Buying A Condo In Disrepair And Getting It Renovated In Cm

[DavidMavec]

Hello...

I am thinking of buying a condo. An idea I had was to buy a condo in disrepair and have it renovated.

1) It seems there could be significant cost savings here. For people who have done this, is that correct?

2) Are there reputable people in Chiang Mai who will manage the renovation process?

3) What are some of the pitfalls with this?

[jingjoke]

For condos of similar size, on the same floors, not necessarily same condo building, with standard fittings( walls and w/c, and not much else), prices for those in 'disrepair' or not, will be about the same price. Good luck with that venture.

[ARISTIDE]

Good idea, but you will need a bit of luck finding "reputable people in Chiang Mai who will manage the renovation process".

[kaptainrob]

Most older Condo's, have a size advantage over new. Plus most new 2 bed apartments are sold off the plan. So your idea has merit.

If paying for all design/supervision and labour you may find a ready-made reno is better value. If you intend supervision and some work yourself then you may end up ahead financially, by a small margin. At least you'll get what YOU want!

Biggest expense is not labour, tiling etc, but fit-out of kitchen and bathrooms.

Good luck with the project.

[hedonist44]

Only problem I see is if you buy a run down older apartment and do a complete renovation, it might be over shadowed by the other existing similarly run down apartments that will not be renovated. Would not make for a good return on your investment unless you planned on living your days out there and did not care about the re-sale issue.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

> 2) Are there reputable people in Chiang Mai who will manage the renovation process?

You manage it, they do the work. It's a fun challenge, very interesting and very rewarding, outside of those times you want to rip your own face off in sheer frustration.

Edited May 30, 2012 by WinnieTheKhwai

[JeffreyMcCollum]

I have done this about a dozen times. It is fun to pick out things you like and make it to your liking.

There are condos from under 200,000 avalable in Cm area.

Depending on how far you want to go, a total job can cost 150,000 to the sky is the limit

I have had fun, kept busy, and learned alot along the way. Some I have made double my money back and other just broke even.

Best of luck to you

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Maybe one more point: You might as well buy one in a reasonable building but where the unit itself is a mess, compared to one that is okay-ish. The okay-ish one you will still end up spending about the same to make it nice compared to one that started out as a war zone.

[eyecatcher]

You also need to consider the location of the condo in relation to the block. A 7th floor condo means a pretty hard treck with any building materials such as floor tiles, bricks,bagged sand and cement.

How would you move them all, by lift or stairs, think of the other building users and the mess/dust in the circulation areas.

Will you have neighbours below or adjacent to sweeten up before the hammers and drills and grinders get to work.?

How extensive will the work be, a bit of DIY makeover with paint and a few wall tiles, because otherwise there may be restrictions applied by the management of the building restricting any structural works.

I think unless the building is relatively empty' managing the delivery of your materials and disposing of any rubble is going to be a challenge.if you want to remain popular there; but the works itself, would be straightforward for most thai builders.

I agree with other posters that a wreck is not going to be cheaper to buy,I dont think Thais see the standard of a building as altering value; they just want top price for everything.

Personally I wouldnt take on the challenge of a condo refurb, there are too many anomolies and things to go wrong, look for a detached house with some decent grounds for storage of gear.

If you do find somewhere and you want further opinion, and a farang project manager to control a good thai team PM me.

[NancyL]

We know of several people who have turned this into a business model -- buy a run-down units in a building like Nakorn Ping, Sithana, Hillside 4, Galare Thong, Riverside and hire the contractors to renovate them into nice units, fitted out to western standards. Then build a little website, put a few announcements in the various English-language free advertising internet sites/newsletter and soon you recover your investment.

The trick is that these guys are doing the "general contracting" with the help of their Thai wives/partners.

I know of just one case where someone did this on their own for a single, owner-occupied unit. That was in a building where the condo manager could recommend "friends" to do plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc. I suspect they paid a higher rate, but the work was to their liking.

This is a great business idea. There are some very run-down condos in very well-located buildings. The cost of these old condos just go down as the new condos open on Canal Rd. But, there is a group of expats who either don't want to drive and/or are newly arrived and want to live near the city center. These building are attractive to them.

Edited May 30, 2012 by NancyL

[hellodolly]

Only problem I see is if you buy a run down older apartment and do a complete renovation, it might be over shadowed by the other existing similarly run down apartments that will not be renovated. Would not make for a good return on your investment unless you planned on living your days out there and did not care about the re-sale issue.

Good points.

I was also wondering if the rest of the building was being taken care of properly.

[ARISTIDE]

Sometimes buying an empty room in good condition you don't need to fix anything. I've renovated and sold a few of these rooms all done mainly by my self by adding a few furnitures, curtains, wallpapers, and some lights.