Phuket It Is

[petercallen]

If I won the lottery I would buy in my home country where the property is 100 per cent mine, the laws here could change at any time leaving home owners with nothing, the only reason I can see to buy here is if you are wealthy enough to lose it all and not care!!

If you need to win the lottery to have a house or houses in your home country i can understand why you would not invest in property here

Why would you think they are going to change the laws here, you cannot own land now only lease it and own the improvements for 30 years

I think its more likely in the future you will be able to own land up to a certain size

[kawapower]

If I won the lottery I would buy in my home country where the property is 100 per cent mine, the laws here could change at any time leaving home owners with nothing, the only reason I can see to buy here is if you are wealthy enough to lose it all and not care!!

If you need to win the lottery to have a house or houses in your home country i can understand why you would not invest in property here

Why would you think they are going to change the laws here, you cannot own land now only lease it and own the improvements for 30 years

I think its more likely in the future you will be able to own land up to a certain size

I have no idea if any laws would change but this being the Ting Tong country it is anything is possible, personally I fail to see why anyone would buy a house where they have to rent the land it makes no sense to me, I prefer to rent where I will lose nothing if I have to move(maybe 1 months rent, others prefer to buy and good luck to them!! Everyone is different which makes the world an interesting place!!

[KarenBravo]

This renting versus owning has been discussed Ad Nauseum on at least a dozen other threads.

Why do it here?

[kawapower]

This renting versus owning has been discussed Ad Nauseum on at least a dozen other threads.

Why do it here?

It seemed like a good idea at the time!!

[NamKangMan]

This renting versus owning has been discussed Ad Nauseum on at least a dozen other threads.

Why do it here?

Well, the OP did express a desire to buy a house here. Maybe we can hear from him whether he is aware of the issues that exist with a foreigner buying a property here and why he has decided to buy, rather than rent.

Edited July 14, 2012 by NamKangMan

[snamos]

Im with you on this one....i just bought a house in Australia...stress free, garunteed rental income and an 8% return per annum. Not the rediculous real estate market that is phuket...from 1 million baht up to 50 million euros for a 3 bedroom house. Crazy

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[petercallen]

Im with you on this one....i just bought a house in Australia...stress free, garunteed rental income and an 8% return per annum. Not the rediculous real estate market that is phuket...from 1 million baht up to 50 million euros for a 3 bedroom house. Crazy

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8% is that just rent or rent plus capitol gains if you did not pay to much for the property

1M baht is only $31000 following the real estate market in Perth you wont buy much of a house for less than $500,000

What 3 bedroom house in Phuket have you seen for sale for 50M Euros

[snamos]

Im with you on this one....i just bought a house in Australia...stress free, garunteed rental income and an 8% return per annum. Not the rediculous real estate market that is phuket...from 1 million baht up to 50 million euros for a 3 bedroom house. Crazy

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect App

8% is that just rent or rent plus capitol gains if you did not pay to much for the property

1M baht is only $31000 following the real estate market in Perth you wont buy much of a house for less than $500,000

What 3 bedroom house in Phuket have you seen for sale for 50M Euros

I paid 470k for a joint in Mackay QLD, then got back 10k from the QLD government for an investment boost. Then 6k for the carbon tax. Its now worth 530k. Thats in 6 months from settlement. If you want a website for morons buying property in Thailand...here's one...took me less than 3 minutes to find. If you want to find a 50 million euro 3 bedroom property im sure I can find one for you.....a fool and his money are easily parted. >>> here is the site anyways...if u want more just google "I want to pay 50 million euros for a house in Phuket" http://www.phuket.net/property/luxury-property/

[snamos]

seriously Peter, are you suggesting the Phuket market is a reasonable and predictable property market with stable returns? Would an investment guru state that it is a sound investment portfolio with a good ability to sell and retire on? Come on, your an Australian, stop kidding yourself. Phuket is a scammers dream and a suckers nightmare...its the same as the Gold Coast white shoe brigade promising you the world and giving you nothing....empty dreams. Lets compare notes in 10 years time and see which is doing better

[Guest]

