Estate Agents In Pattaya

[pepsi666]

What happened to this topic ?

It's been deleted, I was hoping for a few trusted and recommended estate agents to be listed

Dont want to get into a slagging match about the bad un's, though (it was getting a bit liveley last time out ) lets try and keep it civilized this time eh ?

If you dont have a good opinion of estate agents, dont get into slagging each person who has had some good from them (I KNOW they are all comission driven, but so are the agents world wide)<if they want to make a decent wage>

But there MUST be some decent one's out there, same goes for builders and other contractors

What about the rating system that was spoken about, I thought that was a pretty good idea (could do the same for hotels, resturants, beer bars, builders, banks, the list could go on and would help people who are either in Pattaya or considering visiting Pattaya, with estate agents and builders and other promoters, it would help anyone who is considering using any of them

Come on moderators, its an idea

[Mister Doom]

What happened to this topic ?

It's been deleted, I was hoping for a few trusted and recommended estate agents to be listed

What about the rating system that was spoken about, I thought that was a pretty good idea (could do the same for hotels, resturants, beer bars, builders, banks, the list could go on and would help people who are either in Pattaya or considering visiting Pattaya, with estate agents and builders and other promoters, it would help anyone who is considering using any of them

Come on moderators, its an idea

You can try although I reckon a rating system might work for some of the things on your list - even builders and contractors - I doubt it would work for estate agents. Even in the UK there are good and bad eggs within the same agency, and I'm sure the same applies out here. Add to this the total lack of reugulation and ethics, and you basically have open season on gullible farangs. The temptaion and the commission driven nature of their job is too great. Even everyday Thais going about their daily busisness can turn into commssion hungry sharks if they hear of a farang looking to buy a piece of land or a house.

Having said all that, maybe there is an agent out there who can prove me wrong.

Come on, speak up then.

[wcr]

Do you expect people to work for nothing? Would you lot work for free?

That last thread was bang out of order. It was just a pathetic slaging off of Real Estate Agents and uncalled for. Yes there are bad agents in Pattaya and everywhere else in the world, just as there are bad electricians, policemen, dentists, lawyers etc.etc.

At the end of the day agents have to market houses in the press, pay for admin staff, office costs and the rest while marketing your house for sale without any guarentee that they will sell it with NO COST to the seller unless it's sold.

If you are not happy with this then why not go to a system where the seller pays the agent up front for marketing his property. No further commisssions. Would the sellers go for this?

I can vertually guarantee what the answer will be.

Thailand Property Site

Edited March 29, 2006 by wcr

[Maigo6]

Speaking of Shady characters, what's the story with those English guys on the Beach road, there are girls trying to pursuade farangs into going to Jomtien for time share or something, these guys are hovering in the shadows like Vultures.

Who are they, Why do the hide, Are they working ilegally ?

They certainly put a lot of people off, are they agents also?

[Jai Dee]

Warning to all: the OP has requested information on good real estate agents in Pattaya.

Please do not use the Forum to post opinions that could be deemed as false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, or harassing... not only are they negatively opinionated, they are against the Forum Rules.

Last public warning... if it happens again, holidays will be awarded and the thread deleted.

[pepsi666]

Last public warning... if it happens again, holidays will be awarded and the thread deleted.

What kind of holiday are we talking about, I fancy coming back to Pattaya for a bit longer, then I could get this all sorted out and live happily ever after

(but point noted)

[mynot]

I've used "East Coast Real Estate" to buy a condo, and was very pleased with their service.

[Pattaya_Fox]

Speaking of Shady characters, what's the story with those English guys on the Beach road, there are girls trying to pursuade farangs into going to Jomtien for time share or something, these guys are hovering in the shadows like Vultures.

Who are they, Why do the hide, Are they working ilegally ?

They certainly put a lot of people off, are they agents also?

There seems to be more and more of these young ladies lurking along Beach Road with clip board in hand....some only positioned 10 meters away from each other. They are all wanting your personal information including your hotel and room number.

Their purpose is to pass your details on to the seller or lessors of the property company which they are employed by in order that you may be contacted with a view to purchasing or leasing a property.

