3 Things that will make your relationship successful in Thailand

[stevo]

What's the general opinion of the condo market in bkk as far as appreciation is going?

Looking around at all the city cranes that have been lining the city for quite a while, and commercial real estate, is there a real estate bubble due for bkk, or has it already started?

[henryalleman]

What's the general opinion of the condo market in bkk as far as appreciation is going?

Looking around at all the city cranes that have been lining the city for quite a while, and commercial real estate, is there a real estate bubble due for bkk, or has it already started?

You should take a good look around and you will see dozens of unfinnished building who are abondoned since 1997.

In my street (Bondstreet MTT) there are 8 of such unfinished buildings each have 30 floors and 120 condo's, left en right of me are 2 buildings completely empty who belong to the bank, My building 120 condo's have only 15 occupied; all the building however are wel maintained and have swimmingpool and tenniscourts. all of them have at least 2 bedroom/bathroom and european kitchen and fully furnished with washing machine and minimum 85 square meter.

I took a 5 year lease and the owner wasso gratefull that she completely rebuilt the condo (new floors, new walls, new kitchen, new bathroom, even put fantasy tiles on the balcony, new airco's etc. etc. ......

Do I have to say more.

Edited October 27, 2009 by henryalleman

[yabaaaa]

What's the general opinion of the condo market in bkk as far as appreciation is going?

Looking around at all the city cranes that have been lining the city for quite a while, and commercial real estate, is there a real estate bubble due for bkk, or has it already started?

You should take a good look around and you will see dozens of unfinnished building who are abondoned since 1997.

In my street (Bondstreet MTT) there are 8 of such unfinished buildings each have 30 floors and 120 condo's, left en right of me are 2 buildings completely empty who belong to the bank, My building 120 condo's have only 15 occupied; all the building however are wel maintained and have swimmingpool and tenniscourts. all of them have at least 2 bedroom/bathroom and european kitchen and fully furnished with washing machine and minimum 85 square meter.

I took a 5 year lease and the owner wasso gratefull that she completely rebuilt the condo (new floors, new walls, new kitchen, new bathroom, even put fantasy tiles on the balcony, new airco's etc. etc. ......

Do I have to say more.

Yes look around you and then look at the skyline from 10 years ago................obviously no one has bought anything.

[stevo]

so why are there so many new ones in the works?

[trogers]

so why are there so many new ones in the works?

The 'dozens of unfinnished building who are abondoned since 1997' were feeling lonely? Thus, developers have a sense of pity and added new companions.

[thaihome]

What's the general opinion of the condo market in bkk as far as appreciation is going?

Looking around at all the city cranes that have been lining the city for quite a while, and commercial real estate, is there a real estate bubble due for bkk, or has it already started?

You should take a good look around and you will see dozens of unfinnished building who are abondoned since 1997.

In my street (Bondstreet MTT) there are 8 of such unfinished buildings each have 30 floors and 120 condo's, left en right of me are 2 buildings completely empty who belong to the bank, My building 120 condo's have only 15 occupied; all the building however are wel maintained and have swimmingpool and tenniscourts. all of them have at least 2 bedroom/bathroom and european kitchen and fully furnished with washing machine and minimum 85 square meter.

I took a 5 year lease and the owner wasso gratefull that she completely rebuilt the condo (new floors, new walls, new kitchen, new bathroom, even put fantasy tiles on the balcony, new airco's etc. etc. ......

Do I have to say more.

I hardly think that MTT, and particularly the development you speak of is hardly typical of the Bangkok condo market. Though I do suspect that the opening of the new Government Center nearby is going to help that area a lot.

It would seem that there is a large, and on one side extremely bitter, disagreement in thinking on how the Bangkok market is going. On one hand, you have the seasoned, well experienced, highly trained members of this forum that have been forecasting doom and gloom for the Bangkok condo market for many years, and on the other hand, you have the simple Thai (and some cases foreign, particularly those crappy Singaporean) businessmen whose business is, and has been in some cases for several generations, property development, who just continue to build (and amazingly sell) those buildings.

Who knows who is right….

TH

Edited October 28, 2009 by thaihome

[thaijasmine]

What's the general opinion of the condo market in bkk as far as appreciation is going?

Looking around at all the city cranes that have been lining the city for quite a while, and commercial real estate, is there a real estate bubble due for bkk, or has it already started?

