Buying a Condo from agent....do they haggle here?

[GAZZPA]

I would not trust to put anyone between you and a property deal here, especially if it is a Thai agent and you are buying from a Thai person. I know this sounds cynical but in my experience the Thai agent just wants to gleen as much money as possible from the deal and this could include a "negotiated" cash payment from the buyer for introducing the seller,, and who actually pays that? You do in your price.

I found this to be the case on the last condo I purchased, the office for the condo wanted to do all of the talking to the seller. I had to insist i speak directly to the condo owner directly as I wanted to know who I was buying from, the seller was Thai but spoke perfect English as was educated in the US.

I then negotiated directly with the owner myself and got a reasonable discount.

Also, it is a buyers market right now so you can push a little but if you are buying from a local and your offer is too cheeky they will simply not respond. After that you have to increase your offer and you give the seller the upper hand (at least this is how they see it). if a foreign buyer who knows Western markets you can talk more openly and make cheeky offers..

By and large aim for 10% to 15% discount, that's what I do anyway and if your are unsuccessful there will plenty more choice.

This is my experience, good luck fella, hope you get a great deal.

[cocopops]

I've never bought property here, but it occurs to me that people are pretty open about the rent they're paying. So if buying a second hand condo you can probably figure out what similar units are renting for without too much difficulty. That might help you figure out how much the thing is really worth - if they're trying to charge you 50 years rent or something then you know the thing is overpriced.

[F4UCorsair]

Never knew of a Pope shit.ing in the woods.....a wild

Bear, yes!

I think condobrit is confused lms.

Maybe he also says, it's not rocket surgery.....or, it's not brain science!!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I've never bought property here, but it occurs to me that people are pretty open about the rent they're paying. So if buying a second hand condo you can probably figure out what similar units are renting for without too much difficulty. That might help you figure out how much the thing is really worth - if they're trying to charge you 50 years rent or something then you know the thing is overpriced.

Myeah.. though it doesn't really work that way here. A lot of genuinely valuable properties are rented out far below of what would be a reasonable rent given the actual market value. (Although this may apply less to condominiums than it does to land and houses.)

You could of course make a case that if it can't rent out for a good rent then the property is therefore not worth as much as the asking price.. yet these properties do sell at close to the asking price.

And also rents are all over the place: an unrenovated unit could rent for peanuts. But then spend 500K on it to do it up and it suddenly rents for triple the amount. In a selling price, this 'potential' seems to be accounted for.

I would not trust to put anyone between you and a property deal here, especially if it is a Thai agent and

'kay.. and a couple posts above that there's someone buying through a French agency who took a cool 9%.. Yeah, that's much better than a Thai, LOL. If anything I'd avoid a Farang (or other non-Thai) agent like Ebola.

Edited March 1, 2016 by WinnieTheKhwai

[KittenKong]

Good evening,

thank you for your reply, but a friend bought a condo in Hua Hin, a French agency, and I think it paid more than 9% of the sale price to the agent for his commission.

He will have to confirm me.

If so, the agent saw your friend coming. 3% is standard here, 5% is already high.

Unless perhaps you are talking about a new build in which case the agent may well have got 9% from the developer. Moral: with new builds go direct to the developer and insist on getting that commission knocked off the price, on top of any other discount you manage to negotiate.

Either way, when dealing with any Thai property you should assume that commissions are very high and margins/estimates/asking prices equally so, and that everything is highly negotiable.

[kbb]

In six years, my wife and I have bought 3 houses here, and sold one (no condos). In Nakhon Sawan and Pattaya.

What little I know, aside from "Easy to buy land in Thailand. Hard to sell land in Thailand".

1) It is very different from back home, Buy at your own risk. Inspections are rare. Disclosures meaningless, usually nonexistent.

2) Unless you know someone in the business and/or area, information is very hard to come by. Building comps by previous sale prices and or current asking prices is difficult at best.

3) People here will get emotional about pricing - Won't want to sell at a loss. Reality often plays little role in setting prices. Asking prices may just have well been provided by the cat or the dog.

4) Suggest using an agent, unless doing business with family. Be aware -- Even a "good agent" may not show all properties in the same building or neighborhood. Could be they don't know about the other properties, or they don't have the listing. So walk around yourself and research what you can.

5) Really wish we had rented first to fully understand the neighborhoods. Of course, with the wife/GF, thats tough to do for 1000 reasons.

Final answer

6) Don't be afraid to lowball. Many people are in situations where they really need (or want) to "get out". Things, such as visas, marriage, & currency fluctuations all play into it. Some places have such an oversupply, it could litterally be years between offers.

Best of luck ...

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Either way, when dealing with any Thai property you should assume that commissions are very high and margins/estimates/asking prices equally so, and that everything is highly negotiable.

This.

Plus the knowledge that just because something is 'for sale', that doesn't always mean that the owner has any urgency whatsoever to sell it not just this year, but during this *generation*. This is good to keep in mind when negotiating: in the West more typically when there's a 'For Sale' sign on something, the seller is pretty eager to make a deal and get it done. Here, the owner (hard to even say "seller") may price it for expected value in 20 years time, but may be perfectly happy passing it on to his children, who may get around selling it for his asking price by then.

