Online Resources For Chiang Mai Rentals

[girlx]

i am looking to rent a house in chiang mai. i have found a few by wandering around, but nothing just right yet. are there any online resources for rentals here that don't charge you (ie. agents)? i have looked on the classifieds here and on bahtsold. also craigslist. are there any that i am missing? i am interested in rentals within the old city.

[drtreelove]

i am looking to rent a house in chiang mai. i have found a few by wandering around, but nothing just right yet. are there any online resources for rentals here that don't charge you (ie. agents)? i have looked on the classifieds here and on bahtsold. also craigslist. are there any that i am missing? i am interested in rentals within the old city.

Don't hesitate to call agents, most do not charge the prospective renter, they get their commission from the property owner.

Also look at www.chiangmaiclassifieds.net

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected],

[elektrified]

i am looking to rent a house in chiang mai. i have found a few by wandering around, but nothing just right yet. are there any online resources for rentals here that don't charge you (ie. agents)? i have looked on the classifieds here and on bahtsold. also craigslist. are there any that i am missing? i am interested in rentals within the old city.

There is also Chiang Mai Citylife (chiangmainews.com), but honestly you will find the place that suits you the best just by wandering around the moobaans and looking. Many people with rental properties do not advertise. They just stick a sign out front. I found my house that way. There is a huge surplus of rental properties in Chiang Mai right now. If you go through an agent, they will tack on a monthly commission for themselves. There are great houses out there for 5-7K/month. Through an agent they up the price to around 9-10K. Try the Thai rental websites as well.

[drtreelove]

i am looking to rent a house in chiang mai. i have found a few by wandering around, but nothing just right yet. are there any online resources for rentals here that don't charge you (ie. agents)? i have looked on the classifieds here and on bahtsold. also craigslist. are there any that i am missing? i am interested in rentals within the old city.

There is also Chiang Mai Citylife (chiangmainews.com), but honestly you will find the place that suits you the best just by wandering around the moobaans and looking. Many people with rental properties do not advertise. They just stick a sign out front. I found my house that way. There is a huge surplus of rental properties in Chiang Mai right now. If you go through an agent, they will tack on a monthly commission for themselves. There are great houses out there for 5-7K/month. Through an agent they up the price to around 9-10K. Try the Thai rental websites as well.

Electrified, Your badmouthing of agents is not necessarily true. Anything is possible, but most agents do not set the price, the owner sets the price for the rental. The agent gets a commission based on one month rental value not by inflating the price and taking the difference. But most agents are not interested in listing lower priced properties because of all the work that it involves. Some list any and all price ranges. It is not in the agents best interest to encourage the owner to inflate the price, that would make the property harder to rent.

People use agents to more efficiently search available properties that fit their requirements. The "wander around the moobans" approach is not acceptable for all. don

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Don't hesitate to call agents, most do not charge the prospective renter, they get their commission from the property owner.

While that's true, it's also true that you simply don't see reasonable rents at agents. So indeed it may not be the agent's fault, it may be the mind set of the renters who think "I'll use meself an agent so I can charge 20,000 baht for my 3 bedroom 50 tarang wa home in that derelict compound".

So one way ot the other the fact remains that you see very little under 10,000 rent at agents, whereas just looking around by yourself in fact MOST rents are under 10,000 or can be negotiated to that level pretty swiftly. (More for really nice homes obviously)

Girlx, I would recommend to also have a look around at the compounds around town.. rents are really very low there compared to in town.

[cmsally]

Having traipsed around (3 months ago) with a friend who was also looking for a rental in the old city or near, there doesn't seem to be a lot available and most are not listed with agents.

Most are word of mouth or have sign on the gate. In this area seems to be a case of look and ask. No, she didn't find anything suitable.

[realthaideal]

Hey Girl X

I was an agent for a big company a cpl yrs ago, but don't do that anymore really. In genreal, I can't be bothered.

Everything everyone has said is right, except for the person saying the prices get inflated by agents. Everybody does always get a commission, as it's fair and ppl put in some effort, but prices are rarely tacked up higher just by an agent. Of course the other person saying that many ppl simply want to overcharge on their props is correct to, many folks simply overvalue here in CM.