You should take a good look around and you will see dozens of unfinnished building who are abondoned since 1997.

In my street (Bondstreet MTT) there are 8 of such unfinished buildings each have 30 floors and 120 condo's, left en right of me are 2 buildings completely empty who belong to the bank, My building 120 condo's have only 15 occupied; all the building however are wel maintained and have swimmingpool and tenniscourts. all of them have at least 2 bedroom/bathroom and european kitchen and fully furnished with washing machine and minimum 85 square meter.

I took a 5 year lease and the owner wasso gratefull that she completely rebuilt the condo (new floors, new walls, new kitchen, new bathroom, even put fantasy tiles on the balcony, new airco's etc. etc. ......

Do I have to say more.

I hardly think that MTT, and particularly the development you speak of is hardly typical of the Bangkok condo market. Though I do suspect that the opening of the new Government Center nearby is going to help that area a lot.

It would seem that there is a large, and on one side extremely bitter, disagreement in thinking on how the Bangkok market is going. On one hand, you have the seasoned, well experienced, highly trained members of this forum that have been forecasting doom and gloom for the Bangkok condo market for many years, and on the other hand, you have the simple Thai (and some cases foreign, particularly those crappy Singaporean) businessmen whose business is, and has been in some cases for several generations, property development, who just continue to build (and amazingly sell) those buildings.

Who knows who is right….

TH

Then there are another 2 groups of farangs - on one side you hove those who

prefer to rent in this country for whatever reason and prefer to keep

their assets in other countries and and on the other side you have farangs

who have paid money here and are petrified that they wont be able to

sell their property if they had to.................Who knows who is right….

[mommysboy]

I know it's an outrageous idea, but..., you could just buy one because you want to live in it. No, no don't mock, just thinking aloud.

[thaijasmine]

I know it's an outrageous idea, but..., you could just buy one because you want to live in it. No, no don't mock, just thinking aloud.

What would be even more outrageous would be owing a condo that you could not re-sell

Look at what happened to the real estate market in Japan and if you think that can't happen

here you are in cuckoo land or you are one of those poor unfortunate farangs that already

own an albatross ( oops sorry i meant condo )

[wintermute]

Buying a condo here as a foreigner is just a silly idea and there is no economic sense in it unless you're lucky enough to get in on some obscure property to flip that's highly undervalued. This is unlikely because there are hundreds of well heeled thais very deep into this game already.

[henryalleman]

I hardly think that MTT, and particularly the development you speak of is hardly typical of the Bangkok condo market. Though I do suspect that the opening of the new Government Center nearby is going to help that area a lot.

It would seem that there is a large, and on one side extremely bitter, disagreement in thinking on how the Bangkok market is going. On one hand, you have the seasoned, well experienced, highly trained members of this forum that have been forecasting doom and gloom for the Bangkok condo market for many years, and on the other hand, you have the simple Thai (and some cases foreign, particularly those crappy Singaporean) businessmen whose business is, and has been in some cases for several generations, property development, who just continue to build (and amazingly sell) those buildings.

Who knows who is right….

TH

Just take the boatbuss from Nonthaburi pier tpo Wat prakeaw you will see several unfinished building near the river bank on both sides.

Some have a real wonderfull location and when ever finnished they will look fabulous.

If you cross Taksin bridge from Thonburi to Sathorn, you will see also several unfinished condo skyscrapers at your right hand. IMHO, MTT is no exception.

The owner of my condo is a chinese lady from Hong Kong who is married with an evenso Hong Kong chinese developper and constructor, who are staying 20 years in Thailand. She bought 10 condo's in MTT, because the Hong Kong market awas declining a few years ago and she like to have a more

[henryalleman]

.

The owner of my condo is a chinese lady from Hong Kong who is married with an evenso Hong Kong chinese developper and constructor, who are staying 20 years in Thailand. She bought 20 condo's in MTT, because she like to diversify her investments, well she said that in a few years the value of her real estate in Thailand dropped with more than 20%.

3 years ago the asking price for an 2bed/bathroom condo in MTT was 1.6 million now it is 990 000 baht.

I know notthing about real estate, I only open my eyes and ears and see what is happening.

I have many relatives who are house owners in the different compounds allover Bangkok, well its very difficult to sell the old house, but still new compunds are build and the houses are sold rather easy.