And this is especially true with new condominium units bought for investment purposes. They've bought this just to be 'in' if there is an incredible boom in Chiang Mai and sell it for a multiple of the purchasing price, or for when their kids go to university and need a place to stay, etc. And meanwhile they're okay just getting a modest rent to cover (most of) the mortgage. They haven't bought it to flip it a year later with even a nice 30, 40 or even 50% profit.

Finding a seller who actually needs to sell is the main challenge. And I don't think that's a level of commitment you can expect from any agent. Things that are truly priced to sell may go in a matter of days, after being posted on the (Thai language) property sites. This is not necessarily something that 'wrong' with agents, it's also that sellers who use agents are fine to sit on it forever until some fool comes along. People who really want to sell post it online on Monday, and have 3 potential buyers by Wednesday.

Edited March 1, 2016 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Pinot]

Why would anyone ever buy property in Thailand? It's always a risky financial decision. Rent

Wrong for you, right for others, pointless post really. He wants advice on haggling room not a "don't buy message".

Pointless? What better time to give some advice than before someone makes a terrible decision?

There is a huge property bubble here in Phuket yet the building continues at a furious pace. I don't know anyone who bought that hasn't sold losing plenty or is stuck underneath unable to sell.

Buying property in Thailand is an unnecessary costly mistake. I often post the same thing on TV and some come out to post how wrong I am, most agree with me. I think those that post about me being wrong are realtors or trying to unload their place.

http://www.kamalala.com/never-buy-property-thailand/

[mcfish]

Why would anyone ever buy property in Thailand? It's always a risky financial decision. Rent

Wrong for you, right for others, pointless post really. He wants advice on haggling room not a "don't buy message".

Pointless? What better time to give some advice than before someone makes a terrible decision?

There is a huge property bubble here in Phuket yet the building continues at a furious pace. I don't know anyone who bought that hasn't sold losing plenty or is stuck underneath unable to sell.

Buying property in Thailand is an unnecessary costly mistake. I often post the same thing on TV and some come out to post how wrong I am, most agree with me. I think those that post about me being wrong are realtors or trying to unload their place.

http://www.kamalala.com/never-buy-property-thailand/

No they disagree because your summary indicates that a total meltdown would have occurred many times already

Going by your poorly thought out post, something like this would happen.. You say majority are selling at loss?

Bill buys condo for 5 mill sells at a loss for 4 mill

Ben buys bills condo for 4mill sells at loss for 3 mill

Barry buys Ben's condo for 3 mill sells for 2 mill

And so on and so on...

Your theory is utter nonsense

Edited March 1, 2016 by mcfish

[mascarabertha]

Why would anyone ever buy property in Thailand? It's always a risky financial decision. Rent

Wrong for you, right for others, pointless post really. He wants advice on haggling room not a "don't buy message".

Pointless? What better time to give some advice than before someone makes a terrible decision?

There is a huge property bubble here in Phuket yet the building continues at a furious pace. I don't know anyone who bought that hasn't sold losing plenty or is stuck underneath unable to sell.

Buying property in Thailand is an unnecessary costly mistake. I often post the same thing on TV and some come out to post how wrong I am, most agree with me. I think those that post about me being wrong are realtors or trying to unload their place.

i've disproven your theory 16 times in thailand. I think that the people who do agree with you also can't afford to buy a condominium so you, they are happy paying 8K a month forever

http://www.kamalala.com/never-buy-property-thailand/

[mcfish]

EEEK! A 8k condo in phuket, which is an expensive place to live would be a shit hole.. But hey who needs air con and a kitchen, just minor inconveniences LMAO!!!

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[Pinot]

EEEK! A 8k condo in phuket, which is an expensive place to live would be a shit hole.. But hey who needs air con and a kitchen, just minor inconveniences LMAO!!!

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You sir, don't know what you're talking about.

Plenty of beautiful 5M baht condos that will be worth 4M next year.

[mcfish]

EEEK! A 8k condo in phuket, which is an expensive place to live would be a shit hole.. But hey who needs air con and a kitchen, just minor inconveniences LMAO!!!

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You sir, don't know what you're talking about.

Plenty of beautiful 5M baht condos that will be worth 4M next year.

You looking like a bit of a dill. Read my post that you quoted.. It's rental.. 8k is rental.

Now who is going to take you seriously if you can't even get that right

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[vukovar77]

I live in Thailand 4 years and I use to buy condo in Bangkok,but only from bank foreclosure property NPA -assets!

Much more clear job and much cheaper as well(20-60%)from my experience and no pitfalls!

Never buy from Agency,cos. they will rip you of .Much better direct from owner!Use Lawyer to check title deed and make contract only!

Do not be tricked by Real estate Agency that they will protect your interest only.In Thailand anyone can be agent without proper education!They mostly rise price up too much as well!

Besides,their promises are mostly unreal and false!

I finished Law university and I have a lot of experience in Europe and now here and I can buy only from bank foreclosure property or in auctions.

If you do not know how to manage that on this way,better rent than buy!!!