House Locations In Chiang Mai

[midnighttiger]

Hi,

I ran across some attractively priced houses and was wondering if any of you are familiar with these areas? I realize they may not be the most "desirable" locations as their rental prices seem significantly lower than other properties I've seen, but any input on what these locations are like would be appreciated. We're okay with a charming area that's surrounded by nature, trees, mountains, etc.

Lampang, Lamphun Road - Hwy. 106, 11http://www.chiangmaihouse.com/index.php?action=listingview&listingID=2272

Mae Rim Road - Hwy. 107

http://www.chiangmaihouse.com/index.php?action=listingview&listingID=1171

Maejo, Phrao, Sansai Road - Hwy. 1001

http://www.chiangmaihouse.com/index.php?action=listingview&listingID=375#

[ricardofel]

Lampang is 90 kilos from CM. Mae Rim is 30 mins from shopping (markets), the others are also far from most shopping venues and CM.

[Fishenough]

There is good shopping in Lampang.

Many housing deals right now, the Chiang Mai House page even says most prices are negotiable and that is so true right now. We just look at many houses last month, finding many attractive houses and several landlords willing to deal. Don't even hesitate to offer half of the asking rent on some properties, of course on the condition of signing a lease.

[sarahsbloke]

Outside of CM, 5-20km,

3 bed houses (with aircon) rent for about 7,000bht a month +utils

2 bed houses 6,000bht + utils

The prices advertised on the stes you pointed us to are very optimistic, they will be vacent for a long time at those prices. Like other posters have mentioned offer 1/2 the asking price then walk away, leaving a phone number. Alternatively say "It's nice, but I'm really looking for something a bit cheaper ........ 7,000bht a month", then walk away

These sort of houses can be found either side of all the main roads out of CM on the side of town you have specified.

Most of the Moobans are quiet and semi-rural.

Edited August 18, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[CMX]

OP

Yes, these houses, however nice upon close inspection (I did fairly thorough searches last October) are priced higher than you must pay, though I see one has two prices - which may give you an idea about market conditions now. One sticking point, depending upon your tolerances and wishes, might be the number and locations of air-cons.

However, the distances indicated in the ads are probably more accurate than an earlier member advised, as the offerings are not located at the END of the roads, but along the way, and all are within easy driving conditions of shopping, depending upon where you wish to shop.

For myself, it was important to investigate each property, in order to determine distances, driving conditions, ambiance, and that shopping business - as well as the property itself, though all three are out of town and will require some sort of drive.

[Ricardo]

If the OP has children of school-age, then proximity/driving-time to/from your preferred international-school(s) can also be worth checking-out, also we ourselves had a general bias towards the north side of C.M. because of flooding-risk during the monsoon-season. But it does put you closer to the local fault-line !

Edited August 18, 2010 by Ricardo

[sarahsbloke]

"vacant" not "vacent" ....... DOH!

[midnighttiger]

Thank you all for your opinions.

I guess I'll just have to find temporary housing for a week or two while I investigate each of these houses in person, one by one.

I'm finding that getting a 3 month rental initially before committing to a 1 year lease seems to not be possible through most of these agencies however.

[sarahsbloke]

Pretty much everyone wants a 1 year contract

Agencis also tend to be a bit expensive on their rentals.

Many people just hang a sign outside their house and rent it themelves, you just cruise around the Moobans you like the look of to find the houses.

Best to rent a condo for 1 month (5,000-6,000bht a month) while you look at houses.

I'm 20km outside CM (near the mountains) on a very nice mooban (25mins to town down the 118), near me is a nice 2 bedroom house with good front lawn that has been vacant for 4 months, asking rental 6,000bht a month. Empty plots on 3 sides of the house, very rural.

Edited August 18, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[Pikey]

Tip: where ever you consider, visit several times at different times of the day. Why? Dogs!!! It may seem quiet at the time you visit during the day when the dogs are sleeping but getting woken at 5:30am or having to crank the volume of the TV up to drown out the background noise in the evening, can get a tad irritating...... ;-)

Cheers & happy hunting,

Pikey.

[midnighttiger]

6000 baht a month sounds great. I don't see I've seen any of the agency sites that attractively priced. Would you mind taking a photo of your neighbor's house and posting it?

[sarahsbloke]

The rental sign has disappeared, but its been raining hard, no sign of anyone living there. This one has a proper bath in the bathroom.

Many houses like this in the area, it's the going rate.

Either side of me, 2 bed bungalow with aircon 6000bht, 2 bed bungalow no aircon 5500bht, my place 3 bed bungalow 2 aircon 7000bht.

Edited August 18, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[orang37]

Thank you all for your opinions.

I guess I'll just have to find temporary housing for a week or two while I investigate each of these houses in person, one by one.

I'm finding that getting a 3 month rental initially before committing to a 1 year lease seems to not be possible through most of these agencies however.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun MidnightTiger,

We'd like to join the choir emphasizing "personal investigation" of the rental property, as well as, of course, target area selection based on factors like children and distance to schools, access to shopping, or recreational/fitness facilities if you use such, and your lifestyle (homebody-domesticated, night-life bon vivant, etc.).

We'd encourage you to spend far more than a week or two doing your search. If you have time, why not rent temporary quarters in an in-town guesthouse and get to know the city and its surrounding areas a little ?

You can find what appears to be a great house, but you might visit the neighborhood on a Saturday night and find either "karaoke-from-hel_l" neighbors, drunken whatever or ... seconding Khun Pikey's remarks here ... packs of howling dogs, that may be a real nuisance. Or you might visit the neighborhood at 6am on a morning and find one of your potential neighbors raises fighting cocks, and they are all crowing lustily and constantly.

Some things to watch out for :

1. are there unpaid bills hanging over from the last tenant for telephone, water, electric that may threaten cut-off of service, and that you may not be warned about.

2. does the water run clean from every single tap inside the house. with all taps inside and out closed : check the water meter to see if it's moving: if so, you got a leak, could lead to high expense in the dry months.

3. do the toilets flush. Do they refill so they can be flushed again in ... how long ?

4. of course this is a great time of year to examine the house area for any standing water (danger: mosquitoes), are the drains/gutters, if any clean.

Please forgive us if we sound like your nattering-net-nanny here

There have been some really bad cases of fraud here we've seen personally where the person renting the house was not really the owner. In one case, over ten years ago, two farangs (who both spoke fluent Thai, and between them had lived over twenty-five years in Chiang Mai) were completely fleeced on renting/leasing a business property.

When we rented this in-town house we were lucky to find in a quiet neighborhood (quiet before the arrival of the rooster who constantly screams "I'm a turkey" beginning at 4am which now we are so accustomed to his testostero-song is a veritable lullaby), we demanded photo-copies of the Thai ID's of both the agent helping us, and the person representing the owner of the house, just as the owner's rep demanded a copy of our human's passport.

And you will probably need the cooperation of the real owner of the property to get a residence certificate, for example, which you can use to buy a car or motorsai, get a Thai driving license, etc.

We've been lucky; the rather sleazeball cousin of the owner of the house was soon fired as her agent, and the owner is a great Thai lady with whom we are on very good terms. Using hindsight, almost wish we'd insisted on getting the lease notarized (although not clear exactly what the Thai legal equivalent of that is).

Good luck !

best, ~o:37;

Edited August 18, 2010 by orang37