My sister live in Rangsit she sold her second house (10 years old)who is in perfect condition and build and decorated European style for 25 % lower than she bought it.

Next door of my son is an unfinished beautifull 5 bedroom single house for already more than 7 years. impossible to sell it even for an ridiculous price.

I sold my house in Nakhon Sawan province, well I loose a lot of money on it, its was on the market for 4 years.

I think one of the reasons why they build new condo's and not finnisch the unfinnished has something to do with the Thai way of thinking. The unfinnished building have bad joss, that's why they don't buy them. The same reason why a Thai like to buy a new house and not an second hand one.

Again I know nothing about the real estate market, and its just an personal guess. Could it be possible that the investments in real estate by the simple Thai and crappy Singaporians have other reasons than just developping real estate?

A good example is Top Charoen, they have thousands of shops allover the country and you never see any client in them, not surprisingly because the have a crappy reputation. But he is still one of the most wealthy Thai.

[chiang mai]

I know it's an outrageous idea, but..., you could just buy one because you want to live in it. No, no don't mock, just thinking aloud.

And I wholeheartedly agree!

But seriously, if a person plans on being here for say the next five years, the cost of buying, presuming that you can buy the right place at the right price, far outweighs the cost of renting - all I have ever hoped to do with any of the condo's I have purchased in Thailand (to live in) is to get my money back plus a nominal rate of interest and to live rent free - I have been successful in doing that thus far and have even made an accidental profit on the exchange rates. But heck, I didn't come here to trade in property and try to speculate, I came here to relax and to live.

[pampal]

The condos I bought two years ago have appreciated from 1,036,000 baht to nearly 1,600,000 baht

[mommysboy]

I know it's an outrageous idea, but..., you could just buy one because you want to live in it. No, no don't mock, just thinking aloud.

And I wholeheartedly agree!

But seriously, if a person plans on being here for say the next five years, the cost of buying, presuming that you can buy the right place at the right price, far outweighs the cost of renting - all I have ever hoped to do with any of the condo's I have purchased in Thailand (to live in) is to get my money back plus a nominal rate of interest and to live rent free - I have been successful in doing that thus far and have even made an accidental profit on the exchange rates. But heck, I didn't come here to trade in property and try to speculate, I came here to relax and to live.

A good attitude IMHO. It could be that place that you want to live in is also the place that will appreciate anyway. One big factor as far as I can tell is the communal spirit and the the manner in hich it is kept. It's quite possible to that 2 projescts next to each other could vary wildly in price, one has been kept well, is quiet and clean, with all the latest mod cons, while the other has all the usual trappings of neglect. It's so important to find the right one.

[thaihome]

.

The owner of my condo is a chinese lady from Hong Kong who is married with an evenso Hong Kong chinese developper and constructor, who are staying 20 years in Thailand. She bought 20 condo's in MTT, because she like to diversify her investments, well she said that in a few years the value of her real estate in Thailand dropped with more than 20%.

3 years ago the asking price for an 2bed/bathroom condo in MTT was 1.6 million now it is 990 000 baht.

I know notthing about real estate, I only open my eyes and ears and see what is happening.

I have many relatives who are house owners in the different compounds allover Bangkok, well its very difficult to sell the old house, but still new compunds are build and the houses are sold rather easy.

My sister live in Rangsit she sold her second house (10 years old)who is in perfect condition and build and decorated European style for 25 % lower than she bought it.

Next door of my son is an unfinished beautifull 5 bedroom single house for already more than 7 years. impossible to sell it even for an ridiculous price.

I sold my house in Nakhon Sawan province, well I loose a lot of money on it, its was on the market for 4 years.

I think one of the reasons why they build new condo's and not finnisch the unfinnished has something to do with the Thai way of thinking. The unfinnished building have bad joss, that's why they don't buy them. The same reason why a Thai like to buy a new house and not an second hand one.

Again I know nothing about the real estate market, and its just an personal guess. Could it be possible that the investments in real estate by the simple Thai and crappy Singaporians have other reasons than just developping real estate?

A good example is Top Charoen, they have thousands of shops allover the country and you never see any client in them, not surprisingly because the have a crappy reputation. But he is still one of the most wealthy Thai.

So you admit that you, your family, and everyone you know are shit at assessing the future value of property in Thailand. So therefore the property market in Thailand is terrible.

