Hello From Mr. Roomfinder Dot Com

[Drew Aitch]

Hello everyone.

My name is Aitch (AKA Mr. Roomfinder!) and I'm the webmaster of the all new site MrRoomfinder dot com. We've just partnered with Thaivisa to create this new forum which I hope will be of benefit to us all.

For those of you who don't know the site, Mr. Roomfinder is a free information service with a primary purpose to help the home hunters of greater Bangkok find that perfect pad. There are also plans to add a national database soon but this will obviously take a bit of time before we get any real listings in there.

Mr. Roomfinder has hundreds of actual contact telephone numbers and address details with every single submitted property. We're not real estate agents so there's no need to go through us, mention us, or slip us a drink in order to arrange a viewing. Just log on, look around, take what you want and leave the rest. That's it!

Although the site has ambition to list all property types from the cheapest of the cheap to the most costly penthouses, there is always going to be a focus on the low to mid range properties as it's an area many people feel is neglected.

Also for consideration at a later date, is a plan to build some kind of 'members rated' list of properties and tie a search facility into that.

We've attempted to cover as many points as possible in the construction of MrRoomfinder, but obviously there are some areas that would have been overlooked, so just bear with us as we persist with continual progress.

We're dedicated to updating and improving the site periodically, and most of these changes and amendments will be on the recommendation of the site's members, so user feedback is essential to the future success of the site. All updates and or amendments to the site will be posted to this forum as and when they occur.

Obviously it's not possible to implement every good idea that is made by an individual member but all suggestions will definitely be reviewed for consideration and all mail will be answered. You can either contact me via the site or through this forum, as I expect to visit here daily.

Don't forget, in addition to the apartment lists we also have an impressive search facility, articles on housing issues, online interactive polls and other bits and bobs aimed at keeping the site interesting.

That's it for now. We hope you enjoy the site and will contribute to its development.

Thanks for reading

Edited August 1, 2005 by Drew Aitch

[bkkmadness]

Great site, I actually found it many months ago and just checked in on it recently and was impressed by the extra work that had gone into it.

There was a fault somewhere on the site though, in one of the search by area sections. Since it was such a nice site I was going to join the forum to mention it to you, but forgot all about it.

I believe the fault was the area listings in the huay kwang area. I'll have a look now, perhaps you have already corrected it.

[bkkmadness]

Ok dude, I think I found it.

If you go to Zone 3 and go to the check boxes you are missing the huay kwang area and the din daeng area though they are on the map. They are actually found in the check box part in the Zone 2 section of your site.

I assume they are not meant to be there, take a look at it yourself.

Again, great website, especially for the lower priced places. Well done.

[Drew Aitch]

Ok dude, I think I found it.

If you go to Zone 3 and go to the check boxes you are missing the huay kwang area and the din daeng area though they are on the map.  They are actually found in the check box part in the Zone 2 section of your site.

I assume they are not meant to be there, take a look at it yourself.

Again, great website, especially for the lower priced places. Well done.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi bkkmadness,

Firstly, thanks for the compliment. It’s always nice to get a bit of positive feedback. It makes all the effort the designers and I have put into the project worthwhile.

What an eagle eye you have. I can’t say I’d noticed the error in the district zones. I’ll get it fixed as soon as I can.

Once again, thanks for the feedback and I hope you find the site useful as it continues to progresses.

Cheers

Aitch

[bkkmadness]

Not really an eagle eye dude, I was looking for an appartment in that area just a couple of months ago and was using your website so it was pretty obvious to me.

Of course there is a quality control fee incurred for me checking this for you, I will PM you my bank details in a moment. I believe you owe me 37 baht which is coincidentally the price of a large Chang.

[orish]

I agree, great site. I've been looking for the past month or so and found some good possibilities.

Two problems - the vacancies aren't always current, so I phone up or go visit the apartment block, only to find that the place has been rented weeks previously. How about a field stating when the ad was last updated, and a quick and easy way for a landlord to mark when the room has been taken (and again unmarking it when it becomes free again) and/or a date when it will become available?

