Does It Make Sense To Buy A House Here

[BuffaloRescue]

OK, putting aside all the legal issues regarding farangs owning land and properties in Thailand, here are some facts:

Buying: Firstly unless the property is built right in a main town or within a convenient distance from a main town and is a desirable location, then do not consider land and property as an investment in Thailand, but only as a place to live and as a roof over your head. The further out into no man`s land a home is built, the less chance of selling in the future and there will be little chance that the property will increase in value over the forthcoming years. Therefore, my advice is for those who cannot afford to purchase a property conveniently located near to town, should set a price limit a maximum of 1.5 up to 2 million baht and only consider it as a home and not as an investment, plus not expecting to make any sort of profit for the future. Spending no more than 2 million baht that is still highly probably in the outer areas means not having to place too much investment into the real estate. Also there is much involved with buying land and building in Thailand, the buyer should have in-depth knowledge of all the legal aspects and seriously consider what could actually go wrong and turn the home into a nightmare. For example, the home is totally secluded in it`s own grounds with beautiful views of the fields and mountains and then within a year someone comes along and builds a whacking great factory or warehouse only 1 metre away from the boundaries of the property or the seller has a loan out on the land or is actually not the real owner and so on. I could create a 20 page thread just on the pros and cons alone.

Renting: Problem with renting is that the tenant will always be under the shadow of a landlord and long term residence cannot be guaranteed, mostly on a yearly basis, although if it does all go pear shaped the tenant does have the option of throwing the keys back through the letter box and simply walking away that is not possible for owned real estate.

The bottle line is, if considering buying land and property in Thailand, then the buyer had better be well clued up and know what he is doing, otherwise it could cost you dear.

I agree with this mostly.

Location is the most important.

Also, a cheap condo in old block like 20 years old, if reasonably well maintained may be a good investment if the location is good. At least, once its 20 years old its unlikely to depreciate much, or will go up in value. And you arent paying rent.

Getting a condo in a snazzy new development but in bad location may not be an investment.

Prime real estate in prime location, if you can afford it would be good

[i claudius]

Houses and condos in Thailand are treated just like cars - people all want new ones and they depreciate with age.

Only buy a house here if the land on which it sits is reasonably priced - it's the only part of the deal that will go up in value.

I've never seen a property depreciate in Thailand.

Sorry to burst the bubble ,but i live on a very nice estate ,a year ago my neighbour in another street bought a detached 3 bed house with a pool ,for less than was originally paid for it by the previous British owner after he had tried to sell it for 5/6 years . as for cheaper 1 to 2 million baht houses ,i believe they do keep their price or go up a little ,another guy i know bought one for the mother in law ,just outside Pattaya ,she died and some years later he sold it for a profit of 2/3 hundred thousand.

[Naam]

Houses and condos in Thailand are treated just like cars - people all want new ones and they depreciate with age.

Only buy a house here if the land on which it sits is reasonably priced - it's the only part of the deal that will go up in value.

right you are! your Honda Jazz will be worth peanuts in 15 years. but a bit over a year ago i bought a 44 year old car, price in 1969 £ 2,345.-

using GBP/THB exchange rate of may 23, 2013 i paid £ 105,900.-

[enuff said]

.

The funny thing about this thread is that a foreigner can actually own a house; not land, but a house ok.

"How absurd," hoots the gallery.

Not really. Traditional Thai wooden houses, like the ones built up on posts are often dismantled and erected again elsewhere. This was done a few doors down the road from me last January.

Roof, walls, timbers, doors and windows were loaded up and taken 40km away to be re-constructed. It was very interesting to watch. Not a pane of glass or piece of tile wasted.

I am sure others have heard of this being done.

So having such a provision in the law is not so crazy if you consider Thai customs.

'nuff said

~

[chiang mai]

Houses and condos in Thailand are treated just like cars - people all want new ones and they depreciate with age.

Only buy a house here if the land on which it sits is reasonably priced - it's the only part of the deal that will go up in value.

I've never seen a property depreciate in Thailand.

Sorry to burst the bubble ,but i live on a very nice estate ,a year ago my neighbour in another street bought a detached 3 bed house with a pool ,for less than was originally paid for it by the previous British owner after he had tried to sell it for 5/6 years . as for cheaper 1 to 2 million baht houses ,i believe they do keep their price or go up a little ,another guy i know bought one for the mother in law ,just outside Pattaya ,she died and some years later he sold it for a profit of 2/3 hundred thousand.

There's always going to be somebody who overpays and gets stung, but as a general rule there is no property depreciation here, it just doesn't happen.

