Pattaya Used Home Market

[toenail]

NOTE: I am writing this in the Pattaya forum and not in the real estate forum since each city is different in the housing market.

I have worked/lived in Pattaya area for 6 years. If I add up the amount of rent I have dished out, I could have bought a modest condo or villa.

I have read enough on these helpful forums to know the pro's and con's of buying and renting; owning/not owning a house or condo...

I am interested in purchasing a used villa/bungalow since I prefer something with a yard, seeing what the "village" looks like when finished, and I no longer want to live in the eye of the tourist ghetto of noisy bars, traffic, and masses of tourists. Also, I would put the house in the name of my Thai girlfriend (of 6 years). I understand I cannot own it.

Because of not owning the place, I do not wish to sink a lot of my savings into the place; thus I am looking for a 2 bedroom villa that is around 1.5 million.

For over a year now, I have looked at various small houses in "villages" (mostly on the "dark side") on the major real estate websites and they are the same houses, with the same prices. They have not been sold yet.... so I am wondering if I see a house that is selling for two million baht...what is the "realistic" price one should offer????? I feel if these houses were reduced to a lower price, they would sell...but I realize how real estate agents want to "save face" and not lower their price.

So, how does one negotiate a lower price with an agent????

[SGD]

Most people want more than the market value because they simply cannot accept that their chateau is worth so little. Most also bought at much higher exchange rates and have thus made a profit but they still want their version of the real THB price.

Just look at the USA. Aaron Spelling's old house was on the market at $150m for two years before being sold for around $85m. Why ? because they finally saw sense. Folk in Pattaya aren't as sensible in the main, hoping like the Thais, for that one sucker to pay full whack and then some.

Do your homework. If someone hasn't sold in 2 years, they are unlikely to sell now for way less than asking. However, if someone has put the property out recently, then they may well need to sell at any price.

[PattayaParent]

You don't negotiate with the agent, they don't set the price the owner does.

You can make an offer to the agent to pass on to the owner and then he is free to accept or decline and tell the agent to let you know his answer.

Edited August 2, 2011 by PattayaParent

[craigt3365]

I've found the best way to find a deal is to drive around, find a village you like, then look for signs in windows saying FOR SALE....or, could be in Thai...so bring your GF along. Also, ask the onsite manager. They usually know what's for sale and for how much. And of course, they will get a bit for their troubles. My friends just sold their condo (for a fair amount above asking price) and the lead came from the onsite manager. In our village, our manager has keys to properties and will show them upon request.

As for asking price, it's rare for a seller to put the price at the amount they really want. Make an offer of what you think is reasonable and go from there. Some sellers own the properties outright, are not poor, so don't really care if it sells immediately or not. Others are in a bind and will put a property up for sale at a great price. This market is no different from most around the world. Negotiation is the key.

[Atmos]

" . . . 6 years. If I add up the amount of rent I have dished out, I could have bought a modest condo or villa"

are Pattaya rental returns that high for investors? Over 15% pa?

We lease a new house (Chanthaburi) the owner gets a 4.2% gross return per year, six years at those rates would be a deposit, not a purchase in our situation.

[Thaifan2]

" . . . 6 years. If I add up the amount of rent I have dished out, I could have bought a modest condo or villa"

are Pattaya rental returns that high for investors? Over 15% pa?

We lease a new house (Chanthaburi) the owner gets a 4.2% gross return per year, six years at those rates would be a deposit, not a purchase in our situation.

Paying rent is money lost for ever . :jap:

[thaimate]

" . . . 6 years. If I add up the amount of rent I have dished out, I could have bought a modest condo or villa"

are Pattaya rental returns that high for investors? Over 15% pa?

We lease a new house (Chanthaburi) the owner gets a 4.2% gross return per year, six years at those rates would be a deposit, not a purchase in our situation.

Paying rent is money lost for ever . :jap:

I have owned and dealt in property for half my life,and then i would have agreed with you ,now living here in Pattaya the last 6 years i would never buy a property ,rent and move on when you want to ,however if you want to live in your property till you die and then your wife wants the same after your gone ,buy.

[Jimmyd]

The idea that paying rent is losing money is silly if you understand the situation.

