Property Hunting In Cnx

[x-pat]

12 years Bangkok are enough.

I will be hunting for a new home next week in Chiang Mai. To be honest, I am quite ignorant of the intricacies of the property market in Chiang Mai. There are a lot of offers on the Internet, most of which seem to be priced a little above what people tell me is the going rate, but of course still cheaper than Bangkok. I suppose that the Internet offers are geared towards foreigners.

For tax reasons, in Bangkok it is common to sign two rental contracts, one for the property, another for the furniture and fixtures (though the latter often consists of a collection of useless compressed wood items that would make a nice fire in the front yard). Two months deposit / 1 year minimum lease are the standard in BKK. Same in Chiang Mai?

Perhaps property agents are not the best way to go. I will try scouting out some areas first and resort to agents only if scouting turns out to be too exhausting. The areas I am looking at are Hang Dong and the strip between Hang Dong and the city. Any recommendations which Moo Baans might be promising?

Target is a 150-200 sqm house, 2-3 BD, 2 BR, western style kitchen with a garden, either furnished or unfurnished. Can be in a Moo Baan or a single house. How much rent does such a house cost in Chiang Mai now?

Of course, I would be grateful for any other suggestions you might have.

Cheers, X-Pat

[Sansai Sam]

The size of the house you want should run between 12,000 and 20,000 baht per month. As I am sure you are aware it is better to have a Thai friend inquire on the rent. I have not heard of signing a seperate contract for the furnishings but then I rented unfurnished. I agree that the "furniture" in furnished rentals is usually crap. What is your timeframe? Why did you choose that area? Just curious. I know of available houses but not on the Hang Dong Road. The agreement is most likely one year with two months rent up front. Grab a copy of Citylife Magazine when you get here. They list quite a few rentals. Good luck to you!

[earlofwindermere]

Our rental agreement was split in two - just like you said. We also had to pay three months rent on a one year contract. Our home is simiilar to yours (but the kitchen is more Thai style - but inside). We're paying 12 000 baht. We're not on Hang Dong but on Mae Joe Road (where there are a lot of nice moo baans as well). There's a new Rimping being built here and there's several international schools in the general area as well.

One suggestion someone recently told me is that there's a lot of really cheap homes for rent through the banks (check their websites). One quick look on kasikorn has some big homes for quite cheap. There's also a few mid-size homes in my moo baan for rent if you end up looking in this area. let me know

[thebear]

Some good advice in the threads so far especially intimated from earlofwindemere regarding the Hang Dong area. We lived there for the first 12 months in CM and it ended up being a PIA with the Hang Dong Road itself being the nightmare. There is a lot of new development between the Super highway and 2nd outer ring road in the Mae Rim/Mae Jo direction well worth checking out - much cleaner and much more peaceful with an increasing number of good facilities.

[bozy]

Our first rental was two contracts one for the house the other for furniture.I was informed this was done for tax purposes the owner only pays tax on half the money they receive.(fair play)

Sorry,back to the houses I agree Mae jo or San Sai is a good place to live with the rimping supermarket (many imported goods) close at hand and Tesco/carrefour with in 10 minutes drive.You should get 2/3 bed 2 bath house for 10,000-15,000.

Our new contract is 6 months,3 months deposit,1 month rent in advance and we pay 10,000 for a 3bed,2 bath bungalow which is 3 years old.Good compared with our first rental which was 16,000 for a larger older bungalow.

As for Hang Dong it also has many good moo baan and is handy for airport plaza and tesco.

Get viewing!

Darren

[x-pat]

Thanks for your comments.

Why Hang Dong? My wife bought a piece of land in San Pa Tong and if we ever decide to build on it, we would be closer to the site. Besides, I figure Hang Dong is more peaceful than Muang. Plus Lotus is close. But I don't really know much about the various suburbs of Chiang Mai, so I will be open to all suggestions and take a look at the other areas too.

I agree that the Hang Dong Road doesn't appear very safe and traffic seems to be quite heavy. That's a bit of a drawback.

This time I will stay for 10 days in CNX. Hopefully enough to get a more complete picture.

Thanks Again & Cheers,

X-Pat

[p1p]

Spend some time here and maybe stay in a guesthouse for a month or so while you house hunt. I have lived south of CM, on and off, since '76. Initially in Chom Tong, latterly on the CM side of Hang Dong. I still think it's the place to be.

Look at Ban Nai Fun on the Canal Road, any of the Koolpunt estates or the World Club estate amongst too many to list here. Drive around, walk the estates and ask questions. Take your time, it will not be wasted.

[x-pat]

Back from CNX - mission successful.

Found a nice house with garden and lake view in a Moo Baan in San Sai for 16,000 THB, 3 BD, 2 BTH with cable TV and ADSL.

I also learned a bit about the property market in CNX which is unlike that in BKK, except that both markets seem to be in the late phase of a boom.

Although there seems to be an oversupply of housing, it is not easy to find good value property in CNX. It took us seven full days, countless trips by car and taxi. The scouting idea turned out to be too exhausting after day no. four, so we resorted to agents.

Property owners often have fanciful ideas about pricing which results in houses being offered at almost any price tag ranging from outrageously overpriced between dirt cheap. It is not easy to make out an average market price and the picture emerges only slowly.

The ratio between property value and rental rates is different than in BKK with rental rates being somewhat high compared to the cost of the property. Rental properties are often not maintained well and nice usable furniture is rare.

ADSL coverage seems to be close to 90% within the superhighway, somewhat uncertain within in the next two ring roads and almost certainly absent beyond. But things are changing fast.

Thanks again for your suggestions. There will be one more x-pat in Chiang Mai soon.

Cheers, X-Pat