The other oversight is that I am also considering a townhouse, and these aren't advertised at all.

Great site. Please advertise it to landlords currently advertising in the local classified magazines (with Thai/English translation service??)

Wishing you every success, H.

[Drew Aitch]

I agree, great site. I've been looking for the past month or so and found some good possibilities.

Two problems - the vacancies aren't always current, so I phone up or go visit the apartment block, only to find that the place has been rented weeks previously. How about a field stating when the ad was last updated, and a quick and easy way for a landlord to mark when the room has been taken (and again unmarking it when it becomes free again) and/or a date when it will become available?

The other oversight is that I am also considering a townhouse, and these aren't advertised at all.

Great site. Please advertise it to landlords currently advertising in the local classified magazines (with Thai/English translation service??)

Wishing you every success, H.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks very much for your post Orish,

You’ve raised some good points. I'll try to answer them the best I can.

Firstly, the site opened with an initial database of just over 400 places. These properties were submitted over time by individuals, taken from publications, and found around the internet for those with their own web pages.

We actually started with 560 places and one of the first jobs in hand was to call every single business to verify that the contact details, property descriptions, and prices were correct. This was a time consuming task and by the end of it we had to discard around 150 apartment buildings from the list in order to make it accurate.

So the first listings then, were all apartment blocks and not individual vacancies, so it's always recommend to call first to see what's available at that time and to inquire about any current promotions they may have.

The vacancies that have been added since we opened the site a couple of months ago, have mostly been rooms posted by individual as opposed to apartment buildings in general. The point you raise is especially valid here because the minute these places are rented out the entry needs either deleting or disabling until such times as the property becomes vacant again.

What I've done here is to set up an auto responding email that goes out to landlords every 30 days. This mail reminds them to update, remove, or leave their entry as it is, depending on the action necessary at that time. The email contains a direct link to their property so it's a very simple procedure. Obviously, there's nothing Mr. Roomfinder can do to physically get folk to do this.

TOWN HOUSES - The Roomfinder Add Apt is for apartments and apartment buildings only.

The reason for this is to keep the search facility simple and specific for all users. If we mix houses with apartments we’ll have to include additional search options to filter one or the other out from the results.

We’ve added a category for houses in the Free Ads section simply named ‘Houses’. Users can also add pics of their property in there if they have any.

The houses section is not on fire yet, but then again we're only a couple of months old. There are a few in there though and these ads are on countdown from the day they're submitted. This means they will be automatically deleted after a set period unless the user logs in to extend the life of the ad.

Here's a link to the 'Houses' section of the site.

http://www.mrroomfinder.com/classifieds/in...set_add_ad_cat=

I can post any new additions to the Houses section in this forum as and when they arrive if it's agreed by Thaivisa. I've already been asked to update the forum when new apartments are submitted to the site.

ADVERTISING: I wish I had the answer to this one. There doesn't seem to be a single journal or publication that the landlords of Bangkok/Thailand subscribe to. If there was, I'd be in there at least to try it out. I don't think English newspapers such as the Bkk Post or the Nation will reach many landlords either.

Mr. Roomfinder is a free information website for landlords and tenants. Should any revenue get generated by site sponsorship and the like in the future, it will be reinvested into the continual growth of this project whether that be paid advertising or technical development.

Hopefully, we should have the major pages in Thai version pretty soon . The aim is to encourage the local landlords to submit their vacancies into our database. Not all property owners have the time to interpret an English websites in order to find how they go about submitting their vacancies. It is hoped that by having their own pages to guide them through the process, it’ll make for a more ‘user friendly site and show a degree of respect for their contributions. If the theory works in practice, it can only mean good news for both tenants and landlords.

Yesterday, we finally got submitted on the Thai Sanook.com (Web index) so ole Roomie should start to get known around Thai circles a bit more now.

Please remember this is a very new site and the aim is to make it into the best home hunting website in greater Bangkok and beyond - period.

I/we appreciate all the feedback and we shall continue to commit to making this a useful website for all of us.

Phew! That was a bit of a longwinded reply but perhaps it'll prove an informative read for you and others Orish.

