Could anyone recommend a genuine website of estate agent where I can rent a long term condo from?

[Ayutthaya11]

Hi,

Would anybody know of any genuine websites or estate agents where I could rent a condo online for a long term stay the end of this year.

Many thanks.

[pmarlin]

If you rent through an agent you will pay more. Better to arrange a place for a short term like for one month at an service apartment and look on your own. When I first move to Bangkok that was what I did and found a place in a couple of days just by walking around the Sois where I wanted to live. Just walk in to a place you might like and ask. Been in the same condo now for almost five years.

[WonnabeBiker]

Why's that? I found many such agents peddling wildly overpriced offers.

Are you afraid of doing it yourself? Browsing websites like TV here, Bahtsold etc.? Have you walked around, talked to people in a neighborhood you like?

[Razzler1973]

If you rent through an agent you will pay more. Better to arrange a place for a short term like for one month at an service apartment and look on your own. When I first move to Bangkok that was what I did and found a place in a couple of days just by walking around the Sois where I wanted to live. Just walk in to a place you might like and ask. Been in the same condo now for almost five years.

Do the buildings have a resident 'guard' there?

Here in Middle East there tends to be a 'watchman' living on the premises but he'd put you in touch with the landlord, etc. It that similar there cause when I hear people say walk around and ask I assume that

[craigt3365]

We went through this a few years ago, though it was for here in Pattaya. I found many of the websites to be out of date. And I found the pics of places to be quite rosy. We almost rented one based on the pics and description. Sure glad we didn't. The inside of the condo had been refurbished, but the building overall was horrible.

It's best to figure out where you want to live and then cruise around looking for places. I know it takes time, but you'll find the best deals that way and many places are just not listed with agents. The onsite manager handles the details.

With that being said, we did find a nice place via an agent. It was cheaper than what was being offered by the manager onsite, but more expensive than others being offered by private owners. Not by much, but 15% or so.

As has been said above, try the rental forum and classifieds sections here, try baht and sold, craigslist, etc. Hopefully somebody will come along with some agent recommendations also.

Best of luck!

[FalangBaa]

You are extremely naive if you think there's any such thing as a "genuine" estate agent. The job of the estate agent is to fool you into paying more than you should to rent or buy a property. That's how they make their money, as the middleman. Never use an estate agent to buy or rent a property anywhere. Go direct to the owner. I did and I managed to rent my Bangkok luxury apartment for 60,000 baht a month. Apartments in the same building being rented through agents are asking 85,000 for identical apartments with the same square metres. I'm saving 25,000 baht every month by not having rented through an agent, and as a result I'm eating out restaurant meals for free every night. That feels great.

[pmarlin]

If you rent through an agent you will pay more. Better to arrange a place for a short term like for one month at an service apartment and look on your own. When I first move to Bangkok that was what I did and found a place in a couple of days just by walking around the Sois where I wanted to live. Just walk in to a place you might like and ask. Been in the same condo now for almost five years.

Do the buildings have a resident 'guard' there?

Here in Middle East there tends to be a 'watchman' living on the premises but he'd put you in touch with the landlord, etc. It that similar there cause when I hear people say walk around and ask I assume that

All have security but also a manager during regular working hours. Just walk up and ask for the manger. He/she knows what is vacant and will show you them and if you like one he/she will get you in contact with the owner.

[Ayutthaya11]

Thank you all for the input

[CaptHaddock]

Look up your area and even target building in prakard.com which will give you a good idea of asking rents. Maybe visit in person and ask if anything is available. That's how we found our place. There is no central database of rental listings so each source will have different offerings in the same building.

[HidyHo]

You are extremely naive if you think there's any such thing as a "genuine" estate agent. The job of the estate agent is to fool you into paying more than you should to rent or buy a property. That's how they make their money, as the middleman. Never use an estate agent to buy or rent a property anywhere. ...

Sigh ...

One, in Asia, it pays off to be educated and understand the market price and agent commission structure. In Bangkok, I think, generally speaking, that agent commission is 1 month rent. I use prakard and other sites to see what is "going price" for certain condos.

However, I have been renting through a great gal for last three years. She understands me and my "style" and that I'm not that gullible. She helped to find a great room last year at least 20% less than the "going rate" as the owner was just as difficult as I am and she had a hard time finding the right tenant for the owner before I came along. It turned out to be win win situation.

[Ayutthaya11]

Look up your area and even target building in prakard.com which will give you a good idea of asking rents. Maybe visit in person and ask if anything is available. That's how we found our place. There is no central database of rental listings so each source will have different offerings in the same building.

Thanks, I'll look into that

[Tessellation]

Check classified on Thai Visa, BahtSold, and...maybe craigslist? Many condo towers have rental listings on their own websites as well.

How "long term" are you looking for? 1-3 months? A year?

My condo tower has a lot of independently owned listings advertised on a bulletin board near the entrance, but you'd need to sign in with the door guards to find it.

Probably best to start searching closer to the time you're seriously ready to lease one. Anything you find now might be taken by the time you get here.

You can check the links here as well:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/715264-condos-for-sale-and-rent-in-bangkok-from-thaivisa/

[JB300]

http://www.ddproperty.com/en/, they also have an app for the IPhone/IPad (not sure about Android).

[SamSipEt]

If you have the time to spare then as suggested above stay in a serviced apartment, guest house or wherever for a couple of weeks whilst exploring on foot in your chosen area. This can be time consuming and tiring but might save you a wad of cash.

Some buildings (like the one I am in) do not help visitors rent units but redirect all enquiries to an agent.

Lots of agents to chose from and there are also a few sites that list properties from a variety of agents and I used this one http://asiapropertyworld.com/ to find the unit I am in now.

I wouldn't worry too much about being over charged by an agent. Typically they earn one month rent for a 12 month contract and where ever you find that you like don't forget to try and bargain them down!!

Of course the closer you are to mass transit the station the higher the price. I've got a one bedroom condo with a small fitted kitchen (swimming pool and gym in the building) that is 2 minutes away from the BTS and costs 15,000 a month through an agent. I found one in the same building being let by the Thai owner who would not go below 16,000 a month for an identical unit. Similar places are available a kilometer or more away from the BTS for less than 10,000 but I am happy to pay the extra for the convenience of living close to the BTS.

Happy hunting

[CharlieH]

At request of Op

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