[monkeycountry]

People who say rent are often ones who cannot afford to buy, but wish they could.

Quite a few people buy houses and condos only to rent them out and live in a rental themselves. How do you explain that? :-)

[takkatan in the land]

in a country like thailand where you may never know in what moment you will have to use your saving and where scam, corruption and instability it's the sickness and the only antidote it's large amount of money, I would recomend if you can invest just peanuts of your capital then go ahead

[Naam]

in a country like thailand where you may never know in what moment you will have to use your saving and where scam, corruption and instability it's the sickness and the only antidote it's large amount of money, I would recomend if you can invest just peanuts of your capital then go ahead

i can't remember how often i visited Thailand during the last 40 years (minus the 10 years i am living here permanently). the only scams i experienced during this period originated from foreigners.

for the record: people exist who don't consider the roof under which they are living an "investment".

[i claudius]

Houses and condos in Thailand are treated just like cars - people all want new ones and they depreciate with age.

Only buy a house here if the land on which it sits is reasonably priced - it's the only part of the deal that will go up in value.

I've never seen a property depreciate in Thailand.

Sorry to burst the bubble ,but i live on a very nice estate ,a year ago my neighbour in another street bought a detached 3 bed house with a pool ,for less than was originally paid for it by the previous British owner after he had tried to sell it for 5/6 years . as for cheaper 1 to 2 million baht houses ,i believe they do keep their price or go up a little ,another guy i know bought one for the mother in law ,just outside Pattaya ,she died and some years later he sold it for a profit of 2/3 hundred thousand.

There's always going to be somebody who overpays and gets stung, but as a general rule there is no property depreciation here, it just doesn't happen.

I DO think you live in some dream bubble ,i can assure you that the "real" price of houses ,if you really want to sell does go down ,but in Thailand unfortunatly If it doesnt sell ,just like if buisness is bad ,you put the price up .After saying that many houses do go up in value ,that i do know but many just do not sell as the owners try to get far to much for them ,Actually a very good friend of mine with a beutifull house that he paid 15 mill for ,tried to sell it a year or so ago ,for 17 mill ,it did not sell it"s now 20 mill ,personally i think its worth less than the 12 mill he has been offered. and as you seem to like to put most things i say down ,the original house was not overpayed for and he was not"stung"

[i claudius]

in a country like thailand where you may never know in what moment you will have to use your saving and where scam, corruption and instability it's the sickness and the only antidote it's large amount of money, I would recomend if you can invest just peanuts of your capital then go ahead

i can't remember how often i visited Thailand during the last 40 years (minus the 10 years i am living here permanently). the only scams i experienced during this period originated from foreigners.

for the record: people exist who don't consider the roof under which they are living an "investment".

This time i totaly agree with you Naam, if you want to live there for life and leave it to your wife /children ,its not an investment ,its a home and again most scams i have come across have been by ,falang's ,falungs, or any name you choose as with everything one shoe does not fit all ,up to the individual.

[chiang mai]

From what you've written you appear to support that prices do not fall, unless you want to sell quickly or in the case of your friend! Whatever, I'm very comfortable that house prices do not fall in Thailand, as a general rule and given a reasonable time frame of say five to seven years, much less than that period of time and almost anything can happen, as it can when somebody tries to sell in a hurry or in an emergency, you know, common sense kinda things!

[MJP]

in a country like thailand where you may never know in what moment you will have to use your saving and where scam, corruption and instability it's the sickness and the only antidote it's large amount of money, I would recomend if you can invest just peanuts of your capital then go ahead

i can't remember how often i visited Thailand during the last 40 years (minus the 10 years i am living here permanently). the only scams i experienced during this period originated from foreigners.

for the record: people exist who don't consider the roof under which they are living an "investment".

The investment thing about homes makes me sick. It's a very British trait and a particularly ugly one.

[i claudius]

Well if your willing to wait 5/7 years to sell your house ,so that you can hopefully make a profit ,up to you ,personnaly if i saw somewhere else that i would like to move to 5/7 years seems a little long to wait to sell your house

[chiang mai]

I'm going to put you on ignore IC, you're getting a bit much these days. Byee.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

With immigration refusing so many entries to foreigners now, looks like an even worse time to buy a property in Thailand.

How long before they start refusing retirement and ed VISA and extensions?

You won't be able to live in it yourself.

You won't be able to rent it out.

You won't be able to sell it.

[MJP]

With immigration refusing so many entries to foreigners now, looks like an even worse time to buy a property in Thailand.

