Good Houses In Chiang Mai

[scorecard]

I'm seriously thinking of moving the family permanently from Bkk to Chiang Mai.

I've lived in Thailand more than 20 years, we've all been to Chiang Mai about 20 times, so know the layout and the feel of the city, many places of interest, markets, schools etc., fairly well.

Interested to buy a house inside a housing development. Hopefully 2 levels, 4 bedroom, western style kitchen, and hopefully within say 10 kilometres of the city centre, in price range of say 5 million Baht including furniture (5 million is just a starting guess, and I'm not sure If I'm being realistic about prices). Not looking for very high end super luxury, just something very comfortable, good quality, nice surroundings. Also interested in second hand, fairly new, in good condition.

Would appreicate if any Chiang Mai members can suggest some websites etc., to start looking at and would you please share any positives or negatives your aware of with individual development companies.

Thanks.

[OOB]

We got our rental through http://www.chiangmaihouse.com. Worth looking at the web site, even if you don't use them.

[underpaid1]

hi,

i have a friend who can show you some houses that fit your criteria. her name is khun nok, 053-872128. just let her know i sent you her way.

regards,

john

[Sparkles]

I'm seriously thinking of moving the family permanently from Bkk to Chiang Mai.

I've lived in Thailand more than 20 years, we've all been to Chiang Mai about 20 times, so know the layout and the feel of the city, many places of interest, markets, schools etc., fairly well.

Interested to buy a house inside a housing development. Hopefully 2 levels, 4 bedroom, western style kitchen, and hopefully within say 10 kilometres of the city centre, in price range of say 5 million Baht including furniture (5 million is just a starting guess, and I'm not sure If I'm being realistic about prices). Not looking for very high end super luxury, just something very comfortable, good quality, nice surroundings. Also interested in second hand, fairly new, in good condition.

Would appreicate if any Chiang Mai members can suggest some websites etc., to start looking at and would you please share any positives or negatives your aware of with individual development companies.

Thanks.

There are loads and loads of houses in that price range .There are listings with Agents but in my experience most people sell with just a sign on the gate and a phone number to contact. Alternatively if you find a village you like the sales office or administration blockwill give you a hand. Best to rent for while and do the rounds.Time consuming yes but you will find what you want for sure. If you have lived in Bangkok for a while you sure will appreciate the difference.

[elektrified]

If you've lived in Thailand for 20 years as you say you have, then you should know that foreigners can not purchase or own real property in Thailand. So dream on.

There are many rentals available at the moment that fit your criteria.

[scorecard]

If you've lived in Thailand for 20 years as you say you have, then you should know that foreigners can not purchase or own real property in Thailand. So dream on.

There are many rentals available at the moment that fit your criteria.

Thanks for your quick and informative message, however I am well aware that foreigners cannot own land in Thailand.

The house will be bought in the name of my adult son, who is a Thai citizen.

[Greenside]

If you've lived in Thailand for 20 years as you say you have, then you should know that foreigners can not purchase or own real property in Thailand. So dream on.

There are many rentals available at the moment that fit your criteria.

Thanks for your quick and informative message, however I am well aware that foreigners cannot own land in Thailand.

The house will be bought in the name of my adult son, who is a Thai citizen.

Welcome to the Chiang Mai forum.

Bring your sense of humour with you....

There are plenty of places but renting for a while really is the best way to go. 10 or 15km out of town can be rural bliss but many find trekking in and out more of a chore than they expected.

[DavidOxon]

HI there

don't know if this meets your requirements (First house)

http://missionhouse.webs.com/homesforsalepage2.htm

I know the guy who's selling it and I'm sure

he'd be willing to drop the price a little

David

[latelyo]

Several houses for sale and for rent in Chiang Mai here

[getgoin]

If you've lived in Thailand for 20 years as you say you have, then you should know that foreigners can not purchase or own real property in Thailand. So dream on.

There are many rentals available at the moment that fit your criteria.

Thanks for your quick and informative message, however I am well aware that foreigners cannot own land in Thailand.

The house will be bought in the name of my adult son, who is a Thai citizen.

Thank you for clearing that up so we don't have anyone else wetting themselves.

Plenty of rentals and homes to buy. It's a buyer's market.

[0zz1]

Hello there,

10-15 km is a lot in CM... pretty much covers the whole area... best is if you rent a house for 1 year and go around and find the moo bahn you like first. 5 million should also buy you pretty good house already there are plenty of variety for that price.