Although these young ladies are quite polite when they make their approach I would not recommend that anyone should give out their personal information to complete strangers who are working in the streets of Pattaya.......after all it is only your money that they are after whether they are genuine or not. Surprisingly you regularly see farangs relishing the prospect of giving their information to these people without realising in many cases what it is all about.

I don`t even say no thank you anymore, I just ignore them as I do the other touts and walk on.

[fisherd3]

Speaking of Shady characters, what's the story with those English guys on the Beach road, there are girls trying to pursuade farangs into going to Jomtien for time share or something, these guys are hovering in the shadows like Vultures.

Who are they, Why do the hide, Are they working ilegally ?

They certainly put a lot of people off, are they agents also?

Time share salespeople are the most famous intrusive and unethical group of people worldwide ruining many peoples holidays from Tenerife to it would appear Thailand, with their constant harrassment.

Whatever the merits of timeshare the sales methods are renowned worldwide and the vendors usually employ the farang youth trying to get a holiday job (i.e.stay in holiday country) wherever and have no ethics or reason to be honest or even polite, they just have to get the punter to the sales pitch to earn.

Walk on by!

[icecubes]

I've used "East Coast Real Estate" to buy a condo, and was very pleased with their service.

who was it you worked for?

[pepsi666]

The girls along Beach road asking for your details are from View Talay Condominiums, they are flogging time share (they will be building a timeshare complex on beach road, they got a huge sign telling everyone) They also have Condo's on Jomtiem beach and the have villas in the same area

They are NOT cheap either, £15000 upwards, (you are ONLY buying 1 week per year) we went to a presentation, started fine, but we only went cos we won a free week , but when we didnt buy, they had a new tack and wanted us to buy points, rather than a week, there were quite a few Germans and Russians there, when anyone DID buy, they rang a bell to show how 'lucky' these people were (I found it rather embarrassing, every clapped and cheered, when we said we only came in for the 'free' holiday the whole attitude changed, and they couldnt get rid of us quick enough, some people really did get the HARD sell from them and they had beeen there 6 hours or more and couldnt get away from the sales person

Now timeshare can be a good thing, but there are things YOU must be aware of....

1 YOU are only buying 1 weeks accomadation pear YEAR

2 YOU will have a maintainence charge to pay EVERY year

3 YOU will have a membership to pay EVERY year

4 YOUR apartment will be sold another 51 times (along with ALL the other apartments

5 YOU cant pull out when you get home, there are NO laws in Thailand regarding this (unlike the EU, no cooling off period)

6 You will be given a loan to buy your apartment, but the rate will be VERY high)

the good side is.......

1You can exchange with any other time share complex in the world (at a cost)

2 You can leave it to your descendants when you die (it will form part of your inheritance)

3 All the accomadation is 5 star (reputed)

4 YOU will get a glossy magazine showing ALL the other timeshare throughout the world

5 YOU can bank your week so the following year you CAN have two weeks in your apartment

TIME SHARE is ok, it works for some people and NOT for others, its up to you if you DO go to a presentation, BUT you WILL get the HARD sell, and I really mean HARD, it has to seen to be beleived (THESE are 100% commision driven, no sale no wages, but when a sale is made the rewards are VERY good

I know ALL this because I had a neighbor who sold time share, funnilty enough he is a estate agent in Peterborough now

[Mister Doom]

I've used "East Coast Real Estate" to buy a condo, and was very pleased with their service.

who was it you worked for?

I wasn't around when this thread was closed, (and deleted) so I don't know what was said that was so bad.

However, it strikes me that if we're not allowed to slag off bad agents - and lets face it, there's plenty of bad'ns out there - there's not much point to this thread.

It is a bit strange, though, that we can slag off hospitals, restaurants, bars, our beloved PM and goodness knows what/who else, but we're not allowed to say bad things about estate agents.

They must be special people indeed. Maybe some are even sponsors?

Just wondering.

[pepsi666]

I've used "East Coast Real Estate" to buy a condo, and was very pleased with their service.

who was it you worked for?

I wasn't around when this thread was closed, (and deleted) so I don't know what was said that was so bad.

