land for building house. Geological survey?

[Awk]

All good points.

One thing though '2M would change the desirability of the land'.. Does that mean that the selling price is sort of up there?

Because from everything you wrote and a little between the lines, it sounds to me like the land shouldn't be more than 250K per rai as a maximum. (And quite possibly less, if you're buying more than a rai or two).

I ask because you said 'change the desirability' instead of "completely rule it out, obviously".

Yes, very much so. It is 1M per rai. One neighbour paid 750,000 per rai 6-7 years ago. Sounds steep given my description of lack of this and that, but the location makes it look very attractive. Other land at a similar distance from CM that we have looked at is both a lot more expensive and ugly. The agent, who I have grown to like somewhat, thinks it is a very good price, though he has showed us a lot of other more expensive places, both with and without a house on the land.

It looks like electricty can be provided at a much lower price to us, though I am not yet sure why the neighbour had to pay so much.

[Awk]

1M baht for electricity plus 1M Baht for water, does this mean 2 Million or 200,000?

You can probably drill a deep well, put in a submersible pump and filters if needed and get a lot of good water for 100,000 to 200,000 depending on depth of the well.

For the access, you can get a legal document prepared that says if you purchase you will get free unlimited access (right to use the road) signed by the road owners before you make a deal. Then the deal should be a legal document that says the purchase will be done at the land office at the same time that your road access rights are registered at the land office. Same time.

Two million unfortunately. Thanks for that, that price is more along of what I would expect for water. Still trying to sort out the right of use. Understood today that it is only the last part of the road, as far our usage is concerned, where a verbal yes has been given. The part of the road prior to that is apparently shared by enough people that "a problem is impossible", according to the puu yai and everybody else, our agent included. I am not so sure that it is so impossible though, so trying to sort out the right of use for the whole road/dirt-track. Not sure why it should be a problem, if that road is "almost a government road" already, and there can not be more than 2-3 additional land owners tops for that part of the road, in addition to the 2-3 that have already given their verbal yes.

Mrs. Awk and everybody else tell me not to worry about that first part of the road, shared by a dozzen or so other people who also need to use it to access their land, but but. :-/

[Awk]

1 million for water and 1 million for electricity for the area you are talking about is all wrong. i ran elecity in doi saket off the grid 10 kilometers cost 25000 baht. i have run elecitry in pai buying second hand electrical cememt polls and rented an off the clock electrical worker with truck for 35000 including second hand cement polls 5 of them . large ones if you pay 1 million you are getting rip off....do not do it there is some much stuff avaiable in the area in chiang mai you are talking about just be patience and look.

Not sure what you mean by off the grid. The quote we have gotten from the electric company is around 60,000B, and that is for doing the job in "off duty" hours. The distance is certainly less than 1km, 3-400 metres at most. I would be surprised if, in this case I guess it would be our agent, is trying to rip off us. Does the price sound equally crazy to others?

[AnotherOneAmerican]

If two other people were viewing the land last time you looked, sounds like the agent is a crook. and hired them to make you a bit keener.

How else could they be there?

Walk away.

Another poster just bought over a rai near Hang dong for 1.5M

Edited January 20, 2015 by AnotherOneAmerican

[onthedarkside]

<snip>

Mrs. Awk and everybody else tell me not to worry about that first part of the road, shared by a dozzen or so other people who also need to use it to access their land, but but. :-/

Fine for the poor locals, but the minute a 'rich' farang turns up and there is the smell of money then 'customs' soon change. I personally know at least 3 farangs who had this access rights problem and ended up paying near enough the same again for access rights.

[Awk]

If two other people were viewing the land last time you looked, sounds like the agent is a crook. and hired them to make you a bit keener.

How else could they be there?

Walk away.

Another poster just bought over a rai near Hang dong for 1.5M

Thanks for the warning, but I do not think so. Unless the agent is tracking us with a gps sensor or similar, he should not have had any idea we were there at that time. We visited a couple of days before with the agent, and then went to have another look by ourselves.

Been shown around by this agent for some months now, and I think he might be a decent fellow.

[Awk]

<snip>

Mrs. Awk and everybody else tell me not to worry about that first part of the road, shared by a dozzen or so other people who also need to use it to access their land, but but. :-/

Fine for the poor locals, but the minute a 'rich' farang turns up and there is the smell of money then 'customs' soon change. I personally know at least 3 farangs who had this access rights problem and ended up paying near enough the same again for access rights.