Moo Bahn with swimming pool and gym here are some. (nice ones i think)

Canal Road

Home In Park

Lanna Pinary Home

Bahn Nai Fan

Emperor 1

Siwali

Kulaphan Ville 8

There are some new ones coming like Masterpiece.. and some other ones.

If you moving out from Bangkok then you don't want to live on Hang Dong road (mini sukhumvit when it comes to traffic).

Anyway if you like sitting in a traffic lights perhaps: Kulapahan Ville 9 and Manthanaa on HD rd.

Anyway just drive around and find the area first. I moved from BKK to here 3 years ago and love it!

[funcat]

We live in the Mae Rim area,much less traffic here,nice surroundings,some new development areas(like around the Prem School),but military land prevents the future big population subdivisions,which is good,I think.Welcome to contact me,can show you arround...

[doppa]

we live in land and house, it's rather large but so far , and we've visited it a few, seems to be one of the better ones, 20mins from everywhere really, and for around 4.3m, a new house, decent garden, probably only 3 beds, but nice living space, 2 car parking, however for around 8m, you can have a super duper size house.

north of chiangmai, a couple of miles before maejo, on the 1001 i think.

[scorecard]

My sincere thanks for all the great replies which has given me quite a swag of homework and follow up, but that's of course what I was hoping for, and the information you have all supplied instantly gives me some good focus.

And yes, sense of humour still intact.

To be honest our initial thoughts were to move within a few months but my son has just discovered (yesterday) that if he adds an international year to his current 5 year bachelor degree in Sports Science (almost completed) he can get half of the necessary credits to gain his masters, so that may well slow down the moving date.

Let me share that I have lived and worked in Thailand well over 20 years, mostly in Bkk. Alone and then for many years as a family we have visited CM at least 4 or 5 times a year. Songkran in CM every year for our family is 'compulsory'.

We have all fallen in love with the gentler more friendly lifestyle, social behaviors etc., of CM people compared to Bkk (But well aware of course that there is no perfect city/place in the world - utopia does not exist).

The main drivers of this move are my son and his wife who want their young daughter to grow up in CM rather than Bkk. But I'm also keen to make the move.

Any constructive observations are very welcome. Esecially any information about good quality bi-lingual schools, my granddaughter will probably enter at 1st year of Pathom (Primary).

Again, thanks for all the replies which are very much appreciated.

Kind regards

Alan

[funcat]

Alan,the Prem School,that I've mention in my post above is one of the best in the country...but quite expensive.

[Patmlch]

Alan,

As a real estate agent and sponsor of this forum, I see a lot of properties here, and there is a huge variety available. However, you need to be careful. There is a wide range of build quality here also. Many moobans (not all) require any house to be built by one designated builder, or else the owner has to pay a "fine" of up to 30% of the building cost. This obviously doesn't do much for the build quality you can expect.

One reply to your original post listed several moobans that could offer you what you want. However, I have personal experience of living in one of them (I'm currently renting in Emperor 1, while my house is being built elsewhere) and the build quality is appalling.

Similarly, there are some moobans where some houses within the mooban have been very nicely maintained and other houses have not been looked after at all.

The bottom line is - you need to take your time. My advice to you would be to rent for a year and then buy, or build your own. But therein lies a whole other planet of issues that many people here will be only too happy to give you chapter and verse about.

Whatever you do, I guarantee that if you're moving out of BKK for lifestyle reasons you will love it here.

[Waverleyman]

Hi Alan I have a house in a moo baan some 10kms from the super highway. It is located in Land & House Park and as you are probably aware, if you have lived in Thailand for 20 years, that Land and House are one of the better builders in Thailand, if not the best as they claim. My house will come onto the market with curtains and furniture in a month or so and has only been lived in for 10 months from new in 2007. It is fully maintained with regular pest control from 'initial'. The security is first class and there is a club house with a large swimming pool. The paper value is 6 million but I will sell at 4.8 if you are interested. The village consists of 6 individual Moo Baans with a mix of 'farlangs' and upper midle class Thais. I am new to this site, but I believe I am not allowed to give my email address or tele number, so I suppose if you want to contact me it would have to be through Thai Visa.

[anonymouse]

The main drivers of this move are my son and his wife who want their young daughter to grow up in CM rather than Bkk. But I'm also keen to make the move.