Then you go on to accuse Capital Land and Top Chareon of operating money laundering businesses.

Amazing post.

TH

[Livinginexile]

I know it's an outrageous idea, but..., you could just buy one because you want to live in it. No, no don't mock, just thinking aloud.

What would be even more outrageous would be owing a condo that you could not re-sell

Look at what happened to the real estate market in Japan and if you think that can't happen

here you are in cuckoo land or you are one of those poor unfortunate farangs that already

own an albatross ( oops sorry i meant condo )

One reads such tripe on this forum.

I for one have made very good capital returns on my investments here in Bangkok.

Yesterday I took a holding deposit for a condo I bought 4 years ago. I have made 35% on my initial investment. On top of that, my condo has been rented for 100% of this time.

If one buys in the high end segment of the market then there are very good profits to be had.

The ones here moaning and groaning about how bad the condo market is probably bought in the sub 1m market, of course they are going to get burned. It's the same as buying in the poorest segment of your capital city back home, it's not going to go up and nigh impossible to sell!

Choose well and spent the RIGHT amount of capital.

This city is booming. On my current project we are 95% sold out, and we are only just coming out the ground!

[Livinginexile]

I know it's an outrageous idea, but..., you could just buy one because you want to live in it. No, no don't mock, just thinking aloud.

What would be even more outrageous would be owing a condo that you could not re-sell

Look at what happened to the real estate market in Japan and if you think that can't happen

here you are in cuckoo land or you are one of those poor unfortunate farangs that already

own an albatross ( oops sorry i meant condo )

One reads such tripe on this forum.

I for one have made very good capital returns on my investments here in Bangkok.

Yesterday I took a holding deposit for a condo I bought 4 years ago. I have made 35% on my initial investment. On top of that, my condo has been rented for 100% of this time.

If one buys in the high end segment of the market then there are very good profits to be had.

The ones here moaning and groaning about how bad the condo market is probably bought in the sub 1m market, of course they are going to get burned. It's the same as buying in the poorest segment of your capital city back home, it's not going to go up and nigh impossible to sell!

Choose well and spent the RIGHT amount of capital.

This city is booming. On my current project we are 95% sold out, and we are only just coming out the ground!

[bendix]

I know it's an outrageous idea, but..., you could just buy one because you want to live in it. No, no don't mock, just thinking aloud.

What would be even more outrageous would be owing a condo that you could not re-sell

Look at what happened to the real estate market in Japan and if you think that can't happen

here you are in cuckoo land or you are one of those poor unfortunate farangs that already

own an albatross ( oops sorry i meant condo )

One reads such tripe on this forum.

I for one have made very good capital returns on my investments here in Bangkok.

Yesterday I took a holding deposit for a condo I bought 4 years ago. I have made 35% on my initial investment. On top of that, my condo has been rented for 100% of this time.

If one buys in the high end segment of the market then there are very good profits to be had.

The ones here moaning and groaning about how bad the condo market is probably bought in the sub 1m market, of course they are going to get burned. It's the same as buying in the poorest segment of your capital city back home, it's not going to go up and nigh impossible to sell!

Choose well and spent the RIGHT amount of capital.

This city is booming. On my current project we are 95% sold out, and we are only just coming out the ground!

Precisely. There are some right idiots here.

I bought a condo for 6.1 million in Sukhumvit 11 in December last year. I've had two offers for 7 million in the last two months.

Even at the lower end of the market, profits are to be made. My wife bought a one room place in the high Sukhumvit sois for 730,000 in July. She sold it in September for 850,000.

We haven't spent a penny on either.

[thaijasmine]

I know it's an outrageous idea, but..., you could just buy one because you want to live in it. No, no don't mock, just thinking aloud.

What would be even more outrageous would be owing a condo that you could not re-sell

Look at what happened to the real estate market in Japan and if you think that can't happen

here you are in cuckoo land or you are one of those poor unfortunate farangs that already

own an albatross ( oops sorry i meant condo )

One reads such tripe on this forum.

I for one have made very good capital returns on my investments here in Bangkok.

Yesterday I took a holding deposit for a condo I bought 4 years ago. I have made 35% on my initial investment. On top of that, my condo has been rented for 100% of this time.

If one buys in the high end segment of the market then there are very good profits to be had.