How long before they start refusing retirement and ed VISA and extensions?

You won't be able to live in it yourself.

You won't be able to rent it out.

You won't be able to sell it.

This is it. Only spend what you can afford to lose.

[i claudius]

in a country like thailand where you may never know in what moment you will have to use your saving and where scam, corruption and instability it's the sickness and the only antidote it's large amount of money, I would recomend if you can invest just peanuts of your capital then go ahead

i can't remember how often i visited Thailand during the last 40 years (minus the 10 years i am living here permanently). the only scams i experienced during this period originated from foreigners.

for the record: people exist who don't consider the roof under which they are living an "investment".

The investment thing about homes makes me sick. It's a very British trait and a particularly ugly one.

Most of us Brits that 'lived" in their homes did not buy as an investment ,as you only make a profit if you sell and do not buy another house ,if you sell at a higher price ,you usually have to buy at a higher price ,so most of us would be well happy if houses in the UK were the same price always . however i myself bought and sold properties in the UK but they were not my "home" ,when i sold my "home" i just had to pay more as i moved up the ladder.

[i claudius]

I WIN bye.

Edited July 15, 2014 by i claudius

[Naam]

in a country like thailand where you may never know in what moment you will have to use your saving and where scam, corruption and instability it's the sickness and the only antidote it's large amount of money, I would recomend if you can invest just peanuts of your capital then go ahead

i can't remember how often i visited Thailand during the last 40 years (minus the 10 years i am living here permanently). the only scams i experienced during this period originated from foreigners.

for the record: people exist who don't consider the roof under which they are living an "investment".

The investment thing about homes makes me sick. It's a very British trait and a particularly ugly one.

i was quite surprised how often in countless postings the home where one lives was mentioned in context with investment.

[MJP]

in a country like thailand where you may never know in what moment you will have to use your saving and where scam, corruption and instability it's the sickness and the only antidote it's large amount of money, I would recomend if you can invest just peanuts of your capital then go ahead

i can't remember how often i visited Thailand during the last 40 years (minus the 10 years i am living here permanently). the only scams i experienced during this period originated from foreigners.

for the record: people exist who don't consider the roof under which they are living an "investment".

The investment thing about homes makes me sick. It's a very British trait and a particularly ugly one.

Most of us Brits that 'lived" in their homes did not buy as an investment ,as you only make a profit if you sell and do not buy another house ,if you sell at a higher price ,you usually have to buy at a higher price ,so most of us would be well happy if houses in the UK were the same price always . however i myself bought and sold properties in the UK but they were not my "home" ,when i sold my "home" i just had to pay more as i moved up the ladder.

Many don't think like you, i.e., with logic. They just bang on about how much their house is now "worth". Sheesh it gets boring.

[Albertosez]

I've never bought a hotel because I could never afford to and never intended to stay there a long time. However, I enjoy my home and after a while I started to love it as I had personalized it to suit what we needed and intend to stay here for a long time. During that time I will be happy even if it costs me money in the end. I did not buy it to make money, I bought it to make a home, not just provide a roof. Individual choice, I know - but this was mine !

[Naam]

With immigration refusing so many entries to foreigners now, looks like an even worse time to buy a property in Thailand.

How long before they start refusing retirement and ed VISA and extensions?

You won't be able to live in it yourself.

You won't be able to rent it out.

You won't be able to sell it.

not to forget the imminent invasion of aliens from the Gamma quadrant who are planning to abduct all inhabitants (Thai and Farang) and use them as slave labour in their trilithium mines.

[MJP]

With immigration refusing so many entries to foreigners now, looks like an even worse time to buy a property in Thailand.

How long before they start refusing retirement and ed VISA and extensions?

You won't be able to live in it yourself.

You won't be able to rent it out.

You won't be able to sell it.

not to forget the imminent invasion of aliens from the Gamma quadrant who are planning to abduct all inhabitants (Thai and Farang) and use them as slave labour in their trilithium mines.

There's already a thread running in World News.

[takkatan in the land]

in a country like thailand where you may never know in what moment you will have to use your saving and where scam, corruption and instability it's the sickness and the only antidote it's large amount of money, I would recomend if you can invest just peanuts of your capital then go ahead

i can't remember how often i visited Thailand during the last 40 years (minus the 10 years i am living here permanently). the only scams i experienced during this period originated from foreigners.

for the record: people exist who don't consider the roof under which they are living an "investment".

even if every single one person in the planet don't consider the roof under which they are living an "investment", to buy a house will still be an investment, with no guarantee of recovering

and yes there are many scammer foreigners in thailand too but use scam with the cooperation of thais

[rgs2001uk]

With immigration refusing so many entries to foreigners now, looks like an even worse time to buy a property in Thailand.