Yes, that is a bit of a show stopper unless it can be resolved in a good way before buying. It now appears that part of the road may indeed be "almost government road". The owner (or rather, his niece, who is fronting for the older owner which we only met once) has procured a copy of some paper where the owner of that part of the road says he donates it to, what I from Mrs. Awk understand, is more or less the municipality. Hopefully our agent (and in the end, a decent lawyer) can verify this tomorrow.

This donation was apparently done some years ago, where somebody else from outside voiced similar concerns.

Edited January 20, 2015 by Awk

[WinnieTheKhwai]

1 million for water and 1 million for electricity for the area you are talking about is all wrong. i ran elecity in doi saket off the grid 10 kilometers cost 25000 baht. i have run elecitry in pai buying second hand electrical cememt polls and rented an off the clock electrical worker with truck for 35000 including second hand cement polls 5 of them . large ones if you pay 1 million you are getting rip off....do not do it there is some much stuff avaiable in the area in chiang mai you are talking about just be patience and look.

Not sure what you mean by off the grid. The quote we have gotten from the electric company is around 60,000B, and that is for doing the job in "off duty" hours. The distance is certainly less than 1km, 3-400 metres at most. I would be surprised if, in this case I guess it would be our agent, is trying to rip off us. Does the price sound equally crazy to others?

YES!

And what's all this agent-business anyway. The fewer agents, lawyers and other townsfolk involved between you (well, your wife) and the seller, the better it is!

[wowfactor10]

HI i do not want to mingle with the palace that you will built and give to your wife but your whole plan its sounds rather complicated and after its all done i am sure you be a frustrated person..Also what ever amount u have in mind for this project just triple it.Then also triple the construction period..

Did u know that isolated farang occupied homes usually get robbed ran sacked couple times a year ? You will need many dogs for protection cause usually they get poisoned.

How about tell your wife that you changed your mind instead of this plot in no mans land you will buy a completed freehold condo with views over the ping river in your own name....Lets see how excited she be with that new plan

Then You can start enjoying your life in paradise country immediately

[evenstevens]

HI i do not want to mingle with the palace that you will built and give to your wife but your whole plan its sounds rather complicated and after its all done i am sure you be a frustrated person..Also what ever amount u have in mind for this project just triple it.Then also triple the construction period..

Did u know that isolated farang occupied homes usually get robbed ran sacked couple times a year ? You will need many dogs for protection cause usually they get poisoned.

How about tell your wife that you changed your mind instead of this plot in no mans land you will buy a completed freehold condo with views over the ping river in your own name....Lets see how excited she be with that new plan

Then You can start enjoying your life in paradise country immediately

come on ,why knock mr/mrs awk..it is a very interesting thread and to date mr awk has received helpful advice from many good members,

mr awk has given a very honest appraisal of his intended property purchase etc etc

let him continue without firing bulletts which are no help to him at all,...sure he is taking good members advice seriously,whether good or bad

keep the posts coming mr awk

a very nice high noon to all

[Awk]

HI i do not want to mingle with the palace that you will built and give to your wife but your whole plan its sounds rather complicated and after its all done i am sure you be a frustrated person..Also what ever amount u have in mind for this project just triple it.Then also triple the construction period..

Did u know that isolated farang occupied homes usually get robbed ran sacked couple times a year ? You will need many dogs for protection cause usually they get poisoned.

How about tell your wife that you changed your mind instead of this plot in no mans land you will buy a completed freehold condo with views over the ping river in your own name....Lets see how excited she be with that new plan

Then You can start enjoying your life in paradise country immediately

Yes, that would certainly be easier by far. Mrs. Awk has also suggested that a couple of times, since I apparently "worry too much". Also she thinks it would be nice to stay in an aparment inside the city, rather than out in the boonies. But with a couple of small children, and my wish for dog and a cat, and reasonable garden to play in, an apartment is unfortunatly not something that would be satisfying. When I will in 20 years retire, it will be nice to have a garden to take care of, with enough space to build a small house for the mia noi also.

