Why Are Houses So Much Cheaper Than Apartments/Condos to Rent?

[CrashTestDummy]

Greetings,

I'll be moving to the CM area of Thailand in a few months. I plan to live in Thailand for one year before (probably) returning to the US.

I've been casually browsing rental listings in the CM area to get an idea of rent expense. It seems that apartments/condos are quite a lot more expensive to rent than a house. This is confusing to me, since it's generally the opposite in the US.

As an example... currently listed under this website's property section is a 150 Sqm, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house for 15,000 baht/month. This price is consistent with other house rentals I've seen. Yet for 17,000-20,000 a month, it seems you could get a 75 Sqm, 1 bedroom, 1 bath condo.

What am I missing here? I assume water, electric and internet are separate expenses on houses, but those seem like pretty minor expenses in Thailand. Why are apartments so expensive compared to houses?

We'd generally prefer to rent a house, but we're not keen on a long lease, since we don't want to be committed to a particular area for any longer than necessary.

Thanks.

[KittenKong]

Supply and demand mostly. I would also rather live in a condo with a nice view and no maintenance and security problems, and I'm prepared to pay for that. And it does cost more to build/buy a condo than it does to build/buy a house, so that will have an impact on rental prices too.

Also the "farang price" effect: anything deemed to be of interest to a farang will automatically result in a higher asking price.

What you do need to remember in connection with Thai property is that all prices are highly negotiable, and that advertised prices here may bear no relation whatsoever to what something is actually worth. Many people here prefer to advertise something at a very high price and have no takers rather than advertise at a sensible price and sell/rent it quickly. This notion is not common in the West, for various reasons.

[trogers]

Add the cost of house maintenance, pool and fitness, and your own security system and security guard 24/7 and tell us again about being cheaper.

[sirineou]

Add the cost of house maintenance, pool and fitness, and your own security system and security guard 24/7 and tell us again about being cheaper.

I dont think the OP is asking what is more expensive to maintain, but rather why Condos are bure expensive to buy than Private homes?

The maintenance costs are arguable, For a Condo you have maintenance fees that you must pay where in a home you can chose if you want to maintain something or, not, or pay someone to do the work or do it yourself.

In a condo you share the maintenance costs where in a home you pay all of them yourself, but in a condo you also share the facilities where in a private home you can enjoy them in private. etc etc.

I often wondered the same question as the OP. Someone said that condos are more expensive to build , I would respectfully disagree. depending on land prices, it should cost cheaper per square ft for a Large condominium than for a private home , in an other word you can out a lot more Condo living square footage than private home square footage in the same land. also the labor an material costs Per/ sqft should be lower for a condo due to bulk buying .

[MaeJoMTB]

1) Location, condos are in town, houses generally 10Km outside town.

2) Customer, houses are for poor Thais, condos are for rich foreigners.

PS

You're viewing ads in English, aimed at the foreigner market. Adverts for houses in Thai are much cheaper.

Plenty of 2 bedroom houses in the burbs for 5,000-6,000bht/month, but not advertised in English.

Same for condos, Thais don't pay more than 4,000bht a month, most are in 2,000bht/month condos.

Edited December 30, 2015 by MaeJoMTB

[dutchisaan]

Add the cost of house maintenance, pool and fitness, and your own security system and security guard 24/7 and tell us again about being cheaper.

In my house we have a security guard on duty 24/7. And all he wants is being loved and a extra piece of chicken, once in a while.

Yes, before you start, he sleeps on the job.

But man, don't wake him up if you walk on my property in the middle of the night and want to keep your balls!

So you tell me what is cheaper?

Happy new year.

Edited December 30, 2015 by dutchisaan

[HLover]

Add the cost of house maintenance, pool and fitness, and your own security system and security guard 24/7 and tell us again about being cheaper.

In my house we have a security guard on duty 24/7. And all he wants is being loved and a extra piece of chicken, once in a while.

Yes, before you start, he sleeps on the job.

But man, don't wake him up if you walk on my property in the middle of the night and want to keep your balls!

So you tell me what is cheaper?

Happy new year.

Who gives him "love"?

