Teach me the secrets

[louse1953]

The condo-hype is reaching a boiling point. (sellers glad to get out and newcomers glad to get in).

Why not follow Wifes/GF advice: Build 2 story house on "family-Land". Land is for free.

Who could refuse such a tempting offer, instead of shopping for a 32 square meter condo?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS: Forgot to mention. A mansion built on "Family Land", without land papers is basically worthless these days. By now, Thais know it. Farangs are still caught up in some sort "learning process", guided by the advice of Wife/GF.

Easy to buy, hard sell.

Cheers

.

Your living in Fantasyland.

[TheCruncher]

I'd count to ten before doing it.

If you must, don't buy into a project until finished. Developers use buyer payments to build and it's a recipe for disaster. (Never finish)

Thai buildings are notorious for lack of upkeep.

Long term renters are all cheap charlies, and will rent across the street if its 500 baht less a month. And it will be, as the market is saturated.

Easy to buy. Impossible to re-sell.

Want 8%? Put it into a CD in a Costa Rica bank.

I would never buy off plan, though one poster also advised to stay away from new buildings, and I don't get the point beyond that.

Why do you think Costa Rica banks pay 8% ?

Remember that a few years ago Australian banks also paid high interests on deposits?

[bermannor]

The title "Teach me the secrets ..." alone makes it interesting reading. But Crunchers replies top it.

Invest in a bar that's the closest you can get to your investment.

[kingstonkid]

Op there are a few things that you need tolook at.

While you may be able to get a higher rent for an ocean view you are also going to pay more.

A good real estate agent or broker should be able to provide you with a breakdown of rents that are currently being paid in the condo.

If not check the paper for rentals that are available that are close to what you are realistically offering

As has been stated there is going to be months that you may not have a tenant if you are doing short time rentals and repairs that you will have to make when you get the bad tenant and you will..

realistic tool is the 1% rule take your price you are paying for the condo and charge 1% of the price at a minimum.

[JHolmesJr]

Try to look at a business that can't be copied…something where you can contribute something unique that only you can do.

Very hard but that is where success lies.

Thailand is the most unimaginative place…if they see someone doing well, 100 other guys will open the same thing and drive prices to the very bottom.

Massage shops, bars, restaurants…all fall into this category.

[TheCruncher]

Try to look at a business that can't be copied…something where you can contribute something unique that only you can do.

Very hard but that is where success lies.

Thailand is the most unimaginative place…if they see someone doing well, 100 other guys will open the same thing and drive prices to the very bottom.

Massage shops, bars, restaurants…all fall into this category.

I have no intention to do any business in Thailand, not even the most original one, I left my active working life behind several decades ago and now just try to get an acceptable yield on the moneys I earned before.

[Mark1971]

Many people are looking for a reasonable yield on their investment, with reliable income payments and little risk to capital.

I fail to see how condos in Pattaya meet this investment criteria.

Rental voids.

Maintenance charges.

Problem tenants.

Periodic refurbishment costs.

Depreciating quality of the building & value of the condo.

This sounds like you will be buying a liability, instead of an asset.

There are many better options, eg.

P2P lending via a company like Ratesetter offers 6.2% without any hassle, and very little risk.

Royal Dutch Shell shares offer 8.8% dividend payments, if you want a little more risk / reward. (The last time dividend was cut was 71 years ago).

[F4UCorsair]

The secret is to have somebody else invest in the property and let it to you. There are way too many problems owning and letting property.

[seedy]

Troll / Flaming / Off Topic post removed

[trogers]

Op there are a few things that you need tolook at.

While you may be able to get a higher rent for an ocean view you are also going to pay more.

A good real estate agent or broker should be able to provide you with a breakdown of rents that are currently being paid in the condo.

If not check the paper for rentals that are available that are close to what you are realistically offering

As has been stated there is going to be months that you may not have a tenant if you are doing short time rentals and repairs that you will have to make when you get the bad tenant and you will..

realistic tool is the 1% rule take your price you are paying for the condo and charge 1% of the price at a minimum.

One reason I avoid short-term renting. The client is on holiday and will not treat the place as home.

[mgjackson69]

Op there are a few things that you need tolook at.

While you may be able to get a higher rent for an ocean view you are also going to pay more.

A good real estate agent or broker should be able to provide you with a breakdown of rents that are currently being paid in the condo.

If not check the paper for rentals that are available that are close to what you are realistically offering

As has been stated there is going to be months that you may not have a tenant if you are doing short time rentals and repairs that you will have to make when you get the bad tenant and you will..

realistic tool is the 1% rule take your price you are paying for the condo and charge 1% of the price at a minimum.

