How Neg Are Rents?

[gkinbkk]

After staying in serviced apartments the last few years while working in Bangkok I am finally relocating on a more permanent basis and looking at apartments on the web. To be honest they seem kind of expensive and more reflective of Singapore prices than what I expect from Thailand.

So, how overpriced are the apartments advertised on the english language sites and in negotiating a rental price where should I start? So for example on an apartment advertised at 100k a month then what should I be offering?

I'm sure there are lots of agents on this forum that will be a little loose with the truth but I hope someone can help.......

[equium]

depends on where you want to live and what you require.

we rent 37 sqm apartments with air con fully furnished with cable tv to thai people (as thats all that really live here at sukumvit 71) for 3500 baht a month.10 minutes to sky train,the longer you live here the more you will find,theres a nice place at sukhumvit 31 that does exactly the same as us but its 10,000 a month for 26 sqm.it seems the closer you live to nana the more expensive it gets,cant understand why who wants to live in a tourist area.

[witold]

You can't just assume everyone overprices their offerings equally. Some places are put up with fair prices, and some places are put up under-priced to generate interest. You will have to determine which is which on individual basis.

[kplesq]

I would tend to agree. I just listed my unit with a couple of brokers at what I think is a very fair (if not low) price, about 20-25% what others are asking in the same building. I think it depends on the unit, not necessarily the broker.

[Seizetheday]

I think you need to use the premise that you can negotiate up, but not down, bit like the bargirls do:D. I think a 30% discount on a 100,000 Baht unit would be a reasonable starting point. At that sort of price I'd try and find 3 units I like and play them off against each other to see who will accept the lowest price. Also try and work out the SQM price for the apartment, you don't want to pay 70k for an apartment that was advertised 30% overpriced!

[sarahsbloke]

Looking on the web, you will only find overpriced places IMHO.

Walk round the area you want to live in with a Thai friend, look at places with signs in the windows or outside.

You can usually save 30-50 percent on the web prices this way.

[wordchild]

I believe you can get some great deals in BKK right now. In my experience, the pricing variability is greater the further you move away from prime/super-prime areas and in older buildings; i would define prime as Ploenchit, Wireless, Ratchadamri and also parts of sathorn and parts of sukhumvit around emporium (rather than Nana). For pime locations, a quick rule of thumb that i have found useful as a place to start is take the sqm area of the unit divide by 2 and multiply by 1000 to give a baht monthly rental figure. This should be the top price for a well fitted out nearly new or new apartment with good proportions in a good location eg a 2 bed 150 sqm ,prime area close to skytrain top price should be 75k per month.( Looking at it the other way around thats giving the landlord a 5% return on 100k psqm purcase price with say 2 mil spent on fit-out and furnishing). In a tough enviroment for landlords you should be able to negotiate the rent down a fair bit from there.And outside prime or in an older building the rent should be considerably lower. Finaly to keep the rent down try to deal with landlords directly and avoid agents.

[yabaaaa]

I own quite a few units rented out and all units arent equal, furniture or quality of, service or lack of, examples I can give are if the aircon breaks 3 months into your contract who will fix it? is it included in your rent agreement and will they actually honour that agreement or is it all down to you.

Will you get back your deposit at the end or will they invent a trumped up problem? if the room above you leaks into your room will you have to pay or the owner of your room to fix it.

As such our rooms are more expensive than others (2000 baht a month) at one of our complexes BUT even after 4 years I am still full and the longest between tenants was 3 weeks vacant.

Can you speak with the owner 24 hours a day about any problem?

How much "extra" are threy charging you for electric? a cheap room often has expensive electric and you'd be surprised how much profit can be made this way.

[trogers]

I own quite a few units rented out and all units arent equal, furniture or quality of, service or lack of, examples I can give are if the aircon breaks 3 months into your contract who will fix it? is it included in your rent agreement and will they actually honour that agreement or is it all down to you.

Will you get back your deposit at the end or will they invent a trumped up problem? if the room above you leaks into your room will you have to pay or the owner of your room to fix it.

As such our rooms are more expensive than others (2000 baht a month) at one of our complexes BUT even after 4 years I am still full and the longest between tenants was 3 weeks vacant.

Can you speak with the owner 24 hours a day about any problem?

How much "extra" are threy charging you for electric? a cheap room often has expensive electric and you'd be surprised how much profit can be made this way.

There is no such thing as an overpriced condo unit. The graphical equilibrium price where supply meets demand is just a projected point. In real life, prices that have been agreed between parties are randomly scattered on the graph.

[Seizetheday]

I own quite a few units rented out and all units arent equal, furniture or quality of, service or lack of, examples I can give are if the aircon breaks 3 months into your contract who will fix it? is it included in your rent agreement and will they actually honour that agreement or is it all down to you.

