Buy House To Rent Out

[chrisdouglas123]

Hi All,

I would like some advice or feedback from those of you who have experience...

Im thinking of buying a couple of small town houses (prices 1.2 - 1.8 Million baht) in areas around Bangkok, Rangsit for example. These would be the typical 'moo baan' new village houses.

Then renting them out for somewhere between 7000 - 10,000baht per month.

The houses would be bought in a Thai name, thats not the problem, but has anyone had this 'landlord' experience here?

Thank you

[thenervoussurgeon]

My sister in law has a house she rents out ,it was hard to find a tenant ,eventually a thai familly moved in ,the place is now a sh-thole and will cost more to renovate than the rent she got ,does that help?

[aussiebebe]

My experience is of renting out a condo - not a pleasant experience, and condos are generally easier to rent out than houses anyway. If you just want investment, putting your cash in a bond with a Thai bank will probably earn you more and without all the headache and nonsense with tenants - my advice is to remember that it's hard to put a financial figure on misery, anxiety and wasted time.

[Hedghog]

Its not easy to find quality tenants,especially long term.

Your returns,projected are not great,

I concur with ausiebebe.

[PattayaPhom]

7K-10K, makes a difference, 1.2 Mil TH in Rangsit, 10k seems pushing it. Regardless of above comments it is possible for properties to offer a good return and appreciate in value.

[hagler]

The secret is to buy at Thai prices and lease at Farang pricing levels. Stick to areas where there is demand from Farang.

Has worked for me for a long, long time anyway.

[yourauntbob]

Rent is cheap here. Finding tenants can be difficult and even if you do, your rental income is going to be less than what you would need to pay on a 30 year mortgage.

Take a look around those areas and see what people are asking for rent. I would bet a 1.5 million townhouse would only go for around 5-6k per month.

[Khun Jean]

7-10k is i think way to much.

In moobans rents of 3-5k seems more common.

Thais would not spend one single baht maintaining it, so probably at then end of a few years you need to spend 50-100k to get it into an acceptable shape again, especially when it is a furnished one, and the prices you are thinking about that seems to be the plan. It does not matter one bit if the moo-ban is a nice one or a dump. thenervoussurgeon is right about that.

A commercial building would be slightly better, but finding one that has a decent price is difficult.

We only invest in small condo's that are cheaper then 500k and that give at least 10% roi. Otherwise i not even bother.

Edited March 1, 2013 by Khun Jean

[loong]

A foreigner buying land using a Thai nominee is illegal. At least once a year there are threats of crackdowns, so you should be aware that there may be risks when using a Thai nominee.

I have not had experience of being a landlord in Thailand, only in the UK. Tenants have no interest in the property and a bad tenant can cause enough damage in a short time that costs many times the rent received to repair.

[Khun Jean]

The Thai would be very happy to be the 'nominee'. It is completely impossible to prove that someone is a nominee when it is not a shareholder/company structure.

The foreigner has in that case, no money and no value in return. He might get a usufruct or lease in return. That is ok. The Thai is still 100% owner and not a nominee. Just someone who made a contract and got compensation for it.

Again the Thai has just received a gift and is 100% owner, not a nominee!

Once that is clear, risks can be reevaluated.

If you want to do realestate on a larger scale there is no problem forming a company for that. Just make sure the 51% Thai used their own money and have equal voting rights.

In my case i use a 49%/49%/2% split of the shares. The 2% is a bookkeeper chosen by me. The other 49% is my wife. Still no guarantees, the 49% is acceptable for me as i used it to establish my risk. After 10 years that risk is now very minimal.

[davejones]

My gf has a house worth 1.2-1.6 million in a moo baan is Rangsit. She rents it out for 5,000 a month. About 90% of people who viewed the house only wanted to pay 3,000-4,000. I don't think you have any hope of getting 7,000-10,000, as there are plenty of places to rent for 3,000-5,000. Also, the quality of potential renters was pretty low. She has found a good tenant now, but it took 2-3 months. I wouldn't advise buying there as a buy-to-let.

[PattayaPhom]

Listen to Dave. Hes on the ground there