30% Of Expat Condo Buyers Have Forfieted Thier Deposits

[misterman21]

Fron page BKK Post (or was it the Nation) reported that 20 to 30% of condo buyers have forfieted their deposits. Rather than pay upto 30% more due to exchange rates together with the falling value of property they have just walked away!

Looks like many projects will be left in limbo The future projection is also to get worse

[Jingthing]

Thailand is just catching up to the west. Maybe the "domino theory" was correct after all ...

[sanmiguel]

So there will be lots of property on the market minus the 10-40% deposit ...... i think not.

Many of these buyers would have been the brainless investors who thought property would only go up 10-15% every year from now until eternity, thus making property unaffordable for honest working people who wish only to have a property to live in.

I for one am glad these people have lost this money.

Read www.housepricecrash.co.uk for what the people think of Buy to Let investors

[Isee]

So there will be lots of property on the market minus the 10-40% deposit ...... i think not.

Many of these buyers would have been the brainless investors who thought property would only go up 10-15% every year from now until eternity, thus making property unaffordable for honest working people who wish only to have a property to live in.

I for one am glad these people have lost this money.

Read www.housepricecrash.co.uk for what the people think of Buy to Let investors

Huge assumption there buddy which makes me question your "brains". I know of people who have walked away from a contract because it doesn't make financial sense to continue with it - so they are hardly "brainless investors". These people were looking at having a permanent place in Thailand for their frequent holidays and had no expectations of your imaginary figure of "10-15% every year" increase. Also interesting your comments on what you say makes you happy...

[cclub75]

He said "many "... not "all "

And I share his joy : common sense, at last, prevails over the childish magical thinking... "unlimited growth of prices and volume, for the property market, until the end of times, where do I sign ?".

The global crash is not a blessing, something supernatural. Just a perfectly logical consequence of the insanity of people.

For that matter, if property prices are certainly going down, the... IQ level of the global population will increase. Who could complain ? It's healthy.

Edited March 4, 2009 by cclub75

[midas]

He said "many "... not "all "

And I share his joy : common sense, at last, prevails over the childish magical thinking... "unlimited growth of prices and volume, for the property market, until the end of times, where do I sign ?".

The global crash is not a blessing, something supernatural. Just a perfectly logical consequence of the insanity of people.

For that matter, if property prices are certainly going down, the... IQ level of the global population will increase. Who could complain ? It's healthy.

So here we are-and evidently in Thailand the market has already bottomed

once again ! It's true -Thailand has the most resilient real estate market in the whole world

But hold on a minute -who are the ones who have walked away from their deposits?

Signs of improvement lead to launch of new projects

By Somluck Srimalee

The Nation

"I think this is a good time for home-buyers to be buying a residence - when most property developers have launched marketing campaigns to boost their sales in the first quarter," he said.

The top 10 property developers in the Thai market are preparing to launch new residential projects worth more than Bt30 billion as they glimpse what some believe are the first signs of improvement in home-buyer confidence

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/03/04...ss_30097094.php

Edited March 4, 2009 by midas

[torrenova]

A sad joke. The worst has yet to come.

[think_too_mut]

So there will be lots of property on the market minus the 10-40% deposit ...... i think not.

Many of these buyers would have been the brainless investors who thought property would only go up 10-15% every year from now until eternity, thus making property unaffordable for honest working people who wish only to have a property to live in.

I for one am glad these people have lost this money.

Read www.housepricecrash.co.uk for what the people think of Buy to Let investors

Huge assumption there buddy which makes me question your "brains". I know of people who have walked away from a contract because it doesn't make financial sense to continue with it - so they are hardly "brainless investors". These people were looking at having a permanent place in Thailand for their frequent holidays and had no expectations of your imaginary figure of "10-15% every year" increase.

Yeah...especially those who bought 2,3 or more places in the same block. I know of one who bought six.

To alternate while on "their frequent holidays"?

(prakard dot com is full, thousands and thousands of people who are scrambling to sell their problem at any price.)