As simply as I can put it, imagine two people have a million baht.

Person one invests the money at 6% per year and rents a condo for 60,000 baht per year (5,000) baht per month. At the end of five years, the person still has 1,000,000 baht in the bank.

Person two invests buys a condo for a million baht. After six years, the person has the condo. If the condo is now worth more than a million baht, person two has done better than person one, if not, the reverse is true.

This is an oversimplification, of course, but the basic idea is true and does not align with the idea "rent is wasted."

[Thailaw]

I have owned and dealt in property for half my life,and then i would have agreed with you ,now living here in Pattaya the last 6 years i would never buy a property ,rent and move on when you want to ,however if you want to live in your property till you die and then your wife wants the same after your gone ,buy.

Of the miriad of posts on this subject, your's lays out the issue more clearly than any of the others I have seen. I would qualify what you said a bit: "if you are sure that you will live in your property till you die and then your wife wants the same after your gone, and you can get the property at a price that reflects the current maket, then buy".

And, while paying rent may be money lost for ever (it is not really lost when all of the involved costs are considered), buying a house in Pattaya will be money lost forever. And I expect that of the two the latter will be a much larger amount.

"Negotiation is the key"? That is silly and naive. Good/strong negotiation may earn you a 5%,10% or even 20% (if you are really lucky/good) better deal. The real problem is that most houses in Pattaya are priced at least double the price at which they could be reasonably expected to transact. This is certainly true of many of the +B10 million asking price houses. If you offered me the true "market value" for my house, the negotiation would stop right there -- my house is worth more to me than that. But as Thaimate very rightly says, I'm stuck in it whether I like it or not. The real key is the work put in before the negotiation starts -- finding a house that you really like that is owned by a truely motivated seller that will accept the "market" price. There are very few of those, who will realize a very painful loss. And knowing with any certainty what the "market price" actually is is a problem in Pattaya. In most developed countries, comparables on recent house selling prices are available in the public record (governments keep these for tax purposes). In Pattaya/Thailand is is very difficult/near impossible for buyers or sellers to get reliable information on the actual transaction prices of recently sold houses (and there are not very many of them recently in any event). This lack of information motivates sellers to base their asking price on what they paid, even if that is well above the current market price -- there are other reasons for this problem to be sure, but the lack of reliable information helps to compound the problem.

So, to try to answer the OP's question, there is no definite answer except that most houses in the Pattaya area cannot be sold at their current asking prices. Some are more over priced than others. Look around and find a house or houses that you like and that appear to be relatively well priced. Make offers significantly below the asking price and see the reaction of the seller. If the village where the house is located has a significant Thai population, that is a real plus, because it will expand your market in the event you decide to sell. And the B1.5 m price is a good target because that is in the range that many Thais can afford. In that respect, you are focused well.

Good luck!

[Atmos]

" . . . 6 years. If I add up the amount of rent I have dished out, I could have bought a modest condo or villa"

are Pattaya rental returns that high for investors? Over 15% pa?

We lease a new house (Chanthaburi) the owner gets a 4.2% gross return per year, six years at those rates would be a deposit, not a purchase in our situation.

Paying rent is money lost for ever . :jap:

thankyou for that helpful insight. I had never heard that one before.

My question was, and remains - what are property % returns in Pattaya?

At present I am getting 5.65% from my overseas bank (gross), about 6% return on overseas rental properties (gross) with a moderate property valuation increase each year.

Comparing this to the local return of 4.2% gross, and that i cannot buy a house in my own name here anyway, I am happy with things as they are.

Looked into condo purchase and decided that was not for me at this stage of my life.

[craigt3365]

I have owned and dealt in property for half my life,and then i would have agreed with you ,now living here in Pattaya the last 6 years i would never buy a property ,rent and move on when you want to ,however if you want to live in your property till you die and then your wife wants the same after your gone ,buy.

Of the miriad of posts on this subject, your's lays out the issue more clearly than any of the others I have seen. I would qualify what you said a bit: "if you are sure that you will live in your property till you die and then your wife wants the same after your gone, and you can get the property at a price that reflects the current maket, then buy".

And, while paying rent may be money lost for ever (it is not really lost when all of the involved costs are considered), buying a house in Pattaya will be money lost forever. And I expect that of the two the latter will be a much larger amount.