[wowfactor10]

HI i do not want to mingle with the palace that you will built and give to your wife but your whole plan its sounds rather complicated and after its all done i am sure you be a frustrated person..Also what ever amount u have in mind for this project just triple it.Then also triple the construction period..

Did u know that isolated farang occupied homes usually get robbed ran sacked couple times a year ? You will need many dogs for protection cause usually they get poisoned.

How about tell your wife that you changed your mind instead of this plot in no mans land you will buy a completed freehold condo with views over the ping river in your own name....Lets see how excited she be with that new plan

Then You can start enjoying your life in paradise country immediately

Yes, that would certainly be easier by far. Mrs. Awk has also suggested that a couple of times, since I apparently "worry too much". Also she thinks it would be nice to stay in an aparment inside the city, rather than out in the boonies. But with a couple of small children, and my wish for dog and a cat, and reasonable garden to play in, an apartment is unfortunatly not something that would be satisfying. When I will in 20 years retire, it will be nice to have a garden to take care of, with enough space to build a small house for the mia noi also.

Yes i agree kids better of in houses then in condos..especially cause then they can play with other children but you intend to buy a remote plot in middle of no where..So not much playmates if any for your kids..

How about renting/buying a house in a gated community? hassle free 24/7 security gym shops restaurants and pools, its all there ! it makes more sense to me then what you are trying to do here..Your children and you wife will appreciate the safer village life much more....Land and houses makes nices villages 2-3 million BHt..

[AnotherOneAmerican]

HI i do not want to mingle with the palace that you will built and give to your wife but your whole plan its sounds rather complicated and after its all done i am sure you be a frustrated person..Also what ever amount u have in mind for this project just triple it.Then also triple the construction period..

Did u know that isolated farang occupied homes usually get robbed ran sacked couple times a year ? You will need many dogs for protection cause usually they get poisoned.

How about tell your wife that you changed your mind instead of this plot in no mans land you will buy a completed freehold condo with views over the ping river in your own name....Lets see how excited she be with that new plan

Then You can start enjoying your life in paradise country immediately

Yes, that would certainly be easier by far. Mrs. Awk has also suggested that a couple of times, since I apparently "worry too much". Also she thinks it would be nice to stay in an aparment inside the city, rather than out in the boonies. But with a couple of small children, and my wish for dog and a cat, and reasonable garden to play in, an apartment is unfortunatly not something that would be satisfying. When I will in 20 years retire, it will be nice to have a garden to take care of, with enough space to build a small house for the mia noi also.

Probability that she will let you keep it 20 years later is not good.

[FrankOff]

All good points.

One thing though '2M would change the desirability of the land'.. Does that mean that the selling price is sort of up there?

Because from everything you wrote and a little between the lines, it sounds to me like the land shouldn't be more than 250K per rai as a maximum. (And quite possibly less, if you're buying more than a rai or two).

I ask because you said 'change the desirability' instead of "completely rule it out, obviously".

....250,000 per rai..... ...........

[WinnieTheKhwai]

^ I can't tell if you think that's way too high or way too low.

Anyway, lots of variables. But land without public road access, far from electricity and quite likely half an hour's drive from town shouldn't really be more. Same distance but with road access and electricity nearby then you're up to double that amount.

[Awk]

^ I can't tell if you think that's way too high or way too low.

Anyway, lots of variables. But land without public road access, far from electricity and quite likely half an hour's drive from town shouldn't really be more. Same distance but with road access and electricity nearby then you're up to double that amount.

Winnie, your statement troubles me somewhat. But we have during the last 4 months looked at a fair amount of land and house, and unless all of that has been incredibly overpriced (some if it, though perhaps none of the things showed by our agent, I would say had an owner more than a little optimistic regarding his price), this land, in it's current idylic surroundings (yes, who knows how it will change in 5-10 years) instantly struck me as a great deal. Our agent, though I realise we should not trust him to much, also thinks so, and he has been honest about other things as far as I can tell.

One of the steps remaining for a bank is for us to pay the bank 2,500 for them to do an appraisal of the land. I guess they will wait till next week, when I will drop of a the remaining documents the bank wants; a paper from my off-shore employer stating I am duly employed at the company. The appraisal paper, which we to my great surprise will not be allowed to get or keep, even though we are paying for it, I assume will give an indication on whether your guess is right or wrong. If it is wrong, I will of course not hold it against you, as I have tried to not provide too many details here, at least before the deal is finialised, or we have walked away. Thus I understand it is more than a little difficult to make a decent guesstimate for you. Appreciated none the less, as a warning flag to be aware of for us.