[flying]

Same thing is happening elsewhere

Places like Dubai where they have debtors prison

The airport is full of luxury cars left behind like their condos unpaid.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle5663618.ece

The thing about this in TL is many projects will stop in their tracks & be uncompleted.

I doubt any other investors get a return on their deposits as it is probably spent getting the

project to where it stands still now.

This problem will not be limited to TL thats for sure.

On the other hand when it comes to already completed & owned units there may be some

great deals available soon enough.

Edited March 5, 2009 by flying

[wasabi]

Riots are coming.

[Isee]

Yeah...especially those who bought 2,3 or more places in the same block. I know of one who bought six.

To alternate while on "their frequent holidays"?

(prakard dot com is full, thousands and thousands of people who are scrambling to sell their problem at any price.)

This is where we get into arguments as to what the breadth of sanmiguel's post was. I don't even know why you are quoting me on my reference to somebody taking frequent holidays - is this an unknown concept for you? Feel free to replace holidays with trips wherever appropriate. Does it not make sense that if you go to Thailand frequently and/or for extended periods there starts to become benefits in having your own pad as opposed to staying in a hotel all the time?

Now I accept your point about people who have bought multiple condos in the same development. If you are talking about people who were trying to "flip" the units before transfer - all they did was take a risk. That risk was heightened if they had no ability to actually be in a position to effect transfer - so they took the gamble. Who knows why they took that gamble...was it pure greed?....was it ill advice?....was it an attempt to follow others?? If we were talking face to face, I could rattle off various examples or theories to explain my point but on a forum I doubt most would read such a long post.

The point I'm making here is that these people were investing money for a perceived return on that investment. Why is that different to any other business model?? OK, you don't have to feel sorry for them, but why take delight in it?? But...maybe some sort of acknowledgment could be made to a scenario where the condo was to be finished last year at a time when forex was high but due to construction delays now find themselves with a 30% (or so) price increase. Ohhh OK, sanmiguel was talking about "most people"...what percentage is that again as it appears that I'm a bit vague on the term "most".

I disagree with your statement "scrambling to sell their problem at any price" - the market will show that to be false. Some farangs who intend to return the sale proceeds overseas have woken up to the fact that they can reduce their asking price and still return a profit. Those who intend to keep the money in Thailand are less flexible in their sale price. If there is any other reduced prices, you will probably find that the initial prices were too high (or too high now) and they are just reducing their profit margin. Don't hold your breath in prices falling where you could consider a property to be a steal. Mortgagee in Possession sales are where the prices will be most flexible, but don't count on expecting too much because what are you trying to do?? take advantage of a market - something identical to those who believed in investing in the first place. On that point I would welcome anyone to tell me the diffrence between the two type of "investors".

[think_too_mut]

Yeah...especially those who bought 2,3 or more places in the same block. I know of one who bought six.

To alternate while on "their frequent holidays"?

(prakard dot com is full, thousands and thousands of people who are scrambling to sell their problem at any price.)

This is where we get into arguments as to what the breadth of sanmiguel's post was. I don't even know why you are quoting me on my reference to somebody taking frequent holidays - is this an unknown concept for you? Feel free to replace holidays with trips wherever appropriate. Does it not make sense that if you go to Thailand frequently and/or for extended periods there starts to become benefits in having your own pad as opposed to staying in a hotel all the time?

For frequent trips, it does NOT make sense. How could it (unless you have someone to live in it)?

Even if the trips are as frequent as 1 in 3 weeks that will see me mopping floors that got covered with a layer of black dust over past 2 weeks, dusting off the furniture and other cleaning after whatever long the flight I had had.

Another thing, unless self employed, a company paying hotels would enable me to stock up a nice amount of frequent guest points to use in other hotels in the chain.

What I bought was in an anticipation that for whole family stay ( 2 months in summer and 2 weeks in winter worth of stay per year) would justify the money over 8 years, assuming that comparable level of comfort (although at a smaller place and not own hone) would cost at least 100US$ a day.

Since September 2008. the added bonus is that I know where to go, wait and live cheaply if there is a job loss.

