survey. would you buy a condo in pattaya

[Spaniel]

The formula sounds to good to be true. Buy a house/condo in your home country, rent it out and then live comfortably on the rental income in some inexpensive third world country. I'm sure for some it works out that way but for others being a absentee landlord can be a disaster. It's great when you get that perfect tenant but their are a lot of things that can go wrong, bad tenants, cheating property manager, house repairs/maintenance to name a few.

[balo]

Only if you have money to waste , in most cases it will not end up as an investment. You will not make a profit, if you want to live here it's better to rent so you csn move out when the unexpected noise from neighbors or construction work suddenly arrives at your doorstep. I speak of experience.

Edited March 22, 2016 by balo

[Broken Record]

Only if you have money to waste , in most cases it will not end up as an investment. You will not make a profit, if you want to live here it's better to rent so you csn move out when the unexpected noise from neighbors or construction work suddenly arrives at your doorstep. I speak of experience.

You speak of your experience, not everybody elses.

Are you telling me that if a guy has lived here for 20 years and has no intention of leaving Thailand he would have been better off renting, he would have paid more in rent than what he could have bought for, I hope you're not anybody's financial adviser.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Broken Record

[Broken Record]

-snip-

I do have friends who say they would never buy, but the truth is, they can't afford to buy, so they rent, but I'm sure ThaiVisa members are different, they all have loads of money and choose to rent.

Oh, ain't that just the sweetest thing I've ever read...

"Some of us" don't need to buy in Thailand. "Some of us" own our homes in our home countries and travel at will. "Some of us" are actually allowed to own our own land and a home with a large garage and automatic garage door opener. "Some of us" have Western style houses with central heat and air conditioning and real kitchens and bathrooms.

"Some of us" wouldn't own a POS condo in Thailand if it was free.

Cheers.

Haha, yep, you've really made it life when you have a large garage with an auto door.

[fey]

curious thing about condos is that they are extremely neighbor sensitive, unless you get a true condo with cement walls and high ceilings (not likely in thailand).

ever had neighbors that are constantly screwing, loudly?

let me tell you thats its not a great thing to listen to, especially if you need to talk to clients on the phone or have a home office.

before you say it happens everywhere, well yes it does, but if im living in a house i cant hear it unless its me or my partner and im fine with that.

Edited March 22, 2016 by fey

[JSixpack]

curious thing about condos is that they are extremely neighbor sensitive, unless you get a true condo with cement walls and high ceilings (not likely in thailand).

ever had neighbors that are constantly screwing, loudly?

let me tell you thats its not a great thing to listen to, especially if you need to talk to clients on the phone or have a home office.

Well, you just go over there and bang on the door and ask to watch or join in. Bring along your camera. It's Pattaya, man.

before you say it happens everywhere, well yes it does, but if im living in a house i cant hear it unless its me or my partner and im fine with that.

Now if your neighbors are constantly screwing loudly, and so are you or your partner, then you drown each other out or cheer each other on.

Sorted. We're really straining to find objections here. You won't find this particular complaint often made by Pattaya condo owners.

Edited March 22, 2016 by JSixpack

[HampiK]

curious thing about condos is that they are extremely neighbor sensitive, unless you get a true condo with cement walls and high ceilings (not likely in thailand).

ever had neighbors that are constantly screwing, loudly?

let me tell you thats its not a great thing to listen to, especially if you need to talk to clients on the phone or have a home office.

before you say it happens everywhere, well yes it does, but if im living in a house i cant hear it unless its me or my partner and im fine with that.

Now I am very confused. In my condo I can't hear the neighbours, even when i switch off everything. And the walls of my condo are made of cement (beton). OK additional i not have any direct neighbour... 2 sides are open with nice windows, 1 side has the entrance and floor and the last side of the condo has the escalator, which is not used, except for an emergency.. which I hope never will happen. So I can't complain.

If the condo outerwalls are not made from good quality, then I think I not would buy it. There are some parts which have to be... But yes... I think a condo for Investement is much more difficult to find than a condo for own living.

