Investing In Rental Property

[Michael W]

I received second hand a somewhat vague offer to invest in some rental property in Bangkok: basically, as near as I could tell, some low-end buildings with shop houses and cheap residential units (less than 2000 baht/month). Beyond the obvious scam potential, is it even legal for a farang to own a less than 50 percent share of something like this? Has another farang ever done this successfully, i.e. legally owned and generated rental income?

Only if this proposition isn't completely insane just on its face will I take the time to find out more of the details, in particular how much of a buy-in they're looking for. To go any further I imagine I obviously wouldn't want to proceed without a good real estate lawyer.

[Khun Jean]

Just a small rule of thump.

If a unit is 2000 baht per month.

Mulitply this times 100 times the number of units to get the maximum price to buy.

For example 40 units:

(Total rent * 100)

2000 * 100 * 40 = 8 million baht is a good price when it is in excelent!! condition.

8 million invested will give you a yearly return of 960.000 baht.

In 10 years you would have your money back.

If you keep your money in your home country this is what you would get as ROI.

But this is Thailand so your ROI should be higher to recoup your money more quick.

A price between 3-6 Mb should be ok.

But it comes with a lot of if's.

Location, occupancy rates, condition of the building, maintenance costs, etc....