Pattaya Used Home Market

[craigt3365]

I see a lot of places in "East Pattaya" 2 bedroom houses fro between 1 & 2 Mil, is it because you need transport to get around or is there something else about that place. I was looking at a condo in Jomtien to stay occasionaly instead of renting but if we could get a nice small cheap house for under 2 Mil that would be cool, we have a car so thats not a problem. Is East Pattaya viable or is there something we should know?

East Pattaya is for sure viable. I'm no expert on real estate here, but I would guess it would have something to do with the fact it is not in Central Pattaya or near the beach...two things which would make the land much more expensive. Plenty of land still available on the dark side...not true with beach front or central Pattaya land.

I saw a new development going up just South of the floating market. I can't remember the exact prices, but seem to remember they are in the 2-3M range or so. Small lots.

....... I just googled ONE property on Miami Beach with views, over 100 sqm, 1500 USD per m! In the heart of civilization, transparent ownership and you can even drink the water!

http://www.miamicond...rth-bay-village

On inspection, that unit isnt on a beach, nor does it seem to be anywhere near any shops, banks, restaurants etc.

So basically you need to drive to get anywhere at all. And I'm not sure that even having driven you would necessarily be anywhere very nice. So maybe you would need to compare that with something quite a way out of town here, where prices would be much cheaper.

At least here for that money in Jomtien you would be on a semi-decent beach, only 3km to the centre of one of the country's largest cities, and a 5 minute (safe) walk to shops and services, and less than 2 hours from a very busy international airport.

Farang-name condo ownership here is transparent, and I drink the water (once it has been through a reverse osmosis machine).

From what I have seen there may be some better bargains to be had in Hawaii than in Miami.

Hawaii is a very expensive place to live. I have quite a few friends who either live there or visit often. They all complain about the cost of living there. I think bargains might be in terms of what the properties use to sell for...still not cheap. For some of us at least!

[PattayaPhom]

I have just sold my Condo for the asking price ................

..also sold another Condo in Jomtien 6 months ago ,( also for a realistic asking price .........

Congrats.

But I think that "realistic" is the key word here.

Many asking prices are not realistic at all, and any sale is likely to be at a much lower price. Places at realistic prices (which might be 20-50% lower than the unrealistic ones) probably sell for near the asking price and I have tracked a few of these over the last few months.

Of course, on the websites it just says "condo - X MB - sold" but doesnt indicate whether it sold at X or at a much lower Y. And so people erroneously assume that if one unit sold at X then the one next door must be worth X also. Y never appears in print, yet Y is the only meaningful figure.

What is a realistic price??? lets say 3 bedroom pool villa at Jomtien 300 meters from the beach..Realistic price please?

[koiwaolao]

>>Condos for 50,000+ sq meter? Ripoff.<<

Not if they are near the beach with a sea view ,and close to down town . :jap:

Rip off Rip off Rip off! Condos in Pattaya are outrageously overpriced. Your example of 1700 USD is still moderate for this town. Still, I just googled ONE property on Miami Beach with views, over 100 sqm, 1500 USD per m! In the heart of civilization, transparent ownership and you can even drink the water!

http://www.miamicond...rth-bay-village

With regards to that condo, the area is not that great. Miami has some REALLY bad neighborhoods. You think crime is bad here? Wow...it can be really bad there. Here's a description from someone living near that condo. Not bad, but not great:

http://www.city-data...age-living.html

I did a quick search for Miami also. 155 sqm on the beach:

http://www.miamireal...sland-Dr--15811

Only 6.5M USD asking price. And that is about 1/2 of the most expensive ones I saw...though they were much larger.

If you've got money, Miami Beach is nice. If you don't...well...it's not a cheap place to live.

I like realtor.com. Searched for condos and had to go through almost 5000 condos before I got to ones priced at $160k USD.

http://www.realtor.c...agesize-50/pg-1

I have no affiliation to Miami Beach. I really picked that one out of a hat. Still, if we talk about areas, we must also compare apples with apples. The 1700 $ condo in Pattaya is surely also only a very average area. You want prime property such a North Shore, some places in Wongamat you are talking in excess of 3000$!

So, you example of prime Miami Beachfront at 4000 $ compares rather well!

Lets take the total Pattaya average condo price at 75000 which is not an unrealistic estimate and we come back to Rip off, Rip off, Rip off. We are talking the equivalent of 2500 $ or almost 2000 Euro for which you can find plenty property not only in the states but also at European beach side locations. And again, qualty of infrastructure, property rights, rights of foreigners (!) in general all very much stay factors in the equasion.

Edited August 11, 2011 by koiwaolao

[Phil Conners]

Why buy? Seems like real estate is somewhat expensive when I compare it to the US. Condos for 50,000+ sq meter? Ripoff.

50,000 sounds a bit on the expensive side. I think the norm is more like half of that.

I don't know US prices, but if they are low it could have something to do with the US economy. Have you watched the financial news lately?

[Darrel]

I see a lot of places in "East Pattaya" 2 bedroom houses fro between 1 & 2 Mil, is it because you need transport to get around or is there something else about that place. I was looking at a condo in Jomtien to stay occasionaly instead of renting but if we could get a nice small cheap house for under 2 Mil that would be cool, we have a car so thats not a problem. Is East Pattaya viable or is there something we should know?

You are comparing apples and bananas.

Condos have the "farang factor": a supplement on the price as they (and they alone) can be owned outright in foreign name. Any house/land ownership can only be done in foreign name by legal trickery and/or subterfuge. So they are worth much closer to the "real" Thai price.

Then of course you have the supplement for location/view. There is only so much beach-front property near the centre of town and there wont be any more, ever. So it costs.

East Pattaya could, potentially, extend all the way to Cambodia (and probably will one day). So when they run out of cheap land for cheap houses on the darkside, they just go 100 yards further down the road and find some more. They could do this forever.

Then you have the security factor. Most condo units could be shut up and left for months or years on end without anything happening to them at all. Indeed many are. On the other hand some houses here cant be left unattended for a minute, and even attended there may be problems with security.

Then there is the cost of building. Quite simply, it costs a lot more to build a high-rise that wont fall down the next day than it does to knock up a cheap house. Add to that the maintenance: your condo unit will probably never require anything more than redecoration every few years, and maybe a bathroom/kitchen refit every 10 or 20 years. That makes it more desirable to many people. Your cheap house may need a lot more attention, to add to the purchase price.

[Darrel]

What is a realistic price??? lets say 3 bedroom pool villa at Jomtien 300 meters from the beach..Realistic price please?

A realistic price is one that gets a fair number of viewings, a few close offers and a sale within a couple of months. If you have to wait longer than that then the price probably isnt realistic (which doesnt mean that no one will ever pay that price, of course, just that you may have to wait for many months/years, which indeed is what we see here).

I dont know what a villa near the beach in Jomtien might be worth as it is not a market that I have studied at all; I am not Thai and so cannot own a house in any way that is satisfactory to me. So that market is a closed book. I am told that houses on the Jomtien Condotel Estate (which seems quite well situated to me) are a bargain at 5MB and are generally advertised at 7 or 8. I dont know how true that is. It certainly makes some nearby condos look expensive, but of course the condos have some advantages also.

Also I specifically do not want to own property here that has security or maintenance issues: I want to be able to leave at any time without having to wonder who is going in while I'm out, or who is mowing the lawn or cleaning the pool.