How much is a 2 to 3 b/r house to rent in Chiang Mai

[Bob9]

6 hours ago, BarnicaleBob said:

If you are going to be in Chiang Mai for that long, you may also want to consider living outside of the city.  Places like San Sai, Hong Dong, Doi Saket and a few others have large numbers of westerners living there.  The home rental prices are less expensive than in the City and the people seem a lot more friendly.  Of course you need to think about transportation and it would be a good idea to purchase a used car (they are safer than motorbikes).  Having a car will not only make your trips to and from the City easier but will afford you the opportunity to take weekend trips to nearby places of interest such as hot springs, mountain parks, temples or wats, tribal villages and so on.  

Prices: 

Used cars can be found from 100,000 baht on up.  Really good ones in the 300,000 baht range. 

Rental housing in the outlaying areas can range from 5,000 baht a month on up.  For example, I live in a Doi Saket area moo baan (housing development), a nice furnished 2 or 3 bedroom 2 bath house, with AC, and a western style kitchen rents on average between 6,000 and 10,000 baht a month. 

I agree 100% - especially giving you are here 2 years. We first started living close to the City (the walls) and were much happier after we moved away from the tourists, traffic, deadbeats, whinging expats and all the other issues than comes from living too close and too cheaply.

 

What you should do is stay at a decent hotel/guesthouse in CM, while you find a place to live (and get a car). IMO you should not rent a house/unit that is not in a moobaan (gated community).  And you need to 'vet' each Moobaan yourselves by going there and taking a look - do you need to provide ID to get in, is it full of dogs etc, are the gardens and houses well maintained, does the house have everything needed (make list), it the moobaan near enough to work, shops, malls

 

There is an Expat business that sells used cars - they provide guarantee and they stand behind their cars. We used them and still do for all service etc. Not sure if ok to mention here but the name is expat autos.

 

Research this site - there are plenty of reviews about  best place to live and best moobaan.