Im with you on this one....i just bought a house in Australia...stress free, garunteed rental income and an 8% return per annum. Not the rediculous real estate market that is phuket...from 1 million baht up to 50 million euros for a 3 bedroom house. Crazy

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect App

8% is that just rent or rent plus capitol gains if you did not pay to much for the property

1M baht is only $31000 following the real estate market in Perth you wont buy much of a house for less than $500,000

What 3 bedroom house in Phuket have you seen for sale for 50M Euros

I paid 470k for a joint in Mackay QLD, then got back 10k from the QLD government for an investment boost. Then 6k for the carbon tax. Its now worth 530k. Thats in 6 months from settlement. If you want a website for morons buying property in Thailand...here's one...took me less than 3 minutes to find. If you want to find a 50 million euro 3 bedroom property im sure I can find one for you.....a fool and his money are easily parted. >>> here is the site anyways...if u want more just google "I want to pay 50 million euros for a house in Phuket" http://www.phuket.ne...uxury-property/

Please do find one. The mentioned website Sort by Highest price said that the top price was 350Mbaht for 10 bathroom property. http://www.phuket.net/property/profile/palatial-thai-style-villa/ 50Meuros is about 2Gbath.

I still have to figure out why people wish to live in the bathrooms. I guess we all have own things which give us the vibes..

[snamos]

Im with you on this one....i just bought a house in Australia...stress free, garunteed rental income and an 8% return per annum. Not the rediculous real estate market that is phuket...from 1 million baht up to 50 million euros for a 3 bedroom house. Crazy

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect App

8% is that just rent or rent plus capitol gains if you did not pay to much for the property

1M baht is only $31000 following the real estate market in Perth you wont buy much of a house for less than $500,000

What 3 bedroom house in Phuket have you seen for sale for 50M Euros

I paid 470k for a joint in Mackay QLD, then got back 10k from the QLD government for an investment boost. Then 6k for the carbon tax. Its now worth 530k. Thats in 6 months from settlement. If you want a website for morons buying property in Thailand...here's one...took me less than 3 minutes to find. If you want to find a 50 million euro 3 bedroom property im sure I can find one for you.....a fool and his money are easily parted. >>> here is the site anyways...if u want more just google "I want to pay 50 million euros for a house in Phuket" http://www.phuket.ne...uxury-property/

Please do find one. The mentioned website Sort by Highest price said that the top price was 350Mbaht for 10 bathroom property. http://www.phuket.net/property/profile/palatial-thai-style-villa/ 50Meuros is about 2Gbath.

I still have to figure out why people wish to live in the bathrooms. I guess we all have own things which give us the vibes..

No problem....the house next door to me has been vacant for 2 years. Ill ask the owner if he wants to list it for 50million euros on phuket lucury.com....because thats how the market works in Phuket...people just pluck numbers from the sky...will post a pic shortly

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[KarenBravo]

Maybe Phuket house owners bought their houses to live in rather than an investment?

I know I did.

Therefore whether the purchase price triples, or collapses, it makes no difference.

[snamos]

Maybe Phuket house owners bought their houses to live in rather than an investment?

I know I did.

Therefore whether the purchase price triples, or collapses, it makes no difference.

Point taken.

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[KarenBravo]

Or, to put it another way, I not only haven't paid any rent in over 20 years, I've actually been paid to live here through profits I've made when selling the places I bought when I've decided to upgrade. Besides empty plots of land, every property I've bought, or built, I've actually lived in.

It really all depends on if you have committed to stay in Phuket for the rest of your life. If you have, it makes sense to buy.

If you don't intend to make Phuket your long term home, or, you're uncertain, then it's probably better to rent.

The answer regarding whether it's better to buy, or rent really does depend on your future intentions.

[petercallen]

Maybe Phuket house owners bought their houses to live in rather than an investment?

I know I did.

Therefore whether the purchase price triples, or collapses, it makes no difference.