[Don Mega]

Now I am very confused. In my condo I can't hear the neighbours, even when i switch off everything. And the walls of my condo are made of cement (beton). OK additional i not have any direct neighbour... 2 sides are open with nice windows, 1 side has the entrance and floor and the last side of the condo has the escalator, which is not used, except for an emergency.. which I hope never will happen. So I can't complain.

If the condo outerwalls are not made from good quality, then I think I not would buy it. There are some parts which have to be... But yes... I think a condo for Investement is much more difficult to find than a condo for own living.

How did you check the quality of the materials used ?

Edited March 22, 2016 by Don Mega

[HampiK]

Now I am very confused. In my condo I can't hear the neighbours, even when i switch off everything. And the walls of my condo are made of cement (beton). OK additional i not have any direct neighbour... 2 sides are open with nice windows, 1 side has the entrance and floor and the last side of the condo has the escalator, which is not used, except for an emergency.. which I hope never will happen. So I can't complain.

If the condo outerwalls are not made from good quality, then I think I not would buy it. There are some parts which have to be... But yes... I think a condo for Investement is much more difficult to find than a condo for own living.

How did you check the quality of the materials used ?

OK, i made it a bit easy with the word good quality. I mean that the walls are made so it looks stable and are not only small walls with wood or something. I saw some condos, when you knock on the wall that you can know right away this wall is not made solid. And maybe also stay outside of the condo and talk and check the noise level. Additional they wrote in the contract which walls are made from which material and of course how the wall was furnished. Of course I know that there are some examples where the builder not used the materials which he promised.. I think there was an example from Sansiri where they used Styropor parts instead of beton.. and this is very bad.. and yes if like this happen I not would know.

An wall which is made simple you will feel right away.. sometimes you have to scare, when you hit (boxing) the wall.. that you would make a whole in it.. And actually I found a lot of condos which i had a feeling like that... I checked about 40 condos till I found the one which I have now. But yes there is always a risk.

I never would say buying is better than rent... It's always on the person. For me it is better because:

- I can change some parts of the interiour like i want (in a rented condo not possible)

But also have to agree with the persons who tell probably not easy to sell if you have to leave thailand for whatever reason... So it is important, that the money is used for the condo is not needed right away.. If you have to leave and then need the money.. then buy is definitiv the wrong way.

[hawker9000]

As they should.

Imagine you buy a condo for your own enjoyment and have different people use the pool and facilities every. It's not a hotel. Owners usually take good care of their property (although in Thailand that is somewhat questionable).

So ownership does not confer any right to lease the property?

I have a house in the states in a fairly nice neighborhood, but an absentee owner a few houses down used to rent out his house, and it frequently seemed to be to some college kids who could afford the place by pooling their rent money. There were frequent noisy parties late at night; the police got called from time-to-time; and another neighbor who kind of acted as the property caretaker had the unpleasant duty of cleaning out the place and arranging for repairs whenever one group moved out to get ready for the next. The immediate neighbors were worried about rats... More often than not the place was left a wreck: inside & out. But you know, It just goes with the territory, literally. Arbitrary rules trying to dictate to owners what they can & can't do with their lawful property can cause more problems than they solve. And if the estimated rental returns are removed from the picture for prospective buyers, you may well hurt your own property value, especially in a town which happens to be a tourist destination. And what happens when one day suddenly you want to let a good friend or perhaps a family member rent the place from you, but the rules say No? It's a case of being careful what you wish for.

Last but not least. Why wouldn't a tenant who actually acts responsibly and takes reasonable care of the place he's living in be less preferable than an owner who lives like a pig and has no consideration for his neighbors? I don't really see how excluding rental activity guarantees much of anything.

What are you on about?

A house is a house.

Condo building and common elements do not belong to you. Period.

Whooosh! RIGHT over your head evidently. Well, keep at it.

The POINT is, making rules to prohibit owners from renting their units, as tgfaf was suggesting, is a kneejerk solution which can easily have unintended consequences. And owners can't necessarily be depended upon to either maintain their premises or behave themselves. It's about owners vs tenants, not condos vs houses.

