House Building

[JJButler]

Mt Wife and I are moving back it to Thailand and we are hoping to build our oun house. we would be very greatful if anyone could let us know the price of building a standerd 2 or 3 bedroom bungalow not including the price of the land.

[Paul L]

We live in what is considered to be the sticks of Thailand. We bought our home last year and the build has only recently (last couple of months) be completed. For what I would consider a nice 4 bedroom detached in the UK the cost was 1.8 million baht. It was built by a company and is situated within a walled secure (words used very loosly) estate of probably 160 ish similar homes. Land is where things get crazy IMHO. The wife’s family live about 25Km east of Khonkaen, we could buy land there @ approx 70 / Wah, 2Km from city centre and its approx 12500 / Wah, big big difference, but as they say location is everything.

Paul

[Rigger]

I have seen western houses built around our area for any where from 900,000 bht for a single story two bed room with western kitchen. I have put about 3 mill bht into my house but it is 300 sq meters with 4 bed rooms 3 bath rooms the house it self was around 2.3 mill bht to build and the other 700,000 has gone into gates fencing water tanks pumps and land scaping etc There is a some threads in the isan section that would be a good idea to read but not sure where you are building as the same house I built in Isan they wanted double to build it in bangkok

Good luck

[Dragonman]

Built my bungalow 18 months ago. Total cost of house plus 5metre x 5metre kitchen extension 620,000 baht. I paid 800,000 for 828 sq metres of land and a further 580,000 for landscaping, 6 metre x 6 metre open air ( with roof) dining room in garden, security, fittings, furniture, etc. Total 2 million baht for 3 bedroom, 2 showers, large living room and kitchen.

Photograph on www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=3601

Located 30 k's from Pattaya.

[BKK90210]

OK...this is a rule of thumb...

Base on 2005 price index ...not include the extras like lanscaping, fence, deck etc.

12000 - 24000 baths per sq meter....depending how luxury they are, it should fall within this range

This is just for the finished residential construction only with all the trimmings....not commercial types

[Morden]

The cost of building is certain to vary from region to region and also according to your specification. I would add this advice to what has already been said:

1. Think about starting your project now rather than later. Building costs rose by about 10% during 2005 and there seems to have been a recent surge in cost inflation. Land prices in desirable areas may be on the increase too unless there is a major recession. At the very least, consider buying a suitable plot for future development.

2. Get a fixed price, fixed period contract with a reputable local builder. Choose someone whose previous work you can see and who has a local reputation to maintain. Go though the specification very carefully and show him images from the coolthaihouse website to illustrate what you expect. This way you can protect yourself against inflation in material prices and corner-cutting after the contract is signed. The cost of timber and stainless steel for our house is now more than the builder budgetted for but he has to fund the difference, not us.

3. Expect extras. The builder may fit your favourite chandelier on the staircase and install a pulley for cleaning and maintaining it but he is unlikely to want to include the cost of the item in the contract. The same goes for anything that is at the whim of your changing personal preferences. For example, he will budget for standard tiles and will fit better if you pay the difference.

4. You may want to contract your own labour later for walls, fences and the like. There is no need, except for convenience, to pay a builder to employ labour for minor items when you can hire the same people yourself. Watch the people that he employs and pick out the best group for a quiet beer and a chat after work. They will probably be willing to return to work for you when the builder has finished and left.

Good luck, have fun!

[RalphS]

Mt Wife and I are moving back it to Thailand and we are hoping to build our oun house. we would be very greatful if anyone could let us know the price of building a standerd 2 or 3 bedroom bungalow not including the price of the land.

My wife and I have just recently dicussed moving to the Pattaya area after retiring in a couple of years, but maybe for 6 to 7 months out of each year. We have friends that live there permanently and thinking of maybe just renting instead of buying. For us that may be a more economical way to go.

Any thoughts?

Ralph