I am not watching price movements, the only concern I have is that the place does not turn into a slum, which is highly unlikely.

As long as the building is completed, I would not have walked away from the deposit no matter what. That's the difference between me and those who did.

Have their stays became less frequent and/or got shorter? Possibly, but looks more likely they were greedy and wanted more than just "their own pad for frequent stays".

Edited March 5, 2009 by think_too_mut

[midas]

For frequent trips, it does NOT make sense. How could it (unless you have someone to live in it)?

Even if the trips are as frequent as 1 in 3 weeks that will see me mopping floors that got covered with a layer of black dust over past 2 weeks, dusting off the furniture and other cleaning after whatever long the flight I had had.

Agreed.

Alternatively you have a significant number of excellent serviced apartment companies throughout Bangkok

which provide you with much more convenience and flexibility than occupying your own condominium

as a temporary visitor.

[LTGTR]

Fron page BKK Post (or was it the Nation) reported that 20 to 30% of condo buyers have forfieted their deposits. Rather than pay upto 30% more due to exchange rates together with the falling value of property they have just walked away!

Looks like many projects will be left in limbo The future projection is also to get worse

Unless they were US buyers and their deposit has actually INCREASED in value.

[flying]

For frequent trips, it does NOT make sense. How could it (unless you have someone to live in it)?

Even if the trips are as frequent as 1 in 3 weeks that will see me mopping floors that got covered with a layer of black dust over past 2 weeks, dusting off the furniture and other cleaning after whatever long the flight I had had.

I dont know but I agree with Isee on this

We have a condo here that we visit only once a year sometimes. Yes we do stay a few months when we come but.... It is not dusty or dirty when we arrive.

Although this time we are installing a screen on the balcony to keep birds out of that area.

But inside is fine. Now looking at the price compared to what a like quality hotel room would run & I would have to say it is one of the better investments of my life & I have had many as a contractor.

Now a house would be a horse of a different color & as much as I prefer a house I would not own one & leave it unattended for that long of a period. Our home in our other country is well tended as my son lives next door.

Edited March 5, 2009 by flying

[sanmiguel]

Isee - If people who live and work in Thailand bought to live there and cant pay due to either losing their jobs, a drop in salary due to the exchange rates then i feel genuinely sorry for them and its a personal tragedy.

However second home owners like you have mentioned, the ones that have made property prices unaffordable for locals in most nice countryside areas and places such as Devon, Cornwall and Dorset. Then i'm glad they lost there money, and no i dont believe you that they didnt buy thinking property prices would keep on rising and theyd make a nice tidy profit from their INVESTMENT..... not that there is anything wrong in that ..... but theyve taken the gamble and lost, lets not hear any pity for wealthy people when they lose in capitalistic gamble.

[sanmiguel]

Huge assumption there buddy which makes me question your "brains".

Question them all you like but ive been selling crap off plan property round the world for the last few years to dumb investors who think theyre entrepreneurs because they made imaginary money on their property in the UK or Ireland and i see how arrogant these people are, <deleted> developers are making 100-200% profit from them in some cases, this is where all the profit is, not in their future sales

Ive been stashing my 5% commissions to buy when property becomes affordable, but it does look like with inflation coming next year due to Quantitative easing it'll be time to buy in the UK soon.

I know of people who have walked away from a contract because it doesn't make financial sense to continue with it - so they are hardly "brainless investors".

What does it make them then? as it certainly isnt a smart investor.

Also interesting your comments on what you say makes you happy...

Of course it makes me happy that property prices are crashing, it means i can afford a permanent place to live at a relative to wages amount, along with many workers who just want 1 place to live, i love seeing the look on the faces of the dumb fcuks who remortgaged several years ago to buy the 2nd place to rent out thus making property unaffordable for most now theyre deep in the sh7t.

REPEAT THIS - LOW PRICED PROPERTY IS A GREAT THING, AS IT MEANS MORE MONEY TO INVEST IN THE WIDER ECONOMY, THUS CREATING JOBS.