"Negotiation is the key"? That is silly and naive. Good/strong negotiation may earn you a 5%,10% or even 20% (if you are really lucky/good) better deal. The real problem is that most houses in Pattaya are priced at least double the price at which they could be reasonably expected to transact. This is certainly true of many of the +B10 million asking price houses. If you offered me the true "market value" for my house, the negotiation would stop right there -- my house is worth more to me than that. But as Thaimate very rightly says, I'm stuck in it whether I like it or not. The real key is the work put in before the negotiation starts -- finding a house that you really like that is owned by a truely motivated seller that will accept the "market" price. There are very few of those, who will realize a very painful loss. And knowing with any certainty what the "market price" actually is is a problem in Pattaya. In most developed countries, comparables on recent house selling prices are available in the public record (governments keep these for tax purposes). In Pattaya/Thailand is is very difficult/near impossible for buyers or sellers to get reliable information on the actual transaction prices of recently sold houses (and there are not very many of them recently in any event). This lack of information motivates sellers to base their asking price on what they paid, even if that is well above the current market price -- there are other reasons for this problem to be sure, but the lack of reliable information helps to compound the problem.

So, to try to answer the OP's question, there is no definite answer except that most houses in the Pattaya area cannot be sold at their current asking prices. Some are more over priced than others. Look around and find a house or houses that you like and that appear to be relatively well priced. Make offers significantly below the asking price and see the reaction of the seller. If the village where the house is located has a significant Thai population, that is a real plus, because it will expand your market in the event you decide to sell. And the B1.5 m price is a good target because that is in the range that many Thais can afford. In that respect, you are focused well.

Good luck!

To say negotiation is silly and naive is, well, silly and naive. It's the key in buying property. I've bought and sold probably over 100 properties. Made lots of money, and recently have lost some money.

I bought my house here for about 25% off an asking price which was dropped by about 33% to try to sell it quickly. Lucky? Sure...but I had been in the market for some time, saw a deal, knew it was good, and offered a substantially lower price. This time it worked, other times it did not...so I moved on. Happens all the time.

You have to stay in a purchased house until you die? For sure not. Houses will always sell. Whether you make money on it or not is another thing. But you can always sell a property if you have the right price. For sure, right now, it's best to have a long term horizon on property purchases. If you need to sell quickly, it will be tough unless you are in a great location and purchased the property at a great price.

We're in a global economic recession. Remember? Many places in Thailand were over built. Not much different than in many other places around the world. Take a look at the abandoned estates in Ireland. Vacant properties in the South of Spain. Foreclosures in the SE and SW USA. It's a global problem right now. And potentially an opportunity for an astute investor.

My friends just sold their property here for 11M Baht, was on the market for 6 months, and had multiple offers. Initial asking price was 10M. Purchased it 4 years ago for 8. They initially rented it for a year at 45k per month. I think they did pretty good. The guy I bought my house from didn't do so good...but then he was in financial trouble and had to sell fast. Lucky me.

[morphic]

" . . . 6 years. If I add up the amount of rent I have dished out, I could have bought a modest condo or villa"

are Pattaya rental returns that high for investors? Over 15% pa?

We lease a new house (Chanthaburi) the owner gets a 4.2% gross return per year, six years at those rates would be a deposit, not a purchase in our situation.

Paying rent is money lost for ever . :jap:

thankyou for that helpful insight. I had never heard that one before.

My question was, and remains - what are property % returns in Pattaya?

At present I am getting 5.65% from my overseas bank (gross), about 6% return on overseas rental properties (gross) with a moderate property valuation increase each year.

Comparing this to the local return of 4.2% gross, and that i cannot buy a house in my own name here anyway, I am happy with things as they are.

Looked into condo purchase and decided that was not for me at this stage of my life.

seems to me that if you assume non-stop occupancy then after maintenance fees the yield is between 4 and 5%. agents and developers will tell you 7% or so but they tend to forget about maintenance etc and assume you get the asking rental price, which is not realistic.

the trouble is that occupancy wont be non stop and in fact may well be nearer 50% of the time in many cases. in that case the yield may actually be between 1% and 5% maximum and maybe 3% on average.

considering the risks of "ownership" here the asking prices i see are much too high.

funnily, i took another look at condos this week, just to see what was on the agents' lists. some that caught my eye were the same as i viewed 5 years ago, at the same asking prices!