[i claudius]

It always amazes me, why anyone would want to live in a shoe box condo ,with perhaps a good view ,over a large house with garden 3 bedrooms ,and parking for 3 to 4 cars each to his own I suppose ,mind you if I was a single guy living alone I suppose it would be better

[trogers]

Add the cost of house maintenance, pool and fitness, and your own security system and security guard 24/7 and tell us again about being cheaper.

I dont think the OP is asking what is more expensive to maintain, but rather why Condos are bure expensive to buy than Private homes?

The maintenance costs are arguable, For a Condo you have maintenance fees that you must pay where in a home you can chose if you want to maintain something or, not, or pay someone to do the work or do it yourself.

In a condo you share the maintenance costs where in a home you pay all of them yourself, but in a condo you also share the facilities where in a private home you can enjoy them in private. etc etc.

I often wondered the same question as the OP. Someone said that condos are more expensive to build , I would respectfully disagree. depending on land prices, it should cost cheaper per square ft for a Large condominium than for a private home , in an other word you can out a lot more Condo living square footage than private home square footage in the same land. also the labor an material costs Per/ sqft should be lower for a condo due to bulk buying .

Buy? Figures given by the OP are rental rates...

[trogers]

Add the cost of house maintenance, pool and fitness, and your own security system and security guard 24/7 and tell us again about being cheaper.

In my house we have a security guard on duty 24/7. And all he wants is being loved and a extra piece of chicken, once in a while.

Yes, before you start, he sleeps on the job.

But man, don't wake him up if you walk on my property in the middle of the night and want to keep your balls!

So you tell me what is cheaper?

Happy new year.

Thanks for pointing out the difference in quality of security...

Hope your security remains alive should you take a few weeks holidays away from home.

Edited December 30, 2015 by trogers

[sketolene]

location of course +

rent a condo at nirun . khaokarat . spanish or viewtalay 1 is not the same

as if you rent a condo ( high class) .

also take a look example chockchai 1 and chockchai 7or8

you will understand what is living in a thai village ( chockchai 1 till 3)

exotism garantee !

a nice detached house will be in huai yai area but a bit far for me

[CrashTestDummy]

1) Location, condos are in town, houses generally 10Km outside town.

2) Customer, houses are for poor Thais, condos are for rich foreigners.

PS

You're viewing ads in English, aimed at the foreigner market. Adverts for houses in Thai are much cheaper.

Plenty of 2 bedroom houses in the burbs for 5,000-6,000bht/month, but not advertised in English.

Same for condos, Thais don't pay more than 4,000bht a month, most are in 2,000bht/month condos.

It sounds like I should find a home advertised in Thai. How would you suggest tracking such a place down at a lower rate? Are there rental companies I could contact? My wife speaks Thai, but can't read Thai very well (she grew up reading English and was never taught to read Thai). Thanks.

[1FinickyOne]

What you are probably seeing advertised are homes in moo bahns - gated communities. These are located further out from the central CM areas such as night market and old city - so many of these homes are unoccupied - many have very nice amenities and small plots of land. It can often take you 30 minutes to an hour to get into town, so you will likely need some sort of transportation… you might say it is more suburban living.

The more expensive condos are in the city. You can walk or take a Songthaew or tuk tuk quite easily to most destinations.

For a one year lease, it will be a buyers market - off season rates will be cheaper and can be factored into the cost. What i have seen is that there are some excellent deals to be had, but most come through knowing someone. As you get out of the city, many of the condos and moo bahns seem to have trouble renting units at all. Some friends I know have great deals… 4-5,000 baht for pretty decent houses, but again, not in the city…

[TheKnave]

Don't underestimate the maintenance factor of detached homes, and especially the unknowable condition of the place at move-in. Same with landlords: if you're lucky, he/she will be fair about repairs and pre-existing problems, but it isn't the usual case. If you only plan on staying a year, do you really want to deal with all that?

If you are staying long-term, it makes more sense to take your time and rent a condo until you find the right house.

We once rented a house, and negotiated a yearly rent, up front. It was dry season. When the rains came, one of the bathrooms had to be sealed off, because the septic system flooded. The repairs would have meant tearing down our (added-on) bedroom.

We had a well-meaning European landlord, and reached an accomodation, but it wasn't a pleasant experience to move in, decorate, spruce the place up, only to have to move again after 8 months...

