Any Good Area To Buy A Condo For Rent In Bangkok?

[tezzaaa]

Hi,

The title says it all, I wanted to ask if anyone had any recommendation as to good areas to buy a buy-to-let condo in bkk? I'm thinking areas that are easy to rent and/or areas that will be served by future extentions of skytrains etc. We already have a condo we are about to rent in Thonglor, but I was interested in getting other people's views. We are thinking of a condo in the 2M to 3M Bth price range

Any thoughts welcome

Thank you for your help

T

[123ace]

2 - 3m will not go far. I would also be interested to know what up to 3m would get these days.

The best location is Saladaeng - one and two bed units. Sukhumvit is ok, but less focussed and heavily over-supplied in the mid / mid-high range.

[ThanonFarang]

2-3mm I would look beyond On Nut at one of the soon to be completed BTS stops. Should get a nice appreciation hike once done and have no issues finding tenants, relative to other areas where you could get something at that price.

You might also check Sukhumvit Suites on Suk 13. I lived there a couple years, good building and desirable to foreigners. Should be able to land a 1BR you can let for 18-22k per month in that range -and definitely can find a studio you can let for 14-18k for that price. Condos start on the 14th floor.

[Khun Jean]

Do you want a condo to show to your friends how nice it is or do you want a condo to make money.

If it is the latter then look around for condos around 250.000 - 400.000 and rent them out to Thais.

For 3Mb you will have around 7-10 smaller condos and i guarantee you you will have a better roi.

Best places? I know them but i would like to keep that info for myself. Took too long to gather that info to distribute it freely.

[AddictedToThai]

For 2-3 mil you can get a new condo in Ekkamai area. With the new Gateway shopping complex and a hotel to be built at the intersection this area is going to be busy in the next 2-3 years.

Edited April 12, 2010 by AddictedToThai

[tezzaaa]

Hi, thank you all for your help. If i find anything good I will let you know.

regards

T

[sokal]

2 - 3m will not go far. I would also be interested to know what up to 3m would get these days.

The best location is Saladaeng - one and two bed units. Sukhumvit is ok, but less focussed and heavily over-supplied in the mid / mid-high range.

Where are you looking ? I have seen listings for 650,000.

[sokal]

Do you want a condo to show to your friends how nice it is or do you want a condo to make money.

If it is the latter then look around for condos around 250.000 - 400.000 and rent them out to Thais.

For 3Mb you will have around 7-10 smaller condos and i guarantee you you will have a better roi.

Best places? I know them but i would like to keep that info for myself. Took too long to gather that info to distribute it freely.

for 250,000 to 400,000 ? Are those the type with the partial outdoor bathroom with no water heater ? what can you rent them out for ?

My lady friend that lives in the Samutprakarn area says that she pays around 3200 bht a month for a one room place. It has a small deck with the bathroom outside, tankless toilet and no water heater. I told her to get a water heater and she just said that it was better for her skin to not have one.

[Khun Jean]

She is right. Hot water is not good for your skin. It dries your skin out more quickly and you will get more wrinkles

250-400K is a rather big range for one or 2 room apartments. But it will at least be 25m2 or more. Rent will be around 3000-6000 depending on location, size, fittings and of course it has to be in good order with functioning toilets, with tanks! They are very common and not easy to buy as they are almost all rented out and there is a great demand.

I (we) have around 20 of those in different areas and rent out exclusively to Thais. Easy to maintain as they have no real luxury things like a 'european kitchen'. Who needs those when on your way home from work you can choose so many kinds of food for around 20 baht. Most are used by single working people and only a few have 2 people living in them.

Why ours are never empty is because we repair when something is broken very quickly (few hours, max 1 day) and even rent out things like aircon units, TV's, sofa etc. For a new tenant that can be a real great option and for us a little better roi.

With around 20 we can buy another one about every 3 months, steadily building up a good base for future earnings.

A Thai from Chinese heritage is taking care of it for 10% of rental income as his basic salary for collecting rent and extra's when other work has to be done.

Currently we offer owners of these kind of apartments/studios a sell and lease back contract. Just started hanging up small adds so we will see how that one goes.

Already told to much, but i am confident we still have an advantage in local knowledge that will keep us quicker to find these deals. Apartment buildings enough in Bangkok.

[trogers]

You can get a 1-bedroom, 45 sqm condo (14 yo) unit near BTS Prakhanong and fully fit it all out at Bt1.7m and lease it for Bt15k a month gross, and getting Bt13.4k net after deducting common fees and internet.

[sokal]

She is right. Hot water is not good for your skin. It dries your skin out more quickly and you will get more wrinkles

250-400K is a rather big range for one or 2 room apartments. But it will at least be 25m2 or more. Rent will be around 3000-6000 depending on location, size, fittings and of course it has to be in good order with functioning toilets, with tanks! They are very common and not easy to buy as they are almost all rented out and there is a great demand.

I (we) have around 20 of those in different areas and rent out exclusively to Thais. Easy to maintain as they have no real luxury things like a 'european kitchen'. Who needs those when on your way home from work you can choose so many kinds of food for around 20 baht. Most are used by single working people and only a few have 2 people living in them.

Why ours are never empty is because we repair when something is broken very quickly (few hours, max 1 day) and even rent out things like aircon units, TV's, sofa etc. For a new tenant that can be a real great option and for us a little better roi.

