Where and how to find apartments in BKK?

[Easyliving]

Hey Guys,

Im new to bangkok/ Thailand (thought have been here a couple of time while travelling).

And I want to stay over the winter in Bangkok.

So now Im searching for a nice 2-3 BR apartment in BKK with Pool, Gym, new and for less than 40.000 Baht/ month.

What I dont know is - which are the good areas to live in?

I dont want to live in the center of Sukhumvit, but more likelely around it.

So I have 2 Questions:

where / how to find flats?

I know 9apartments.com, mrroomfinder.com , http://www.kkbkk.com/, http://www.thaiapartment.com/, craiglist

what else?

And what is the way to go? I find them in the internet and then just head to the places with a cab and see if I can get the rent down from 1 year min. contract to like 3-6 month?

What are the good districts. I would prefer a "hip" place where both locals go out for dinner and westerns sometimes as well. Or close to R.C.A.

So I thought about Ramkamhaeng, Klong Toei, Makkaran, Silom / Sathon

What do you recommend?

Take care

Troy

[millwall_fan]

your best bet Troy, is to get over here, stay in a hotel for a week or two, and meet a Thai speaker who can access Thai language only websites. They offer much better deals. Although with 40 large to spend, you should get something VERY nice indeed, wherever you want to stay.

[Bingo66]

Me personally, when i use to stay in apartments i used 9apartments and a few others but 40k is a condo, and for that you will need a 12 monthes contract as its private owned units.

I went with the agency called Three property and they got me a awesome deal and i have a great relationship with the landlord.

[TheSpade]

Best bet is to wait until here, decide on area you want to stay and hit the ground and go looking with a Thai.

Ask them before hand to check the net for places for you so they have a plan of places to look and also just walk into apartment buildings and ask if they have rooms.

Some have 4 and 6 month contracts where you pay an extra 10 to 25% per month than you would if taking a 12 month contract.

[rgs2001uk]

What are the good districts. I would prefer a "hip" place where both locals go out for dinner and westerns sometimes as well.

You are talking about Thong Lor, doubtful you will get a 2/3 br apt for that price.

Or close to R.C.A.

Have you ever been to RCA, do you know where it is, right next to Petchaburi Rd, yeah you can get some cheap place there.

So I thought about Ramkamhaeng, Klong Toei, Makkaran, Silom / Sathon

Ram, brilliant area if you speak Thai, Klong Toei forget it, as for the rest no comment.

[george]

Thaivisa Classifieds -->> Apartments for rent -->> Bangkok

Here: http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/real-estate/apartments-to-rent/classifieds-bangkok/

[CPT]

When I moved to Bangkok I went through all the adds on the several sites you listed. My efforts tended to result in only frustration. There is no professional real estate industry here and many of the online listings are actually unavailable (simply listed permanently whether they are occuppied or not). What worked much better for me was simply looking around and asking at decent looking buildings in the areas I was interested in. I knew I wanted to be within walking distance of public transit and that the BTS connects more areas I am interested in than the MRT so I checked areas I could access via BTS. Online listings were helpful in establishing an idea of what is available at what price where so I used that to narrow down the areas I was interested in to those that were most likely to accomodate my needs/budget. I then found it most productive to simply walk around and inquire at buildings in areas I felt I would like to live in.

[Bingo66]

When I moved to Bangkok I went through all the adds on the several sites you listed. My efforts tended to result in only frustration. There is no professional real estate industry here and many of the online listings are actually unavailable (simply listed permanently whether they are occuppied or not). What worked much better for me was simply looking around and asking at decent looking buildings in the areas I was interested in. I knew I wanted to be within walking distance of public transit and that the BTS connects more areas I am interested in than the MRT so I checked areas I could access via BTS. Online listings were helpful in establishing an idea of what is available at what price where so I used that to narrow down the areas I was interested in to those that were most likely to accomodate my needs/budget. I then found it most productive to simply walk around and inquire at buildings in areas I felt I would like to live in.