One reason I avoid short-term renting. The client is on holiday and will not treat the place as home.

On the other hand, a short-term renter is not going to treat it as home....as in driving nails into the walls to hang things, putting stickers on things, cobbling the wiring, etc.

[ToS2014]

I'm not an expert but the way I see things is maybe too simple. Current condo's are exceedingly empty, yet they build more. Now there is a new individual in the market to invest in rentals? Best wishes. I would purchase property back in home country where you can no doubt legally own it and rent it out. Much more of a wise investment IMHO.

[trogers]

I'm not an expert but the way I see things is maybe too simple. Current condo's are exceedingly empty, yet they build more. Now there is a new individual in the market to invest in rentals? Best wishes. I would purchase property back in home country where you can no doubt legally own it and rent it out. Much more of a wise investment IMHO.

Then good luck to you because you will need it. Why? Because you see the mass but not the shortages and opportunities...

[mgjackson69]

I'm not an expert but the way I see things is maybe too simple. Current condo's are exceedingly empty, yet they build more. Now there is a new individual in the market to invest in rentals? Best wishes. I would purchase property back in home country where you can no doubt legally own it and rent it out. Much more of a wise investment IMHO.

I see this in many parts of the world...new commercial space being build next to a space that has been 90% vacant for years.

Likely it is similar in the residential as well. In USA at least, it seems it is easier to sell new construction than existing, when it comes to single-family dwellings.

[bazza40]

Op there are a few things that you need tolook at.

While you may be able to get a higher rent for an ocean view you are also going to pay more.

A good real estate agent or broker should be able to provide you with a breakdown of rents that are currently being paid in the condo.

If not check the paper for rentals that are available that are close to what you are realistically offering

As has been stated there is going to be months that you may not have a tenant if you are doing short time rentals and repairs that you will have to make when you get the bad tenant and you will..

realistic tool is the 1% rule take your price you are paying for the condo and charge 1% of the price at a minimum.

One reason I avoid short-term renting. The client is on holiday and will not treat the place as home.

On the other hand, a short-term renter is not going to treat it as home....as in driving nails into the walls to hang things, putting stickers on things, cobbling the wiring, etc.

On the other hand, there are good and bad short-term and long-term renters. I would always consult my landlord for approval before doing anything to his property.

There are also bad landlords. Fortunately I have had a good one for 7 years now; however, I understand Thailand is rife with bad ones.

[TheCruncher]

I'm not an expert but the way I see things is maybe too simple. Current condo's are exceedingly empty, yet they build more. Now there is a new individual in the market to invest in rentals? Best wishes. I would purchase property back in home country where you can no doubt legally own it and rent it out. Much more of a wise investment IMHO.

In Thailand I can also legally own a condo, but I agree with you that Pattaya may be saturated and maybe not such a good idea investment wise.

I'm open for the suggestion about student rooms, but as I'm not familiar with the university areas, I would appreciate some advise where to look and probably some suggestions about which agents to contact or names of popular buildings.

[mgjackson69]

Op there are a few things that you need tolook at.

While you may be able to get a higher rent for an ocean view you are also going to pay more.

A good real estate agent or broker should be able to provide you with a breakdown of rents that are currently being paid in the condo.

If not check the paper for rentals that are available that are close to what you are realistically offering

As has been stated there is going to be months that you may not have a tenant if you are doing short time rentals and repairs that you will have to make when you get the bad tenant and you will..

realistic tool is the 1% rule take your price you are paying for the condo and charge 1% of the price at a minimum.

One reason I avoid short-term renting. The client is on holiday and will not treat the place as home.

On the other hand, a short-term renter is not going to treat it as home....as in driving nails into the walls to hang things, putting stickers on things, cobbling the wiring, etc.

On the other hand, there are good and bad short-term and long-term renters. I would always consult my landlord for approval before doing anything to his property.

There are also bad landlords. Fortunately I have had a good one for 7 years now; however, I understand Thailand is rife with bad ones.

Oh yes...I have been a good and a bad tenant ("bad" was a lot of years ago, and only for a few months), and now am a (I hope good) landlord, with rental properties is USA and in Thailand.

My USA tenants are great, they ask me for very little and I in turn take good care of them. The Thai rental is an 8-unit apartment in Loei; so far our tenants there have all been good.

[WorkingTourist]

If you must, don't buy into a project until finished. Developers use buyer payments to build and it's a recipe for disaster. (Never finish)

Obviously many condos are completed, but yes, some do stall or are delayed. So doing due diligence is paramount when buying off-plan.