However, it strikes me that if we're not allowed to slag off bad agents - and lets face it, there's plenty of bad'ns out there - there's not much point to this thread.

It is a bit strange, though, that we can slag off hospitals, restaurants, bars, our beloved PM and goodness knows what/who else, but we're not allowed to say bad things about estate agents.

They must be special people indeed. Maybe some are even sponsors?

Just wondering.

There is every point to this thread, I asked for recommendations of GOOD estate agents, I'm not asking for anyone to slag off any trade or agents, if you want to slag off and flame anyone do it in another thread, the reason the other one ws deleted was every one just used it to slag off agents, RECOMMENDATIONS of good estate agents

[BKK90210]

To sum it up:

As long as there are no laws & regulations governing their practices, it's going to difficult to find "A GOOD AGENT"!

Sure some may be quite happy with their chosen agent, most of the times because the agent were nice to them during transactions.....but as far as prices go, are they happy with their agent still?

How do you define " A GOOD REAL ESTATE AGENT" ....is up to each person goals & objectives

Edited March 29, 2006 by BKK90210

[pepsi666]

To sum it up:

As long as there are no laws & regulations governing their practices, it's going to difficult to find "A GOOD AGENT"!

Sure some may be quite happy with their chosen agent, most of the times because the agent were nice to them during transactions.....but as far as prices go, are they happy with their agent still?

How do you define " A GOOD REAL ESTATE AGENT" ....is up to each person goals & objectives

That is quite a good point, I never thought of that

Maybe I should redefine it,

Who has had a good to fair result with a estate agent ?

Did he/she come up to your expectations ?

Would you consider you got value for money and ws their services up to what you would expect ?

anyone prepared to put a name/company down in 'print' ?

There has been many replies but only 1 actually named (I think)

There must be more out there or there wouldnt be anything sold or bought

[MP5]

[New Zealand Herald "Today"

Handy to have an organisation with a code of ethics or rules!

Real estate agents fined for breach of institute's guidelines

29.03.06

By Anne Gibson

Three real estate agents found to have breached their organisation's code of ethics or rules of practice have been fined after internal disciplinary procedures.

The Real Estate Institute said complaints were laid against the agents, whose activities were then investigated and were found to have broken the rules.

Regional district sub-committees of the institute handled each of the cases but none of the three agents was named.

A Barfoot & Thompson agent from the Auckland region was fined $400 and costs of $450 for failing to get consent of the principal officer to be involved in the purchase of a property.

The matter related to rule 13.3 of the institute's code of ethics which states: "Members shall be fully conversant with the act, other legislation relating to real estate, and these rules, all of which must be adhered to at all times."

A Bay of Plenty agent working for First National Realty was fined $250 and costs of $2306.25 for failing to be fair to all parties in negotiations, and particularly failing to follow a buyer's instructions in the preparation and execution of all forms and agreements.

An Otago agent working for LJ Hooker was fined $750 plus costsof $2189.58 for failing to renderskilled and professional service by not adequately advising the vendor about GST on the sale of a property.

The matter related to rule 13.11 of the code of ethics.

In separate proceedings, the Real Estate Agents' Licensing Board rejected an application from Miles Fletcher Maitland, of Wellington, to become principal officer and sole director of Carpe Diem Realty, a member of Go Gecko Group.

He was found not to have had the requisite practical experience, although the board said he had a "long and distinguished career" in the industry.

The board also rejected anapplication from William Roderick Sinclair, of Waikato, to becomeprincipal officer and sole directorof Sonell Realty trading as Re/MAX Country in Cambridge.

He was already principal officer and sole director of Papatoetoe Real Estate and told the board he could have effective control of both offices, which were 136km apart, by evenly splitting his time each week between them.

But the board did not find this would fulfil his obligations and said it was not prepared to grant the application.

[Mister Doom]

anyone prepared to put a name/company down in 'print' ?

There has been many replies but only 1 actually named (I think)

There must be more out there or there wouldnt be anything sold or bought

Sorry to be pedantic, but if you don't want the names of bad agents, your statement is not necessarily true. I'm sure there's plenty of properties bought and sold - by disreputable agents - which is what I think most of us are trying to say. But we can't name them.