Cheers for now.

Aitch

[bino]

Great website! Obviously a lot of work has gone into it, and I am sure you will be successful.

I have a suggestion- for your "Additional Search Options" page. If it is possible, you might want to make some (or all) of the "room features and facilities" and "apartment amenities" available as search criteria.

With these available, a customer could easily seek out apartments with swimming pools, fitness centers, etc... and apartments with aircon, cable TV, balcony, etc.

My 2 satangs worth! Other than that- great website overall.

[Drew Aitch]

I have a suggestion- for your "Additional Search Options" page. If it is possible, you might want to make some (or all) of the "room features and facilities" and "apartment amenities" available as search criteria.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Bino,

Thanks for your kind words and feedback.

One of my first thoughts when designing the site was to have the 'perfect' search facility. I thought users could tailor make their requirements and it would be the best apartment finder ever.

I tried exactly what you suggested and what happened was this:

The more search options there were, the more times I ended up with 'zero results found'.

I wanted a pad that was big but not too big, it had a sizable balcony capable for small parties, cable TV of course, 2 bedrooms, wooden & tiled floors, direct telephone line, quality furniture, swimming pool, gym, sauna, mini mart, salon, Soi taxi and all for 15,000 THB/Mo in a great location.

So that's the problem with offering to many search options I'm afraid. Folk get fed up with looking in the end.

It's a great idea in theory but testing proved it was a non-starter. Perhaps we can reach a compromise at a later date so let's not say 'This we will never do'.

Hope that makes some kind of sense and please continue to give us feedback whenever you feel like it.

Kind regards

Aitch

[kanjanamato]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh You are Mr. Room finder???!!! Cool!!!

Thank you! Your team is awrsome!!!

Mwaaaaaaaahhh!!!

K.amato

[crocodilexp]

Drew, your site is excellent, I will certainly use it next time I spend a few months in BKK.

> The more search options there were, the more times I ended

> up with 'zero results found'.

There is a pretty elegant solution to that (and not terribly difficult to implement).

- Order the criteria by importance (price, location, ... doormats) -- the admin does this once, not every user.

- When a search is to return 0 results, the system should just remove or relax the least important criterion, and re-run the search (repeat until there are 1+ results).

- When the search comes back, just say "no results with your criteria, but here are some similar ones", and list the removed/relaxed constraints at the top.

Another super-cool feature would be to integrate it with a mapping site (When is Google maps coming to Thailand?), and show results on a map.

I hope you'll make decent money out of this -- it's really cool and useful.

I think it'd be fun for me to work on your UI Unfortunatly, I'm stuck in the bad old USA for now, coding for the Evil Empire. Actually, I'd be very happy to offer some advice (and maybe limited coding) for little or no money Inbox me if you're interested.

Edited September 17, 2005 by crocodilexp

[Drew Aitch]

Thanks for the feedback crocodilexp and I’m glad you like the site. A bit of constructive feedback every now and again makes all the hard work worth while.

Actually the site is in the middle of a major update at the moment. The home page is neat but not really functional. New visitors have to look around and read a bit before they can get started.

Anyway, we'll soon have a cleaner, leaner Home page which will include the following updates:

* Quick Search facility at the top.

* Left side navigation rearranging and moving above the fold. (I will also be deleting the big fat search button image thingy!)

* Recently Added apartments table will be moved below the new quick search so it’s visible on arrival.

* Generally less cr*p down the center and more whiteness.....

* The Thai version will hopefully be on line very soon (again!)

* There’s to be a National Search Facility so that all of Thailand can get involved.

* New replacement categories are going in the Free Ads so that it is mainly focused on housing, land, office space etc

* And a bunch of other bits.

BTW, we had a good Bkk interactive street map tied into the Apartment details page but it got broken so will need to look into resoling that one!

With reference to you ideas on Additional search options, I’ll pass it on to the new designers and see what they say.