We bought our house to live in but it took 6 months of seriously looking for a suitable house at a reasonable price with the features we wanted

Several times i felt like giving up looking because of the ridiculous prices people were asking for there houses

We found the house we wanted to buy and saw a few others that were reasonably priced also

If you buy at the right price you will not loose money but if you are stupid enough to pay the inflated prices of a lot of properties here you definitely would

They are all hoping to find a newbie to buy there house who does not have a clue about prices, they can dream on because there are very few around nowadays

Edited July 15, 2012 by petercallen

[KarenBravo]

Just to bang home the nail.

I know a couple of people that are still renting the same house that they have lived in for the last 15 to 20 years.

With the money they have paid in rent, they could have bought the house two times over.

Their mistake was not to commit to living here, yet, they did anyway. I know that they both regret not buying.

[KarenBravo]

If you buy at the right price you will not loose money

Only true in a rising, or stable market.

If house prices go down, even if you bought at a reasonable price at the time of purchase, you will still lose money.

I fear that this is the kind of market we will be facing in the coming years.

[petercallen]

Just to bang home the nail.

I know a couple of people that are still renting the same house that they have lived in for the last 15 to 20 years.

With the money they have paid in rent, they could have bought the house two times over.

Their mistake was not to commit to living here, yet, they did anyway. I know that they both regret not buying.

I would imagine 15 years ago houses were very reasonably priced here, that was before house prices were increasing by 20% a year for several years about 6 years i think

The reasonable buys now are sold by people who have to return to there home country, not from the majority of farang sellers who have been speculating in Real estate and made a lot of money by doing so, those days are finished

[NamKangMan]

Maybe Phuket house owners bought their houses to live in rather than an investment?

I know I did.

Therefore whether the purchase price triples, or collapses, it makes no difference.

I understand that KB, however, many see buying a property here as an "investment" mainly because they are not paying rent, which is often referred to as "paying dead money." It's only an investment if it can be "liquified" (turned into cash upon sale or be rented out)

petercallen has stated that upon his death, his wife inherits his property. The question is, given she is not from Phuket and wishes to move back to her family, will she ever be able to sell the property????

The property may now be 15 to 20 years old and certainly showing signs of its poor construction. There would be thousands of other new, or newer properties on the market, due to an oversupply on Phuket. Then, you have the issue of the 30 years use of the land now only having 10 to 15 years left and the uncertainty of what will happen when the 30 years land use is up.

I believe this is why there have been vacant properties for sale here for several years.

In petercallens case, it may not be the investment that he thinks it will be, that he is leaving for his wife. It may be the opposite. A property that can't be rented and/or can't be sold, but fees still have to be paid, so, it becomes a financial loss to her, after his death.

So, whilst I agree, that while you are alive, the value of your house is of no real concern, the question remains, after your death, who are you leaving the problem of selling/renting/paying fees to????

[petercallen]

If you buy at the right price you will not loose money

Only true in a rising, or stable market.

If house prices go down, even if you bought at a reasonable price at the time of purchase, you will still lose money.

I fear that this is the kind of market we will be facing in the coming years.

We have no intention of selling our house it was bought to live in not a investment, it was structurally sound and there are not many that are here we saw one 5 year old house that the only thing you could do with it was demolish and start again an absolute disaster

We definitely will not loose money with the work we have done on the house and garden we would make money but the house is not for sale

[NamKangMan]

Or, to put it another way, I not only haven't paid any rent in over 20 years, I've actually been paid to live here through profits I've made when selling the places I bought when I've decided to upgrade. Besides empty plots of land, every property I've bought, or built, I've actually lived in.

It really all depends on if you have committed to stay in Phuket for the rest of your life. If you have, it makes sense to buy.

If you don't intend to make Phuket your long term home, or, you're uncertain, then it's probably better to rent.

The answer regarding whether it's better to buy, or rent really does depend on your future intentions.

Do you think one should factor in the FACT that as a foreinger, you are only ever a GUEST here, on a short term, renewable visa????

Very few people have permanent residency status for Thailand.

Buying a property here does not give you anymore right to be here than a tourist being here on a tourist visa. :)

Edited July 15, 2012 by NamKangMan

[KarenBravo]

It all depends if you have a Thai national that you know you can trust. Add on a 30 year lease and you're pretty much covered.

Lots of foreigners have made lots of money on property.

