Evaluating The Purchase Of A Condo

[CMguy]

I have just started looking at several condo's and was wondering if any Forum members had opinions good or bad about the condo complexes in question.

I have looked at Nakornping Condo's, Hillside 3, 4, 5 also the Hillside condotel near Payap University ( one beer to many reformatted the brain cell that stored the number, Hillside 7 or 8 me thinks) RimPing condo's, Galare Thong Condotel or Galae as most Thai's refer to it. I am also set to look at a few more in the coming days.

The unit's I am interested in are typically between 60-105 sq meters, with prices between 1.3-2.5 million baht. Any Insight about Chiang Mai's condo market would be appreciated.

Thanks

[john b good]

I have just started looking at several condo's and was wondering if any Forum members had opinions good or bad about the condo complexes in question.

I have looked at Nakornping Condo's, Hillside 3, 4, 5 also the Hillside condotel near Payap University ( one beer to many reformatted the brain cell that stored the number, Hillside 7 or 8 me thinks) RimPing condo's, Galare Thong Condotel or Galae as most Thai's refer to it. I am also set to look at a few more in the coming days.

The unit's I am interested in are typically between 60-105 sq meters, with prices between 1.3-2.5 million baht. Any Insight about Chiang Mai's condo market would be appreciated.

Thanks

Pricing seems about right. Be careful though and be sure to take a good look at the construction standards. Whilst this is not altogether a simple matter some condo's have glaring examples of shoddy construction i.e. wide cracks in floors. The worst examples of this that I saw were in some of the buildings on the canal road north of Huay Kaew.

[ThaiPauly]

I have had a few mates who rented Condos in Hillside 4...they were pretty pleased with them.

But from what I have read on another thread there would appear to be at least 25% of the units unoccupied so it would seem it is a buyer's market ...bargain HARD

[MyPenRye]

I have just started looking at several condo's and was wondering if any Forum members had opinions good or bad about the condo complexes in question.

I have looked at Nakornping Condo's, Hillside 3, 4, 5 also the Hillside condotel near Payap University ( one beer to many reformatted the brain cell that stored the number, Hillside 7 or 8 me thinks) RimPing condo's, Galare Thong Condotel or Galae as most Thai's refer to it. I am also set to look at a few more in the coming days.

The unit's I am interested in are typically between 60-105 sq meters, with prices between 1.3-2.5 million baht. Any Insight about Chiang Mai's condo market would be appreciated.

Thanks

Pricing seems about right. Be careful though and be sure to take a good look at the construction standards. Whilst this is not altogether a simple matter some condo's have glaring examples of shoddy construction i.e. wide cracks in floors. The worst examples of this that I saw were in some of the buildings on the canal road north of Huay Kaew.

Do you know of any reputable engineer or assessor?

Thanks.

[CMguy]

John B- you are right it is very important to inspect the quality of the workmanship, however it is proving to be difficult to do properly. Insights from current and past tenants would be useful.

ThaiPauly- I also like the Hillside 4 unit but even though there are a number of vacant units the prices are holding up (inflated), looking for a motivated seller!!

MyePenRye- No I don't know of any building inspectors , assesors or engineers. Looking for them any Ideas?

[john b good]

I have just started looking at several condo's and was wondering if any Forum members had opinions good or bad about the condo complexes in question.

I have looked at Nakornping Condo's, Hillside 3, 4, 5 also the Hillside condotel near Payap University ( one beer to many reformatted the brain cell that stored the number, Hillside 7 or 8 me thinks) RimPing condo's, Galare Thong Condotel or Galae as most Thai's refer to it. I am also set to look at a few more in the coming days.

The unit's I am interested in are typically between 60-105 sq meters, with prices between 1.3-2.5 million baht. Any Insight about Chiang Mai's condo market would be appreciated.

Thanks

Pricing seems about right. Be careful though and be sure to take a good look at the construction standards. Whilst this is not altogether a simple matter some condo's have glaring examples of shoddy construction i.e. wide cracks in floors. The worst examples of this that I saw were in some of the buildings on the canal road north of Huay Kaew.

Do you know of any reputable engineer or assessor?

Thanks.

I'm afraid that I do not know any engineers or assessors in Chiangmai (let alone reputable ones) and none that I would recommend or overly trust.

As I suggested cracks in floors are a dead giveaway.

If you can see the concrete (i.e. where it is not covered up with plaster in service ducts etc.,) and it looks nice and smooth (not boney like just a lot of bits of aggregate "stones" held together on their outer surfaces and not bound by fine material such as smaller aggregate and sand "and cement" of course) would be a fair indication that its not too bad.

If reinforcing steel is visible it is another indication of shoddy work.

I suggest that when you are looking at an apartment / condo you look at the overall building and not just the unit you are thinking about buying.

Another thing (not related to construction integrity) is what they charge per sq metre for annual body corp fees. It should in Chiangmai be around 180-200 baht / sq metre.

And what you get for your body corp fees is also important, i.e. good security service and not just a few guys off the street brought in by the building manager as a means of creaming off some extra funds.

If you are not a complete dummy (and I am not suggesting that you are) I reckon the best approach is to take a look at several buildings, get a feel for the standard of construction, the look of the staff, what you are being asked to pay for the unit, and them filter out those places that are outside the average. Then find tune your list perhaps adding in where (what locality) you might want to be i.e. places in Huay Kaew are closer to Chiangmai University.

And one other thing to consider is the number of unsold (as opposed to unoccupied) units there are in a building. There are a number of buildings where as few as 10% of the units have been sold. The developer borrowed money to buy the land, borrowed money to build the building sold 10-12 units and then walked away leaving the banks to carry the can.

One such building that comes to mind is the one next to Pun Pun Guesthouse on Charoenraj Road.

You don't see much of the security, the general look of the building is one of neglect and they don't seem to even have the money to adequately light the reception area and common areas on each of the floors.

The less number of units sold the less they are receiving by way of body corp fees, do they have sufficient to insure the building (are they insuring the building)

Finally the thing to remember is that sometimes it is a bit of "a pig in a poke"

Not a lot of help I'm afraid.

Edited November 8, 2006 by john b good

[KhunLing]

Re the banks selling Units...

I spoke to some Thai investors today who said there's TONNES of apartments available in CM currently. Market is very poor.

They specialise in buying places through the banks are they get them very cheap.

It's a gamble though...if others don't buy and there's no money, maintenance etc all falls through.

[Rasseru]

I understand there may be some very good deals to be had these days at Hillside Plaza 4.