For your situation, definitely consider a condo...

Good luck.

[Doc46]

It's a Social gimmick Condo is more Hi So ,,,,Hi So cost more,,,,,

[abrahamzvi]

1) Location, condos are in town, houses generally 10Km outside town.

2) Customer, houses are for poor Thais, condos are for rich foreigners.

PS

You're viewing ads in English, aimed at the foreigner market. Adverts for houses in Thai are much cheaper.

Plenty of 2 bedroom houses in the burbs for 5,000-6,000bht/month, but not advertised in English.

Same for condos, Thais don't pay more than 4,000bht a month, most are in 2,000bht/month condos.

The Thai houses or condos you are referring to are not of a standard that Europeans to better class Thais would wish to live in.

[cmrichsw]

Supply and demand mostly. I would also rather live in a condo with a nice view and no maintenance and security problems, and I'm prepared to pay for that. And it does cost more to build/buy a condo than it does to build/buy a house, so that will have an impact on rental prices too.

Also the "farang price" effect: anything deemed to be of interest to a farang will automatically result in a higher asking price.

What you do need to remember in connection with Thai property is that all prices are highly negotiable, and that advertised prices here may bear no relation whatsoever to what something is actually worth. Many people here prefer to advertise something at a very high price and have no takers rather than advertise at a sensible price and sell/rent it quickly. This notion is not common in the West, for various reasons.

all prices are highly negotiable?? 55555 - Obviously you do not know very much about Thailand making that statement, rarely this is true.

[Suradit69]

1) Location, condos are in town, houses generally 10Km outside town.

2) Customer, houses are for poor Thais, condos are for rich foreigners.

PS

You're viewing ads in English, aimed at the foreigner market. Adverts for houses in Thai are much cheaper.

Plenty of 2 bedroom houses in the burbs for 5,000-6,000bht/month, but not advertised in English.

Same for condos, Thais don't pay more than 4,000bht a month, most are in 2,000bht/month condos.

Agree with much of what you said, but there are a fair number of Thais renting in my building who pay far more than the Baht 2000 - 4000 range you're talking about.

Those who bought their units rather than renting were probably in a better position to negotiate prices than would most farang be, but generally a Thai buyer was buying from a Thai seller, so it's unlikely they were sold off for much less than the seller could have got from a farang. I know there are some legal limitations on what percent of units can be farang owned, but would guess in our building most of the units available for rent are Thai owned and that percentage of ownership isn't checked that closely. I bought my condo from a Thai lady (who still lives across the hall from me) over 15 years ago and no one raised the issue of transferring title from a Thai to a farang.

Edited January 1, 2016 by Suradit69

[elgordo38]

Supply and demand mostly. I would also rather live in a condo with a nice view and no maintenance and security problems, and I'm prepared to pay for that. And it does cost more to build/buy a condo than it does to build/buy a house, so that will have an impact on rental prices too.

Also the "farang price" effect: anything deemed to be of interest to a farang will automatically result in a higher asking price.

What you do need to remember in connection with Thai property is that all prices are highly negotiable, and that advertised prices here may bear no relation whatsoever to what something is actually worth. Many people here prefer to advertise something at a very high price and have no takers rather than advertise at a sensible price and sell/rent it quickly. This notion is not common in the West, for various reasons.

The above poster is correct. Security is a big issue as well. You would be surprised how many people keep track of your comings and goings here. If your only staying a year why have a car and motorbike and all those headaches rent a nice central condo like mine walk to everything and we have a pool as well. Gyms close by in a couple of buildings. Yes there is a farang price and also a "asking" price. In my building there are some about 100 square meter units that you should be able to pick up on a one year lease for about 15,000 bahts a month or less. We pay the PEA electric rate and also have our own well which is important. Security is good as well as office personal again important.

[emilymat]

I agree with some of the previous posters. I live alone

I rent a nice 3 bed roomed house for 18000 a month. Well maintained and room to move about and it's quiet. One spare bedroom and the other converted into a study etc.

Upside, never get bored with having to do things around the house and sitting outside reading a good book etc.

The 'downside' if there is one is that I'm 15 km outside town. Mind you, that's no real hassle as a weekly trip into Pattaya for shopping, paying bills etc is all I need. You soon learn to find all the other shops and services on the dark-side.