Those people who bang on about not being able to "own" a property and "never invest more than you can afford to lose" are the ones that sat on the side-lines, played it safe and didn't make any money.

Those that took a chance and did their home-work made "loadsamoney". "He who dares etc. etc"

Those days are now over. From 1990 to 1996 and 1998 to 2006 it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

[petercallen]

Maybe Phuket house owners bought their houses to live in rather than an investment?

I know I did.

Therefore whether the purchase price triples, or collapses, it makes no difference.

I understand that KB, however, many see buying a property here as an "investment" mainly because they are not paying rent, which is often referred to as "paying dead money." It's only an investment if it can be "liquified" (turned into cash upon sale or be rented out)

petercallen has stated that upon his death, his wife inherits his property. The question is, given she is not from Phuket and wishes to move back to her family, will she ever be able to sell the property????

The property may now be 15 to 20 years old and certainly showing signs of its poor construction. There would be thousands of other new, or newer properties on the market, due to an oversupply on Phuket. Then, you have the issue of the 30 years use of the land now only having 10 to 15 years left and the uncertainty of what will happen when the 30 years land use is up.

I believe this is why there have been vacant properties for sale here for several years.

In petercallens case, it may not be the investment that he thinks it will be, that he is leaving for his wife. It may be the opposite. A property that can't be rented and/or can't be sold, but fees still have to be paid, so, it becomes a financial loss to her, after his death.

So, whilst I agree, that while you are alive, the value of your house is of no real concern, the question remains, after your death, who are you leaving the problem of selling/renting/paying fees to????

What a load of codswallop, the house is 6 years old with no structural faults and we keep it well maintained which most people do not do here

The chanote/ freehold title to the property is in my wife's name and i paid cash for it so there are no financial worries

She can sell or rent the property no problem after i am gone that does not worry me, we chose the house together and my wife loves it

and definitely will not have to sell or rent it if she does not want to she will be financially secure

The reason there are so many vacant properties here is they are very overpriced and the owners do not care if they sell them or not

[NamKangMan]

Just to bang home the nail.

I know a couple of people that are still renting the same house that they have lived in for the last 15 to 20 years.

With the money they have paid in rent, they could have bought the house two times over.

Their mistake was not to commit to living here, yet, they did anyway. I know that they both regret not buying.

Wouldn't it depend on where the money is "working harder" for them?

I've left my money back in my home country in the form of a property and cash at bank.

I get good rent coming in from the property and 6% interest on the cash at bank.

The property is an appreciating asset, rather than a property here depreciating through oversupply, poor constructing and years declining/uncertainty of a 30 year land use law.

Any maintainence or improvements to the property are also a tax deduction.

God forbid, if I have a major illness - Eg. cancer, stroke etc I still have a home to go back to for long term medical treatment and I have something to leave my kids upon my death.

The income generated from back home more than covers the rent I am paying here and I have avoided ALL of the risks associated will buying a property in Phuket/Thailand. Eg - EVERYTHING is 100% in my name.

Any maintainence on my rental in Phuket is paid for by the landlord. I live in quite a new place, but just one month ago a tile lifted in the bathroom, due to poor workmanship - not my problem, rang the landlord and it was fixed.

Basically, I'm making more money in my home country than my living expenses on Phuket, which includes rent.

To buy here would see me lose more money than what I would save in paying rent. It really has nothing to do with being committed to living on Phuket.

Edited July 15, 2012 by NamKangMan

[petercallen]

It all depends if you have a Thai national that you know you can trust. Add on a 30 year lease and you're pretty much covered.

Lots of foreigners have made lots of money on property.

Those people who bang on about not being able to "own" a property and "never invest more than you can afford to lose" are the ones that sat on the side-lines, played it safe and didn't make any money.

Those that took a chance and did their home-work made "loadsamoney". "He who dares etc. etc"

Those days are now over. From 1990 to 1996 and 1998 to 2006 it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Good post and very accurate

[petercallen]

Just to bang home the nail.

I know a couple of people that are still renting the same house that they have lived in for the last 15 to 20 years.

With the money they have paid in rent, they could have bought the house two times over.