I find it rather annoing that Bangkok Bank insists we will not get the appraisal paper, but instead say some nonsense about it being a company secret. That means we will have to pay for the same appraisal at other banks no doubt, if we want to see if we can get a better deal there. The BB guy also told Mrs. Awk all banks provide the same terms, and the only difference regards when/how much we pay at the start of the loan period. Also sounds like nonsense to me.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Awk

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Bank terms are pretty similar, though some are easier to deal with. This depends on the individual person (bank staff) and branch manager more than the bank sometimes it seems.

Banks don't mind to over-appraise a little, though the appraisal at the land department is often lower.

Anyway, like you said there are too many variables to really give a fixed number. We got a great deal a couple years ago with 250K per rai, though if we were to buy the same right now it would very likely be 500K or so. And for some land that the family is selling we're asking even more (750K, if not a million) so a big factor is also how much the seller needs the money. For the land that the family is selling they really don't need the money right now, so would only sell if it was a nice chunk of money, which could then be invested into something that actually makes money.

I guess your only financing the land, not a deal that involves building a house?

Edited January 22, 2015 by WinnieTheKhwai

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I find it rather annoing that Bangkok Bank insists we will not get the appraisal paper, but instead say some nonsense about it being a company secret. That means we will have to pay for the same appraisal at other banks no doubt, if we want to see if we can get a better deal there. The BB guy also told Mrs. Awk all banks provide the same terms, and the only difference regards when/how much we pay at the start of the loan period. Also sounds like nonsense to me.

BK Bank is incredibly hard to get home loans from.

SCB would be a much better bet for you, as the bank says, they all have the same terms, so why start with one known to be difficult.

Went all the way through with BKB just over a year ago, started offering 95%, ended offering 50%, no explanation given.

Jumped to SCB and they gave me 90%, no problems.

PS

Note they all want a life insurance taken out in the name of the loan applicant for the full value of the loan.

All premiums paid up front, so about 5-6% of the loan extra. They won't tell you about this until the last minute, unless you ask. (on a 2M loan, expect to pay 120k for a life insurance up front)

Edited January 22, 2015 by AnotherOneAmerican

[Awk]

I guess your only financing the land, not a deal that involves building a house?

Yes, that is correct. It seems not all banks are interested in that. E.g., Kasikorn wasn't interested in talking with Mrs. Awk once they understood she was only applying for a loan for the land.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Awk

[Awk]

Yes i agree kids better of in houses then in condos..especially cause then they can play with other children but you intend to buy a remote plot in middle of no where..So not much playmates if any for your kids..

How about renting/buying a house in a gated community? hassle free 24/7 security gym shops restaurants and pools, its all there ! it makes more sense to me then what you are trying to do here..Your children and you wife will appreciate the safer village life much more....Land and houses makes nices villages 2-3 million BHt..

I'm sure that once the CM resident nobility discovers that the Awks have settled down there, there will be no shortage of prominent neighbours building.

Safety is a concern yes. We looked at another place 3-4 months ago. This one:

http://www.bahtsold.com/view/secuded-hideaway-but-still-close-to-town-175667?doqs=1

Back then it was offered for around 3M. Sold now, and was not as beautiful as in the pictures when we went to look, as

the pictures were apparently taken a few years earlier by a semi-professional photographer friend of the man selling, when the owner maintained it better.

Nice place, but a bit too secluded, so Mrs. Awk was worried, and I also, for her if nothing else as I am frequently abroad for work.

The place we are looking at now is much less secluded, and has at least one friendly neighbour immediately nearby. Will also make it prudent for us to have a respectable dog, which I have always wanted to have. More neighbours are also nearby, a stone throw and a river/bridge crossing away.

There is just no way to find anything similar to what we are looking at now in a gated community/moo ban. We've been renting in one for 3-4 years, and as somebody else said, we can shake hands with the neighbours out the window, without getting out of bed. Most Thai's seem to be happy living like that, but I am not, and fortunately, neither is Mrs. Awk.

