Millenium Residence Condo - Advice Needed!

[debeers]

Hi,

I have purchased a unit in the Millennium Residence Condos in Asok. The unit is 128 sq/m and cost 13.5 Million Baht. It is now complete and so I inspected it this week. It was a nightmare, the finish was absolutely terrible - all doors were covered in scratches/dents, paint was spashed on the floors, sprinklers etc The windows were not sealed properly and overall the standard of finish was terrible - a child could have done a better job, cracks in the floor etc. In the end theere were nearly 100 defects listed during the inspection.

Needless to say I am very anoyed with the developer and CBRE (the sales agents).

The agents have said the defect list will be looked at by the developer and will be rectified with 30 days. This poses a problem as I would like to complete the transfer before 26th March as this will save around 270,000 baht as the government transfer tax will increase on this date. The agents have suggested that I pay the remaining balance now (approx. 8 million baht) and the developer will give me a letter committing to fixing all the defects. This worries me as I imagine as soon as the developer has the rest of the money I will be a long way down his list of priorities to get the defects fixed.

Any suggestions for a course of action?

Many thanks.

[ExpatJ]

i know of another owner who have founds many faults/defects with their unit- my advice would be NOT to pay any more until they have sorted out your problems as you will be down their list of priorities after paying..i would take the financial hit .

[jackdawson]

note to self: continue to NOT buy real estate in thailand

[givenall]

note to self: continue to NOT buy real estate in thailand

Great advice

[tangoll]

The prevalent advice that others not in your particular position would be to NOT make any further payment until all the defects, etc are sorted out. It's said that once you have made payment, the developer would push you down the priority list as he/she have other would be owners to deal with. But consider that once your final payment has been made, you would get keys to your unit and access as an owner. You could come and go into your unit as you please, and if the defects are not structural or major ones, you could even move in. And once on premises, you would be there every minute, hour, and day demanding the juristic office, the engineering/technical/sales staff of the developer to fix the defects in your unit first. I would think that the developer would want to fix your problems promptly, so that he can show would be owners that at least one owner has already moved in and had his problems solved.

That's been my experience anyway. I was the first owner to move into the AP Siam Pathumwan project at Ratchetewi and I am the first owner to transfer at the new Noble Remix project at Sukhumvit soi 36 Thonglor. As soon as I became a real owner of the condo project, the relative position of being a real owner as opposed to being a not yet transferred owner strengthened considerably when demanding service from the juristic office and/or developer's staff on site. All responded immediately to my requests/demands to repair and fix problems because I was there in their face all the time.

Only you can decide how quickly you want access and occupancy of your unit. So don't just take the advice of the posters here; they are just talking off the top of their head, without consideration of your particular situation, and possibly even without comparable experience.

Only you can decide what your objective is, and how best to achieve it. Others, to put it bluntly, ain't got a clue what they are talking about.

Edited March 5, 2010 by tangoll

[123ace]

I don't think you will lose your ability to rectify minor defects, the saving from earlier transfer is probably in excess of the defect value and how can CBRE be at fault? they don't build it any more than you do.

Appoint another leading intl real estate firm to act on your behalf if necessary to manage the defects process for you, they would be happy to act against CBRE and the developer.

What would you do in the real world? use a surveyor thats what.

[trogers]

Nearly 100 points of defects in a 128 sqm condo unit? My guess is that you have missed out the main point...

Check the glass curtain wall of your unit and see if it is made of insulated glass or single layer glass. I have seen greenhouses in Thailand, and they are only used to simulate desert conditions.

[tangoll]

Would be interested to find out from OP owner of Mil Residence what finally he/she did and how all the defects were resolved.

My experience from being first owner to transfer and move into new Noble Remix at Thonglor has been that the juristic office and developer's technical staff responded immediately to fixing any defects/problems in my unit once I moved in.

The mostly western way of holding out for your legalistic position doesn't always work in Asian/non-west societies.

[hhgz]

CBRE is a reputable firm and, in my opinion, your should complete the sale. On the other hand, spending an extra $10,000 USD might be your choice.

Whoops, wait a minute...you had to make a decision by 3/26 - several days ago. I'd like to know what you decided, and how it was resolved.

Edited April 2, 2010 by hhgz

[debeers]

The stamp duty holiday has been extended to the end of May, so I now have more time to get the defects fixed.

CBRE is a reputable firm and, in my opinion, your should complete the sale. On the other hand, spending an extra $10,000 USD might be your choice.

Whoops, wait a minute...you had to make a decision by 3/26 - several days ago. I'd like to know what you decided, and how it was resolved.

[Chenweili]

I see this thread is over a year old, but what was the outcome?

I'm currently living in the Millennium. The building quality control and management is quite shocking for something positioned and priced as a 5-star project, but worse is the developer's inability to deliver on their promises. Drainage systems don't work properly (poor design or contractor cutting corners resulting in terrible smells from unused bathrooms), ventilation poorly designed (no opening windows in the bathrooms), floor sections peeling up, window seals not set correctly, windows are not laminated nor 2x glazed (its a heat-sink), the list goes on.

I am also exhausted by the ongoing mismanagement of the property. There is a revolving door of personal from CBRE, then Savills, and the "Singaporean owners" constantly at odds with their Thai partners. No one is answering the phone or calls back - and visits to the office always gets redirected to new faces.

All of this is against a backdrop of developer greed, ie. "pay the money today!"

Looking to move out ASAP.

[trogers]

I see this thread is over a year old, but what was the outcome?

I'm currently living in the Millennium. The building quality control and management is quite shocking for something positioned and priced as a 5-star project, but worse is the developer's inability to deliver on their promises. Drainage systems don't work properly (poor design or contractor cutting corners resulting in terrible smells from unused bathrooms), ventilation poorly designed (no opening windows in the bathrooms), floor sections peeling up, window seals not set correctly, windows are not laminated nor 2x glazed (its a heat-sink), the list goes on.

I am also exhausted by the ongoing mismanagement of the property. There is a revolving door of personal from CBRE, then Savills, and the "Singaporean owners" constantly at odds with their Thai partners. No one is answering the phone or calls back - and visits to the office always gets redirected to new faces.

All of this is against a backdrop of developer greed, ie. "pay the money today!"

Looking to move out ASAP.

Most of the items in the list you have mentioned could be visually spotted before you committed leasing the unit. No point airing your regards in an open forum. Perhaps you were drawn in by the lovely glass facades, forgetting about greenhouses in the tropics?

[ExpatJ]

Would be interested to find out from OP owner of Mil Residence what finally he/she did and how all the defects were resolved.

My experience from being first owner to transfer and move into new Noble Remix at Thonglor has been that the juristic office and developer's technical staff responded immediately to fixing any defects/problems in my unit once I moved in.

The mostly western way of holding out for your legalistic position doesn't always work in Asian/non-west societies.

How do you find living in Remix? Do you think it has potential for a buy to rent out location?