Their mistake was not to commit to living here, yet, they did anyway. I know that they both regret not buying.

Wouldn't it depend on where the money is "working harder" for them?

I've left my money back in my home country in the form of a property and cash at bank.

I get good rent coming in from the property and 6% interest on the cash at bank.

The property is an appreciating asset, rather than a property here depreciating through oversupply, poor constructing and years declining/uncertainty of a 30 year land use law.

Any maintainence or improvements to the property are also a tax deduction.

God forbid, if I have a major illness - Eg. cancer, stroke etc I still have a home to go back to for long term treatment and I have something to leave my kids upon my death.

The income generated from back home more than covers the rent I am paying here and I have avoided ALL of the risks associated will buying a property in Phuket/Thailand. Eg - EVERYTHING is 100% in my name.

Any maintainence on my rental in Phuket is paid for by the landlord. I live in quite a new place, but just one month ago a tile lifted in the bathroom, due to poor workmanship - not my problem, rang the landlord and it was fixed.

Basically, I'm making more money in my home country than my living expenses on Phuket, which includes rent.

To buy here would see me lose more money than what I would save in paying rent. It really has nothing to do with being committed to living on Phuket.

Some people do still have property, shares and bank accounts in there home country and still purchase a house here because they can afford to and do not want to live in a rented house with a landlord who can tell you what to do and how to live

[NamKangMan]

Maybe Phuket house owners bought their houses to live in rather than an investment?

I know I did.

Therefore whether the purchase price triples, or collapses, it makes no difference.

I understand that KB, however, many see buying a property here as an "investment" mainly because they are not paying rent, which is often referred to as "paying dead money." It's only an investment if it can be "liquified" (turned into cash upon sale or be rented out)

petercallen has stated that upon his death, his wife inherits his property. The question is, given she is not from Phuket and wishes to move back to her family, will she ever be able to sell the property????

The property may now be 15 to 20 years old and certainly showing signs of its poor construction. There would be thousands of other new, or newer properties on the market, due to an oversupply on Phuket. Then, you have the issue of the 30 years use of the land now only having 10 to 15 years left and the uncertainty of what will happen when the 30 years land use is up.

I believe this is why there have been vacant properties for sale here for several years.

In petercallens case, it may not be the investment that he thinks it will be, that he is leaving for his wife. It may be the opposite. A property that can't be rented and/or can't be sold, but fees still have to be paid, so, it becomes a financial loss to her, after his death.

So, whilst I agree, that while you are alive, the value of your house is of no real concern, the question remains, after your death, who are you leaving the problem of selling/renting/paying fees to????

What a load of codswallop, the house is 6 years old with no structural faults and we keep it well maintained which most people do not do here

The chanote/ freehold title to the property is in my wife's name and i paid cash for it so there are no financial worries

She can sell or rent the property no problem after i am gone that does not worry me, we chose the house together and my wife loves it

and definitely will not have to sell or rent it if she does not want to she will be financially secure

The reason there are so many vacant properties here is they are very overpriced and the owners do not care if they sell them or not

"We definitely will not loose money with the work we have done on the house and garden" - if it has no structural faults, what work did you do???? Sounds like you have done a bit to it. Throwing more money into it, have you "over capitalised?"

If you put it on the market tomorrow, how long do you think it would take to sell. I would suggest years. You would even have problems renting it out.

The boom years KB talks about have past, they will never come back to Phuket. You have to consider the property market here in the future.

[NamKangMan]

Just to bang home the nail.

I know a couple of people that are still renting the same house that they have lived in for the last 15 to 20 years.

With the money they have paid in rent, they could have bought the house two times over.

Their mistake was not to commit to living here, yet, they did anyway. I know that they both regret not buying.

Wouldn't it depend on where the money is "working harder" for them?

I've left my money back in my home country in the form of a property and cash at bank.

I get good rent coming in from the property and 6% interest on the cash at bank.

The property is an appreciating asset, rather than a property here depreciating through oversupply, poor constructing and years declining/uncertainty of a 30 year land use law.

Any maintainence or improvements to the property are also a tax deduction.