I do believe that rather than tacking on extra thousands per mo, the owner understands that to pay one month's rent worth of commission on a year rental is better than have some place go unrented for 1-4 mo's waiting for someone to wander by (loss of several mo’s $$, vs paying out just one to an agent). Of course that’s with logic being applied, and not everybody here uses logic all that well as we know. But for most ppl, they know it's actually a good deal for them, and puts money in everybody's pockets while helping you find a place.

I do want to echo what somebody else said about online ads and low rental rates. It's alot of effort to take pix, details, etc, and get them from Thai to good Eng, and then post them, espec when 3-4 agents might all be listing the same property, and the cheap ones may be gone in 2-3 days because of demand. All that effort goes poof! However, since these work as eye candy and often lure in the Farang, they're kept up for periods of time after they're already gone just to get you in the door and talking to them. So even finding on online listing may not be anything more than illusion from 3 mo’s past anyway. Lower priced places are best found in your own personal search on the streets or by connections.

If you want to know of a few places I know of from 6-10k/mo please pm me. All 3 BR in quiet neighborhoods, 10 mins from the city. Otherwise good luck.

Remember to take phone, camera, pen and paper out while driving on your property hunt so you can think and compare later as the houses all get to be a big jumble otherwise.

[elektrified]

Don't hesitate to call agents, most do not charge the prospective renter, they get their commission from the property owner.

While that's true, it's also true that you simply don't see reasonable rents at agents. So indeed it may not be the agent's fault, it may be the mind set of the renters who think "I'll use meself an agent so I can charge 20,000 baht for my 3 bedroom 50 tarang wa home in that derelict compound".

So one way ot the other the fact remains that you see very little under 10,000 rent at agents, whereas just looking around by yourself in fact MOST rents are under 10,000 or can be negotiated to that level pretty swiftly. (More for really nice homes obviously)

Girlx, I would recommend to also have a look around at the compounds around town.. rents are really very low there compared to in town.

That's really what I meant.

[drtreelove]

Don't hesitate to call agents, most do not charge the prospective renter, they get their commission from the property owner.

While that's true, it's also true that you simply don't see reasonable rents at agents. So indeed it may not be the agent's fault, it may be the mind set of the renters who think "I'll use meself an agent so I can charge 20,000 baht for my 3 bedroom 50 tarang wa home in that derelict compound".

So one way ot the other the fact remains that you see very little under 10,000 rent at agents, whereas just looking around by yourself in fact MOST rents are under 10,000 or can be negotiated to that level pretty swiftly. (More for really nice homes obviously)

Girlx, I would recommend to also have a look around at the compounds around town.. rents are really very low there compared to in town.

This is true; the rents outside of town are usually a much better value. We rent a 3 bedroom house in Mae Jo for 6000/month; it's 30 minutes from the old city by car. My wife is an agent and she has several places in our area in that price range, but none in the old city.

In observing her work I must say that the business ethics on the part of property owners is pitiful. The owners see a farang coming and they immediately want more for the rental or sale price. They often change their mind and up the price in the middle of a contract signing. More often than not she has to try and get them to be realistic and ask a reasonable price, it's as if they are oblivious to the economic situation or to common sense marketing. She puts a lot of time and energy into putting together a deal and then they try to stiff her on the commission. That's why most agents don't want properties that rent for less than 10,000; even if you have a signed contract, how much is an attorney going to cost to collect a 5000 baht commission.

Renter should be aware that Thai property owners usually do nothing for building maintenance and repairs, so watch your back and get a clear agreement in writing as to who pays for what, and get this before you put down your deposit or you may see a change of face when the time comes. Check everything that is important to you like water pressure, garbage pick up or a place to take it, drains and septic system, screens and locks. Look for water stains in the ceiling or look at the property in the middle of a heavy rain and check for roof leaks or you may be stuck with the repairs yourself. A good bi-lingual rental contract sample is attached. This is much better than the bookstore contract that most owners use.

rental_contract.pdf

Edited April 15, 2009 by drtreelove

[girlx]

thanks for the info... but really i am looking in the old town, not outside of it. i will keep walking around.