The ones here moaning and groaning about how bad the condo market is probably bought in the sub 1m market, of course they are going to get burned. It's the same as buying in the poorest segment of your capital city back home, it's not going to go up and nigh impossible to sell!

Choose well and spent the RIGHT amount of capital.

This city is booming. On my current project we are 95% sold out, and we are only just coming out the ground!

Precisely. There are some right idiots here.

I bought a condo for 6.1 million in Sukhumvit 11 in December last year. I've had two offers for 7 million in the last two months.

Even at the lower end of the market, profits are to be made. My wife bought a one room place in the high Sukhumvit sois for 730,000 in July. She sold it in September for 850,000.

We haven't spent a penny on either.

So you are both claiming the Bangkok condominium market will defy the

deflation that is clearly evident in other parts of the world ?

[thaijasmine]

One reads such tripe on this forum.

I for one have made very good capital returns on my investments here in Bangkok.

Yesterday I took a holding deposit for a condo I bought 4 years ago. I have made 35% on my initial investment. On top of that, my condo has been rented for 100% of this time.

If one buys in the high end segment of the market then there are very good profits to be had.

The ones here moaning and groaning about how bad the condo market is probably bought in the sub 1m market, of course they are going to get burned. It's the same as buying in the poorest segment of your capital city back home, it's not going to go up and nigh impossible to sell!

Choose well and spent the RIGHT amount of capital.

This city is booming. On my current project we are 95% sold out, and we are only just coming out the ground!

So green shoots all the way yes ?

But of course you dont a vested interest .no no no !

But why do some make it sound a little less optimistic than you .

" This does not mean the market is turning to normal but just the beginning of cloudy days ahead. "

http://www.thaipr.net/nc/readnews.aspx?new...343C4AE074DAD05

[thaihome]

..." This does not mean the market is turning to normal but just the beginning of cloudy days ahead. "

http://www.thaipr.net/nc/readnews.aspx?new...343C4AE074DAD05

Ending with "In the near future, Bangkok’s condo market is not a paradise for luxury condo buyers and developers as it was before, but the luxury condo segment will be reserved for long term investment."

TH

[thaijasmine]

..." This does not mean the market is turning to normal but just the beginning of cloudy days ahead. "

http://www.thaipr.net/nc/readnews.aspx?new...343C4AE074DAD05

Ending with "In the near future, Bangkok's condo market is not a paradise for luxury condo buyers and developers as it was before, but the luxury condo segment will be reserved for long term investment."

TH

If the market is as robust as you are suggesting - why did Raimon Land have to offer its units for sale at half price?

[bendix]

So you are both claiming the Bangkok condominium market will defy the

deflation that is clearly evident in other parts of the world ?

No, I'm not claiming anything. I am giving two specific and very personal examples where money can be - indeed - has been made on two condos in Bangkok in recent months.

Who am I to argue against market wisdom.

I think the mistake people make is to talk about a generic 'market'. There is no such thing. It is an amorphous mass of individual transactions. In my particular examples, we have been able to find specific condos that we bought at x price, and sold for x+10% plus price in a few months, so our very small microcosm of the market has been bouyant.

Look at the so-called UK market. Trashy houses in Burnley terraces and thousands of shoddily made buy to lets can't be sold, yet the 'market' is meant to be rising. Sure it is, but only on the basis of inflated prices set by hugely expensive inner London homes.

[fletchsmile]

Buying a condo here as a foreigner is just a silly idea and there is no economic sense in it unless you're lucky enough to get in on some obscure property to flip that's highly undervalued. This is unlikely because there are hundreds of well heeled thais very deep into this game already.

Just a thought...let's imagine for a moment a foreigner might possibly be married to a Thai... Strange I know but bear with me... then perhaps they go so far as have kids... then for some reason they want a "home" of their own, rather than have to negotiate rents every year... they don't like the idea that someone may not want to renew the lease even though they are settled in an area where their kids go to school and living near friends, or that they can't decorate as they see fit... no you're right that' silly no-one would do that would they...

How about this silly scenario: John Smith bought a condo a couple of years ago for THB 4.9 mio or GBP 70k (when the rate was GBP/THB 70) as he was the same weirdo in the example above that wanted a home for his family. He also wanted to fix his costs to provide economic secrurity for his family. Today assuming no increase or decrease the exchange rate is around GBP/THB 55, that same condo is worth GBP 90k. Now the cynics out there will say "but he can't sell it". As the guy is "silly" he doesn't want to anyway, he has this silly notion of having a "home" for his wife and kids - somewhere they'll always have a roof over there head, you know that's secure.