God forbid, if I have a major illness - Eg. cancer, stroke etc I still have a home to go back to for long term treatment and I have something to leave my kids upon my death.

The income generated from back home more than covers the rent I am paying here and I have avoided ALL of the risks associated will buying a property in Phuket/Thailand. Eg - EVERYTHING is 100% in my name.

Any maintainence on my rental in Phuket is paid for by the landlord. I live in quite a new place, but just one month ago a tile lifted in the bathroom, due to poor workmanship - not my problem, rang the landlord and it was fixed.

Basically, I'm making more money in my home country than my living expenses on Phuket, which includes rent.

To buy here would see me lose more money than what I would save in paying rent. It really has nothing to do with being committed to living on Phuket.

Some people do still have property, shares and bank accounts in there home country and still purchase a house here because they can afford to and do not want to live in a rented house with a landlord who can tell you what to do and how to live

So, the Thai Government can't tell you what to do and how to live by changing property ownership laws for foreigners and visa laws????????

[KarenBravo]

Wouldn't it depend on where the money is "working harder" for them?

I've left my money back in my home country in the form of a property and cash at bank.

I get good rent coming in from the property and 6% interest on the cash at bank.

The property is an appreciating asset, rather than a property here depreciating through oversupply, poor constructing and years declining/uncertainty of a 30 year land use law.

Any maintainence or improvements to the property are also a tax deduction.

God forbid, if I have a major illness - Eg. cancer, stroke etc I still have a home to go back to for long term treatment and I have something to leave my kids upon my death.

The income generated from back home more than covers the rent I am paying here and I have avoided ALL of the risks associated will buying a property in Phuket/Thailand. Eg - EVERYTHING is 100% in my name.

Any maintainence on my rental in Phuket is paid for by the landlord. I live in quite a new place, but just one month ago a tile lifted in the bathroom, due to poor workmanship - not my problem, rang the landlord and it was fixed.

Basically, I'm making more money in my home country than my living expenses on Phuket, which includes rent.

To buy here would see me lose more money than what I would save in paying rent. It really has nothing to do with being committed to living on Phuket.

Yes, I would agree with that.

But, during the time period I have mentioned, property and land prices were going up by a far greater percentage here in Phuket than in my home country.

Timing plays a very important part in the decision to buy here.

The last piece of property I bought, which is the land I now live on, was bought in 1999. It was the one of the best decisions I ever made.

If I had to make that decision now, I doubt I would buy any property at all. There are far better investments to be had and they are more liquid, too.

[NamKangMan]

Wouldn't it depend on where the money is "working harder" for them?

I've left my money back in my home country in the form of a property and cash at bank.

I get good rent coming in from the property and 6% interest on the cash at bank.

The property is an appreciating asset, rather than a property here depreciating through oversupply, poor constructing and years declining/uncertainty of a 30 year land use law.

Any maintainence or improvements to the property are also a tax deduction.

God forbid, if I have a major illness - Eg. cancer, stroke etc I still have a home to go back to for long term treatment and I have something to leave my kids upon my death.

The income generated from back home more than covers the rent I am paying here and I have avoided ALL of the risks associated will buying a property in Phuket/Thailand. Eg - EVERYTHING is 100% in my name.

Any maintainence on my rental in Phuket is paid for by the landlord. I live in quite a new place, but just one month ago a tile lifted in the bathroom, due to poor workmanship - not my problem, rang the landlord and it was fixed.

Basically, I'm making more money in my home country than my living expenses on Phuket, which includes rent.

To buy here would see me lose more money than what I would save in paying rent. It really has nothing to do with being committed to living on Phuket.

Yes, I would agree with that.

But, during the time period I have mentioned, property and land prices were going up by a far greater percentage here in Phuket than in my home country.

Timing plays a very important part in the decision to buy here.

The last piece of property I bought, which is the land I now live on, was bought in 1999. It was the one of the best decisions I ever made.

If I had to make that decision now, I doubt I would buy any property at all. There are far better investments to be had and they are more liquid, too.

KB, I agree many made some money in the past, but those days are long gone. I thought we were discussing the present, and the future, for the Phuket property market.