[PattayaParent]

The idea that paying rent is losing money is silly if you understand the situation.

As simply as I can put it, imagine two people have a million baht.

Person one invests the money at 6% per year and rents a condo for 60,000 baht per year (5,000) baht per month. At the end of five years, the person still has 1,000,000 baht in the bank.

Person two invests buys a condo for a million baht. After six years, the person has the condo. If the condo is now worth more than a million baht, person two has done better than person one, if not, the reverse is true.

This is an oversimplification, of course, but the basic idea is true and does not align with the idea "rent is wasted."

Now what you need to do is tell us where we can get a 6% return per year on 1 million Baht?

Plus you have to factor in the rent saved by person 2 into his investment return.

Edited August 3, 2011 by PattayaParent

[dandare11]

[

Paying rent is money lost for ever . :jap:

Buying a house is money lost forever too.

Friend in the high end estate on the darkside, 14 million initially put it up at ,reduced to 10 , still no takers,now been advised to drop it to 4 million (not drop it 4 million ,but to sell ,if he can at 4 million.

Pattaya Thailand only mirrors what is happening in Spain right now,it will get far worse here as the years roll by, but it gets boring posting comments on this subject, all the prophets of all the right reasons to house purchase againt renting have been proved spectacually wrong,now its like a dying man not lying down,the game is up,just how much proof if proof is needed that it is dead and will never revive. The new Poor Boys on the block are the property owners. You can throw in the line a house is a home to live in,but the end result is an eventual pile of junk,littered with abandoned properties nearby ,well yes go for it.

Personally I am after a house in Spain (got my reasons) but reduced one guy to under a quarter of original asking price ,and even then I may be over committing on the eventual purchase price,and these are well built 3 bedroom 3 bathroomed , inlaid marbled flooring,granite worktops etc,beautiful place with sea views (all legal too)

Bottom line is your going to lose a bundle ,and whoever forsees the future as 10 years for a pick up is way off base. The financial world is entering a period of at least 10 years before any confidence is restored (if it possibly can)

[Rimmer]

Hello Dandare11 I thought you had left us and gone to Spain or was that your friend

Lets not get sidetracked here, the OP has made up his mind to buy a used villa/bungalow with a yard, maybe in a village and is looking for ways to negotiate the best price, I am sure he would also be be interested in any really good 'fire sales' anyone might know of as well.

[dandare11]

Hello Dandare11 I thought you had left us and gone to Spain or was that your friend

Lets not get sidetracked here, the OP has made up his mind to buy a used villa/bungalow with a yard, maybe in a village and is looking for ways to negotiate the best price, I am sure he would also be be interested in any really good 'fire sales' anyone might know of as well.

Hello Rimmer, You never bought me that pint,but was it me buying you a pint?. Can still look at this site in Spain too,but the reasons for Spain are the free and full health care provisions for those of us who have not died along the way i.e. got bloody old,and can escape the pre season heat and monsoon period 4 months there,8 months here,still have a bit of fire in the family jewels dept.

Anyway off to California Wow gym,got to keep fit,like to drain the UK OAP kitty, next month 65 Christ that is old!

Just an after thought, how is he going to "buy" a place?,think he needs to pop down to the land registry and have a word with them before listening to the typical Philadelphia Lawyer sat on the next bar stool in Maggie Mays.

Edited August 3, 2011 by dandare11

[Thailaw]

To say negotiation is silly and naive is, well, silly and naive. It's the key in buying property. I've bought and sold probably over 100 properties. Made lots of money, and recently have lost some money.

I bought my house here for about 25% off an asking price which was dropped by about 33% to try to sell it quickly. Lucky? Sure...but I had been in the market for some time, saw a deal, knew it was good, and offered a substantially lower price. This time it worked, other times it did not...so I moved on. Happens all the time.