We can perhaps buy 5-6 moo ban plots instead of one plot, to get some space, but not possibly economically. Also we will need to pay the moo ban fee, usually per talang wah of land. For some places (e.g., Serene lake, half way to hang dong), that can become a substantial amount, almost like renting a place somewhere. Even then, the land would be only a fraction of the size we are looking at now. Not that we have any current plans for all that land, but it would be nice to be able to grow some of ones own vegetables. Currently, this and the surrounding land is used for growing beans. I like beans, but not that much. Might have to start enjoying beans more though, as financially things will be rather dry during the next years, even if things go more or less as hoped. Perhaps Salsa Kitchen will offer to buy some beans from me, seeing as I am a semi-regular there again now. Or at least give me a discount if I bring my own beans to the table.

[Awk]

I find it rather annoing that Bangkok Bank insists we will not get the appraisal paper, but instead say some nonsense about it being a company secret. That means we will have to pay for the same appraisal at other banks no doubt, if we want to see if we can get a better deal there. The BB guy also told Mrs. Awk all banks provide the same terms, and the only difference regards when/how much we pay at the start of the loan period. Also sounds like nonsense to me.

BK Bank is incredibly hard to get home loans from.

SCB would be a much better bet for you, as the bank says, they all have the same terms, so why start with one known to be difficult.

Went all the way through with BKB just over a year ago, started offering 95%, ended offering 50%, no explanation given.

Jumped to SCB and they gave me 90%, no problems.

PS

Note they all want a life insurance taken out in the name of the loan applicant for the full value of the loan.

All premiums paid up front, so about 5-6% of the loan extra. They won't tell you about this until the last minute, unless you ask. (on a 2M loan, expect to pay 120k for a life insurance up front)

Thanks for that. Now that you mention it, I remember reading about that life insurance annoyance before, perhaps mentioned by you, though I had completely forgotten it. I must be sure to mention to Mrs. Awk that should she suffer a fatal accident, her children and I will get the land for free, while the money otherwise used to pay of the bank can hopefully be spent on go-go girls (in Bangkok of course. As we all know, there are few if any interesting go-go girls here in CM) and other more amusing things.

Interestingly enough the same thing came up when we were buying a new car a year ago. The woman from the bank the car brand had contracted with insisted we needed to pay around 5,000B for life insurance. I, to Mrs Awk's initial annoyance, told her thanks, but no thanks, no way, what a crazy idea. I could also not help chuckle a little when she first mentioned this silly idea. The bank woman in the end indicated it might make it difficult for us to get a loan then.

In this particular case, the consequence was only that we saved 5,000B, as the loan was granted anyway without anything else said. (A nice four year loan at zero interest and no extra fees as far as I have able do decipher.) I gather this is very much not the case in case of dealing with a loan for land or house then? Quite a hefty sum too.

By premiums paid up up front, I assume you mean if you are asking for a 10 year loan, you will have to pay the life insurance premiums for 10 years up front? Sounds very nasty, but good to have an early warning about that, Otherwise I would think they are scamming me and become pissed of enough to just say goodbye. Think I will peruse the financial forum here for any tips too. Thanks.

As for the reason we first went to BB, that was mostly a coincidence I guess. Mrs Awk first went to Kasikorn, where she does her own banking, but they weren't interested in lending her money just for land. If she could also show a plan for the house, things would be different they said, so Mrs. Awk suggested we get one made as cheap as possible, just for show. Seemed like a waste of money to me though, as we would then have to make another, real, plan, and I want to use the needed time for that. Since she after Kasikorn went to BB, which also said it would be better with a plan, but we could still borrow money just for the land, that's what we ended up with so far.

At that time, I was also not aware we have to pay anything to get an answer to our application, so I just suggested Mrs. Awk go to all the banks and we could later compare terms. Perhaps the terms do not differ much then, as the BB guy said, but it sounds from you that the amount we will be allowed to barrow may differ quite a bit. Ideally, I'd like to borrow 100%, or more, as we will need to spend a similar sum for the building the house itself.

BB says after I hand in that last paper they will use about a week for the appraisal, and then another two weeks for an answer. Quite a long time, so we will trot down to a SCB branch also as you suggest, where we no doubt also will have to pay 2,500B for the same appraisal we on monday will will pay BB 2,500 for.