So what's the point?

I don't want to get into a slanging match so I'll but out, and leave you to it.

Hope you get a nice long list

[wcr]

I've used "East Coast Real Estate" to buy a condo, and was very pleased with their service.

I and a few other people I personally know would disagree with this statement. Unfortuantly I can't tell you why!

[PREM-R]

Not in the market myself but if I were I think I would check out Bangkok Post and Nation newspapers for a few days, check who has the large adverts every day and then contact them. My thinking being that if a company can pay the rates for national newspaper ads every day then they are probably not a "Mickey Mouse" operation. I have seen a company called something like "CB Richard Ellis" advertise in BK post day after day for years, so I suppose they are 'legit'.

[Prakanong2005]

Not in the market myself but if I were I think I would check out Bangkok Post and Nation newspapers for a few days, check who has the large adverts every day and then contact them. My thinking being that if a company can pay the rates for national newspaper ads every day then they are probably not a "Mickey Mouse" operation. I have seen a company called something like "CB Richard Ellis" advertise in BK post day after day for years, so I suppose they are 'legit'.

Not foolproof though

"Foxtons" the Agency exposed by the BBC last week is a large multi-national agency who would advertise a lot too.

Years ago I knew some guys from the above agency you mention in Bangkok - very professional yuppies in commercial property though I think it was

[Prakanong2005]

Mob'D'ark got it right in the last thread - the best thing to do is take your time and do your own extensive research on prices and the market in general.

Estate Agents use their informational assymetry so to balance this as much as possible get as much info as possible yourself.

The fact that some people only have a verty short time to make a major purchase oversea's as they are doing this on time limited holidays is also a factor - its a major purchase so take your time and do not be rushed.

[Digger]

I have found the following agents to be reasonably good - but see my comments afterwards:

KCR Homefinder - accurate and up to date website, keep to appointment times, follow through pretty good, are not from what I can ascertain directly/financially involved in their own 'developments' - i.e they are an agent, not a developer on the side. Been around long time.

Premier Homes - good website, kept reasonably up to date, keep to appointment times, follow through pretty good. Also been around a long time.

Northern Thai - crap website, not up to date, generally keep to appointments, follow through not bad - but not as good as the others. Also been around a long time. Northern Thai have a high staff turnover - seems that anyone who is any good ends up opening their own - from what I can tell, most of the other agents have at some point worked for Northern Thai. Northern Thai do though have lots of listings and are developers in their own or associated right - therefore you may be 'sold' onto one of their projects.

East Coast - good website, but never up to date, keep to appointments, follow through fairly poor, again been around a long time. Now focused on the new build condo markets.

Pattaya Realty - no website of any value, keep to appointments, good follow through, well established.

These agents are all focused on the English speaking market i.e British, American, Australian buyers - I have no knowledge on other's e.g the agents that focus on German market for example.

However you have to consider these points very carefully:

1. These guys are paid by the SELLER - they do not WORK for you primarily regardless of what they tell you. However for the most part, they realise that one day you will be a seller and treat you well.

2. They do little if any due dilligence - they do not routinely check ownership papers, house permissions, condo problems etc - thats down to you - remember they are working for the seller and they have no obligation to point out that your fantastic little house in the country is about to have a 6 lane motorway built next to it.

3. They have little or know control over any developer - from what I can see, many of the problems that occur are down to the builder/developer failing to build something exactly like what the 'buyer' had visualised. The developer may have never said that it would look like that, but many buyers are not good at 'buying off plan' and do not know what to ask - therefore they create their own impression of what something is going look like - dangerous if your not actually telling anyone or even directly controlling it.

4. They tend to promote their own in-house legal team - again issues can arise with conflict of interest, although its not as common as people make it out to be in my experience.

5. There is no accurate way to 'value' a property - most agents just guess - and then many of are off - typically some builder will 'value' something at XXX baht and suddenly thats the real price - again its down to the buyer to determine if you think its good value.

6. Estate agents are not surveyors - why would you expect them to be able to see a quality build versus a quality finish and poor structural build. Again they work for the SELLER - its up to you to due your own due dilligence.