You have to stay in a purchased house until you die? For sure not. Houses will always sell. Whether you make money on it or not is another thing. But you can always sell a property if you have the right price. For sure, right now, it's best to have a long term horizon on property purchases. If you need to sell quickly, it will be tough unless you are in a great location and purchased the property at a great price.

We're in a global economic recession. Remember? Many places in Thailand were over built. Not much different than in many other places around the world. Take a look at the abandoned estates in Ireland. Vacant properties in the South of Spain. Foreclosures in the SE and SW USA. It's a global problem right now. And potentially an opportunity for an astute investor.

My friends just sold their property here for 11M Baht, was on the market for 6 months, and had multiple offers. Initial asking price was 10M. Purchased it 4 years ago for 8. They initially rented it for a year at 45k per month. I think they did pretty good. The guy I bought my house from didn't do so good...but then he was in financial trouble and had to sell fast. Lucky me.

I did not say that negotiation is silly and naive. What I said was that saying that "negotiation is key" is silly and naive, and it is. It suggests, at least to me, that the key part of the home purchasing process is the "negotiation". Pick any house you like and if you negotiate well, you will get it at a good price. That is, frankly, rediculous. The key part is the really difficult part leading up to the negotiation -- researching the broader home market and the houses available in the buyers price range, identifying houses that are/might be available at reasonable prices and knowing (at least having some idea, which was the OP's original question) what a "reasonable" price is. Once this part has been completed, which can require a lot of time and effort (if it is even possible), and target houses are identified then negotiation begins. Negotiation is also important, but if the ground work has not be done, the negotiation will lead no where or to a very disappointing result with much regret -- the "winner's curse" is alive and well in Pattaya. Good negotiation skills may mean a lower price of a few percent, but the real problem, as noted by the OP, is that asking prices are grossly inflated as our sellers' expectations. "Negotiation" won't solve that problem. I am not sure what the story about your friend proves or is intended to prove; it certainly doesn't seem relevant. They, as you note, got lucky. Most sellers in Pattaya hear such stories and hope that they can find "the ass to fill their seat", that naive bumpkin that just dropped into Pattaya from the moon. The problem is that there just aren't as many asses as there used to be. The story about the guy on the Dark Side who spent B14 million to build a home and now is being advised to offer it for B4 million is equally telling, and more indicative of the Pattaya housing market, I think. And regardless of what happens in the rest of the world, the problem for farang focused homes (excluding condos, no comment on those) in Pattaya will get worse in the future, not better. So, even if the OP buys a home at the "market price" today, it is unlikely that he will be able to sell it for what he paid for it in a few years. But he is already factoring in a potential loss because he will not own the home, so a loss of a fraction of the house's price shouldn't be so painful, and if he only puts in B1.5 million, the amount of the potential loss is pretty well capped. He is approaching a home pruchase sensibly, at least in my view. I have no idea if you could sell your home at a price any where near what you paid for it. That is what would determine if you were "lucky". Next............

[morphic]

The idea that paying rent is losing money is silly if you understand the situation.

As simply as I can put it, imagine two people have a million baht.

Person one invests the money at 6% per year and rents a condo for 60,000 baht per year (5,000) baht per month. At the end of five years, the person still has 1,000,000 baht in the bank.

Person two invests buys a condo for a million baht. After six years, the person has the condo. If the condo is now worth more than a million baht, person two has done better than person one, if not, the reverse is true.

This is an oversimplification, of course, but the basic idea is true and does not align with the idea "rent is wasted."

Now what you need to do is tell us where we can get a 6% return per year on 1 million Baht?

Plus you have to factor in the rent saved by person 2 into his investment return.

Well, Vodaphone pays roughly a 6% dividend, IAPD (asian high dividend etf, very safe stocks) pays about 7%, SKI (utilities etf pays 10% etc etc.

There are also lots of bonds which pay 6% or more, but equities also give you potential capital appreciation.

so, 6%, the eample numver chosen, is perfectly obtainable. but as rental yiled are less than 6% we actually just need 5% or so so compare to, which would be even easier.

