Never Trust A Real Estate/Rental Agent! (At Least Not This One!)

[rjhklein]

If you are tempted to rent a condo out in Hua Hin, or for that matter.. anywhere in Thailand, DO NOT choose this company c in Hua Hin! They promised a lot and delivered even worse than nothing.

The guy who took care of us was really nice. He promised a check-in/check-out + cleaning services and loads of rosy stories about how he places great importance on owner's wishes; how he kicks one tenant out because the guy made so much mess; how he takes great care of the condo as if it's his own; and so on. Well, we fell for it.

The only request we had was that we 'prefer' not to have single party guys since they tend to be slightly more careless with the room. He promised that as well. A month later, he brought in a guest and guaranteed that the man was totally no party guy; was very neat; and he had known him for so many years. And even if the guy made a mess, he would certainly clean the room up to make it pristine again. "Don't worry. I take care of your room as if it's mine." Sucker as we were, we fell for it.

Check out day comes. The man was nowhere to be found. We called and called to see if the guest had checked out. Absolutely no feedback, until we changed the number and called him with our other phone. 2 rings and he picked up! "Oh.... I'm in BKK now. Don't worry. The man is very neat. There won't be any problem. I'll arrange for cleaning tomorrow". Guess what, we fell for it again.

Two weeks after, we found time to drive down and see the condo.

IT WAS A MESS. Blinds were literally broken and torn apart. Bedsheets & blankets were extremely dirty and lied crumple on the floor. Slimy egg stain (at least that's what we're trying to think it was) were everywhere, even in the kitchen drawer! Sugars, salts, and god-knows-what other white substance spilled all over the countertop, and worst of all... our hand-woven cotton blanket was missing! (Later on, we were informed by the management that the guest partied all night in the room, with many different bar girls on almost daily basis.)

We called him again to clear this up. After several attempts and a few numbers tried, he picked up and just denied it flatly. "I can't possibly know what the guest will do to/in your room. Tough luck, but it's not my responsibility." Then when we got angry and pushed on, he just simply said the conversation was over and turned the phone off. <deleted>!

I actually didn't mind cleaning the room up or fixing the blinds ourselves. It's the deception and total lack of accountability that frustrates me. I believe there's a reason we all want an agent/middleman. These people are bound to give us the service we hire them for, not just taking more than 10% cut then take no responsibility and chuck it up in our faces.

So, just to save you all from our sucker experience. If you want to rent your place out, DO NOT trust this company or this guy whose name I can give you if you want. He simply will screw you over.

BTW, does anyone know a good rental agency in Hua Hin? We are shopping around again...

Rumble

Edited January 9, 2011 by sbk
sorry no name and shame

[sam666]

£100 says its not egg.

Sorry couldn't resist, horrour storys wiyh real estate agents and real estate are pretty common I hear, go with word of mouth always (and from a farang, not thai)

[stander]

You will not easily find a good, trustworthy real estate agent in Hua Hin, in general real estate agents have a poor service reputation here and I would imagine the ones which also act as rental agents are the worst of the bunch.

If you or your girl friend can speak Thai then I recommend you go for a local.

[tomat]

2nd-home is from my knowledge (I have never used a real-estate agent, but know many people in Hua Hin) one of the most reputable agencies. http://www.2nd-home.com/

[rjhklein]

2nd-home is from my knowledge (I have never used a real-estate agent, but know many people in Hua Hin) one of the most reputable agencies. http://www.2nd-home.com/

Thanks, for the info . I might give that a try but I still have to recover from he bad experience. Since Thaivisa cannot let me publish his name ( with good reason since we are not allowed by law to defame people, even if they are crap) I can send you a personal message with his name and contact details of this rotten agent.

Thanks again for your help

[hhfarang]

Yes, Tomat is correct. My wife worked for several agencies in town a few years back and she quit a couple because she is a very honest person and didn't like the way they operated. She ended up working for 2nd-Home for over a year and they were good and honest guys back then. She quit when the slump hit because it was boring without any customers and I think I heard recently that 2nd-Home may have closed up shop or gone into business with a builder to market his development exclusively so they may not do rentals any longer.

[tomat]

Yes, Tomat is correct. My wife worked for several agencies in town a few years back and she quit a couple because she is a very honest person and didn't like the way they operated. She ended up working for 2nd-Home for over a year and they were good and honest guys back then. She quit when the slump hit because it was boring without any customers and I think I heard recently that 2nd-Home may have closed up shop or gone into business with a builder to market his development exclusively so they may not do rentals any longer.

Actually they just opened a second office in Hua Hin, so it must be going okay.

[stander]

Just be very careful as the majority of Real Estate agents in HH are rotten to the core.

[alina]

Just be very careful as the majority of Real Estate agents in HH are rotten to the core.

This sums it up nicely.

I was told the rate these cowboys charge to sell a House/Condo, UNBELIEVABLE.

[katabeachbum]

Just be very careful as the majority of Real Estate agents in HH are rotten to the core.

This sums it up nicely.

I was told the rate these cowboys charge to sell a House/Condo, UNBELIEVABLE.

Not only in Hua Hin.

Most real estate agents in LOS are lazy, useless, no knowledge of property law and building codes and charge extreme prices for their services/marketing.

Deal with owners, avoid the parasites, use an accountant or lawyer for transfer if needed

[jamesrat1947]

Just be very careful as the majority of Real Estate agents in HH are rotten to the core.

This sums it up nicely.

I was told the rate these cowboys charge to sell a House/Condo, UNBELIEVABLE.

Go to Cha-am.. Bann Thai at the 711/ bus stop Cha-am south bound .. look for the bangkok bank/711 or bus stop south bound . farang owned.. Also Cha-am has another straight agent . D.S. Property on Narathip road near the T junction at the beach . they run a guest house . realtor and have a big rent roll. Narathip road is the main road from Pekesan Road to Cha-am beach and this realtor is the last building on the left going to the beach.. His name is Ove dahlan (pronounced "oovie).. 0817014200

[cricketer]

Room by Room is a good letting agency, I have used them for 5 or 6 yrs now, rarely a problem.

http://www.roombyroom-thailand.com/