Of course anyone will tell you he should have rented. He'd have been much better paying rent at THB 30,000 a month for a similar condo and at the mercy of landlord increases and whims. A couple of years ago that was a snip at GBP 428 a month. Much better now to still be renting, and assuming the landlord has been so kind to let him keep renting with no increase, he'd be paying GBP 545 instead. Much better idea I'm sure - silly not to...

This same weirdo was also financing his rent based on GBP interest received on cash at 6%. He's now receiving only 2%. That's much better isn't it...

Or a couple of years ago someone was using GBP 100k @ 6% x THB 70 to pay rent on a reasonable condo. They now have GBP 100k @ 2% x THB 55 to pay rent. So they've dediced to move to Khlongtoey in a corrugated hut. The wife and kids love their new slum mates, and new found economic situation..

Yes I know silly examples. Far removed from reality. Much better economic sense to lose 25% on exchange rates paying rent and see income drop by 67% in THB terms than secure fixed costs by buying a home for his family.

Edited November 3, 2009 by fletchsmile

[fletchsmile]

I know it's an outrageous idea, but..., you could just buy one because you want to live in it. No, no don't mock, just thinking aloud.

Fletchsmile knows quite a few outrageous people like that. Some of them do even more outrageous things like letting their wife and kids live there with them as well...

[yabaaaa]

Buying a condo here as a foreigner is just a silly idea and there is no economic sense in it unless you're lucky enough to get in on some obscure property to flip that's highly undervalued. This is unlikely because there are hundreds of well heeled thais very deep into this game already.

Just a thought...let's imagine for a moment a foreigner might possibly be married to a Thai... Strange I know but bear with me... then perhaps they go so far as have kids... then for some reason they want a "home" of their own, rather than have to negotiate rents every year... they don't like the idea that someone may not want to renew the lease even though they are settled in an area where their kids go to school and living near friends, or that they can't decorate as they see fit... no you're right that' silly no-one would do that would they...

How about this silly scenario: John Smith bought a condo a couple of years ago for THB 4.9 mio or GBP 70k (when the rate was GBP/THB 70) as he was the same weirdo in the example above that wanted a home for his family. He also wanted to fix his costs to provide economic secrurity for his family. Today assuming no increase or decrease the exchange rate is around GBP/THB 55, that same condo is worth GBP 90k. Now the cynics out there will say "but he can't sell it". As the guy is "silly" he doesn't want to anyway, he has this silly notion of having a "home" for his wife and kids - somewhere they'll always have a roof over there head, you know that's secure.

Of course anyone will tell you he should have rented. He'd have been much better paying rent at THB 30,000 a month for a similar condo and at the mercy of landlord increases and whims. A couple of years ago that was a snip at GBP 428 a month. Much better now to still be renting, and assuming the landlord has been so kind to let him keep renting with no increase, he'd be paying GBP 545 instead. Much better idea I'm sure - silly not to...

This same weirdo was also financing his rent based on GBP interest received on cash at 6%. He's now receiving only 2%. That's much better isn't it...

Or a couple of years ago someone was using GBP 100k @ 6% x THB 70 to pay rent on a reasonable condo. They now have GBP 100k @ 2% x THB 55 to pay rent. So they've dediced to move to Khlongtoey in a corrugated hut. The wife and kids love their new slum mates, and new found economic situation..

Yes I know silly examples. Far removed from reality. Much better economic sense to lose 25% on exchange rates paying rent and see income drop by 67% in THB terms than secure fixed costs by buying a home for his family.

ha ha ha glad i bought mine when it was 72bant to the £ and rent to all those who didnt

[pkrv]

I have for many years watched this debate rage across the Real Estate forum

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Real-Estate-housing-house-land-o-f59.html

From my perspective today it would cost me almost 100% more to purchase my unit than it did back in 2005. 50% of that increase came from buying off the plan the other 50% came from FX movement (GBPTHB= shifted from 75 to today 50)

As it happens the project I bought into has been a staggering success it won the CNBC top award for best Condo

http://www.theparkresidence.co.th/

However there are plenty of other examples in the CBD

The Address

The Manhattan

The Trendy

The Athenee

The Park

And the list goes on.