All the best crocodilexp and thanks once again for your feedback

Aitch

Edited September 17, 2005 by Drew Aitch

[Stefan Beck]

Mr Roomfinder,

are you aware of your competition?

www.thaiapartment.com/Result.asp

Some good ideas - but sheit all listings

Hope this helps

Stefan

[Drew Aitch]

Mr Roomfinder,

are you aware of your competition?

www.thaiapartment.com/Result.asp

Some good ideas - but sheit all listings

Hope this helps

Stefan

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Stefan and thanks for you feedback.

Thaiapartment.com is quite a good site and there are many more out there too. I actually know of about 12 Thai and 30 English, property related web projects out there. Just do a Google and you’ll find heaps of them!

Mr. Roomfinder’s not really in competition with sites like this as we’re more of an open house, or a free-for-all if you like. In fact we openly encourage anyone and everyone to advertise on the site, and that includes Real Estate Agents and Letting Agencies, along with Project owners, and private landlords.

The idea behind it all is to get as many vacancies on Roomfinder from whatever means possible so as to increase the choices for our visitors..

Cheers and thanks once again for your feedback

Aitch

[Lilred510]

I love mrroomfinder.com!

I was introduced through ajarn.com and I have found a few Apts that I am going to check out once I nail a job. Have you considered doing a more in depth search for ammenities? I would like to be able to cross reference price ranges with apartments that have ammenities that I like, such as hot water and A/C. I know they are listed in each Apt but if it could be used as a search criteria it would be much more efficient I think.

Edited October 12, 2005 by Lilred510

[Drew Aitch]

I love mrroomfinder.com!

I was introduced through ajarn.com and I have found a few Apts that I am going to check out once I nail a job. Have you considered doing a more in depth search for ammenities? I would like to be able to cross reference price ranges with apartments that have ammenities that I like, such as hot water and A/C. I know they are listed in each Apt but if it could be used as a search criteria it would be much more efficient I think.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for your post and kind words Lilred510.

Mr. Roomfinder will only get better as time goes by as more features are added to the site. We will gradually get more apartments and condos with pictures too.

Your question about an in depth search for amenities is not an uncommon one and I'll personally make sure it's integrated at a later date. For now though, we need to increase the number of properties in the database so that there will be results or near matched results for a detailed search.

There are many updates going on at the moment and this was not considered a priority at this time, but will most probably be included in the next batch of site enhancements.

Just for the record, a lot of places above 5,000 THB/Mo. should have A/C and hot water (shower only) as standard, but there are still a number that don't. I think it's fair to say these features are the norm in places above 8,000 THB/Mo.

Cheers Lilred510

Aitch

[Thailandvisitor]

[That's it for now. We hope you enjoy the site and will contribute to its development.

Hi,

I am looking for something in the Sukhumwit area but that does not seem to be a district. I can't figure out how the area maps relate to Sukhumwit.

How do I specify Sukhumwit?

Thanks

TV

[Drew Aitch]

[That's it for now.  We hope you enjoy the site and will contribute to its development.

Hi,

I am looking for something in the Sukhumwit area but that does not seem to be a district. I can't figure out how the area maps relate to Sukhumwit.

How do I specify Sukhumwit?

Thanks

TV

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Thailandvisitor.

I guess it can be a little difficult if you're doing a remote search. Anyway, that's why we’re here!

Ok, Sukhumvit Road is a very, very long road so prices and available accommodation can vary enormously. I'm guessing you probably want to stay along the central Sukhumvit road with easy access to the Sky train and BTS. Am I right?

If this is the case, the best search you can do is a Search by BTS/MRTA Sukhumvit line.

1. First go here: http://mrroomfinder.com/search.php?opt=bts

2. Next Put a tick in the check box for BTS (Sukhumvit Line) and click the 'Next' button.

3. The next page will allow you to break down your search by Price/Bedrooms/and apartment type if you want to.

4. Click the 'View Results Now' button to list the properties.

If you want to see what's available in the central area of Bkk simply do a Search by Map: http://mrroomfinder.com/search.php?opt=map

There will also be properties around the 'Sukhumvit Area' here but either the landlord failed to put the nearest BTS station in his ad or the train services are not so nearby.