[Guderian]

Just for the h_ell of it, I'm looking at houses in the Jomtien/South Pattaya area at the moment. There are some nice properties on the market, but the owners don't seem willing to negotiate on the price very much. The last offer I got was a 48K Baht discount on a 3.7 million price . I've gone through three estate agencies so far, and not a single fire sale has been offered. Are those opportunities in the distant past, or do the agencies keep them for their friends? I watch the local rags for something I like, but they are few and far between and while you can get clapped-out old places for a song, anything good is not cheap. I've estimated what it would cost to do up some of the clapped-out places in nice locations, and they work out at least as expensive as buying something already in mint condition. I know the market for the average condo is in the doldrums, but the market for nice houses seems pretty healthy.

[dandare11]

Just for the h_ell of it, I'm looking at houses in the Jomtien/South Pattaya area at the moment. There are some nice properties on the market, but the owners don't seem willing to negotiate on the price very much. The last offer I got was a 48K Baht discount on a 3.7 million price . I've gone through three estate agencies so far, and not a single fire sale has been offered. Are those opportunities in the distant past, or do the agencies keep them for their friends? I watch the local rags for something I like, but they are few and far between and while you can get clapped-out old places for a song, anything good is not cheap. I've estimated what it would cost to do up some of the clapped-out places in nice locations, and they work out at least as expensive as buying something already in mint condition. I know the market for the average condo is in the doldrums, but the market for nice houses seems pretty healthy.

Funny enough it was like this in Spain recently looking for property.Looked at one,way over the top,was told the owner was waiting until the market recovers,yeah right,but the agent said she had one identical for a third off,my estimations that would be 60% off then starting to haggle. Most do not/ cannot believe what a price drop they will have to take to get shut, but take it they will in the end,all in the timing. Pattaya was last into the mess compared to Spain but it will get far worse than there given time.

Put an advert in Pattaya People or Mail ,property wanted

[Darrel]

My friends just sold their property here for 11M Baht, was on the market for 6 months, and had multiple offers. Initial asking price was 10M. Purchased it 4 years ago for 8. They initially rented it for a year at 45k per month. I think they did pretty good.

I think they did incredibly well. Do they find gold chains in the gutter also? They probably do, with that sort of luck.

[guzzi850m2]

There is an article in the Nxxxxx dated 2nd of August that says that Pattaya property market is picking up again, with Thais buying 75% of the properties (houses & condos) in the range 1 - 11 mill bath range, they buy them as a second home (mostly from BKK).

I my village I sold my 4.4 mill bath house back to the developer for 4.8 mill, empty (nothing gained- nothing loosed, but basically living free in the house for +2 years), and after a complete "overhaul" they sold to Thais for 6.5 mill bath. I am very confident that I can sell my new house if I want as app. 70% of the people living here are Thais. The identical house opposite mine was sold recently to a BKK Thai.

The great advantage of owing is that I can set the house exactly up to our needs/specification, so we slowly getting our dream house just as we want it.

To OP, go for it, maybe look for 2 mill bath range houses and make some offers, make sure you buy in a good village/location with lots of Thais living there so you can sell it again if needed.

[craigt3365]

My friends just sold their property here for 11M Baht, was on the market for 6 months, and had multiple offers. Initial asking price was 10M. Purchased it 4 years ago for 8. They initially rented it for a year at 45k per month. I think they did pretty good.

I think they did incredibly well. Do they find gold chains in the gutter also? They probably do, with that sort of luck.

They are incredibly lucky. Also sold their Honda Jazz for around 100k less than they paid for it 3 years ago. A rental agency bought it.

Come one guys. Not everybody loses money in real estate. It's ridiculous to think everybody makes money or to think everybody loses money. Some win, some lose. Simple as that. It is a tough market these days and doesn't look to improve for some time.

[guzzi850m2]

[They are incredibly lucky. Also sold their Honda Jazz for around 100k less than they paid for it 3 years ago. A rental agency bought it.

Come one guys. Not everybody loses money in real estate. It's ridiculous to think everybody makes money or to think everybody loses money. Some win, some lose. Simple as that. It is a tough market these days and doesn't look to improve for some time.

