Buying property / condominiums in Pattaya

[voodoo31]

I recently returned from Pattaya where I inspected a couple of condos for sale and was interested in any board member's opinions and experiences in this matter.

 

My observations were prices start from about 1 mil baht for small studio (34 sq metres). Around 3 - 4.5 million can seem to buy you a quite nice condo around 70 sq metres with a few rooms.

 

Seems the headlands of Naklua and Jom Tien were popular spots and a bit more pricey due to private beaches. Although a bit more out of the way for transport I thought (no regular baht buses).

 

With the new airport opening soon and improved transport links (heard of train direct from airport to Pattaya) I think the area may start to boom over next few years. Heard alos of plans for a casino and race track. Already seems to have been good growth over last 2 or 3 years.

 

Apparently a lot of new condos beiong built and virtually selling out before completion, even heard of them being bought and sold at a profit off the floor plan.

 

Seems the newer the better for price as well.

 

Seems reasonable rental opportunities and yields although may be more difficult in off season to find tennans.

 

Be interested to hear thoughts of those with experience owning condos in Thailand or who are also looking around. Also any recommendations for agents would be good. The ones I spoke to didn't have very good English and I didnt have a whole lot of faith / trust in them.

[samak]

remember there are a lot of talks about a possible real estate bubble in LOS!

thoughts about Casino and race tracks are around for many years but no plan in details. a train connection with the airport might be years away.

[Guest]

better off renting a condo unless you life there you will save yourself some money and grief

if you do wish to purchase contact evans marketing you will see them listed in the pattay trader. straight forward and know a good deal about all fact and laws etc

[Guest]

samak said:

remember there are a lot of talks about a possible real estate bubble in LOS! thoughts about Casino and race tracks are around for many years but no plan in details. a train connection with the airport might be years away.

 

I too thought that a casino in Pattaya was improbable, but not now. There are signs that indicate such may occur with maybe 2-years at most. The Ambassador Hotel has recent renovated their first floor...they removed all of the interior columns on that floor. The talk says this was done as casinos everywhere need to have upobstructed views of all the gaming areas for their security cameras. Adjacent to the Ambassador is a scheduled 4-Billion-Bt project soon to be built. The Bang-Na road is currently being both widened and lengthend to conned directly with Pattaya. In addition to the building boom that has occurred here in the last 2-years, there are also a few more high end projects (1-Billion-Bt+) that are currently in construction or on the boards. I dunno if I would now bet against a casino finally coming to Pattaya.

 

Yet, if a casino comes to Pattaya, it will markedly change tourism, traffic and prices here. I may be looking to relocate!

[whosyourdaddy]

Location is the key for an investment property. Anything over 2.5 million might be more difficult to get rid of. Would not buy a place unfinished!!! The problem with condos is that the place can go to ratshit. ie pool never cleaned, elevators broken, etc and your investment may be worthless. Most sales would not be listed. If you are interested in an area, just enter the buildings and ask the staff. they will always know of one that is for sale.

[gummigut]

Casinos? I'd say sooner rather than later.

 

I'd bet money that approval goes through before the end of Thaksin's current term.

 

One in Phuket and one in Pattaya.

 

<<burp>>

[Bembaman]

As I heard it from someone well connected, the casino project will start at the Ambassador for a few years but it will them move to a permanent home somewhere around Phoenix golf course as part of a much bigger project. It will finally happen after all these years!

[rickfarang]

The Baht per square meter you mention is about 2X what you can get if you shop around. As whosyourdaddy mentioned, it depends a lot on location.

 

You will pay the msot for the features that attract the most potential buyers. If you don't need to see the ocean from you livingroom, you can save a bundle.

 

You've heard all the rest of this speach before: Never pay the asking price. Know the neigborhood you are shopping in blah blah blan blah....nothing new being said now...blah, blah, blahm blah...Songkla rubber farms now at bargain prices -hurry before the price goes up, blah, blah, blah.

[torrenova]

Rental yields are shit poor and many are never occupied. Prices are talked up constantly with too many vendors being totally unrealistic.

[SingaporeSteve]

I would agree rental yields for condo's are poor unless they are 3 bedroom 200 sq m + in size + most important in a good building - the highest rents are away from the nightlife.

 

Rental yields for houses can be a lot higher. The house I posted for sale before is rented at 110,000 baht per month at a purchase price of just under 10,000,000 - 13% is a seriously attractive gross yield on property. Nets out after all taxes and management fees at around 11% - this is though an exception - these houses are designed for and targeted purely at westerners working on the Eastern Seaboard, where the rent is paid by the employer. By the way every house in my project is rented on long term rents.

 

Incidentally I would still never buy a condo in Thailand - too little control over whats happening and crappy yield on rental income - your better to rent than own generally in Thailand.