1. Click on Zone 2

2. Click the ‘Search’ button on the next page.

3. Follow steps 3 & 4 as above.

Hope that helps.

All the best.

Aitch

[udon]

Aitch, an excellent site.

Maybe you could swap links with MttBkk dot com?

How do you make money from the site, I can see a lot of work has been put in to it.

Good luck with it.

Edited November 27, 2005 by Drew Aitch

[Drew Aitch]

Aitch, an excellent site.

Maybe you could swap links with MttBkk dot com?

How do you make money from the site, I can see a lot of work has been put in to it.

Good luck with it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Udon.

I've sent you a private msg regarding links.

Rgds

Aitch

[Make]

Hey Drew Aitch I have question!

If I rent apartment and make 6moths contract, can I change it for another apartment?(using same agensy ofcourse)

Cause i'm not sure where I'm gonna stydy so it's difficult to choose location

[Drew Aitch]

Hey Drew Aitch I have question!

If I rent apartment and make 6moths contract, can I change it for another apartment?(using same agensy ofcourse)

Cause i'm not sure where I'm gonna stydy so it's difficult to choose location

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Make.

If you make a contract you are basically bound to the terms and conditions of that contract so it’s important to agree with its contents prior to signing anything.

It may be easier to change apartments under the same contract if it’s another apartment within the same building or group but once again check the contract first.

Agencies work on behalf of their clients (the landlords) and simply act as a go between. This means it is not usually their contract so they have no power to move you around under its terms and conditions.

If you stay in an apartment building as opposed to a private condo, it is usually possible to stay on a month to month basis which means you can come and go as you please within reason. Of course, if you are not sure where you want to be it’s recommended that you do exactly this and only sign up for a mid to long term lease when you’re certain where you want to be.

I suggest you search this forum or start a new post for advice on places that rent rooms on a month to month agreement.

Hope that helps a bit.

Aitch

[mbkudu]

Thanks Mr. Roomfinder. I used your site and services to display my apartment for rent. The site is very easy to use and load pictures onto. I got several relies within a day or two and now it is rented out. Best of all is that it was free!

Cheers, Mbk

Edited December 26, 2005 by mbkudu

[Drew Aitch]

Thanks Mr. Roomfinder. I used your site and services to display my apartment for rent. The site is very easy to use and load pictures onto. I got several relies within a day or two and now it is rented out. Best of all is that it was free!

Cheers, Mbk

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for your feedback MBK, it's always appreciated.

Nice to see you got a result which is what the site's all about.

Happy New Year to you.

Aitch

[sassy11]

Hello, My husband is looking for a clean,comfortable and reasonable cooking room or apt in chaing Rai.

He needs it by May first for at least 6 months. He is handicapped, so no stairs please.

Thank you

Sassy

[Amir]

Mr room finder,

The site is really good, but unfortunatly only apartments or condos.. and nothing in Pathumtani

Maybe you could redirect me or have some spots about small houses (2/3 rooms) and apartments in Pathumthani area. Budget 15000 to 25000 BT

Thanks

[Wobbly]

Hi Mr. Roomfinder:

I wish to respond to Mr. John-Ralph on this forum. He is earching for a 2 bdrm condo in the bangna area. I have one that fits his specifications. It is at Thana City on Bangna Trad rd. KM 14. It is 98 sq mts, fully furnished with excellent facilities including full kitchen, dining, 2 baths, large living room, golf, pool, etc, great security, and near three international schools.

It is going for 15,000 baht/month. I can be reached at [email protected] or at 05-814-2182.

Can you help me connect to my ralph or anyone else who needs such a place.

Thanks

Wobbly

Hello everyone.

My name is Aitch (AKA Mr. Roomfinder!) and I'm the webmaster of the all new site MrRoomfinder dot com. We've just partnered with Thaivisa to create this new forum which I hope will be of benefit to us all.

For those of you who don't know the site, Mr. Roomfinder is a free information service with a primary purpose to help the home hunters of greater Bangkok find that perfect pad. There are also plans to add a national database soon but this will obviously take a bit of time before we get any real listings in there.