Amen to that

[yankee99]

Just for the h_ell of it, I'm looking at houses in the Jomtien/South Pattaya area at the moment. There are some nice properties on the market, but the owners don't seem willing to negotiate on the price very much. The last offer I got was a 48K Baht discount on a 3.7 million price . I've gone through three estate agencies so far, and not a single fire sale has been offered. Are those opportunities in the distant past, or do the agencies keep them for their friends? I watch the local rags for something I like, but they are few and far between and while you can get clapped-out old places for a song, anything good is not cheap. I've estimated what it would cost to do up some of the clapped-out places in nice locations, and they work out at least as expensive as buying something already in mint condition. I know the market for the average condo is in the doldrums, but the market for nice houses seems pretty healthy.

Your statement it spot on.......I looked almost a year before i purchased my home. The prices are what they are. Yes negotiable but they certainly dont discount like in florida. At 2 million baht the OP is not going to get too much as a lot in a decent village can cost almost 1 million baht..

[Guderian]

Your statement it spot on.......I looked almost a year before i purchased my home. The prices are what they are. Yes negotiable but they certainly dont discount like in florida. At 2 million baht the OP is not going to get too much as a lot in a decent village can cost almost 1 million baht..

The house I've liked most so far is in a quiet village off Soi Regional Land. The owner wants 5.3 million. The estate agent told me that he has already turned down an offer of 4.7 million. OK, so maybe I should offer him 5 million? The fly in the ointment is that he has another couple who are interested, and who are not going through an agent so he would not have to pay an agency fee if he sold it to them. That's a 3%-5% saving, say 150K to 250 K Baht, for him. So it seems to me that I am unlikely to get it for very much less than his asking price. For a good quality house in a nice location there's still enough demand to get what you ask, it appears. Supply and demand, I guess. There's no shortage of 32 sqm View Talay style condos, so you can get a cheap deal on them if that's what you want. But a nice bungalow with a beautiful garden close to the centre of town is a different matter, it seems. I think, like you, I will just have to keep on looking.

[robert10]

Your statement it spot on.......I looked almost a year before i purchased my home. The prices are what they are. Yes negotiable but they certainly dont discount like in florida. At 2 million baht the OP is not going to get too much as a lot in a decent village can cost almost 1 million baht..

The house I've liked most so far is in a quiet village off Soi Regional Land. The owner wants 5.3 million. The estate agent told me that he has already turned down an offer of 4.7 million. OK, so maybe I should offer him 5 million? The fly in the ointment is that he has another couple who are interested, and who are not going through an agent so he would not have to pay an agency fee if he sold it to them. That's a 3%-5% saving, say 150K to 250 K Baht, for him. So it seems to me that I am unlikely to get it for very much less than his asking price. For a good quality house in a nice location there's still enough demand to get what you ask, it appears. Supply and demand, I guess. There's no shortage of 32 sqm View Talay style condos, so you can get a cheap deal on them if that's what you want. But a nice bungalow with a beautiful garden close to the centre of town is a different matter, it seems. I think, like you, I will just have to keep on looking.

I'll be wary of what property agents say. Stories like " there is another buyer who offered $X and owner turned it down" or "there's another keen buyer (competing with you for this unit)" are favorite sale tactics to spur the buyer into committing an unwise purchase. Unless I can verify these stories independently, I rather stick to my offer.

[TommyDee]

as someone who has a home for sale or rent right now, here's my take:

our little estate has just 5 detatched houses each with a pool. the four occupied homes are all quiet, middle aged folk who enjoy the peace here but also enjoy only being 8 mins from the city centre. I would rather not sell or rent than rent to folk who will change the way things are here. we had one couple with 3 dgs. who wants to go into their own garden and be barked at. another cguy wanted to rent the place and his GF and family move in, so he had a place here to stay when he comes over..( long story) and a few other odd balls. so thats why it is "still" on the market

Price wise, well everything in the world should be negotiable, and usually is. I would rather discount to folk who will compliment the little estate that get the asking price from those who wont.

Yeah i am probably a one off, but I didntr mover here to live next to a khazi, a house full of dogs, or an "every night is a party house"

[easyride]

You were a tourist once.

[TommyDee]

a decent plot will cost 1M, to build a small pool, around 500K.. then of course there is the matter of the house. 3 inch standard walls that will crack in a few years, no damp coarse, thai style kitchen bathrooms, hot water!!!, its all down to who wants what, but to be fair some of the places they throw up may as well be tents