Period.

[Jessi]

If any of you are still thinking of buying a condo or any other real estate in Thailand just read Andrew Drummonds blog

that should change your mind.

[morrobay]

If any of you are still thinking of buying a condo or any other real estate in Thailand just read Andrew Drummonds blog

that should change your mind.

It is blocked. Can you summerize it ?

[Bigstef]

Never i've rent many 5 stars so called condo,and what I seen confirm what others told me before,look good at first but when you look at quality details,wow big problems....The list is so long...and just look at the second hand condo for sale you have your answer a 5 year condo bought at 7 millions now at 3.2....

[Jessi]

Never i've rent many 5 stars so called condo,and what I seen confirm what others told me before,look good at first but when you look at quality details,wow big problems....The list is so long...and just look at the second hand condo for sale you have your answer a 5 year condo bought at 7 millions now at 3.2....

How to invest 7 million and lose half of it without trying.

[smotherb]

Someone once posted on this forum what I consider to be very wise advice -- if you have money to buy, then buy a property in your home country, rent it out, and use the rental income to rent a place in Thailand. That way, your investment is secure, you are building equity in a stable, first-world nation (depending on where you're from), and with no ties in Thailand you can pack up and move when a pig farm or karaoke bar opens up next to your little home.

I signed my house over to my kids and told them that was their inheritance. I did keep my Florida condo and rented it out. I was in Thailand and thought everything was going fine. Then my renter quit paying the rent and to my horror, he had never paid any of the rather high maintenance fees. I sold it for what I could get just to get rid of the headaches. If you can find a good renter, it is OK but not all renters are good. My bad renter WAS a friend of mine. The only thing I now have in the US are my retirement fund and my bank account. Both will go to my kids after I am dead and gone. Everything I have here in Thailand will go to my Thai wife.

Some friend, eh?

I have been an absentee landlord and rented-out my properties since 1972. Yes, you can get deadbeat tenants, especially if you have poor property management, weak rental procedures, and less than desirable properties. It sounds like you fell victim to the first two.

I use a known quantity as my manager--he is my cousin and a building contractor with his own rental properties--prospective tenants must pass background checks--both police and credit checks--the properties are good value--they are in good locations, well appointed, and rent for less than comparable units--and I have full coverage insurance. Therefore, I know my tenants, I trust my manager, the tenants are reluctant to leave their good value rental units, and if the properties are damaged--by the tenant or mother nature--the repairs are covered.

However, I have still had to evict tenants for non-payment of rent, damaging property, and illegal activities. The evictions take time and money, but my manager knows the ropes of the eviction process, the insurance claims, and the damage repair.

True, these things all cost, but after 44 years, I have consistently earned profit, equity, and tax breaks. It's like any other business; you have to know what you are doing.

[Pattaya46]

...and just look at the second hand condo for sale you have your answer

a 5 year condo bought at 7 millions now at 3.2....

Where do you take this example from? Which condo?

I know a few guys who have sold at lost, but 15% or 20% at worse,

certainly not a 55% loss !!!

Edited March 24, 2016 by Pattaya46

[Bigstef]

...and just look at the second hand condo for sale you have your answer

a 5 year condo bought at 7 millions now at 3.2....

Where do you take this example from? Which condo?

I know a few guys who have sold at lost, but 15% or 20% at worse,

certainly not a 55% loss !!!

Look everywhere where there's add for secondhand condos even here on TV,more you pay more you lose because after a couple of years everything broke down or slow down,the big problems is the maintenance the staffs most are unqualified to do the jobs,from electric to elevator to sewer to water.....and certainly the balcony......I know a Danish guy in Hua Hin who paid 3.4 millions for his condo 4 years ago now it's been for sale since November at 2.6 many visits but no offers,the condo in perfect condition but the problems is the amenities of the building mostly everything is going rundown....

[newnative]

I'm curious, too, as to what condo has gone from 7MB to 3.2MB.

[balo]

I voted : No I'm not that stupid .

