Advices for purchasing condo in Phuket!

[ozzy86]

Dear Friends,

I would like to buy a nice condo with swimming pool in Phuket, which area are good? My budget is untill 1.400.000 baht and untill now I only found some condos in Kathu for this price,

does anyone know any site where I can find cheap condos? is Kathu good area to put the condo for rent? any advices before to buy a condo in Phuket?

thanks so much!

[phuketrichard]

for that price you will not get much if you want live near a beach and the resale value will be ZERO

RENT!

[geriatrickid]

Do not do it. Cheap price = low quality and hassles.

[KarenBravo]

Most of the shoe-boxes they are throwing up in Kathu and Phuket Town are closer to 2,000,000 Bt.

When you drive past these cheap condo units at night, you can tell that they are all virtually empty as they have no lights on in the rooms.

Very, very hard to rent out. What would differentiate your shoe-box from the hundreds of others up for rent?

[LivinginKata]

Advice ....

1. Look very carefully at the purchase contract.

2. Consider the management costs and utilty costs.

3. If you are looking at resale potential/profit ... forget it.

4. 1.4 million baht will not buy you much these days.

5. Rent and look about and learn before you even think about buying.

Best of luck ..

[ozzy86]

Thank you so much for the help,

well i saw condos like the " condo plus or D-condo" in the website DDproperty and the condo looks nice,

so you guys are telling me that with 1.400.000 i wont buy anything in Phuket?

[Shot]

Thank you so much for the help,

well i saw condos like the " condo plus or D-condo" in the website DDproperty and the condo looks nice,

so you guys are telling me that with 1.400.000 i wont buy anything in Phuket?

Run

[KarenBravo]

Thank you so much for the help,

well i saw condos like the " condo plus or D-condo" in the website DDproperty and the condo looks nice,

so you guys are telling me that with 1.400.000 i wont buy anything in Phuket?

You can, but, it will be the lowest of the low and totally forget resale and virtually impossible to rent out.

For what you want, you'll need a lot more money.

As other posters have recommended, come to Phuket, stay in cheap accommodation, look around and assess the situation yourself.

[mcfish]

You can't be serious? It won't even get you time share

[2fishin2]

Entry level Condos where I was staying were advertised at that price.

[ozzy86]

what does it mean entry condo? in which area were u staying? well thats my budget..... I wanted something nice in Phuket, not a must near the beach but maybe like 5 to 10 minutes by bike to the beach

[mcfish]

Well that clears that up then.. Any more details? It may get you the new studio size of 22sqm in North Pattaya on the 1st floor facing car park.

BUT the prices jump multiples as you go up

[ozzy86]

Unfortunatly 1.400.000 is the maximum budget i can get but well as i see with that price I wont get nothing nicer........

I really like phuket, been there few times but then i have no choice if this is the real situation.....

[mcfish]

Unfortunatly 1.400.000 is the maximum budget i can get but well as i see with that price I wont get nothing nicer........

I really like phuket, been there few times but then i have no choice if this is the real situation.....

Sorry My post above wasn't aimed atyou but the person above you

[eisfeld]

The condos like D-Condo etc in Kathu are not anywhere near any beach.You'll have to hop over the mountain to Patong but that's more than 10min by bike and also a route that you don't want to take too often if you can avoid it. It's dangerous.

You'll find it hard to get to any proper beach from there in less than 30 minutes with the current traffic.

And forget about renting it out. There is so much supply and little demand that you'll break even on the purchase price in something like 25+ years.

Staying with the example D-Condo and DDProperty, you'll find loads of these units listed for rent at 10k THB and less. That means the real price is quite a bit lower. Probably 7-9k.

If you take an average monthly net profit of 8k (already accounting for maintenance fees and other costs), it would take 15 years to break even. But you wont be able to rent it out all the time if at all so it will be considerably less. That was just a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation but I think you get the point.

So renting is out of the question. Now do you want to live in a 25sqm shoebox as others put it? Porbably not.

[ozzy86]

The condos like D-Condo etc in Kathu are not anywhere near any beach.You'll have to hop over the mountain to Patong but that's more than 10min by bike and also a route that you don't want to take too often if you can avoid it. It's dangerous.

You'll find it hard to get to any proper beach from there in less than 30 minutes with the current traffic.

And forget about renting it out. There is so much supply and little demand that you'll break even on the purchase price in something like 25+ years.

Staying with the example D-Condo and DDProperty, you'll find loads of these units listed for rent at 10k THB and less. That means the real price is quite a bit lower. Probably 7-9k.

If you take an average monthly net profit of 8k (already accounting for maintenance fees and other costs), it would take 15 years to break even. But you wont be able to rent it out all the time if at all so it will be considerably less. That was just a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation but I think you get the point.

So renting is out of the question. Now do you want to live in a 25sqm shoebox as others put it? Porbably not.

Well you have made your point very clear, i was looking at Airbnb and people left review that kathu was a great location if u want to stay away from Patong but still being able to go to the beach!

but after all your advices i did get is not a good idea to buy one there!