Well that's a load of crap, you can't ask for details at a condo, because the units are privately owned and they will give you a card for an agentcy. The staff at comdo deal with sales, not rentals, Why would they help you? Their job is to sell all units and keep the owners happy and the condo running smoothly.

If you were talking about an apartment, then it wouldn't have been over 8-10k (thats what an apartment is, old building for people who can't afford condoes) and no real agency would work for that kind of money. So what do you exactly expect? And it's free unlike Europe / America, you expect professional companies to loose money helping poor farang on a low budget?

I move once a year with an agency and never had a problem, certainly couldn't have found my 90k condo and done all the paperwork on my own. With them running paperwork, contracts and company cheques all around BKK during the day.

Edited November 27, 2013 by Bingo66

[benden25]

As others have said your best bet is to actually get here and see what suits your needs best. If your looking to get close to RCA check out the areas around Ram 9 MRT (10 min taxi ride to RCA), it is a safe and quiet area with plenty of new construction and condo's/apartments renting in the 10-50K range depending on your needs also has two malls nearby with plenty of places to interact with mostly locals and a few expats.

[Jasun]

ddproperty

acuterealty

theagent

bangkoksukhumvitcondo

plusproperty

cbre

evehouse

Search by transport, distance from BTS line. Most will offer to take you around for the day and show you a bunch. But as has been suggested, better deals are to be had on the ground. Even just walking into condos you like the look of and asking the juristic person, or checking notice boards.

[beachyhead]

Hi, I used this company and found them to be very professional and found exactly what I was looking for within my budget, the guy's name was David.

BKKCondos Co Ltd, 19/123 Sukhumvit soi 13, Wattana, 10110 Bangkok
www.bkkcondos.com

Office tel: (+66) 02 253 2663

Office fax: (+66) 02 651 1199

[pmarlin]

What are the good districts. I would prefer a "hip" place where both locals go out for dinner and westerns sometimes as well.

You are talking about Thong Lor, doubtful you will get a 2/3 br apt for that price.

Or close to R.C.A.

Have you ever been to RCA, do you know where it is, right next to Petchaburi Rd, yeah you can get some cheap place there.

So I thought about Ramkamhaeng, Klong Toei, Makkaran, Silom / Sathon

Ram, brilliant area if you speak Thai, Klong Toei forget it, as for the rest no comment.

You do know that large part of Sukhumvit Road is in Klong Toey. some very nice condos in Klong Toey.

[MMarlow]

When I moved to Bangkok I went through all the adds on the several sites you listed. My efforts tended to result in only frustration. There is no professional real estate industry here and many of the online listings are actually unavailable (simply listed permanently whether they are occuppied or not). What worked much better for me was simply looking around and asking at decent looking buildings in the areas I was interested in. I knew I wanted to be within walking distance of public transit and that the BTS connects more areas I am interested in than the MRT so I checked areas I could access via BTS. Online listings were helpful in establishing an idea of what is available at what price where so I used that to narrow down the areas I was interested in to those that were most likely to accomodate my needs/budget. I then found it most productive to simply walk around and inquire at buildings in areas I felt I would like to live in.

Well that's a load of crap, you can't ask for details at a condo, because the units are privately owned and they will give you a card for an agentcy. The staff at comdo deal with sales, not rentals, Why would they help you? Their job is to sell all units and keep the owners happy and the condo running smoothly.

If you were talking about an apartment, then it wouldn't have been over 8-10k (thats what an apartment is, old building for people who can't afford condoes) and no real agency would work for that kind of money. So what do you exactly expect? And it's free unlike Europe / America, you expect professional companies to loose money helping poor farang on a low budget?

I move once a year with an agency and never had a problem, certainly couldn't have found my 90k condo and done all the paperwork on my own. With them running paperwork, contracts and company cheques all around BKK during the day.

