What are the additional annual costs for a condo

[Paul944]

I am curious what the additional annual costs are for a condo, like service fee, security fee, maintenance reservation, water, electricity and taxes. Those costs are almost never mentioned but I guess condo's with a gym and swimming pool need money to maintain those facilities.

[phetphet]

As MJCM says: Maintenance fees of xTHB per sqm of condo.

Common area electricity, water, on top of your own bills, pool chemicals and sundries. Annual sinking fund, or if not, a share in other costs such as elevator maintenance, replacement of mechanical parts, pumps, perhaps external painting. Staff wages. Maybe accountancy bills.

[KittenKong]

As MJCM says: Maintenance fees of xTHB per sqm of condo.

Common area electricity, water, on top of your own bills, pool chemicals and sundries. Annual sinking fund, or if not, a share in other costs such as elevator maintenance, replacement of mechanical parts, pumps, perhaps external painting. Staff wages. Maybe accountancy bills.

In my building all these are included in the yearly common fee (though there can be an occasional demand for a sinking fund top-up).

I pay one yearly common fee, an optional yearly fee for cable TV, a monthly metered water bill direct to the building and my monthly electricity bill direct to the PEA at government rates.

[janpharma]

New buildings actually charge up to 30 to 35 Thb per square meter.../ month.

[cassde]

I live in a 63 sq meter 2 bedroom condo, I pay 1500 baht per month for Maintenance fees which includes 24 hr / 365 security and water. Electricity, using a 16 hr air con and a fan is approx. 1600 baht per month.

[2fishin2]

1500 a month is expensive. All of the places I have looked are in the 10000 a year baht range.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[eeeya]

55baht month / square meter where im at. Paid annually

[aliep]

Bear in mind, any bill incurred by the condo as a whole has to be paid with (basically) joint & several liability. Unless it is specific to one unit, it is split on the basis of your square metres compared to the total number of non-common square meters.

There aren't any bills that a co-owner can claim he doesn't want to pay, eg swimming pool because he doesn't use it, or staircase in common ownership that only serves one condo etc.

[Pinot]

Bottom line: Never buy property in Thailand. Condos are rarely a good investment and plenty of rentals available everywhere.

[JSixpack]

Bottom line: Never buy property in Thailand. Condos are rarely a good investment and plenty of rentals available everywhere.

Better yet, remember the TV forum poster Primal Laws Of Survival In Thailand:

1. Never invest in anything you aren't ready to lose;

2. Never own more than you can carry with you;

3. Keep your suitcase packed at all times.

Edited August 30, 2014 by JSixpack

[JSixpack]

There aren't any bills that a co-owner can claim he doesn't want to pay, eg swimming pool because he doesn't use it, or staircase in common ownership that only serves one condo etc.

True, but the value of the property is affected by the maintenance of the common areas. No swimming pool, for example, would lower the valuations and selling prices for the everyone's unit including that of the owner who doesn't use the pool.

Higher fees often have some correlation w/ better management and maintenance--but not always!

[KittenKong]

New buildings actually charge up to 30 to 35 Thb per square meter.../ month.

The cheapest building I have seen was 10B and the most expensive new one was 85B (which is a lot). I dare say it goes even higher in some very fancy new buildings.

[KittenKong]

There aren't any bills that a co-owner can claim he doesn't want to pay, eg swimming pool because he doesn't use it, or staircase in common ownership that only serves one condo etc.

The cable TV service is optional in some buildings, even when it is billed by the building rather than the cable company. If you dont want it you dont pay for it. That's about the only optional one I have come across though.

[glasswort]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Bottom line: Never buy property in Thailand. Condos are rarely a good investment and plenty of rentals available everywhere.

Better yet, remember the TV forum poster Primal Laws Of Survival In Thailand:

1. Never invest in anything you aren't ready to lose;
2. Never own more than you can carry with you;
3. Keep your suitcase packed at all times.

If the choice is to live in Thailand under these restrictions then why bother to stay?

[loli01]

can i find a condo in Bophut? What are the prices and conditions?

[vaca azul]

"I am curious what the additional annual costs are for a condo, like service fee, security fee, maintenance reservation, water, electricity and taxes. Those costs are almost never mentioned but I guess condo's with a gym and swimming pool need money to maintain those facilities"

Are we talking about the additional costs in the case I owned or I rented a condo?

As ownwer do I pay the costs for the electricity directly to the electricity company or to the building?

[lvr181]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Bottom line: Never buy property in Thailand. Condos are rarely a good investment and plenty of rentals available everywhere.

Better yet, remember the TV forum poster Primal Laws Of Survival In Thailand:

1. Never invest in anything you aren't ready to lose;

2. Never own more than you can carry with you;

3. Keep your suitcase packed at all times.

If the choice is to live in Thailand under these restrictions then why bother to stay?

Have you not heard of "try before you buy"?

[luis888]

Better yet, remember the TV forum poster Primal Laws Of Survival In Thailand:

1. Never invest in anything you aren't ready to lose;

2. Never own more than you can carry with you;

3. Keep your suitcase packed at all times.

If your outlook is that, then why don't you just live in the streets, that'll cover all 3 points

I don't understand why some people FORCE themselves to live in a place / country that they don't like / enjoy / appreciate / feel safe and comfortable. It can't be for the beer.......................