So from personal experience you plan long term, buy when your currency is strong against THB. For us in the UK buying now to make a profit in GBP terms is a bit like having a stone throwing match from the bottom of a gravity well.

For us the plan is to retire in Thailand and as other posters have said by having assets here we are safe from adverse FX movement. And guess what as you grow older this becomes more important. Taking risk and failing means you probably cannot replace lost funds.

Key tips if considering Condominiums as an investment

Forward plan

Location, Location, Location (BTS etc)

Try to transfer funds when your currency is relatively strong. This gives you a better fallback position (in my case to the UK) if things go wrong

Use the real estate forum on Thai visa

Secure your assets against adverse FX by having assets in home country and Thailand

If you are interested in buying to rent I recommend looking through posts/topics by Irene and cmsally. These guys did a lot of excellent investigation in this area.

But from my perspective the top tip is buy to live in it, Thailand is a great place!

Edited November 4, 2009 by pkrv

[henryalleman]

.

The owner of my condo is a chinese lady from Hong Kong who is married with an evenso Hong Kong chinese developper and constructor, who are staying 20 years in Thailand. She bought 20 condo's in MTT, because she like to diversify her investments, well she said that in a few years the value of her real estate in Thailand dropped with more than 20%.

3 years ago the asking price for an 2bed/bathroom condo in MTT was 1.6 million now it is 990 000 baht.

I know notthing about real estate, I only open my eyes and ears and see what is happening.

I have many relatives who are house owners in the different compounds allover Bangkok, well its very difficult to sell the old house, but still new compunds are build and the houses are sold rather easy.

My sister live in Rangsit she sold her second house (10 years old)who is in perfect condition and build and decorated European style for 25 % lower than she bought it.

Next door of my son is an unfinished beautifull 5 bedroom single house for already more than 7 years. impossible to sell it even for an ridiculous price.

I sold my house in Nakhon Sawan province, well I loose a lot of money on it, its was on the market for 4 years.

I think one of the reasons why they build new condo's and not finnisch the unfinnished has something to do with the Thai way of thinking. The unfinnished building have bad joss, that's why they don't buy them. The same reason why a Thai like to buy a new house and not an second hand one.

Again I know nothing about the real estate market, and its just an personal guess. Could it be possible that the investments in real estate by the simple Thai and crappy Singaporians have other reasons than just developping real estate?

A good example is Top Charoen, they have thousands of shops allover the country and you never see any client in them, not surprisingly because the have a crappy reputation. But he is still one of the most wealthy Thai.

So you admit that you, your family, and everyone you know are shit at assessing the future value of property in Thailand. So therefore the property market in Thailand is terrible.

Then you go on to accuse Capital Land and Top Chareon of operating money laundering businesses.

Amazing post.

TH

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I only told that I pass every day dozens of unfinished projects since the 1997 crash, I wrote that Thai people like to build new houses and not old ones.

I just ask some questions. I accused nobody of money laundering, just wondering that's all

You give intentions to may posting who are not their at all.

[pkrv]

I only told that I pass every day dozens of unfinished projects since the 1997 crash, I wrote that Thai people like to build new houses and not old ones.

I just ask some questions. I accused nobody of money laundering, just wondering that's all

You give intentions to may posting who are not their at all.

Hi you are effectively quoting from past bad experiences I believe the 1997 crash - And yes there are skeletons all over Bangkok.

This should however be balanced by things like.

New building regulations are now in force.

The Condominium act has been extensively updated and continues to be updated (an old example link below FYI)

http://www.dol.go.th/low_ministry/commandm...do_no3_2542.htm

New building rules are now in place and enforced.

Bank funding for such projects has been really, really tightened up

This is why people are saying there have been a lot of new success and Bangkok has changed because of them.

Sure would I buy off the plan today? No - that would be a risk I can no longer personally afford to take but this is because of my age. If I wished to buy today I would probably now buy in the secondary market.

All the issues you bring up then utterly evaporate! Unless of course you buy into a poorly run Condo. But again even here there is great advice as to what to look out for on the real estate forum.

The only down side at the moment is the uncertainty at the moment. People are waiting to see what is going to happen and that a smooth transition is planned.

Edited November 4, 2009 by pkrv