But I wouldn’t rule it out as it is a way to get first dips on the attractive units. For the projects I have looked at, the developer had a sq.m. price that increased for each floor, but e.g. the corner unit was not more expensive (per sq.m.) than other units on the same floor, even though it would likely be more expensive on the secondary market.

It might also be possible to get a larger discount when buying off-plan because on the secondary market, few want to sell at a loss (so their buying price is the lower bound), but when buying directly from the developer, a lot of profit is made if all units are sold at the asking price, so there is more to work with, and they have probably included marketing and agent fee in the asking price.

Buying off-plan also means the possibility for adjustments. But this is probably less interesting if you’re not the primary resident.

Long term renters are all cheap charlies, and will rent across the street if its 500 baht less a month. And it will be, as the market is saturated.

There certainly are a lot of cheap charlies in Thailand, but there are also people willing to pay extra for something better, and my experience is that this market is underserved, because many of the wannabe landlords here only have capital to buy a cheap fixer-upper and then turning it into a rental.

That said, the OP basically asked if paying n% extra for the condo means n% extra rent. There are a few factors here:

1. What you pay is all down to your negotiation skill. For example I bought a penthouse with a 270 degree view at a sq.m. price comparable to single-window units on the lower floors in the same building. I would be surprised if I wouldn’t be able to get a higher rent (per sq.m.) than these other units.
2. For location, a short-term renter will be more likely to pay extra for a central location than someone who buys to live there.
3. For view and placement in the building, someone buying to live there permanently will be more obsessed with such details and will be more willing to pay extra to get it “perfect”.
4. For a renter, the unit’s interior design is at least if not more important than the view, as they’ll be looking at it constantly. Someone buying a condo can do their own interior design.

All that said, answering “will paying extra for a condo equal a proportionally higher rent” is something we can’t answer (or speculate about) without seeing the condos and their respective prices, and even then, we still can’t predict the future rental market in Thailand, so it will just be our best guess.

[hhgz]

Without reading any of the responses I'm guessing that the vast majority of them will read something similar to "don't by anything."

[fekman]

I'd count to ten before doing it.

If you must, don't buy into a project until finished. Developers use buyer payments to build and it's a recipe for disaster. (Never finish)

Thai buildings are notorious for lack of upkeep.

Long term renters are all cheap charlies, and will rent across the street if its 500 baht less a month. And it will be, as the market is saturated.

Easy to buy. Impossible to re-sell.

Want 8%? Put it into a CD in a Costa Rica bank.

I would never buy off plan, though one poster also advised to stay away from new buildings, and I don't get the point beyond that.

Why do you think Costa Rica banks pay 8% ?

Remember that a few years ago Australian banks also paid high interests on deposits?

I've banked there for 9 years. Six years ago, I was getting 16.9% a year. Government owned banks, 130+ years old.

[TheCruncher]

I'd count to ten before doing it.

If you must, don't buy into a project until finished. Developers use buyer payments to build and it's a recipe for disaster. (Never finish)

Thai buildings are notorious for lack of upkeep.

Long term renters are all cheap charlies, and will rent across the street if its 500 baht less a month. And it will be, as the market is saturated.

Easy to buy. Impossible to re-sell.

Want 8%? Put it into a CD in a Costa Rica bank.

I would never buy off plan, though one poster also advised to stay away from new buildings, and I don't get the point beyond that.

Why do you think Costa Rica banks pay 8% ?

Remember that a few years ago Australian banks also paid high interests on deposits?

I've banked there for 9 years. Six years ago, I was getting 16.9% a year. Government owned banks, 130+ years old.

Looks like that 16.9% hasn't earned you too much, and that is what I wanted to say, not the credibility of the bank.Oh, and no need to cherry pick a year, they also paid high interests 5 years ago when the AUD was 33 to the Baht.

[bazza40]

Long term renters are all cheap charlies, and will rent across the street if its 500 baht less a month. And it will be, as the market is saturated.

And the winner of this week's award for generalisations is lekman.

I've been renting with the same landlord for seven years now. Sure, I could rent a cheaper condo for 2000 - 3000 baht a month less. Why would I want to, if I'm happy with what I've got?

[kannot]

Well best idea now is to look at buying a resale from someone that has previously bought and now come under hard times, a few good buys about.

How to find and contact distressed owners?

I had my eyes on a condo where the building management had disconnected water due to lag of common fees. The juristic person just had a name and a dead end phone number for the owner.

Some distressed owners are so distressed that they are totally gone.

Establish some contacts in the Juristic offices of buildings of interest and tell them to call you should the Legal Execution Dept posts notices of impending auction on the doors of units that are repossessed.

correction "let your Wife" if u have one?