The real crap is your response to CPT's post. He never mentioned condos at all. Many buildings have apartments and condos, the apartments being owned usually by the building owner and the condos being privately owned as you said.

What makes you think you cannot have an apartment for more than 8/10k per month and that apartments have to be old and "for people who can't afford condoes [sic]". The last apartment I lived in in Sukhumvit 31 was exactly that, an apartment, not a condo, it was brand new and the rent was 35,000B per month.

[benden25]

When I moved to Bangkok I went through all the adds on the several sites you listed. My efforts tended to result in only frustration. There is no professional real estate industry here and many of the online listings are actually unavailable (simply listed permanently whether they are occuppied or not). What worked much better for me was simply looking around and asking at decent looking buildings in the areas I was interested in. I knew I wanted to be within walking distance of public transit and that the BTS connects more areas I am interested in than the MRT so I checked areas I could access via BTS. Online listings were helpful in establishing an idea of what is available at what price where so I used that to narrow down the areas I was interested in to those that were most likely to accomodate my needs/budget. I then found it most productive to simply walk around and inquire at buildings in areas I felt I would like to live in.

Well that's a load of crap, you can't ask for details at a condo, because the units are privately owned and they will give you a card for an agentcy. The staff at comdo deal with sales, not rentals, Why would they help you? Their job is to sell all units and keep the owners happy and the condo running smoothly.

If you were talking about an apartment, then it wouldn't have been over 8-10k (thats what an apartment is, old building for people who can't afford condoes) and no real agency would work for that kind of money. So what do you exactly expect? And it's free unlike Europe / America, you expect professional companies to loose money helping poor farang on a low budget?

I move once a year with an agency and never had a problem, certainly couldn't have found my 90k condo and done all the paperwork on my own. With them running paperwork, contracts and company cheques all around BKK during the day.

The real crap is your response to CPT's post. He never mentioned condos at all. Many buildings have apartments and condos, the apartments being owned usually by the building owner and the condos being privately owned as you said.

What makes you think you cannot have an apartment for more than 8/10k per month and that apartments have to be old and "for people who can't afford condoes [sic]". The last apartment I lived in in Sukhumvit 31 was exactly that, an apartment, not a condo, it was brand new and the rent was 35,000B per month.

I live in a brand new apartment/condo building in Huai Kwang and pay 12k per month, my company gives me up to 35k a month for housing and I don't pocket the difference. This was the best apartment I found that suited my needs. I lived in one before this in Silom where I paid around 30K and it was far nicer than friends apartments which were in the 75-90K range because they were a minute to closer to the BTS. I have found all my apartments by avoiding the agencies and actually hitting the pavement. Most building whether they are privately owned condo's or not do in fact have rentals listed in the main office.

[rotary]

I guess it is all location but if you get out of town a bit as in Nontaburi or several other places places you will get for B10K what B40K will get in town. Just something to consider anyway.

[HardenedSoul]

When I moved to Bangkok I went through all the adds on the several sites you listed. My efforts tended to result in only frustration. There is no professional real estate industry here and many of the online listings are actually unavailable (simply listed permanently whether they are occuppied or not). What worked much better for me was simply looking around and asking at decent looking buildings in the areas I was interested in. I knew I wanted to be within walking distance of public transit and that the BTS connects more areas I am interested in than the MRT so I checked areas I could access via BTS. Online listings were helpful in establishing an idea of what is available at what price where so I used that to narrow down the areas I was interested in to those that were most likely to accomodate my needs/budget. I then found it most productive to simply walk around and inquire at buildings in areas I felt I would like to live in.

Well that's a load of crap, you can't ask for details at a condo, because the units are privately owned and they will give you a card for an agentcy. The staff at comdo deal with sales, not rentals, Why would they help you? Their job is to sell all units and keep the owners happy and the condo running smoothly.

If you were talking about an apartment, then it wouldn't have been over 8-10k (thats what an apartment is, old building for people who can't afford condoes) and no real agency would work for that kind of money. So what do you exactly expect? And it's free unlike Europe / America, you expect professional companies to loose money helping poor farang on a low budget?