Thanks.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Awk

[Awk]

Not sure what you mean by off the grid. The quote we have gotten from the electric company is around 60,000B, and that is for doing the job in "off duty" hours. The distance is certainly less than 1km, 3-400 metres at most. I would be surprised if, in this case I guess it would be our agent, is trying to rip off us. Does the price sound equally crazy to others?

YES!

And what's all this agent-business anyway. The fewer agents, lawyers and other townsfolk involved between you (well, your wife) and the seller, the better it is!

While I agree, unfortunately we have not been able to find anything good by ourself. If money was no subject, of course there are plenty of nice places, but in the price range we are looking at, 4-5M for land with a decent garden and a decent house included, we haven't found much. Not that I doubt others who know better how to look will be more able to find this, but things are how they are and after four months of looking, this land, and another land/house combination was the only one both Mrs. Awk and I liked.

Anyway, this particular story has now ended in an unfortunate way. Having said A, I should also say B. So to update the few members that may be curious as to how the story will end, the day after we handed over our deposit, the story ended.

I have left some lines above blank for the expected "idiot, why did you pay a deposit"-tirades, which I will not blame anyone for thinking.

Fortunately or unfortunately, what one might expect to have happened, given I have already said things ended in an unfortunate way after we paid the deposit, the perhaps most expected turn of events is not what took place.

On Tuesday Mrs. Awk was hinting that maybe we should pay substantial deposit on the land, perhaps around 500,000. I thought that was a silly idea, and reminded her that the one living neighbour the land has (the other three sides of the land are owned by farmers, using the land for farming) told us that he was offered the same land we are looking at 7 years ago. At that time, for 750,000B per rai, rather than the 1M per rai we are looking at. Mrs. Awk thought they were probably not trying to sell the land actively in all these years, but, uh, yeah, whatever, was my feeling about that.

On Wednesday Mrs. Awk informed me that the land owners niece, who seems to get a long more than just a little with Mrs. Awk, in earnest or not I do not know, had called her. This niece has been assisting her uncle in selling the land, including acquiring the necessary official permissions to access his land. This niece also has her own land to sell, neighbouring the land we are looking at, but has previously indicated she does not want to sell now, as she thinks she will get much more money if she waits. So things have developed such that while we had only meet her uncle, the actual owner, once, we have met the niece a handful of times, and Mrs Awk seems to also have spent some time talking with her on the phone.

Perhaps they have also met without me sometimes. Mrs. Awk likes to talk, a service I do not provide to an adequate degree, and seems to get fairly well along with other people and is happy to talk with anyone she thinks is a nice person.

So on Wednesday afternoon the niece as said called Mrs. Awk to inform her another couple (probably the same Thai-Thai couple I observed in the distance one afternoon when we were there looking at the land) was planing to make a deposit on the land. She explained to Mrs. Awk how much she liked us, and how she did not like the other couple much, and neither did her uncle and some other neighbour who had also met them. Yes, that is not only a little bit hard to believe for me, but Mrs. Awk thought it was true, and I agreed with her I am very handsome and many women like me. And the niece is after all a woman. Also, the littlest Awk is quite a charmer and opens many doors. At that point I thought the story was not just a little doubtful, but still, perhaps not entirely impossible. The niece had said she would really like us to buy that land, and then we would be neighbours with her land (which she plans to sell at some later point, so whatever that means) but if the other couple submitted their deposit, then her uncle would sell to them, and then that would be that. At this point, the sums being mentioned were, again, around 500,000, so now I understood where Mrs. Awk had got that idea from.

To better understand the story, it should also be mentioned that as Mrs. Awk has been told things, the land owners daughter has mortgaged some other land, which Mrs. Awk eventually was told is due for payment this month. As a bonus, it has apparently been mortgaged not to a bank, but some other "financial institution". I do not know if that is an institution of dubious character with it's representatives driving around in twos on one CBR 150, or not. Details have not been very forthcoming, except it has given Mrs. Awk the impression the reason they want to sell the land at this price is due to some financial problems. Of course, that price is still 30% above what they apparently asked for the land 7 years ago, and some indicate it might be more than a little overpriced still.

