Fortnight's Stay To Find Thai Style House To Rent

[carpediem]

this query in soem form inevitably recurs - even so i'm surprized at the help that does turn up. so here goes.

i want to find a thai style house equipped with modern amenities (bathroom, internet, et al) to rent for up to 2 years - though i would consider also something else if it has character and isn't replicated in large numbers in a compound. i don't need umpteen bedrooms - but the more floor space, land, trees, view the better.

i can pay up to 20 000 baht a month - if i have to, for just the right place - but would be much happier to keep it well below that. i can accept sparse furniture as i will buy furniture which i can use later in my own place which i foresee owning in due course.

i haven't been to chiang mai before - though i have been living some 6 months near khao yai. i will have my car to drive around in. i want to plan a modus operandi to make best use of my time.

1) a decent out of town guest house - even if not with internet. don't need to pay in city rates for my present puposes.

2) shall i not bother with agents for a few days, and simply drive around myself in area outside town? if i draw a blank i can then go to the agents. (people suggest that one can usually do that in thailand and get a better deal thereby.) i'll have a thai speaker with me.

3) is my budget generous, easy etc? or tight for what i want? is there much negotiation on quoted rent?

4) can anyone recommend a guesthouse outside the city, and perhaps in a direction where houses i'm looking for will be found?

5) can anyone recommend an agent for when/if i do need to fall back on one?

i don't want to make this email any longer. if anyone has any comment on any of these (or other logical) steps, i'll be very grateful.

cd

[londonthai]

if you need a basic house and far from the centre you can get it for some 5k directly from the owner. It's better if you don't go first yourself, send your friend - the owner will quote more for a farang. After the price is quoted go and see by yourself.

[carpediem]

Thanks a lot for the (only) reply. looking at prices of places on agents' websites your suggestion looks HUGELY below market - but certainly encouraging to me.

Would you know CM well enough to recommend particular accommodation within 15 minutes drive that'll give me more space than an average hotel room and access to internet and that I could rent for a month or so?

cd

[londonthai]

if you want a good deal and want a basic house don't go to an agent - they have expensive properties because they work on a commision (the more expensive house the more commision - for the same work).

I don't know CM - but if in Bangkok houses you are looking for go for 10h to CM would be half of it.

Just talk to local people when you are in CM, from a guesthouse receptionist to shopkeepers to waiters - everybody has relatives and friends who might have a property to rent.

walking/driving through the neighbourhoods to find empty properties is an another way - but you need Thai speaker to call the owners of the property

[carpediem]

if you want a good deal and want a basic house don't go to an agent - they have expensive properties because they work on a commision (the more expensive house the more commision - for the same work).

I don't know CM - but if in Bangkok houses you are looking for go for 10h to CM would be half of it.

Just talk to local people when you are in CM, from a guesthouse receptionist to shopkeepers to waiters - everybody has relatives and friends who might have a property to rent.

walking/driving through the neighbourhoods to find empty properties is an another way - but you need Thai speaker to call the owners of the property

Thanks again - for these practical tips. Actually I want something more than a 'basic' house, if by that you meant spartan to some degree. It would need to serve as my home for at least the next 2 years - and probably more. But perhaps you meant 'unfurnished'.

Should I deduce from what you say that the better - and therefore the more expensive - houses to rent will be with the agents? But even if this is so I will hunt initially without the agents - and my car and thai girl friend should be a big help with that.