Will you get back your deposit at the end or will they invent a trumped up problem? if the room above you leaks into your room will you have to pay or the owner of your room to fix it.

As such our rooms are more expensive than others (2000 baht a month) at one of our complexes BUT even after 4 years I am still full and the longest between tenants was 3 weeks vacant.

Can you speak with the owner 24 hours a day about any problem?

How much "extra" are threy charging you for electric? a cheap room often has expensive electric and you'd be surprised how much profit can be made this way.

There is no such thing as an overpriced condo unit. The graphical equilibrium price where supply meets demand is just a projected point. In real life, prices that have been agreed between parties are randomly scattered on the graph.

Surely if you have a condo for rent for 2 years and it sits vacant, one could quite likely claim that it is overpriced

[trogers]

I own quite a few units rented out and all units arent equal, furniture or quality of, service or lack of, examples I can give are if the aircon breaks 3 months into your contract who will fix it? is it included in your rent agreement and will they actually honour that agreement or is it all down to you.

Will you get back your deposit at the end or will they invent a trumped up problem? if the room above you leaks into your room will you have to pay or the owner of your room to fix it.

As such our rooms are more expensive than others (2000 baht a month) at one of our complexes BUT even after 4 years I am still full and the longest between tenants was 3 weeks vacant.

Can you speak with the owner 24 hours a day about any problem?

How much "extra" are threy charging you for electric? a cheap room often has expensive electric and you'd be surprised how much profit can be made this way.

There is no such thing as an overpriced condo unit. The graphical equilibrium price where supply meets demand is just a projected point. In real life, prices that have been agreed between parties are randomly scattered on the graph.

Surely if you have a condo for rent for 2 years and it sits vacant, one could quite likely claim that it is overpriced

Not necessary. Some are left vacant deliberately as the owner prefer to leave it vacant than to rent it out at a low rent which he deems do not justify the resulting depreciation. Do not forget that money have to be spent on the space between tenants. Such space is considered taken out of the supply market.

[Seizetheday]

I own quite a few units rented out and all units arent equal, furniture or quality of, service or lack of, examples I can give are if the aircon breaks 3 months into your contract who will fix it? is it included in your rent agreement and will they actually honour that agreement or is it all down to you.

Will you get back your deposit at the end or will they invent a trumped up problem? if the room above you leaks into your room will you have to pay or the owner of your room to fix it.

As such our rooms are more expensive than others (2000 baht a month) at one of our complexes BUT even after 4 years I am still full and the longest between tenants was 3 weeks vacant.

Can you speak with the owner 24 hours a day about any problem?

How much "extra" are threy charging you for electric? a cheap room often has expensive electric and you'd be surprised how much profit can be made this way.

There is no such thing as an overpriced condo unit. The graphical equilibrium price where supply meets demand is just a projected point. In real life, prices that have been agreed between parties are randomly scattered on the graph.

Surely if you have a condo for rent for 2 years and it sits vacant, one could quite likely claim that it is overpriced

Not necessary. Some are left vacant deliberately as the owner prefer to leave it vacant than to rent it out at a low rent which he deems do not justify the resulting depreciation. Do not forget that money have to be spent on the space between tenants. Such space is considered taken out of the supply market.

We will agree to disagree on the definition of overpricing.

My research with renting in Thailand backs up what you are writing a bit, in Australia if you want to rent a property out, you reduce the price to what the market will pay. In Pattaya you set your price and if you can't get it, you leave your house/condo vacant until you get it, that's my impression in condos / houses around 60k to 80k a month in Pattaya anyway

[trogers]

There is no such thing as an overpriced condo unit. The graphical equilibrium price where supply meets demand is just a projected point. In real life, prices that have been agreed between parties are randomly scattered on the graph.

Surely if you have a condo for rent for 2 years and it sits vacant, one could quite likely claim that it is overpriced

Not necessary. Some are left vacant deliberately as the owner prefer to leave it vacant than to rent it out at a low rent which he deems do not justify the resulting depreciation. Do not forget that money have to be spent on the space between tenants. Such space is considered taken out of the supply market.

We will agree to disagree on the definition of overpricing.

My research with renting in Thailand backs up what you are writing a bit, in Australia if you want to rent a property out, you reduce the price to what the market will pay. In Pattaya you set your price and if you can't get it, you leave your house/condo vacant until you get it, that's my impression in condos / houses around 60k to 80k a month in Pattaya anyway

Thailand rental market differs from those in developed countries as the latter has a push factor of high property taxes and holding cost like insurance and expensive common fees.

[hhgz]

"I think is a very fair (if not low) price, about 20-25% what others are asking in the same building."

You're renting a condo for 1/4th the price of other landlords? Incredible.