Anyway, I told Mrs. Awk I had no interest in paying a deposit on the land, least of all a hefty deposit like that. We still had things to check out, including, but not limited, finalising the rights to access the land, which required permission from all related land owners, of which there were three or four. I did not want to rush this, as it's a lot of money for us; if somebody else laid down a deposit on the land, that would be sad, but not as sad as loosing a lot of money. After that I suggested that we do not waste any more time on this and checking things, but instead wait a few days to see what happens. If the story was true, then more than likely somebody else would buy that land. Admittedly, I felt more sad about this than I indicated to Mrs. Awk, but it just did not seem like an intelligent idea at that time to put down a hefty deposit.

The next day, Thursday morning, as Mrs. Awk was dropping of little Awk to school, the niece again called Mrs. Awk and suggested Mrs. Awk accompany her to the land office, as she was going there to check out some more things related to the access to land rights. Mrs. Awk was nearby, and so for some reason, said sure. Mrs. Awk also likes the niece, I guess. At the land office Mrs. Awk and the niece in the end discovered that the dirt track used to access the land we were looking at was now a public road, or at least, on public land. It had by two original land owners, back before that they split the land up into several smaller parcels to give their relatives, some 20 years ago or more, been donated to the government (or the equivalent. It was now a public road according to the land office).

What more Mrs. Awk and the niece talked about I am not sure, but apparently it was again mentioned how much happier everybody would be if we bought that land and not that other couple. Could we pay at least 100,000B as a deposit, so they could clear some of the problems the owners daughter had with the mortgage? Mrs. Awk indicated that was too much for us, but perhaps we could pay 50,000, if that was enough for them to stall the problems related to the mortgage for a month or so, while we finalised things? Apparently, this 50,000 was enough.

I was still more than a little sceptical, but Mrs. Awk had a fair amount of faith in this niece and what she was telling. And after all, the access rights had turned out to be a non-issue now. While I was not happy to lose 50,000 on some scam, we had as said been looking for land or house for four months now before ever getting this close to something we both liked. So I thought it might be a gamble worth doing. That same afternoon we paid the 50,000B deposit in the present of the owner and his wife, his daughter and son in law, his niece, our agent, and two buffalos (four-legged) that forced me to move our car out of the way before signing the deposit contract. It gave us two months to check out everything and pay the remaining 97.5% of the sum.

Mrs. Awk waied the owner, I shook his hand, his daughter apparently immediately pocketed the money, and all seemed to be satisfied.

The afternoon next day, Friday, things were not so merry any longer. The other couple, upon being told somebody else had now made a deposit on the land, apparently became furious and drove up to owner, yelling and screaming. Who says Thais never raise their voice? There was some talk back and forth between the interested parties on the phone with Mrs. Awk, but it ended with the owner saying he will accept (accepted already?) a 500,000B deposit from the other couple, saying he would refund us our 50,000B deposit (forced upon on our agent later that same evening), and his daughter informing us they no longer have any intention to honour the agreement. His niece apparently also gave her uncle, the owner, more than a hide full and is full of apologies towards Mrs. Awk, but that did not change anything.

So, that was the sad end to this story, and we will have to start looking again after having taken a break for some weeks upon being shown this land. :-( Quite tiring and depressing it is, as I suspect it will take a long time before we see something similar.

Anyone know of a rai or two of land for sale, within 20 km or so from the city, with a view of a mountain you can see well from the ground without squinting your eyes, or perhaps near a river? Perhaps even not too many kilometres from the highway? Within 1M per rai and with no access right problems? PM welcome.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Awk

[Dante99]

There is a lot of what you are looking for available. Find some areas you like, go into the villages around them and ask the locals what is for sale. Drive around and look for signs. Check out Mae Faak Mai.

[evenstevens]

awk.. your budget of 4 to 5 mil,to fit your criteira of securing your dream abode are long gone

add another couple mil and perhaps u are in the ball park to find it

generally speaking and i say again generally in mae rim district your budget will get u a nice house, but built on a postage stamp plot or a one rai plot with a humpty built on it

its presently a buyers market,but that does not mean the prices are tumbling down ,like many overseas currencys are doing at the moment

4 months searching is a very short time on your budget,and be prepared for more merry dances enjoy the search ,treat it as day out etc etc

and may luck come your way

its a nice cool evening to all

[LivinLOS]

Anyone know of a rai or two of land for sale, within 20 km or so from the city, with a view of a mountain you can see well from the ground without squinting your eyes, or perhaps near a river? Perhaps even not too many kilometres from the highway? Within 1M per rai and with no access right problems? PM welcome.