Sea view and being able t o walk to shops etc seem important in the market place, so a condo in town suits many. Bars and night live are important to many, but not for me.

I have the lake at the end of my small road and can go for long walks around it.

My maintenance is 40 baht per month for dustbins and street lights and also in my small road of 6 houses there is not a single dog owner!.

It's what suits different people. I think the earlier poster who referred to 'HiSo' has a point. A condo in town seems 'fashionable' and therefore the price can affect this.

Also............I have no balcony, thank goodness.!!

[dotpoom]

Add the cost of house maintenance, pool and fitness, and your own security system and security guard 24/7 and tell us again about being cheaper.

As the OP said he would be renting...he would not be bearing those costs, they would be paid by the owner of the house.

[akentryan]

I own a house a couple of Km east of Sukhumvit. Some cost info for you:

Housekeeper (4 hours a day) 10,000

Electric (Bedroom a/c, four refrigerators and pool pump mostly) 3,500

Water 600

Phone and internet 800

Pool maintenance 1,500

Trash pickup 30

Insurance 500

Gym membership 4,000 lifetime

Other minor costs also like cable tv, bug spray, pool chemicals, etc

Adds up pretty quickly as you can see

[themerg]

Condos and apartments are TRENDY, and that means higher prices.

The farther you get from Chiang Mai- the cheaper the houses are to rent. Exact opposite of the USA.

Condo market in Chiang Mai is highly saturated. Prices will come down in a few years.

Edited January 1, 2016 by themerg

[fekman]

One of the tricks apartment building owners use, to stay competitive with pricing, is to offer a low rent, then slam you on electricity. I pay 8 baht per unit, when the owners rate is roughly 3.5 I believe. (Maybe someone has their bill in front of them and can share the real rate).

Im ok with it, because I realize if they didn't rape me on the electricity, the rent would simply be higher. 30sm studio, my bill is now 'only' about 1500 a month instead of 2500+ because I use a fan more now. The look of dissappointment on the owners face when he saw walking by with a new fan. Must have been thinking "well, thats 1500 a month right out of my pocket."

[trogers]

Add the cost of house maintenance, pool and fitness, and your own security system and security guard 24/7 and tell us again about being cheaper.

As the OP said he would be renting...he would not be bearing those costs, they would be paid by the owner of the house.

Should a house renting at 15K a month has any...

[trogers]

But the most important reason for the price difference is location and the cost of land.

Any new 3-bedroom house renting for 15K in the choice areas of the city?

[thailandstupidlife]

Because when you buy a house you have iss on your axx forever and will never be able to resell it, so at least try to rent if for cheap (or free) to pay some maintenance...

[trogers]

Because when you buy a house you have iss on your axx forever and will never be able to resell it, so at least try to rent if for cheap (or free) to pay some maintenance...

Would depend on your purpose in buying the house in the first place. Would a blind man buy a big bike for himself?

Edited January 1, 2016 by trogers

[timendres]

Add the cost of house maintenance, pool and fitness, and your own security system and security guard 24/7 and tell us again about being cheaper.

In my house we have a security guard on duty 24/7. And all he wants is being loved and a extra piece of chicken, once in a while.

Yes, before you start, he sleeps on the job.

But man, don't wake him up if you walk on my property in the middle of the night and want to keep your balls!

So you tell me what is cheaper?

Happy new year.

Who gives him "love"?

Since he is obviously referring to his dog, I am not sure we want to know the answer.

[emilymat]

One of the tricks apartment building owners use, to stay competitive with pricing, is to offer a low rent, then slam you on electricity. I pay 8 baht per unit, when the owners rate is roughly 3.5 I believe. (Maybe someone has their bill in front of them and can share the real rate).

Im ok with it, because I realize if they didn't rape me on the electricity, the rent would simply be higher. 30sm studio, my bill is now 'only' about 1500 a month instead of 2500+ because I use a fan more now. The look of dissappointment on the owners face when he saw walking by with a new fan. Must have been thinking "well, thats 1500 a month right out of my pocket."

I think you must be right. My 3 bed roomed house (not on a gated village) has 3 aircon etc. My average electric bill is around 1700 baht p.c.m.