Any constructive observations are very welcome. Esecially any information about good quality bi-lingual schools, my granddaughter will probably enter at 1st year of Pathom (Primary).

Again, thanks for all the replies which are very much appreciated.

Kind regards

Alan

Check out the Varee school topic for a lot of general info about bi-lingual and International schools, one factor to take into account is where your grandchilds school is in relation to where you will be living. Even though the traffic is nowhere near as horrific as Bangkok, the rush hour is still pretty bad at school opening and closing.

[scorecard]

Alan,

As a real estate agent and sponsor of this forum, I see a lot of properties here, and there is a huge variety available. However, you need to be careful. There is a wide range of build quality here also. Many moobans (not all) require any house to be built by one designated builder, or else the owner has to pay a "fine" of up to 30% of the building cost. This obviously doesn't do much for the build quality you can expect.

One reply to your original post listed several moobans that could offer you what you want. However, I have personal experience of living in one of them (I'm currently renting in Emperor 1, while my house is being built elsewhere) and the build quality is appalling.

Similarly, there are some moobans where some houses within the mooban have been very nicely maintained and other houses have not been looked after at all.

The bottom line is - you need to take your time. My advice to you would be to rent for a year and then buy, or build your own. But therein lies a whole other planet of issues that many people here will be only too happy to give you chapter and verse about.

Whatever you do, I guarantee that if you're moving out of BKK for lifestyle reasons you will love it here.

Dear Patmich,

Thanks for your reply and your valuable observations.

Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) we've had two previous experiences with village developments (one at Jomtien beach in Pattaya - farang developer, and the second at Chonburi city -Thai developer) which have given us lots of heartaches, panic, insights, and 'warning bells' to watch out for.

We will take our time and probably (as your suggesting) rent for a year and then make some decisions. But even before we rent we will visit several times to start the research.

From our many previous visits to CM (which were to be honest as 'tourists') and the many constructive and friendly comments we've picked up from this webboard we seem to be developing a formula (hope that doesn't sound pompous) of what to look for and to balance our needs with some reality.

But the first step is to find a good bi-lingual school for my grandaughter (4.5 years old), which is not easy, and we can't afford full international schools.

We've been throught the same search before here in Bangkok and we're realizing that deciding again on a school will be quite an adventure.

But I must be honest, my Thai son and his Thai wife see the education of their daughter as the most important item in the worl. In retirement I'm spending most of my days as a professor at a Thai university business school. So the school search is a labor of love.

Thanks again, I'm hoping sometime to meet some of the CM Thaivisa members, the replies have bolstered my already positive thoughts about CM, makes me very happy.

Thanks again.

Kind regards,

Alan

[pjclark1]

Chiang Mai is a property disaster area, under no circumstances should you buy a property out her at the moment.

I live on a 'failed' housing development, out of hundred plus plots of land, only four have been built on.

Two of the four houses have been up for sale for years, one of the other houses has already had to be rewired.

The plots of land are currently on sale through a Bankok agen at approx double the real value.

Across the road is another failed housing project, the builder built houses on all the plots ...... and sold none. They are now sitting empty with the jungle reclaiming the land.

3km down the road, the King built 1000 budget houses, 2 bedroom for 390,000bht, they have sold about 20 in the last year, the rest sit empty.

Second hand houses have no resale market value AT ALL. The new house builders are selling at well below the second hand market prices in attempts to get any sales at all.

RENT!

All those secondhand houses are available to rent at knock down prices ....... most owners are so desperate they will rent for less than the mortgage. They usually ask 15k pcm for a 4 bed furnished house, but quickly drop down to between 8-10k.

Good luck.

[Asmerom]

I live on a 'failed' housing development, out of hundred plus plots of land, only four have been built on.

Across the road is another failed housing project, the builder built houses on all the plots ...... and sold none. They are now sitting empty with the jungle reclaiming the lan

RENT!

All those secondhand houses are available to rent at knock down prices ....... most owners are so desperate they will rent for less than the mortgage. They usually ask 15k pcm for a 4 bed furnished house, but quickly drop down to between 8-10k.

Good luck.

I feel his luck might have a better chance if you kindly told him (and me) exactly where these bargains are to be found.

[pjclark1]

I feel his luck might have a better chance if you kindly told him (and me) exactly where these bargains are to be found.