Nahm Prea..

If you follow the sign where it says villa farang or village farang.. A turning past the obkham nat park one.. past the couple of bungalows.. Theres an open space with IIRC a white fence.. This 30 rai plot was going at 650 a rai and has been bought, subdivided and I am told with be walled, electric supply and internal roads and is asking about 1 maybe 1.1 a rai.. It has a nice view and aspect, real (not dirt) roads around it, and fits what you have said.. I have done no due diligence as I have a few rai in nahm preah but theres plenty around that village going for less than a mil thai to thai.. Theres also a lot of locked up red backed chanotes coming free in the next year or two so both opportunity and beware.

[golubchik]

Hi Awk, where is that exactly? Thanks....

[golubchik]

Sorry I meant yo address that to LivinLOS, the area Nahm Prea w 30 rai subdivided up?

[LivinLOS]

nahm prea.. canal rd south past home in park..

For me its the best area 'near to' chiang mai while still being rural and country.. Mae rim / mae joe, terrible traffic in and a bit too busy for my taste.. San sai to saraphi ?? Flat dull rice land.. Hang dong, generally a bit over developed..

Everyone has different balance of needs.. I like the rolling hills, rural village feel out there.. But still close to town.. Along the Samoeng rd theres some bits but more expensive close in and a bit of a trek once you get down to decent values..

You would be surprised how many large money mansions are hidden out that way too.. Land prices where people could have 10 rai plots and huge homes behind walls.. Its not all poor village types.

Edited January 27, 2015 by LivinLOS

[LivinLOS]

http://goo.gl/qutvIg

There precisely.. But theres quite a few plots within a few kms of that.. I think the plot next to me was being broken into 4x 1.25 rai plots.. Tho possibly a mildly greedy thai lady trying to flip that..

Edited January 27, 2015 by LivinLOS

[Awk]

Anyone know of a rai or two of land for sale, within 20 km or so from the city, with a view of a mountain you can see well from the ground without squinting your eyes, or perhaps near a river? Perhaps even not too many kilometres from the highway? Within 1M per rai and with no access right problems? PM welcome.

Nahm Prea..

If you follow the sign where it says villa farang or village farang.. A turning past the obkham nat park one.. past the couple of bungalows.. Theres an open space with IIRC a white fence.. This 30 rai plot was going at 650 a rai and has been bought, subdivided and I am told with be walled, electric supply and internal roads and is asking about 1 maybe 1.1 a rai.. It has a nice view and aspect, real (not dirt) roads around it, and fits what you have said.. I have done no due diligence as I have a few rai in nahm preah but theres plenty around that village going for less than a mil thai to thai.. Theres also a lot of locked up red backed chanotes coming free in the next year or two so both opportunity and beware.

We were around that area, as I remember the amusing name, "Villa/Village Farang", some months back, but did not notice the plot you talk about. Quite a bit further out from the city than what we looked at last and thought we were buying, but might go have a look again, so thank you.

I of course don't mind opportunity, and we could probably have gotten the land we were looking at quite a bit cheaper too, as it was clear at the first meeting there were some economical difficulties and that they were a bit desperate to sell. Desperate enough to trigger some alarm clocks for me. Didn't want to take advantage too much though, so accepted the terms the owner initially asked for without haggling; they seemed pretty decent to me, though some here seem to disagree. Much good it did us though. :-/

In retrospect, I think we have gone about things the wrong way; driving around, looking for "for sale" signs, or looking on the Internet (bahtsold for me, and various Thai-language websites for Mrs. Awk). I now understand that many places, perhaps plots of land especially, will not have such a sign on them, and that driving around looking for them will to a large extent be a waste of time. Prices on the Internet seem to be quite a bit higher, and of course, far from everything is advertised there.

In the future, we will instead try to find the puu yai ban, or closest to that, and ask him or neighbours whether anyone nearby is selling. Hopefully it will not take another four months to find something acceptable again, but who knows. :-/

Thanks again.