July 21, 20169 yr I am looking at "investing" into an overpriced shoebox in Bangkok, however, I am curious if any condos come with a locker? This is a pretty standard "feature" in Canada. If I am paying more than Toronto prices per square meter than I would like to have a 3x3 where at least I could store my junk.
July 21, 20169 yr Simple answer: rarely. Some older buildings may have external walk-in spaces on the chanote that may be lockable. I saw one such in Metro Jomtien once: it was quite a decent size. Of course units in older buildings tend not to be shoeboxes either, so space is more generous all round.
July 21, 20169 yr Shoeboxes with a storage room? I would think the shoebox is the storage room...so, get two adjacent units.
July 21, 20169 yr Saw something similar about 20 years ago in an old condo I looked at in Pattaya. Second (bottom) basement level was storage, first basement level was car parking. Just the whole open second level, not divided into individual sections for each owner. Each of the owners using it laid out a big tarpaulin, put their furniture etc., on the tarpaulin, then folded the tarpaulin over the furniture then bound with ropes etc., to try to secure it. Had been in use like this for many years, and had become an unholy mess with no records etc. I believe there are several other offsite big and small storage facilities in Pattaya, maybe worth checking. Good luck.
July 22, 20169 yr As above - almost certainly not. If the average room size was 30 sqm then a 3x3 space would nearly be an additional one third of the room size. So for every 3 condos the developer would lose about the equivalent of the fourth condo as storage space. Considering that even the biggest condo builders can struggle to make 25% profit on a project, if they did this they could run at a loss. Unless the developer charged pro rata for the space - in which case most people would prefer to purchase a 40 sqm condo in the first place. All of that aside, how long would it be until one of these spaces popped up on Airbnb?
July 22, 20169 yr Author Considering that even the biggest condo builders can struggle to make 25% profit on a project, if they did this they could run at a loss. Really?
July 22, 20169 yr Considering that even the biggest condo builders can struggle to make 25% profit on a project, if they did this they could run at a loss. Really? Yes. For the largest opetators who can buy everything in huge quantities a great margin is 30%. We are talking about companies that do deals for 10,000 aircon units at once then take staged delivery. That's if everything goes to plan: The land price was good, construction went well, and the units pretty much sold themselves. Most projects are not like that, and margins can slip. For smaller developers, some can be lucky to make 20 per cent. For small developers, some make very little. From time to time you will see entire condo projects for sale where the developer just wants out.
July 22, 20169 yr Author Thanks for that. 20-30% is perhaps not even that bad considering how many units they cram into 1 building. Anyway, I think I will buy another investment property in Canada even though I get slapped with a nice non resident tax. At least the buildings are well maintained and look nice after a few decades.
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