Buy Or Rent

[marshanite]

I would like to move to Thailand for about a year and was wondering is it worth buying a renting a property. Obviously with buying a property you have the hassle of getting a company set up so you can buy it but I presume you can make money when you come to sell it in 12 months time. With renting you don't have the hassle but you don't make the money.

Also what do people think of Hua Hin/Krabi. Have two young girls so not bothered about anything too exotic.

[ozzydom]

I stand correcting but your presumption of a capitol gain in 12 months is a pipe dream, even getting a resale in a reasonable time may be a problem..

Better I find to take a 12months lease ,pay the rent and have a great holiday, with few hassles.

My personal choice, Krabi, central to good sight-seeing, beaches, cheap fresh seafood etc. islands of the Andaman to visit, my wife and I holiday in the area a couple of times a year and looking to move there in the near future.

[Digger]

I agree 100% with ozzydom and I buy and sell property all the time. Unless you know the property market and the Thai market in particular, you have minimal chance of doing well. You might strike lucky but odd's are you will not and could well be stuck with a property you cannot move at a break even price let alone a profit.

Stick with renting and everything is much clearer.

[Ajarn]

I've known many farangs who've bought homes...

I still don't know any farangs who've been successful at selling those homes later..

In my opinion, buy if you want to pass it on to your family, but not for resale...

Otherwise, rent. Costs aren't usually much different, and you have the flexibilty to move whenever you feel like it..

[skipdivils]

What about a place like Phuket or Samui or Koh Chang?

Don't you people think that you the prices of houses on those islands are going up? I think you could make some return there after 12 months, because you can sell them Foreigners, not Thais. So they want a '2nd hand property' because they don't want to go through the building process. I think there will be more and more of these people in places like these 3 islands, and Krabi too actually.