OK

As you asked, I can start with a massive modern 4 bed/4 toilet luxury furnished house 15km out of ChiangMai (with aircon) for asking of 12,000bht pcm (need to guarantee 6 months rental). Very rural, only 4 other houses nearby no aircraft noise, views of Doi Suthep. 150 square wah plot. Big Carrefore supermarket within 2km, local village shops within 300m. Regular yellow sontag (longest I waited was 5 mins) into town for 15bht.

This took me one telephone call to get, I drive past the sign on the fence nearly every day.

If you want some photos published, I can walk down the road and take a few.

[pjclark1]

Here are some outside photos, no pool but the English chap next door has one (only 3 other houses in view of this one)

The big wall encloses a double plot .... 4 million to buy (they want extra for the other plot as well)

also 2 hot showers

A bit further than you wanted 15km from town centre, but excellent transport until 7pm (yellow sontaw)

Is it safe ....... nobody else around, main road 1 km away, no traffic at all really, apart from me my gf and 4 other residents.

There is a lot of irrigation in the area, you would need to teach kids not to fall in!

Apart from that they can run wild.

[Asmerom]

As you asked, I can start with a massive modern 4 bed/4 toilet luxury furnished house 15km out of ChiangMai (with aircon) for asking of 12,000bht pcm (need to guarantee 6 months rental). Very rural, only 4 other houses nearby no aircraft noise, views of Doi Suthep. 150 square wah plot. Big Carrefore supermarket within 2km, local village shops within 300m. Regular yellow sontag (longest I waited was 5 mins) into town for 15bht.

This took me one telephone call to get, I drive past the sign on the fence nearly every day.

If you want some photos published, I can walk down the road and take a few.

How odd! You appeared to be answering my question about the EXACT location of these "bargains" and yet still fail to answer in such a way to enable someone to find the place. I would guess, as you mention aircraft noise, its South along the Canal Road. Am I getting warm? 15kms you say. Now I wonder if its on the right or the left as one travels South. Maybe this development has a name. That might simplify things. But thanks for the photos. The houses look great as you said. If only one knew where they were......

[pjclark1]

There is only 1 Carrefore supermarket in Chiang Mai as far as I know

Out past Hang Dong, Just after Chiang Mai University North campus.

Tambon San Glang, Ampere San Patong, JangWat Chiang Mai

Not much point in publishing an address for people who can't read Thai or don't know the area.

Anyone with local knowledge of Chiang Mai would know the route of the yellow sontaw.

These 'bargains' are in every area of ChiangMai, the going price for a 4 bed house rental is 10-15k a month (sometimes less).

I just posted this as an example as it was close to me.

If you want to see this particular house, PM me and my gf will set up a viewing.

When she phoned the owner they offered me the keys so I could take inside photos, but too lazy (unless someone wants to see them), I have never been inside the house.

Edited September 20, 2009 by pjclark1

[Priceless]

There is only 1 Carrefore supermarket in Chiang Mai as far as I know

Out past Hang Dong, Just after Chiang Mai University North campus.

Tambon San Glang, Ampere San Patong, JangWat Chiang Mai

Not much point in publishing an address for people who can't read Thai or don't know the area.

Anyone with local knowledge of Chiang Mai would know the route of the yellow sontaw.

These 'bargains' are in every area of ChiangMai, the going price for a 4 bed house rental is 10-15k a month (sometimes less).

I just posted this as an example as it was close to me.

If you want to see this particular house, PM me and my gf will set up a viewing.

When she phoned the owner they offered me the keys so I could take inside photos, but too lazy (unless someone wants to see them), I have never been inside the house.

There are in fact two Carrefour hypermarkets. If you just say Carrefour, I would venture to guess that those that have lived in Chiang Mai a bit longer than you have would think firstly of the old one, on the superhighway east of town.

/ Priceless

[cmsally]

The pictures above look very much like Roong Arun at Hang Dong, but that could hardly be described as miles of unbuilt blocks of land. Houses in there are packed in like sardines. Most look fairly lived in but it lacks any atmosphere. Hardly fair to lump all the estates in the same category, basically that estate just lacks a lot for most people. But then there are many estates that a lot of people like, actually most have a better layout and use of land which would go a long way to explaining it.

[pjclark1]

ผมไม่อยากทำอีกแล้วทุกคนรู้มากกว่าผม

Please excuse my spelling, I haven't been here as long as many of you.

Edited September 20, 2009 by pjclark1