7. You have no consumer protection in Thailand that is worth anything - remember that, double check everything yourself and ask around about property your interested in - reminds me of the time I was considering buying a condo, I asked a couple of the neighbours how they liked it and they all said, that yes it was cheap enough for service fee's but too many short term rentals in the building, the tenants did not care, noisy etc - put me of but again only my opinion.

[Jai Dee]

This could be a very useful thread to those contemplating living or buying in Pattaya, and I'll clarify things further so as not to stifle the subject.

Further to what I posted earlier:

Please do not use the Forum to post opinions that could be deemed as false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, or harassing... not only are they negatively opinionated, they are against the Forum Rules.

This does not necessarily preclude you from posting personal experience, both negative and positive, if it is true, and if you think it would be helpful to others reading the Forum.

I hope that helps.

Good post BTW Digger.

[Rimmer]

When I bought land at Phoenix I used Town and Country Property I dealt soley with their MD. He knew what I was looking for and took the trouble to personally show me a lot of land until he located the right plot for me, He then negotiated with the owner for a reasonable price. I confirmed the price was OK, paid the deposit at 11 oclock in the morning and by 2pm in the afternoon the chanut was in my hands with my name on the back.

I found them very proffesional, very attentive and very trustworthy.

[Mister Doom]

I have found the following agents to be reasonably good - but see my comments afterwards:

KCR Homefinder - accurate and up to date website, keep to appointment times, follow through pretty good, are not from what I can ascertain directly/financially involved in their own 'developments' - i.e they are an agent, not a developer on the side. Been around long time.

Premier Homes - good website, kept reasonably up to date, keep to appointment times, follow through pretty good. Also been around a long time.

Northern Thai - crap website, not up to date, generally keep to appointments, follow through not bad - but not as good as the others. Also been around a long time. Northern Thai have a high staff turnover - seems that anyone who is any good ends up opening their own - from what I can tell, most of the other agents have at some point worked for Northern Thai. Northern Thai do though have lots of listings and are developers in their own or associated right - therefore you may be 'sold' onto one of their projects.

East Coast - good website, but never up to date, keep to appointments, follow through fairly poor, again been around a long time. Now focused on the new build condo markets.

Pattaya Realty - no website of any value, keep to appointments, good follow through, well established.

These agents are all focused on the English speaking market i.e British, American, Australian buyers - I have no knowledge on other's e.g the agents that focus on German market for example.

However you have to consider these points very carefully:

1. These guys are paid by the SELLER - they do not WORK for you primarily regardless of what they tell you. However for the most part, they realise that one day you will be a seller and treat you well.

2. They do little if any due dilligence - they do not routinely check ownership papers, house permissions, condo problems etc - thats down to you - remember they are working for the seller and they have no obligation to point out that your fantastic little house in the country is about to have a 6 lane motorway built next to it.

3. They have little or know control over any developer - from what I can see, many of the problems that occur are down to the builder/developer failing to build something exactly like what the 'buyer' had visualised. The developer may have never said that it would look like that, but many buyers are not good at 'buying off plan' and do not know what to ask - therefore they create their own impression of what something is going look like - dangerous if your not actually telling anyone or even directly controlling it.

4. They tend to promote their own in-house legal team - again issues can arise with conflict of interest, although its not as common as people make it out to be in my experience.

5. There is no accurate way to 'value' a property - most agents just guess - and then many of are off - typically some builder will 'value' something at XXX baht and suddenly thats the real price - again its down to the buyer to determine if you think its good value.

6. Estate agents are not surveyors - why would you expect them to be able to see a quality build versus a quality finish and poor structural build. Again they work for the SELLER - its up to you to due your own due dilligence.

7. You have no consumer protection in Thailand that is worth anything - remember that, double check everything yourself and ask around about property your interested in - reminds me of the time I was considering buying a condo, I asked a couple of the neighbours how they liked it and they all said, that yes it was cheap enough for service fee's but too many short term rentals in the building, the tenants did not care, noisy etc - put me of but again only my opinion.

An excellent post Digger and very informative.

Thank you for the clarification Jai Dee.

I feel suitably humbled, and take back all that I said.

