Paying Monthly For Rent

[deejah]

how much?

how often?

does your electric rate go up as well?

do you have to incur a rent increase after the owner fixes something?

just want to get a sense of what is normal in thailand

[Moonrakers]

Waaaaay to vague a question.

[ozzieovaseas]

In my past experiences i'd be so bold as to answer NO to all the above

but maybe the question you should be asking is this...

Do you often expect to get 100% of your security deposit back?

Guess what

Edited January 28, 2010 by ozzieovaseas

[William Osborne]

errrhh , ever heard of a rental contract ??

[ozzieovaseas]

errrhh , ever heard of a rental contract ??

hehe yeh but getting them to stick to it is another thing..

especially out in the sticks where they are VERY good at not speaking Angrit

[a2396]

errrhh , ever heard of a rental contract ??

hehe yeh but getting them to stick to it is another thing..

especially out in the sticks where they are VERY good at not speaking Angrit

Why do you live in the "sticks" as you call it? I suppose this is some village and an informal deal between you and some local hick. In that case, I would suppose anything goes. I live in a fair sized city and have a rental contract with a large property developer. I have been with them for 3 years and my experience has been excellent. Similar with an apartment that I rented before. I have not paid any increases.

[toptuan]

My rent went down 20% after the first year. Extrapolate that.

[Boo]

General rule is if paying monthly, 3 monthly or yearly the price can be negotiated down accordingly. This has been my expereince over the past 12 years. If you rent or electric is going up then imo you are being ripped off. Move.

[nam-thip]

Rental increases are few and far between usually due to the fact it’s not easy to rent out property these days due to many foreigners vacating these shores.

I have empty detached houses all around me which where previously leased or owned by foreigners who have either moved to a neighboring country or simply gone home.

Electricity increases as a rule are not governed by your landlord/landlady that’s assuming you don’t lease an apartment or a room within a building which is governed by the building owner.

If you lease a house it should comes with a dedicated meter from which you pay the standard tariff.

The owners are responsible for the ‘upkeep and maintenance of their property’ and if someone wanted to bill me for something that falls into the category of fair wear and tear then they’d better have a re-think or start looking for a new tenant.

The return of rental deposit is a big problem in Thailand

Getting your deposit back in Thailand is a big problem and a lease contract which is usually only for one year (then pay as you go) does nothing to help the return of your deposit.

When you serve notice to vacate the book of excuses can come into play with lectures about how you broke this and that, the toilet got a hairline crack, the walls are dirty and will have to be re-painted etc, etc, etc.

Take photos with dates and have it entered on the lease the problems you see before leasing.

Many people in Thailand have lost their deposits more so if you’re renting from a Thai who most likely will have spent the deposit within two days.

If you ever experience the threats of not getting your rental deposit back threaten to report them to the tax office and through a lawyer if necessary.

Rental money is taxed under Thai law and only a small percentage declares the income received from leasing out property.

Worried about the tax office delving into their affairs and the fact they might be billed for years in unpaid taxes is something they don’t want so they might just return your deposit ‘in full’.

[ozzieovaseas]

errrhh , ever heard of a rental contract ??

hehe yeh but getting them to stick to it is another thing..

especially out in the sticks where they are VERY good at not speaking Angrit

Why do you live in the "sticks" as you call it? I suppose this is some village and an informal deal between you and some local hick. In that case, I would suppose anything goes. I live in a fair sized city and have a rental contract with a large property developer. I have been with them for 3 years and my experience has been excellent. Similar with an apartment that I rented before. I have not paid any increases.

No, Ive had a few appartments around the Lat Phrao-Mochit areas in BK, but ive had many a poster enquire "what the heck am i doing way out there in the sticks?" so its became a bit of a standard reply.

Anyway as far as the deposit thing goes you will find a lot of places will bump up the power and/or water bills outrageously in the last few months as to cover the amount of deposit owing, or else they will make up some other excuse...its not like you can argue or take it further as you know where that will get you.

The management of the first place i went spoke zero English and thats where i got burnt the worst but the other two had varying degrees of English ability which strangely enough seemed to correlate with there degrees of honesty.By the third i made a point of speaking enough Thai to get me by.

The first time around the lady handed over a copied agreement for the amount of advance rent money id just handed over but that DIDNT show the 1 month rent security deposit she'd demanded.

When i took her to task on it she stalled for the next half hour looking in a English/Thai book,basically looking up at me every now and then to see if i was buying it,making out she didnt know how to write the security deposit docket in English.

I tried to cancel the whole deal a few times but she always had the english smarts to say OK OK NO POROBLEM, and continued on making phonecalls and asking a few thai passers by (or im assuming she did since i wouldnt know what was being said anyway) all to no avail.

Basically she just wondered around and shrugged until i finally relented and told her id come back later,but each time i did..NO HAVE,OWNER STILL AWAY ect

Yes, it was my stupid fault for not insisting or being more forceful to cancel the deal then and there but as is often the case when tired and jetlagged sometimes you deny all logic and just want to believe that they can be trusted and retreat to a cool shower and bed.

Id kept the written amounts she quoted at that time and she agreed many times afterwards that id paid it all and all was ok

BUT when it came time to get the deposit back..

NO, YOU NO PAY...suprise suprise

Suprisingly she was able to get the manager on the phone that day (whom did speak good English) and the first thing she said after hearing my story was "SO..you have reciept?? why you not have reciept??".ect...so it was pretty much obvious what was going on.

From there she just went on and on that i'd made a mistake and this staff member was honest, and had been with her for years and wouldnt have made a mistake like this bla bla.

After more argument she eventually went off her head saying i was a the scammer and had probably been going around trying this at other hotels and she'd get my passport blacklisted

She then wanted me to hang around while she rang the cops to sort it all out so I just got fed up and picked up my bags and left as i had to make my way to the airport...

Anyway thats a long and silly story of a greenhorn and a lesson well learned..it wasnt a matter of huge money either but hopefully any newcomers reading will be be less silly and better informed.

PS. Dont think that because they are as nice as pie during your stay they wont end up like this!!!

Edited January 29, 2010 by ozzieovaseas

[namoo]

Anyway as far as the deposit thing goes you will find a lot of places will bump up the power and/or water bills outrageously in the last few months

Never heard of that in 10 years. Also why are you not paying the Electricity and water direct to the utility supplier - Always do that - only time you are not able to do is if perhaps serviced apartment.

Would not worry about them doing that. They have a hundred other ideas in how not to return your deposit....

[t.s]

rent on my house in bangkok has remained constant for 11 years now.

it is so cheap it is nearly free, especially given the location and the cost of accommodation in the condos that surround me.

that said if the ac cacks or i have a problem, i generally have to pay for it myself unless it is something major like a leaky roof.

i factor the cost of improvements into my annual rent.

[THAIPHUKET]

I got a 3 + 2 year contract, written in excellent English with professional wording.

Little to worry about.

However, is it correct if the owner were to sell the property tomorrow under Thai law the contract would be nill and void?

What is my risk?

[easyride]

In my past experiences i'd be so bold as to answer NO to all the above

but maybe the question you should be asking is this.

Do you often expect to get 100% of your security deposit back?

Guess what

My mate lost his entire deposit over a bit of blue tack on the wall.

[Heng]

Depends on the contract. We make sure the contract is heavily stacked in our favor. Cracked paint, leaks, sarcastic eye rolls, all legal when we keep your deposit.