How long before they start refusing retirement and ed VISA and extensions?

You won't be able to live in it yourself.

You won't be able to rent it out.

You won't be able to sell it.

1, who knows who cares.

2, well move your teerak in then you wont be on your own.

3, many are unable to rent out their properties as it is.

4, many are unable to sell their properties as it is.

Looks like its exciting times ahead for those looking to pick up a bargain.

When do the fire sales start?

[Neeranam]

in a country like thailand where you may never know in what moment you will have to use your saving and where scam, corruption and instability it's the sickness and the only antidote it's large amount of money, I would recomend if you can invest just peanuts of your capital then go ahead

i can't remember how often i visited Thailand during the last 40 years (minus the 10 years i am living here permanently). the only scams i experienced during this period originated from foreigners.

for the record: people exist who don't consider the roof under which they are living an "investment".

Well you do live in a br***el disguised as a holiday resort, reknowned for its criminal element.

[chiang mai]

It's a very confusing picture currently, we've been heavily engaged in looking for investment property for the past few weeks, we've been out looking/meeting every day. What we see currently is that a large percentage of newer properties which in recent years might have been sold, have now been rented out, quite a few are for sale including the existing tenants lease.

Decent newer properties in the mid market price range of 3 to 6 million appear thin on the ground, most of the newer moo bahns that are not yet fully built out have suspended further building work.

The market seems driven by sales of sub 1.7 million studios where the prices are rising quite quickly and there's a lot of dross on the market, I can't speak to the upper end of the market because that's not our target. Perhaps except to say that Green Valley (CM) is still under construction and 132 sm units are priced at between8 and 9 million which seems high.

In the 3 to 6 million range: there's a good supply in every village, oddly most seem to be marketed at 4.9 million!

Poorer quality none estate housing is being priced to match the more modern moo bahns and very little of it is justified, in my view.

Decent quality condo's are very much in demand where the price is up some 50% in four years in the instances I know well, the risk is that many of them are now over priced and the price gap between a decent condo and a house in a nice village, is now too great.

Hope those things help some at least to understand the market currently.

.

[JAFO]

in a country like thailand where you may never know in what moment you will have to use your saving and where scam, corruption and instability it's the sickness and the only antidote it's large amount of money, I would recomend if you can invest just peanuts of your capital then go ahead

i can't remember how often i visited Thailand during the last 40 years (minus the 10 years i am living here permanently). the only scams i experienced during this period originated from foreigners.

for the record: people exist who don't consider the roof under which they are living an "investment".

To me the only way a house is an "investment" is if you bought it, rented it out and covered all costs associated with the ownership then you are making money. If you buy it, live in it and pass it on how is that an investment.

I did not build my house as an "investment". I built it for the missus and I so we can have a quiet home base and not have to answer to anyone. We are pretty close in age and have no children(and will not) so its not for anyone but us. I do not care if it appreciates or depreciates, its paid for. I had no intentions of selling it so why would I worry about that.

This all boils down to personal preference. There will be no one answer that fits all. There has been some very good information posted in this thread that a person considering a purchase should evaluate. The first order of business is to completely understand their intentions in Thailand.

I will say though, I do get very tired of the negative old guys that got duped that come on here ranting and raving about "Scamming Thai woman" "Rip off inlaws" "Can't own the land" "its never yours". While maybe it happened to them and should not be completely disregarded but it is no different than anywhere else in the world. People rant on here like this only happens in Thailand. Christ, it happens every damn day in the U.S. All I can say to those guys, meet better quality woman.

Edited July 15, 2014 by JAFO

[laolover88]

I have been thinking about the 6,000,000

Maybe OP just wants to be homeless and give his wife $200,000 as a present?

[JAFO]

With immigration refusing so many entries to foreigners now, looks like an even worse time to buy a property in Thailand.

How long before they start refusing retirement and ed VISA and extensions?

You won't be able to live in it yourself.

You won't be able to rent it out.

You won't be able to sell it.

^ AOA, while I agree the future is unknown in many regards, The recent press from immigration is to stop the riff raff of foreigners scamming and exploiting Thais or breaking the law by working illegally.. I fully support it. Its lonnnnnnnng over due IMHO. I doubt very seriously they will stop the non immigrant Visas (Retirement, Ed or work). Far to much to lose and honestly the % of those people on O and B Visa's in Thailand is small compared to the border runners.