May the thread have a long life and prosper.

[BKK90210]

Digger

That's very nice and informative indeed. So...to sum up what you're saying

basically YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN?

Edited March 30, 2006 by BKK90210

[icecubes]

anyone prepared to put a name/company down in 'print' ?

No, I don't want a holiday today,

But im sure they are all good, top notch people.

Good old estate agents, the salt of Pattaya.

[pepsi666]

I have found the following agents to be reasonably good - but see my comments afterwards:

KCR Homefinder - accurate and up to date website, keep to appointment times, follow through pretty good, are not from what I can ascertain directly/financially involved in their own 'developments' - i.e they are an agent, not a developer on the side. Been around long time.

Premier Homes - good website, kept reasonably up to date, keep to appointment times, follow through pretty good. Also been around a long time.

Northern Thai - crap website, not up to date, generally keep to appointments, follow through not bad - but not as good as the others. Also been around a long time. Northern Thai have a high staff turnover - seems that anyone who is any good ends up opening their own - from what I can tell, most of the other agents have at some point worked for Northern Thai. Northern Thai do though have lots of listings and are developers in their own or associated right - therefore you may be 'sold' onto one of their projects.

East Coast - good website, but never up to date, keep to appointments, follow through fairly poor, again been around a long time. Now focused on the new build condo markets.

Pattaya Realty - no website of any value, keep to appointments, good follow through, well established.

These agents are all focused on the English speaking market i.e British, American, Australian buyers - I have no knowledge on other's e.g the agents that focus on German market for example.

However you have to consider these points very carefully:

1. These guys are paid by the SELLER - they do not WORK for you primarily regardless of what they tell you. However for the most part, they realise that one day you will be a seller and treat you well.

2. They do little if any due dilligence - they do not routinely check ownership papers, house permissions, condo problems etc - thats down to you - remember they are working for the seller and they have no obligation to point out that your fantastic little house in the country is about to have a 6 lane motorway built next to it.

3. They have little or know control over any developer - from what I can see, many of the problems that occur are down to the builder/developer failing to build something exactly like what the 'buyer' had visualised. The developer may have never said that it would look like that, but many buyers are not good at 'buying off plan' and do not know what to ask - therefore they create their own impression of what something is going look like - dangerous if your not actually telling anyone or even directly controlling it.

4. They tend to promote their own in-house legal team - again issues can arise with conflict of interest, although its not as common as people make it out to be in my experience.

5. There is no accurate way to 'value' a property - most agents just guess - and then many of are off - typically some builder will 'value' something at XXX baht and suddenly thats the real price - again its down to the buyer to determine if you think its good value.

6. Estate agents are not surveyors - why would you expect them to be able to see a quality build versus a quality finish and poor structural build. Again they work for the SELLER - its up to you to due your own due dilligence.

7. You have no consumer protection in Thailand that is worth anything - remember that, double check everything yourself and ask around about property your interested in - reminds me of the time I was considering buying a condo, I asked a couple of the neighbours how they liked it and they all said, that yes it was cheap enough for service fee's but too many short term rentals in the building, the tenants did not care, noisy etc - put me of but again only my opinion.

An excellent post Digger and very informative.

Thank you for the clarification Jai Dee.

I feel suitably humbled, and take back all that I said.

May the thread have a long life and prosper.

At last, just the information I ws after, THANK YOU very much

This is the type of reply I was after, took a lot of getting there, but it did (If there are estate agents that are NOT reliable and you feel you have been robbed, duped or ripped off, thats what PM's are for)

I fully appreciate tht estate agents ARE NOT surveyors and wouldnt know a qaulity finish from a qaulity build, but can you get a place surveyed BEFORE you go ahead and purchase or do you have to do that yourself ?

Of course estate agents are working for the seller, they are the people paying him (same in the UK) and I fully appreciate that they can and will be ecominical with the truth (if they DONT sell they DONT get paid)

But thanks to EVERYONE who posted usefull information and those who didnt, why did you waste time posting ???

[h5n1]

pepsi - you have your answer. 1.

no one in all of pattaya (on this board) has anything (hugely) positive to say about real estate agents here.

it sstill caveat emptor - even when you are providing fees on both buy/sell ends.

thailand needs law.