I move once a year with an agency and never had a problem, certainly couldn't have found my 90k condo and done all the paperwork on my own. With them running paperwork, contracts and company cheques all around BKK during the day.

Not only are you wrong, wrong, wrong but you've also made yourself look like an obnoxious, arrogant pillock in the process.

Congratulations

I live in a condo in Asoke and have, on several occasions, seen a message board put up advertising an apartment in the building for rental. The juristic office does it as a courtesy for an owner who, for whatever reason, may be away for a while or simply not wish to sell.

There are any number of apartments that fetch well over 8-10K being advertised on rental websites

[maccaroni man]

When I was hunting for a flat I looked at the bulletin boards at the grocery store, picked an area near the sky train and walked the sois. I found serviced apartments in the s sathorn area near St. Louis hospital. I never needed an agent or used the news paper

[maccaroni man]

Deleted dbl post

Edited November 29, 2013 by maccaroni man

[Nanania]

I recently get my condo for my boyfriend from this website http://www.prakard.com/default.aspx?g=forum and it's kinda trusted website for apartment finder. But thing is that it's almost all in Thai so you may have to use google translate to help. People who post there can be both real estate agency and the owner. If you're interested in them just write e-mails ask for pictures. Or if they only leave you phone number just message them. "If they didn't write in English please don't call them first" because I find that Thai people (I'm Thai) are usually scared of listening-speaking in english.

Well, if you don't want to live in the center of the street. Then I recommend Thonglor , Ekamai they are both full of Japaneses and foreigners. Check it out for early Sukhumvit rd. http://www.prakard.com/default.aspx?g=topics&f=5 and this is late Sukhumvit rd.http://www.prakard.com/default.aspx?g=topics&f=417

I think you'd better stay around BTS area of any places, your life gonna be a lot easier.

As you say it's very very hard to find a nice apartment with a short term contract, that happened to me too! The condo that I recently rent is 20k a month so I deal with the owner to pay 500bath more per month to get 5 months contract. So you can just offer them some more money to get shorter contract.

Good luck

[iluvbeaches]

When I moved to Bangkok I went through all the adds on the several sites you listed. My efforts tended to result in only frustration. There is no professional real estate industry here and many of the online listings are actually unavailable (simply listed permanently whether they are occuppied or not). What worked much better for me was simply looking around and asking at decent looking buildings in the areas I was interested in. I knew I wanted to be within walking distance of public transit and that the BTS connects more areas I am interested in than the MRT so I checked areas I could access via BTS. Online listings were helpful in establishing an idea of what is available at what price where so I used that to narrow down the areas I was interested in to those that were most likely to accomodate my needs/budget. I then found it most productive to simply walk around and inquire at buildings in areas I felt I would like to live in.

Well that's a load of crap, you can't ask for details at a condo, because the units are privately owned and they will give you a card for an agentcy. The staff at comdo deal with sales, not rentals, Why would they help you? Their job is to sell all units and keep the owners happy and the condo running smoothly.

If you were talking about an apartment, then it wouldn't have been over 8-10k (thats what an apartment is, old building for people who can't afford condoes) and no real agency would work for that kind of money. So what do you exactly expect? And it's free unlike Europe / America, you expect professional companies to loose money helping poor farang on a low budget?

I move once a year with an agency and never had a problem, certainly couldn't have found my 90k condo and done all the paperwork on my own. With them running paperwork, contracts and company cheques all around BKK during the day.

This isn't true. I rent out one of my condos and only use the juristic person office in the building. People come by and ask for rental units and the staff there shows then.

I've lived in three thee buildings, all do the same if they are privately owned condos.

I recommend you do this. With agencies there is no accountability, many who advertise on craigslist and other sites can disappear on a moments notice. With a juristic person office you deal with a biz that can't disappear. Your agreement is with the business not an individual.