pressure attached, but the latter agents HuaHinThai were (outwardly at least) the most professional I have dealt with in Thailand. For each rental property they had a very detailed fact sheet and pic/s. Both agencies had a selection of good cheaper places also, and didn't turn up their nose when we asked to be shown them. I would note that many of these were new or near new properties.

I would also note that several owners we met (in company or not in the company of agents) offered to drop the price before we even hinted they do so. Initially we only found good cheaper places some kms inland but we later found you can also get townhouses closer to the beach if you put in the legwork .... even below 10,000 month if you can live without aircon!

[PeaceBlondie]

Great! Maybe we should pin this forever! We also found an honest used car salesman in Chiang Mai, and I think somewhere there is an honest lawyer.