[thebounder]

I have found the following agents to be reasonably good - but see my comments afterwards:

KCR Homefinder - accurate and up to date website, keep to appointment times, follow through pretty good, are not from what I can ascertain directly/financially involved in their own 'developments' - i.e they are an agent, not a developer on the side. Been around long time.

Premier Homes - good website, kept reasonably up to date, keep to appointment times, follow through pretty good. Also been around a long time.

Northern Thai - crap website, not up to date, generally keep to appointments, follow through not bad - but not as good as the others. Also been around a long time. Northern Thai have a high staff turnover - seems that anyone who is any good ends up opening their own - from what I can tell, most of the other agents have at some point worked for Northern Thai. Northern Thai do though have lots of listings and are developers in their own or associated right - therefore you may be 'sold' onto one of their projects.

East Coast - good website, but never up to date, keep to appointments, follow through fairly poor, again been around a long time. Now focused on the new build condo markets.

Pattaya Realty - no website of any value, keep to appointments, good follow through, well established.

These agents are all focused on the English speaking market i.e British, American, Australian buyers - I have no knowledge on other's e.g the agents that focus on German market for example.

However you have to consider these points very carefully:

1. These guys are paid by the SELLER - they do not WORK for you primarily regardless of what they tell you. However for the most part, they realise that one day you will be a seller and treat you well.

2. They do little if any due dilligence - they do not routinely check ownership papers, house permissions, condo problems etc - thats down to you - remember they are working for the seller and they have no obligation to point out that your fantastic little house in the country is about to have a 6 lane motorway built next to it.

3. They have little or know control over any developer - from what I can see, many of the problems that occur are down to the builder/developer failing to build something exactly like what the 'buyer' had visualised. The developer may have never said that it would look like that, but many buyers are not good at 'buying off plan' and do not know what to ask - therefore they create their own impression of what something is going look like - dangerous if your not actually telling anyone or even directly controlling it.

4. They tend to promote their own in-house legal team - again issues can arise with conflict of interest, although its not as common as people make it out to be in my experience.

5. There is no accurate way to 'value' a property - most agents just guess - and then many of are off - typically some builder will 'value' something at XXX baht and suddenly thats the real price - again its down to the buyer to determine if you think its good value.

6. Estate agents are not surveyors - why would you expect them to be able to see a quality build versus a quality finish and poor structural build. Again they work for the SELLER - its up to you to due your own due dilligence.

7. You have no consumer protection in Thailand that is worth anything - remember that, double check everything yourself and ask around about property your interested in - reminds me of the time I was considering buying a condo, I asked a couple of the neighbours how they liked it and they all said, that yes it was cheap enough for service fee's but too many short term rentals in the building, the tenants did not care, noisy etc - put me of but again only my opinion.

An excellent post Digger and very informative.

Thank you for the clarification Jai Dee.

I feel suitably humbled, and take back all that I said.

May the thread have a long life and prosper.

At last, just the information I ws after, THANK YOU very much

This is the type of reply I was after, took a lot of getting there, but it did (If there are estate agents that are NOT reliable and you feel you have been robbed, duped or ripped off, thats what PM's are for)

I fully appreciate tht estate agents ARE NOT surveyors and wouldnt know a qaulity finish from a qaulity build, but can you get a place surveyed BEFORE you go ahead and purchase or do you have to do that yourself ?

Of course estate agents are working for the seller, they are the people paying him (same in the UK) and I fully appreciate that they can and will be ecominical with the truth (if they DONT sell they DONT get paid)

But thanks to EVERYONE who posted usefull information and those who didnt, why did you waste time posting ???

There are surveyors in Thailand, just not in Pattaya. If you want a formal valuation or appraisal, you will need to get a qualified surveyor down from Bangkok. To provide such a service a property company must be certified by the SEC. No-one in Pattaya is so certified. The closest thing you have is Sallmanns. The Pattaya office is not certified, but the Bangkok office is and the Pattaya office can arrange for you to have someone come down. Of course, it is something you pay for and the client is the person (whether the buyer or seller) who commissions the report.