That's my opinion about this topic.

[Broken Record]

I voted : No I'm not that stupid .

That's my opinion about this topic.

In your case it makes no sense to buy as you don't live in Thailand ?

If so it's probably best you don't buy, I've lived in Thailand for over 25 years, I have a house, but in Pattaya I rented for 19 years, when I worked out how much I had paid in rent, I could have bought a condo cheaper, so I did, and 6 years later I have no regrets and wonder why I didn't buy one long ago when they were 600,000 Baht.

Edited March 25, 2016 by Broken Record

[Lumbini]

Why buy the cow when you can rent ? Possibly this applies to many things here [emoji87]

[Rimmer]

Off topic post removed, topic is about buying a condo in Pattaya

[bow]

In Thailand (like in my country in the EU) condos don't exist. There are only co-ops.

This means that the co-op owns the building and the land the building stands on. The farang that thinks he owns a condo actually owns a share in the co-op. This share is connected to the right to use a specific apartment in the co-op's building. (If you are American - think New York style co-op.)

Is this important ? No, not to me. But if you are fussy about owning a property - well, you do not - you own a share in a co-op.

[Bigstef]

I'm curious, too, as to what condo has gone from 7MB to 3.2MB.

Well looks the classfields there's a tons of it...if you follow the market you'll understand clearly, back home my property take value mostly every year,here it's the opposite same as a car......

[newnative]

I do look at the classifieds and I get lots of emails from realtors with lists of 'fire sale' condos. I haven't seen any condos that have gone from 7MB to 3.2MB in just 4 years. That's why I was asking for the name of the condo, which so far nobody has provided. If you look at the classifieds and the so-called 'fire sales' you will notice that good quality, seaview, highrise condos in excellent or good locations are maintaining their values well. Some examples are VT6, Northshore, Cetus, VT 5 & 7. Even older condos like VT2 in good locations, kept up, and on the baht taxi line I would say are maintaining their values or not dropping much. New condos like The Base and Centric Sea, in great locations with seaviews and not much competition, have not been hurt by the real estate downturn and are maintaining prices in the 80000-100,000+ Baht a sqm range depending on floor level and condo views. You may have noticed I used the word 'maintain' several times. I am a realist, this is Thailand, and I don't expect Western style real estate appreciation here unless a condo is really special. (Just as an aside, not all areas in the West are going up much, either, in the current economic climate.) For most here, it's enough to maintain prices, at least in the short-term. So, if there might be little or no appreciation, why not just rent? Short-term, I would. For me, living here long-term, it's better to buy as I like my own things and like being able to make changes to my condo. I rented for a year while I waited for my current condo to be finished. 360,000 Baht down the drain. Bye bye. That would have been 1/3 towards owning one of those little Lumpini Seaview or Lumpini Naklua condos when Lumpini runs a 999,999 MB sale. In just a year. If I rented for 3 years I could have bought one of those condos with the rent money I wasted. My condo may or may not appreciate but I'm not throwing money down the drain every month on rent and I'm not writing a large monthly check for condo fees, HOA fees, and real estate taxes like I did in the USA--that's one of the big savings for me being on a small pension.

[i claudius]

The banks are down valuing condos ,even sea view ones , there are problems coming and they know it ,and no its not second hand gossip its seeing it with my own eyes

[KMartinHandyman]

No. Would never live there,not looking for an absentee investment,overpriced and overbuilt. That's s start.

[i claudius]

Buy ,but only if you are going to live in it as your home for a long time , also chose very ,very carefully there are only so many places here that are always popular .

personally its a house for me with a nice garden etc etc , but again only if you intend it to be your home a long time ,as they are hard to sell (unless they are the cheap thai ones 1 to 2 million )

[Ace of Pop]

Look at the Darkside and rent for peanuts move if the neighbors ara noisey

[morrobay]

The banks are down valuing condos ,even sea view ones , there are problems coming and they know it ,and no its not second hand gossip its seeing it with my own eyes

Care to elaborate on this statement ?

Edited March 29, 2016 by morrobay