Renting House In Chiang Mai

[scorecard]

Would appreciate some opinions please about the potential of owning houses for rent in Chiang Mai.

- Is it better to have houses inside or outside of gates communities?

- Two bedroom, three bedroom, four bedroon, which size do you think would have better potential to gain tenants.

- One level or two levels?

- Fully furnished or unfurnished?

- Inner city or outside of inner city area?

- Can any TV members please suggest any agents who are good at gaining tenants?

- Any other comments much appreciated.

Appreciate any input, and thanks.

[sarahsbloke]

The house rental market in CM is dire.

On my estate about 2/3 of the houses are vacent.

I'm currently negotiating to rent a house the owner is trying to sell for 4,000,000bht .... I'm prepared to pay 5,000bht a month. Not much, but it's more than anyone else has offered in the last 4 years.

[jdinasia]

The closer in you are the better, new shophouses in the area between the moat and Nimanheyman Rd are going at about 25k a month and most are getting 3 year rental contracts. (Doesn't mean you will have a 3 year tenant though!) They are being rented unfurnished.

I wouldn't use or trust an agent.

[OriginalPoster]

The market looks pretty saturated with rental units to me. That's great if you're a tenant, but not so great for the landlords.

[OriginalPoster]

..duplicate post deleted..

[jingjoke]

^^^ I agree. BTW if you check realty rental sites most of them demand 2-months deposit, or more. There was a recent case of a farang trying to get out of his rental of B8000 per month in a nice house but the caveat was he had paid a deposit of B32,000. In the CMaiCity classifieds for instance there's a Thai agent named Apr*l who advertises rental prices as "firm" and she explicitly demands 2 months deposits. BTW that site is free for the average person but realty agents are required to pay for a commercial ad. Remember, nothing is 'firm', despite the rantings of any agent.

With any deposit you take a risk that you will seldom have it returned at the end of the contract: many Thai property owners consider it a bonus. Some or all of the deposit goes to pay the agent's fee since many rental owners seldom have ready cash. No ready cash at the start of the rental cycle, probably means no cash at the end of the contract period to repay your deposit.

I have only ever paid 1 month deposit, never more, in over 15 years of renting various places in Chiangmai. With only one month deposit as opposed to 2 or 3, you can walk away if the surrounding neighborhood turns excessively noisy or whatever.

Be sure to include a short-notice provision that you can leave the rental free and clear should Immigration cut short your stay: in this instance having only a 1-month deposit is advisable because on short notice your landlord probably can't come up with your deposit. Start your rental search early and remember unless it's the accommodation 'to die for', low-ball your offer and only with a 1-month deposit. If they balk just walk away. Many times they will immediately thereafter come running after you.

Cheers; for what it's worth... :jap:

[Asmerom]

The house rental market in CM is dire.

On my estate about 2/3 of the houses are vacent.

I'm currently negotiating to rent a house the owner is trying to sell for 4,000,000bht .... I'm prepared to pay 5,000bht a month. Not much, but it's more than anyone else has offered in the last 4 years.

That's odd. I was in the office the other day and she tells me she only has three or four at the most, available to rent. ; baht : 6000,12,000,and 25,000. There are about a couple more on offer privately. And that's about it. About half a dozen houses available to rent in the whole development. So, pretty much full up, I would say.

By the way, in all of the four properties I've rented in Thailand I've never had the slightest problem with the deposit (or burglars) both of which scare stories are often floated. But of course, in your case,you'll be holding the deposit.

[slapout]

Drive the moo bans and you will many vacant houses for sale and or rent.This includes some of the so called upper end (8 to 12 million). There are lots of rentals as well as for sale but the asking price does not relate favorably to what rent will be forthcoming.

Some of the homes that are in foreclosure can work but you need a sharp eye and understand repair/replacement cost, etc to come out ahead. This type of property that we have looked at is normally under 1.5 million with rents in the 6,000 baht a month range.

[newbie001]

I think that rental properties are not the best investment if you are looking to turn a profit. As stated before the average 2 million baht house will rent for less than 10,000 baht a month some for even less than that. If you already have the land or if the houses are already in the family then do it, but I wouldn't suggest buying houses under a spouses name as a potential business.

If you buy town houses, they depreciate much more rapidly and are also influenced by the neighbors keeping their places up.

If you have money to burn or money that you don't need an immediate return on, then go ahead.

If you buy 4 houses that are 1.5-2 million baht you will be lucky to generate 20-25K baht a month. That really isn't a lot for 6-8 million baht investment. Not to mention that you will have to keep the places up and you must have or know how to repair the buildings yourself.

Not the best business unless you have a lot of connections.

[uptheos]

It's most definitely a renters market at the moment in Chiang Mai and there are some very nice houses for around 5-6000 Baht. It's just a matter of persevering, driving around, making phone calls etc. If anyone has the cash and the balls to pay up front for a year, you can REALLY get a good deal and often the deposit is done away with by mutual consent.

[uptheos]

Check out City Life online DAILY http://www.chiangmai...lassifieds_job/

Recent examples

Two story two bedroom two bathroom townhouse. Near Central Airport Plaza 7000 baht

Two bedrooms two bathrooms 6,000 baht

Sign up for CMCCNewsletter sent to your inbox every Friday.Subscribe:Sendan email to [email protected] (Thenreply to confirmation email that will be sentback to you.)

Check TV classifieds.

Mostly you need to do the leg work and find out all the Moo bahns. Often they have rental signs on the gates with phone numbers. It takes time and you need to work on it, but there are decent houses out there at good prices.

[newbie001]

Uptheos, you do realize the OP is looking to rent out houses not to rent a house.

[anonymouse]

I think the only way of making money out of this would be to target Farangs who are desperate to sell and go back to their home countries.

There are houses owned by Thai's on my moo baan that have been empty since I moved in over 4 years ago and still up for sale they seem prepared to wait it out until they get the price they want [if ever].

[CMX]

If there is money to be made in this way, it will be the result of long term gain. This brings into question currencies as much as local housing markets. Houses sit because of the absence of property taxes, and you will know, of course, that only Thais can own land.

For the details you request - rooms, furnished or not, that sort of thing - you would probably be far better advised to chat up estate agents - I stress several. You will note the type of client they typically serve in forming your conclusions. Remember too that if economic conditions change, Korean and Japanese citizens may return, so ask about the old days.

In any case, yours will be a unusually speculative venture, though doubtless better than a restaurant. Whatever any single experience is, there has been a general trend for a year in this community of Thai Visa to describe the rental business as soft; thus the suggestions above that bargains abound for those of us who are the renters.

[scorecard]

Thanks to all for your kind replies which has given me a lot to think about.