Deciding where to live - Wat Ket, Tha Salaa, San Sai or Hang Dong

[fang37]

One flood is one too many for me.

That's what Noah said!

I didn't know that!

Re land, if you build a house, floods arrive, try to sell it. Not easy, friends.

[SooKee]

Just moved to mae hea.. first impressions are its a damn sight busier than the edges of san kampeang.. Lots more eateries but this feels much more suburbia..

For me chiang mai is an odd place when looking for western quality homes with pools.. Theres masses of old stock.. Dusty old places on decaying moobaans.. Theres masses of new build, sat so close together you can open your kitchen window and borrow some sugar from next door.. Theres a fair bit of 'grand homes' in the 40 - 60k (and up) range.. But little 'retirement type' pool homes, decent kitchens, some nice private outdoor space to barbecue and chill with mates without being overlooked ?? Very very little.

Agree with this 100%. We've been looking round a few days now and to a degree, came to the conclusion that about the best hope for what we want is renting from a farang owner who bought off-plan and specced the place from scratch.

Price is sure no guarantee of quality as some owners clearly live in a dream world. We've seen some real rubbish around in the 30-35k bracket and some really nice ones at 22k. The mixture of old / new and nice / crap within the same moo baans is bit off putting too. We're looking most around Mae Hia and Lana Pinery is a prime example. Some lovely houses near the entrance that are new and some real crap as you go further in, with equivalent levels of exterior and grounds maintenance. Trouble is the tat seems to drag the whole feel of the moo baan down. Honestly, some of the rubbish we've seen at 35k asking price really makes you wonder.

Mostly as I say I think we've decided on the area SW of the airport. Seeing what's around there helped our decision along with chatting with friends who live there.

We looked at San Sai and also a moo ban koolpunt 12 near to promenade mall. Some nice houses but the area for us has more of an urban feel to it with not so much greenery around. We looked at Land & Home (or something like that) and again, that's a very mix and match area. We could live out there but just don't get the same feel as we do in the Mae Hia area. More greenery, great for cycling and some good restaurants. Close to Big C, Rimping and Airport Plaza too.

Some really nice moo bans around too. Not even got chance to try and find anything on some (doesn't help that some of the so called 'agents' don't have much idea of what's available and where) and as I hope to have something confirmed before end Dec, not too much time to look. Places we have seen or heard about include:

MB The TwoGether

MB Serene Lake

MB Masterpiece

MB Pran

MB Elegance

MB Lanna Pinery

MB Sansaran/Grand Tropicana

MB Lanna Tara

MB Lanna Montra

Couple we were less keen on were World Club Land and Home in Park. Didn't appeal for some reason but we only had a quick look and the individual properties we saw were real tat and way overinflated prices.

It's also clear that there's fully furnished (with mismatched 10 year old Index junk) and fully furnished. The standard of fixtures and fittings alongside fit and finish also varies wildly, again, price being no guarantee of standard.

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Edited November 19, 2015 by Pick of Penang

[LivinLOS]

Yeah the pricing thing was just mind blowing also.. This market seems to have many 'dreamers' or just people who cant or wont see what a market level or the competition is pricing in.. Moreso than other markets with a significant farang renting population.

We had a few part time agents / freelance Thais.. And a big dusty old place, nasty miss matched furniture.. nothing appealing really.. 40k.. ohh if you pay a year up front.. 35.. Honestly I would have guessed 12 - 18 tops.. You sort of want to show them what a 'real' 30k and up property is furnished like.. Of course, there it sits months later, empty..

Home in Park is very stepford wives uniformity.. but its well run.. Clean, good clubhouse.. It was on my list but ended up being pipped out.. Finding places with pools was my big stumbling block.. I feel like if your going to live somewhere warm, not having a pool is like not making use of the amenities of the place. It then becomes a pretty short list.

Baan wang taan is nice (if the airplanes are not a deal breaker, for me, they are not that big a deal)..

[SooKee]

Indeed!!

For us the aeroplane noise would be a show stopper, one of those things my brain can't filter out.

Not so worried about private pool provided club house and fitness centre are good. Home in Park seems OK if you get the right moo Baan. IIRC (gets a bit of a blur after a few days) Home In Park has a main gate then has several other moo bans inside. One we went to look at was really rubbish, near the lake and its deserted and desolate detached houses. Other newer moo bans looked nice. Great area for cycling too. Almost don't need to leave the moo Baan. Or that might be Land and House. Confused dot com.

And NO way would I pay a year up front. You never know. Owner has debt to bank, uses your rental to get out of the red, bank re-possesses and you're out on the street. Yah but we paid a year! Not our problem, get out and sue the owner. Not in a million years would I pay a year up front.

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Edited November 20, 2015 by Pick of Penang

[sappersrest]

Try Siriporn 9 just off the 118 halfway between the city and Doi Saket 25 m pool ,properties between 10 -25 k per month

[SooKee]

Well. It looks like Mae Hia it will be.

Actually saw a VERY VERY nice house on Koolpunt 12 at Saraphim for 25k pm. Just decided we'd rather be in Mae Hia.

Also saw an OK place on Home in Park that was on a large plot and quite modern inside that a friend referred us to. That was 35 though.

For now though I think we're sorted Lucky to find something so quick. Feel free to PM me if anyone wants details of the two houses above that came a close 2nd and 3rd.

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