With around 20 we can buy another one about every 3 months, steadily building up a good base for future earnings.

A Thai from Chinese heritage is taking care of it for 10% of rental income as his basic salary for collecting rent and extra's when other work has to be done.

Currently we offer owners of these kind of apartments/studios a sell and lease back contract. Just started hanging up small adds so we will see how that one goes.

Already told to much, but i am confident we still have an advantage in local knowledge that will keep us quicker to find these deals. Apartment buildings enough in Bangkok.

Those units sound close to what my GF has, maybe a step up. 25m2 or more ? I not sure what you mean.I know hot water is bad for your skin, its just funny that she said that. As if she would not use the warm water if it was there.

Edited April 15, 2010 by sokal

[tezzaaa]

Hi,

Thank you all again for your replies it's very useful and i've kind of changed my mind about buying luxuary condo and might buy a cheaper one like you mention.

One last question: do you guys think that the luxuary condo market is getting saturated in BKK? what i mean is that a lot of modern condos have been built (with pool, gym etc) and rooms are rented out to expats but is there not too much already (the number of expats is not going up as quickly it seems?), which makes me think buying to rent to Thais might be a better option...

Thank you

Regards

T

[aussiebebe]

Hi,

Thank you all again for your replies it's very useful and i've kind of changed my mind about buying luxuary condo and might buy a cheaper one like you mention.

One last question: do you guys think that the luxuary condo market is getting saturated in BKK? what i mean is that a lot of modern condos have been built (with pool, gym etc) and rooms are rented out to expats but is there not too much already (the number of expats is not going up as quickly it seems?), which makes me think buying to rent to Thais might be a better option...

Thank you

Regards

T

Hi, you mentioned in the first post, you were looking for a 2-3MB condo, and now that you might rent to Thais. You also mentioned it being served by future BTS extensions. Well, are you familiar with Srinakarin road which has the large mall Seacon Square? The shopping center next door used to be called 'Seri Center' and is currently being redeveloped and will be opened later this year as 'Paradise Park'. There are fairly new condo units opposite called 'Ninth Avenue' or somthing, where a 2Bed unit is 3-3.5MB.

Also, if you go further south on the same road, you enter Samut Prakarn and in the Suvarnabhumi area, just past the Srinakarin - Teparak intersection there is a large, newly developed Tesco 'Plus' which has a whole range of other shops inside like Boots, Starbucks, Cineama, restaurants etc. There is a block of new condos there selling for 40-42k/square meter, so the largest, a 2bed 1 bathroom sells for 2MB see it at www.condoseasons.com . Granted, it's not Bangkok, but hotels just round the corner such as 'The Colour Living' http://www.thecolorlivinghotel.com/ do quite a good trade on the basis of their proximity with the airport, and the expressway.

The Seasons condos might be a good investment to rent to Thais because although you can see the BTS extension already partially built towards the 'Sam Rong' area, there are future plans I didn't know of to build BTS down Theperak road and then Srinakarin road. God knows when this will happen, but still, see the map on the website.

EDIT: I just remembered to add that the Colour Living is also selling condos behind the main hotel, don't know the price, but sub 3MB for sure. So that's three condos I can think of which will benefit from future BTS expansion on Srinakarin road.

Edited April 17, 2010 by aussiebebe

[tezzaaa]

Many thanks this looks good!

Tezza

Hi,

Thank you all again for your replies it's very useful and i've kind of changed my mind about buying luxuary condo and might buy a cheaper one like you mention.

One last question: do you guys think that the luxuary condo market is getting saturated in BKK? what i mean is that a lot of modern condos have been built (with pool, gym etc) and rooms are rented out to expats but is there not too much already (the number of expats is not going up as quickly it seems?), which makes me think buying to rent to Thais might be a better option...

Thank you

Regards

T

Hi, you mentioned in the first post, you were looking for a 2-3MB condo, and now that you might rent to Thais. You also mentioned it being served by future BTS extensions. Well, are you familiar with Srinakarin road which has the large mall Seacon Square? The shopping center next door used to be called 'Seri Center' and is currently being redeveloped and will be opened later this year as 'Paradise Park'. There are fairly new condo units opposite called 'Ninth Avenue' or somthing, where a 2Bed unit is 3-3.5MB.

Also, if you go further south on the same road, you enter Samut Prakarn and in the Suvarnabhumi area, just past the Srinakarin - Teparak intersection there is a large, newly developed Tesco 'Plus' which has a whole range of other shops inside like Boots, Starbucks, Cineama, restaurants etc. There is a block of new condos there selling for 40-42k/square meter, so the largest, a 2bed 1 bathroom sells for 2MB see it at www.condoseasons.com . Granted, it's not Bangkok, but hotels just round the corner such as 'The Colour Living' http://www.thecolorlivinghotel.com/ do quite a good trade on the basis of their proximity with the airport, and the expressway.

The Seasons condos might be a good investment to rent to Thais because although you can see the BTS extension already partially built towards the 'Sam Rong' area, there are future plans I didn't know of to build BTS down Theperak road and then Srinakarin road. God knows when this will happen, but still, see the map on the website.

EDIT: I just remembered to add that the Colour Living is also selling condos behind the main hotel, don't know the price, but sub 3MB for sure. So that's three condos I can think of which will benefit from future BTS expansion on Srinakarin road.