Mr. Roomfinder has hundreds of actual contact telephone numbers and address details with every single submitted property. We're not real estate agents so there's no need to go through us, mention us, or slip us a drink in order to arrange a viewing. Just log on, look around, take what you want and leave the rest. That's it!

Although the site has ambition to list all property types from the cheapest of the cheap to the most costly penthouses, there is always going to be a focus on the low to mid range properties as it's an area many people feel is neglected.

Also for consideration at a later date, is a plan to build some kind of 'members rated' list of properties and tie a search facility into that.

We've attempted to cover as many points as possible in the construction of MrRoomfinder, but obviously there are some areas that would have been overlooked, so just bear with us as we persist with continual progress.

We're dedicated to updating and improving the site periodically, and most of these changes and amendments will be on the recommendation of the site's members, so user feedback is essential to the future success of the site. All updates and or amendments to the site will be posted to this forum as and when they occur.

Obviously it's not possible to implement every good idea that is made by an individual member but all suggestions will definitely be reviewed for consideration and all mail will be answered. You can either contact me via the site or through this forum, as I expect to visit here daily.

Don't forget, in addition to the apartment lists we also have an impressive search facility, articles on housing issues, online interactive polls and other bits and bobs aimed at keeping the site interesting.

That's it for now. We hope you enjoy the site and will contribute to its development.

Thanks for reading

[udon]

Where is Mr. Roomfinder?

[creation2474]

I am arriving Bangkok in august, and would like to look at some apartments. Unfortunately, I cannot get messages through to u from your web site. It simply doesnt work. Do you have an e-mail adress or a physical adress through which i could reach you?

[Drew Aitch]

Hi folks. I only popped in here as I had an email returned as undeliverable which was sent from a member of Thaivisa.

Anyway, I’ve come over to see if I could find the sender of the message so I could respond. This was when saw these recent posts and was actually surprised to still find this thread pinned at the top of the forum.

Where is Mr. Roomfinder?

Firstly, let me apologize for disappearing overnight all those months ago. I got an email from the webmaster of Thaivisa.com saying he didn’t think the arrangement was working for the good of Thaivisa. Consequently, my moderator status was terminated from the forum forthwith and I left the rooms immediately as requested. However, I do still provide a link to this forum on my site for the convenience of the home seekers of Thailand.

I would have thought that the webmaster or a senior moderator would have pinned an announcement about the disassociation, but obviously this was not done, which probably accounts for the occasional mail I still get from Thaivisa members.

I am arriving Bangkok in august, and would like to look at some apartments. Unfortunately, I cannot get messages through to u from your web site. It simply doesn’t work. Do you have an e-mail adress or a physical adress through which i could reach you?

I get mails daily, well almost, directly from the site creation2474. Have you checked your email address is correct when sending as I often reply to emails that get retuned as the address is not recognized! Here’s the link Contact the Site I’ve literally just sent a test mail from this form and it appears to be working fine. If you had problems sending from here, there may have been a brief technical hitch, server side. Who knows!

If your new moderator sees this post, he or she may want to delete it as it could be confusing for some members thinking they have an invisible Mr. Roomfinder as a non-moderator and non-provider of recent vacancies around the city.

Finally, just to clarify, Mr. Roomfinder is not a Real Estate Agent or Letting Agency of any description, it never has been, so I don’t have any direct dealings with Landlords or tenants.

I’ve simply created a free information website for the home hunters of Thailand. The site has been set up so that users can quickly search the database for apartment buildings, condominium vacancies, and other property related items.

I do understand folks wanting a few recommendations prior to viewing or moving into a particular place, and especially if they’re searching remotely, which is why it’s always a good idea for home hunters to ask around the forums for recommendations on potential properties prior to making a commitment.

I may reopen the Roomfinder forum at a later date but to be honest, I’m too busy with other web projects at the moment so haven’t really got the time to moderate it. However, there are new vacancies added around the greater Bkk area almost daily nowadays, so the site goes on to be a valuable resource for tenants, landlords, and agencies as it continues to grow in traffic and popularity over the months and years ahead.

Best regards

Aitch