Could u guys give me an advice to where to look with that budget for a condo? I would like something near a nice beach but also possible to rent when im abroad!

if you know any good site please could you give it to me?

thanks

[howardprice]

Only a fool buys real estate in Thailand.... The Thais will screw you at every turn they can...all the time..they never let-up.

I've been here 15 years and from what I have seen in that time, my 1st sentence says it all...

If you buy or rent, check the thickness of the dividing walls...

You will get Thais come home any hour of the night and SLAM doors off their hinges, scream when talking and do not forget the bloody loud T V at any hour of the night. In other words. They do not give a damn about their neighbors, whatsoever. etc, etc...

Have a nice day, I am. I rent and can move whenever the need arises..

[mcfish]

OP Don't let posters here put you off 90% are no where near your savings and destined to rip up dead rent money until the bitter end.

Only one good point in the post above and that's wall thickness. buy a corner unit with no neighbors in the bedroom side. And the other is location. If I were you I would buy second hand but only in top quality building. I don't know about phuket but in Pattaya view talay fits the build. Your better off in a larger well maintained unit of 36+ sqm than a new shoe box for your budget, I repeat for your budget

[12DrinkMore]

Find a Russian desperate to sell and lowball him.

Or, indeed, look at condos offered for 2 million and throw low balls, somebody will bite.

Lots of property not moving, just need to find somebody fed up with an empty condo and paying service fees every month.

[Pinot]

Everyone I know who has bought in Phuket has sold or is so far under they can't do anything but stay. No one knowledgeable buys. It's a rookie mistake.

Listen to what everyone is telling you, rent.

There is a glut of property on the market with more coming on everyday. Buying property is a financially risky decision.

I put a deposit on a new rental yesterday. I had to move. They've decided to build a new condo development within a few meters of me and I'm not going to live through a year of the dust and pounding that I would have to endure if I owned. There are no environmental restrictions or zoning laws. Building in Phuket is complete chaos. Don't buy a problem for yourself. You've been warned.

I know of three different developments (plenty others) where there is a war going on between management and owners. Condo management is seen as an ongoing profit source to the Thais and has little to do with the maintenance and management of the development. Condos don't age well here. Specifications are merely suggestions to the builders.

I urge everyone not to buy property in Phuket. The ongoing development is an environmental disaster in a place where water, sewer and trash is already stretched beyond the breaking point. The only way to stop further development is to not buy the shitty condos and villas the developers are throwing up on every square meter of Phuket. Starve the beast.

If that's not enough. Here is some additional info why you should not buy property in Thailand:

http://www.kamalala.com/the-disastrous-phuket-property-glut/

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

Edited March 26, 2016 by Pinot

[bearpolar]

1.4mb, you could simply rent out the nice new studio condos that go for 10-14k per month and switch every 2-3years. Budget for 10years!

[ozyjon]

Rent a new condo and keep moving to new ones,.

let someone else have ownership headaches.

go to yutube, owning v's renting

[zaZa9]

Rent.

Everyone is telling you this , even folk with 15 years experience ( Im only 8 years here ) and still you seem hell bent on losing what is barely enough for a very small studio in a crap area.

5 to 10 mins scoot is considered CLOSE to the beach here.

Kathu would be 20 , and over the most deadly mountain on the island.

You wrote asking a question.
listen to the answer.

[phuketrichard]

some people dont want to listen,

1.4 million is nothing for a condo

I have been here 30 years, Finally brought some land in Kamala in '99 and built a house on the 2 rai. 3rd best thing i have done here

sold it in 2009, Best thing i ever did here :-)

hundreds of empty condos all over the island YET they keep building more, so as i said

resale value ZERO

Edited March 26, 2016 by phuketrichard

[Millenial]

Thank you so much for the help,

well i saw condos like the " condo plus or D-condo" in the website DDproperty and the condo looks nice,

so you guys are telling me that with 1.400.000 i wont buy anything in Phuket?

We've just bought at Dcondo for a spare property for friends etc when they visit, half the comments here are BS. they are packed,

[colinneil]

Why would any sane person want to buy a condo in Phuket???

[asdecas]

Why would any sane person want to buy a condo in Phuket???

No idea, but there are even people prepared to vote for the Hilldabeest. No accounting, etc....

[Roel]

Thank you so much for the help,

well i saw condos like the " condo plus or D-condo" in the website DDproperty and the condo looks nice,

so you guys are telling me that with 1.400.000 i wont buy anything in Phuket?

We've just bought at Dcondo for a spare property for friends etc when they visit, half the comments here are BS. they are packed,

No they are not. Friend of mine lives there. He rents for 8,000/month. He says - and I can see it for myself when I visit, or use the pool not having to share it with anybody else most of the time - that 60-70% is not occupied. Not sure whether they are not sold, but no one is living there and the owners are probably sitting crying in Bangkok and Moscow.

[motyduke]

Dont buy , rent only . You Will lose money. Make the maths it is very simple to understand . And You Will find many peoples with the same good advice. And they live here since longtime

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Every D condo they built in Bangkok went up in price. I am not familiar with phuket, but it should be the same build quality and may even look better than Bangkok condos in 10 years. However, I don't think D condo would allow airbnb rentals.