[joebrown]

Better yet, remember the TV forum poster Primal Laws Of Survival In Thailand:

1. Never invest in anything you aren't ready to lose;

2. Never own more than you can carry with you;

3. Keep your suitcase packed at all times.

If your outlook is that, then why don't you just live in the streets, that'll cover all 3 points

I don't understand why some people FORCE themselves to live in a place / country that they don't like / enjoy / appreciate / feel safe and comfortable. It can't be for the beer.......................

It's always a risk buying a condo 'off-plan' in Thailand. I found out to my cost that it's virtually impossible to force a shady developer to instal any Common facilities as advertised, after the project has been completed. Yes, I tried Consumer Protection at City Hall and the Provincial Court, but the delays and ineptitude/arrogance of lawyers has to be seen to be believed. The delaying tactics are such that you suffer utter frustration which results in a feeling of " I have a life to live, and can do without all this hassle". I would NEVER again enter into a written purchase contract with a Thai company, because they can easily renege without fear of penalty. If they do renage, remember you can't tell anyone about it because you'll likely be threatened with a Defamation law suit. I now rent and am free to move on whenever I choose. I'm very happy with this situation.

[bangkapi]

There are no standards regarding this in Thailand. (Which to some clever people is advantageous)

It depends also if you are renting or buying.

http://buybkkcondo.webs.com/index.html

Newer projects are starting to get quite expensive regarding monthly fees.

Yet, the association/common fee is not nearly as much as in USA.

Another pleasant surprise is that there is no property tax here in Thailand (yet).

My friend who owns a number of condos here was shopping for a condo in the Philippines and ruled it out due to property taxes.

A condo is space in the air.. It may be considered real estate, but it is not real permanent property like land... Once the building is gone, so is the condo and all of its value.

[KittenKong]

It's always a risk buying a condo 'off-plan' in Thailand. I found out to my cost that it's virtually impossible to force a shady developer to instal any Common facilities as advertised, after the project has been completed. Yes, I tried Consumer Protection at City Hall and the Provincial Court, but the delays and ineptitude/arrogance of lawyers has to be seen to be believed.

Some people have had success with this. I'm not saying it's easy but it has been done.

[KittenKong]

There are no standards regarding this in Thailand. (Which to some clever people is advantageous)

It depends also if you are renting or buying.

Newer projects are starting to get quite expensive regarding monthly fees.

Hard to see how there could be "standards" relating to common fees. Most old buildings are still at the rate they were at when the building was built, and new buildings' common fees will vary according to the number of units and the level of facilities. It seems entirely normal to me to have to pay more per sqm for a unit in a small building that has jacuzzis and saunas and gyms and lots of parking than in some huge building with just one pool.

A condo is space in the air.. It may be considered real estate, but it is not real permanent property like land... Once the building is gone, so is the condo and all of its value.

As a co-owner you also own a percentage of the land. In the right area this should not lose its value. Even if you buy a house and land the house will probably be worth much more than the land it is built on, so when it falls down you are still left with the same problem.

Edited August 30, 2014 by KittenKong

[JSixpack]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Bottom line: Never buy property in Thailand. Condos are rarely a good investment and plenty of rentals available everywhere.

Better yet, remember the TV forum poster Primal Laws Of Survival In Thailand:

1. Never invest in anything you aren't ready to lose;

2. Never own more than you can carry with you;

3. Keep your suitcase packed at all times.

If the choice is to live in Thailand under these restrictions then why bother to stay?

I think most offering this sage, street-smart advice don't in fact stay because they can't afford to. They merely live in council estates and come to Thailand on holiday.

[hhgz]

I owned a condo for several years in the Silom CBD area, and just sold it this week. I bought it for the equivalent of 155K USD, and sold it for the equivalent of 285K USD. I'm perfectly happy with that.

My costs were...

electricity: 3THB/kWh

water: 13THB/cubic meter

maintenance: 40 THB/sq meter

Edited August 30, 2014 by hhgz

[eeeya]

I owned a condo for several years in the Silom CBD area, and just sold it this week. I bought it for the equivalent of 155K USD, and sold it for the equivalent of 285K USD. I'm perfectly happy with that.

My costs were...

electricity: 3THB/kWh

water: 13THB/cubic meter

maintenance: 40 THB/sq meter

Let's see the "never buy in Thailand" crowd deal with that. Nice one

[paul955]

Strange Electricity rate. I pay 4 something Baht per unit and I thought that was the government rate that every Thai paid?

[Global Guy]

I owned a condo for several years in the Silom CBD area, and just sold it this week. I bought it for the equivalent of 155K USD, and sold it for the equivalent of 285K USD. I'm perfectly happy with that.

My costs were...

electricity: 3THB/kWh

water: 13THB/cubic meter

maintenance: 40 THB/sq meter

Let's see the "never buy in Thailand" crowd deal with that. Nice one

Outliers are just that. Plus, he wrote that he bought several years ago. How does that compare to buying now? Think it through before you post next time, mate.

[blackcab]

I owned a condo for several years in the Silom CBD area, and just sold it this week. I bought it for the equivalent of 155K USD, and sold it for the equivalent of 285K USD. I'm perfectly happy with that.

My costs were...

electricity: 3THB/kWh

water: 13THB/cubic meter

maintenance: 40 THB/sq meter

Let's see the "never buy in Thailand" crowd deal with that. Nice one

Outliers are just that. Plus, he wrote that he bought several years ago. How does that compare to buying now? Think it through before you post next time, mate.

You just zombied a thread that is nearly 2 years old.