Are You A Sexpat Or Do You Ride The Backwards Morality Train?

[fosseway]

I have been offered a good deal on a condo unit here, would this be a good complex to buy into.

[KittenKong]

I'm not aware of anything about the building that would make it either particularly good or particularly bad.

But I am very suspicious of "good deals" here. If the deal is so good, why is it being made and why aren't there a hundred other people chasing it?

[fosseway]

Simply because a 'hundred other people' just don't know about it, as It is not with an agent, just the owner. But anyway, thanks for your reply.

[ThaiBob]

Units in that building don't come on the market frequently. Check the real estate listing and see how many units you can find. Be sure it is a farang unit.

[KittenKong]

Simply because a 'hundred other people' just don't know about it, as It is not with an agent, just the owner.

I would want to know why the owner should do that when he could presumably just advertise it and get more interest and a correspondingly higher price? I've yet to see any "good deal just for you" here that wasn't some sort of trick.

I have seen real "good deals" on advertised properties at 30+% below average asking price, where the owner just wanted a quick sale, and these had quite a lot of interest and sold in days/weeks. Of course the 30% discount on average asking prices only brings the value of the unit nearer to what it's really worth anyway.

[fosseway]

Dear KittenKong and ThaiBob,

I have just been told by a Co-Owner of the building, that there has been a recent E.G.M. called there, the reason being that the condo bank accounts are close to a zero balance. The meeting agreed that there must be a 'One Off Call' and each

Co-Owner would be charged 50% of the annual maintenance fee.

So the question has now been answered as to why I was offered a 'Good deal" on the unit, for a quick completion. Thank you both for your interest and comments.

[ThaiBob]

Dear KittenKong and ThaiBob,

I have just been told by a Co-Owner of the building, that there has been a recent E.G.M. called there, the reason being that the condo bank accounts are close to a zero balance. The meeting agreed that there must be a 'One Off Call' and each

Co-Owner would be charged 50% of the annual maintenance fee.

So the question has now been answered as to why I was offered a 'Good deal" on the unit, for a quick completion. Thank you both for your interest and comments.

Not sure what the annual maintenance fee might be but a 50% charge is probably peanuts and certainly would not deter me from buying a unit. My considerations would be on how the accounts got that way in the first place and having the chanote in my name not a company name.

[Guderian]

Dear KittenKong and ThaiBob,

I have just been told by a Co-Owner of the building, that there has been a recent E.G.M. called there, the reason being that the condo bank accounts are close to a zero balance. The meeting agreed that there must be a 'One Off Call' and each

Co-Owner would be charged 50% of the annual maintenance fee.

So the question has now been answered as to why I was offered a 'Good deal" on the unit, for a quick completion. Thank you both for your interest and comments.

I think you need to do some more research before you buy anything. For example, how much is the annual maintenance fee? In JCC across the road the annual fee for a standard 67 sqm unit is around 12K Baht/year. I'd be surprised if the fees in Jomtien Plaza, which is also an older building, are a great deal more (if they are then you'd need to find out why the bank account is empty). So say the annual fee is perhaps as much as 20K Baht, the 50% one-off payment they want amounts to 10K Baht. Do you really think anybody is going to give you a 'good deal' in order to save themselves 10K Baht, given that basic units are probably worth around 2 million to 3 million Baht?

[Pattaya28]

In the present climate I don't believe property is a good investment.

But Jomtien Plaza values seem to go against all trends, meaning if the price is right, the investment is there.

[KittenKong]

As others have mentioned, 50% of the common fee in an old building is probably 50% of nearly nothing. So probably not much to worry about. Even in a (fairly) posh new building 50% of the common fee would not be a deal breaker.

What perhaps is worth worrying about is why the balance sheet is close to zero and what is going to happen to it in the future. This is more likely to be a reason for wanting a quick sale.

Like I said, real good deals in Thai property are rare.

[properperson]

As others have mentioned, 50% of the common fee in an old building is probably 50% of nearly nothing. So probably not much to worry about. Even in a (fairly) posh new building 50% of the common fee would not be a deal breaker.

What perhaps is worth worrying about is why the balance sheet is close to zero and what is going to happen to it in the future. This is more likely to be a reason for wanting a quick sale.

Like I said, real good deals in Thai property are rare.

if there is no money in the pot and its an old building - what about the sinking fund ?

what about roof / lift replacement and other building repairs not covered by insurance in the future ?

sounds like a ticking time bomb to me....

[ThaiBob]

As others have mentioned, 50% of the common fee in an old building is probably 50% of nearly nothing. So probably not much to worry about. Even in a (fairly) posh new building 50% of the common fee would not be a deal breaker.

What perhaps is worth worrying about is why the balance sheet is close to zero and what is going to happen to it in the future. This is more likely to be a reason for wanting a quick sale.

Like I said, real good deals in Thai property are rare.

if there is no money in the pot and its an old building - what about the sinking fund ?

what about roof / lift replacement and other building repairs not covered by insurance in the future ?

sounds like a ticking time bomb to me....

Good question but my suspicion is the maintenance fees have not been raised for years and there is insufficient funds for day to day operations. This is typical in many projects as it is very difficult to get owners to raise fees at an AGM. Raiding the sinking fund to pay for day to day operations is against the law and hence this special assessment. BTW, this building was painted last year and looks nice from the outside. Perhaps this assessment is somehow related to the recent exterior improvements? Edited November 10, 2014 by ThaiBob

[KittenKong]

if there is no money in the pot and its an old building - what about the sinking fund ?

what about roof / lift replacement and other building repairs not covered by insurance in the future ?

sounds like a ticking time bomb to me....

Presumably this charge is in fact to build up the sinking fund which they have probably dipped into for some infrastructure work or even for daily expenses, even though this latter action is technically not correct.

It doesnt matter if the regular common fee account doesnt have much in it as it only actually needs to cover the regular expenses over the year, though of course it's nice if the credit balance increases every year.

[KittenKong]

Good question but my suspicion is the maintenance fees have not been raised for years and there is insufficient funds for day to day operations. This is typical in many projects as it is very difficult to get owners to raise fees at an AGM. Raiding the sinking fund to pay for day to day operations is against the law and hence this special assessment. BTW, this building was painted last year and looks nice from the outside. Perhaps this assessment is somehow related to the recent exterior improvements?

Plenty of buildings do dip into the sinking fund to cover day-to-day costs, even though it is incorrect as you say.

And plenty of buildings levy a variable supplement to the common fee every year because as you say they cant agree to vote a permanent increase: mine does.

But the current account of my building is well in credit, even though the basic common fee has never increased since it was built. So maybe the reported lack of money in Jomtien Plaza is down to management or committee problems? This is what I would be worrying about.