Thailand Real Estate and Property Guide...

[travelerjim]

Hello Sawatdee Friends,

Today I received an e-mail from Real Estate Thailand. In it there was a link to a Thailand Real Estate and Property Guide. I think it has good overall discussion of current issues regarding owning real estate in Thailand...(of course subject to change by Thai government decrees etc).

For reference purposes I am sharing the link with you.

It is contained inside the August 2006 Issue of Thailand Real Estate Magazine:

http://www.thailandrealestatemagazine.c ... /index.htm (http://www.thailandrealestatemagazine.com/2006_Aug/index.htm) .

http://www.thailand-property-guide.com/ ... y-Laws.htm (http://www.thailand-property-guide.com/articles/REM-63-Property-Laws.htm) .

http://www.thailand-property-guide.com/ .

Please recognize that the subject matter is "subject to interpretation" .....and that it is wise to consult a qualified lawyer - or in absence of that - just post away here on this forum and you will get educated replies posthaste!

But in reading the information as presented in their article - it seems to be a helpful basis to try to understand the Thai laws and regulations / or expectations regarding Real Estate.

TravelerJim
For Affordable International Health & Travel Insurance
Please visit: www.tjinsurance.com (http://www.tjinsurance.com) .

As always, industry magazines and Web sites have a vested interest in the reader taking up their services. No matter what the legalities of ownership are, the fact is that there is a substantial risk that the structure of the building was poor to begin with, and if you're not one of the fortunate few with an active management committee, no matter what the initial quality, overall on-going maintenance will be ignored and the quality of the building will deteriorate anyway. If you must buy, treat it as money you'll never see again. Except in very few cases second-hand condos sell for the original purchase price, or less. One of the leading Western realtors in Bangkok was interviewed by Stickman a few weeks ago, and despite the fact that he's selling condos all the time ... he rents where he lives

By way of cost comparison, there are condos for sale around the 2 or 3 million baht mark down the end of Sukhumvit that have (on top of the purchase price) a current monthly "maintenance" fee of 5,000 baht. If you take the mortgage interest rate on 2.5 million (let's say 5% although that's way too low), then your interest costs alone are 125,000 baht a year plus a further 60,000 baht "maintenance". That's 15,000 baht a month - for which you can get something of probably better quality in the same area (or even closer to the action), to rent

Sounds like SOUR GRAPES to me H.

[Smiles]

Sounds like SOUR GRAPES to me H.
Typical Thaiquila unthoughtful bullshit.

M. Homintern was (I think!) pointing out a fundamental economic reality of Thailand . . . i.e. is it the more intelligent option to rent than to own.

The fact is that we ~ my guy and myself ~ (for instance) can rent in any Thai city for about a third of what it would cost me here at home to rent half the luxury of any given house/condo/townhouse. Trust me, with only one year to go before I make The Big Move, I've priced out the differentials.

The question one must ask himself is whether the (admittedly theoretical) hassle of owning supersedes the (mostly) hassle-free cost of renting. I haven't made that decision yet, but I can damn well tell you that I would value M. Homintern's 'points-well-taken' far more than your stupid cliches.

Cheers ...

OK, Professor,

1. Except in very few cases second-hand condos sell for the original purchase price, or less.
I don't believe it. In the prime areas, most resales are way into profit.

2. 15,000 baht a month - for which you can get something of probably better quality in the same area (or even closer to the action), to rent
I don't believe it

3. If you are moving to Thailand for the long haul, if you buy, you LOCK IN your housing cost. Do you think Thailand is immune from INFLATION not to mention a strengthening CURRENCY?

4. Also, a landlord can kick your ass out anytime. Do you enjoy living that way? You can keep it.

Sorry, but H's rant does sound to me like someone who can't afford to buy. Maybe I am wrong. Either way, he is totally biased.

Another point, it also sounds like an ANTI THAI rant. There are tons of condos and houses in the US that are built like crap and have lousy maintenance. Even so, the prices go up anyway. There and in Thailand.

[Impulse]

Your opinion that renting can be better than owning is valid,however in the long run Thaiquila is right about inflation.Inflation should be feared by everyone as it eats away at our standard of living,and nothing does a better job of it.When your renting your at the mercy of inflation,your rent will increase over time,perhaps greatly,and the best way to live with it is to own property.So many people complain about taxes when its inflation they should be complaining about.What better way for a government to bail itself out of debt than to print money.Here in the U.S. the dollar is worth only 7 cents compared to a dollar from 1950. I loathe realtors more than anyone but real estate is only way to keep up with inflation,unless you own physical gold.If you cant afford to buy I dont blame you for being pissed that prices keep rising,unfortunatly thats the way the world is.

When your renting your at the mercy of inflation,your rent will increase over time,perhaps greatly,and the best way to live with it is to own propertyI'm sure this is true in the West. However my rent hasn't increased since I signed the lease in 1997, and that is generally true of renting in Thailand. Rent does not increase with inflation. Don't infer that Thailand is just like home

I should add that I have never read a single post from Thaiquila worth reading and have usually found his posts to be ignorant about life in Thailand. Since you tell me he is burbling on about inflation and its impact on rent in Thailand, I will have to believe you since he is permanently on {Ignore} for me; if so it's yet another example of his complete, profound and total ignorance of all things Thai

When your renting your at the mercy of inflation,your rent will increase over time,perhaps greatly,and the best way to live with it is to own propertyI'm sure this is true in the West. However my rent hasn't increased since I signed the lease in 1997, and that is generally true of renting in Thailand. Rent does not increase with inflation. Don't infer that Thailand is just like home

I should add that I have never read a single post from Thaiquila worth reading and have usually found his posts to be ignorant about life in Thailand. Since you tell me he is burbling on about inflation and its impact on rent in Thailand, I will have to believe you since he is permanently on {Ignore} for me; if so it's yet another example of his complete, profound and total ignorance of all things Thai
Again, one man's ANECDOTAL experience, and again, most likely SOUR GRAPES.
Rent doesn't increase with inflation, huh? Have you checked the prices on units for RENT right now on units in prime locations? Do you mean to imply they are the same price as 10 years ago?
I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!!

With the recent building boom the one that looses out is the landlord unless its a fabulous 5 star property, because there is so many properties to choose from now, the rent have dramatically slumped, I was looking to rest 2 bedroom apartments on jomtien beach about 6 years ago, they was asking 55,000 baht a month, now if they can get between 35/45,000 per month they are lucky.
Fair enough, sounds like a SUPPLY and DEMAND imbalance in a specific local market.
Do you think that proves that over time rents won't go up?

DELETED

[Aunty]

With the recent building boom the one that looses out is the landlord unless its a fabulous 5 star property, because there is so many properties to choose from now, the rent have dramatically slumped, I was looking to rest 2 bedroom apartments on jomtien beach about 6 years ago, they was asking 55,000 baht a month, now if they can get between 35/45,000 per month they are lucky.
Fair enough, sounds like a SUPPLY and DEMAND imbalance in a specific local market.
Do you think that proves that over time rents won't go up?

I don't know, but that the law of supply and demand functions in Thailand in exactly the same way as it does everywhere else just goes to show that there's nothing particularly special about Thailand that exempts it from the laws of economics. It obeys them just like everyone else! Fancy that!

... that the world's leading financial newspaper, the Financial Times, had a supplement at the weekend for FT House & Garden. Its 20 pages were devoted entirely to the question "to buy or to rent?" Answer: for now, rent