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Rent or Buy ?


Pumpuynarak

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So guys what would/have you done regarding renting or buying a property in Thailand. I've just done a quick calculation based on renting at 20K per month (thats what i reckon we would be paying for our house if we were renting) and as we have been living in our house for 12 years we would have paid in rent 2,880,000 bht.

The house with furniture cost 4.5M so we're still out of pocket and it will take a further 6.75 years to break even but of course we have the capital value of the house, well wifey does lol

Whats your thinking ?

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I don't plan on moving over full time , it's still a holiday destination for me , albeit one that I intend to spend around four months of the year in 

I'm not sure I could spend that time in just one place , on my holidays I like to move around 

neighbours ... in a condo block you can't choose who lives next door to you - the place might be let to Air BNB types in perpetual holiday mode with no consideration for others ... at least if you rent you can move on ...

same for the upkeep of the building / facilities if you are not happy easy to find somewhere else 

visa rules - keep changing 

On the other hand ...it would be nice to have a base , where you could keep clothes and home comforts , plus it would encourage you to not go out every night ( hotels rooms can be claustrophobic after a while ) 

next few years I think it's hotels for me , I might look to rent a condo in the future , but I'm pretty sure I will only ever rent ....

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11 minutes ago, Stillearly said:

neighbours ... in a condo block you can't choose who lives next door to you - the place might be let to Air BNB types in perpetual holiday mode with no consideration for others ... at least if you rent you can move on ...

That is why i would never buy a condo/appt but of course you can still get problems with neighbours living in a house. Staying in hotel rooms over the years has taught me you can't control the noise from an inconsiderate neighbour.

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For me....with a half Thai kid,born in Canada,I would buy,then just leave it for him,no problems.

but if I was retiring there,I guess renting is good enough.

If I was 60 and retiring,I would rent.40?Buy.

I dunno....what we’re we talking about again?

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Easy choice past 60..... Rent.

Except if you're married and want to leave it to your wife. 

Anyway, in all my life the longest I stayed in the same place was in BKK, close to 10 y. Must have moved at least 6 times.... Of  course had I know from Y 1 that I would stay 9 more, it would have made sense to buy.

Had my daugther asking me the same question recently, she is 20.... 5old her she can still think it over a bit.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Pumpuynarak said:

So guys what would/have you done regarding renting or buying a property in Thailand. I've just done a quick calculation based on renting at 20K per month (thats what i reckon we would be paying for our house if we were renting) and as we have been living in our house for 12 years we would have paid in rent 2,880,000 bht.

The house with furniture cost 4.5M so we're still out of pocket and it will take a further 6.75 years to break even but of course we have the capital value of the house, well wifey does lol

Whats your thinking ?

buy thailand prospects good

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1 hour ago, Stillearly said:

I don't plan on moving over full time , it's still a holiday destination for me , albeit one that I intend to spend around four months of the year in 

I'm not sure I could spend that time in just one place , on my holidays I like to move around 

neighbours ... in a condo block you can't choose who lives next door to you - the place might be let to Air BNB types in perpetual holiday mode with no consideration for others ... at least if you rent you can move on ...

same for the upkeep of the building / facilities if you are not happy easy to find somewhere else 

visa rules - keep changing 

On the other hand ...it would be nice to have a base , where you could keep clothes and home comforts , plus it would encourage you to not go out every night ( hotels rooms can be claustrophobic after a while ) 

next few years I think it's hotels for me , I might look to rent a condo in the future , but I'm pretty sure I will only ever rent ....

i like eyenitnoy system. he still rent low cost rose house & built own gogo pad @thai condo place.

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1 hour ago, Pumpuynarak said:

That is why i would never buy a condo/appt but of course you can still get problems with neighbours living in a house. Staying in hotel rooms over the years has taught me you can't control the noise from an inconsiderate neighbour.

To borrow your favorite phrase, BINGO.

I've rented the same house for almost eight years. Other than a shitty neighbor across the soi from me who keeps a kennel of dogs, I've enjoyed my stay here. That is until last month when my next door neighbor decided on a whim she needed to make some additional money, so she's building a restaurant where her garden once was.

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2 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

To borrow your favorite phrase, BINGO.

I've rented the same house for almost eight years. Other than a shitty neighbor across the soi from me who keeps a kennel of dogs, I've enjoyed my stay here. That is until last month when my next door neighbor decided on a whim she needed to make some additional money, so she's building a restaurant where her garden once was.

PC190002.jpg

BINGO, ya can't pick ya neighbours unfortunatley.

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Back when I was renting a condo, I used to hate having to fork out 20K or 25K Baht a month, every month. And the exchange rate was above 50 back then, at sub-40 rates I'd be wanting to trade down to something cheaper. I bought my house 8 years ago and the construction is rubbish, I've spent a lot of time and money fixing stuff that should never have needed fixing in the fist place. OTOH the location is perfect, 5 minutes to Jomtien, 5 minutes to Sukhumvit and 5 minutes to Walking Street, and the village is well-run with a very nice, big swimming pool that's free for residents to use, so I love living here, and the house is pretty much sorted out now.

Property isn't liquid, so unless you're happy to rent it out owning a place means you lose the flexibility to change location quickly. OTOH you can decorate and extend and refurbish and refurnish it as you like, which is a big advantage if you live in a place for a long time. I'd already been renting in Pattaya for 7 years before I bought the house, so I didn't think I was going anywhere fast and buying somewhere was the right move. Even after knocking off the cost of fixing the place, and paying the gardeners and annual balance sheet and village maintenance fees, I reckon owning has saved me around 1.5 million Baht so far, maybe more and maybe a bit less, but still a fair old wodge of money.

Of course, with the way things are changing in Thailand we may want or need to change country fairly quickly at some point in the future, and then I'll probably regret having bought the house. But for now, I'm happy that I have a nice, three-bedroom bungalow to live in rent-free and with all of Pattaya's of many attractions not far away.

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My enjoyment of any property, rented or purchased, in the UK or in Thailand, is hugely governed by my neighbours.

There was a year or so when I really began to regret buying my condo in Pattaya because of the problems 2 neighbours were causing. One of those has returned to Russia, and the condo rented out without issue so far, and the other moved out, and the condo has been vacant ever since.

So I've been enjoying it since, but am forever aware that the situation could change overnight.

There have been problems in England too. At one place, the local authority took up my case of the noise coming from the girl in the apartment upstairs, in response to which the girl's boyfriend and his mates stomped all over my car in the underground car park. A few months later, said boyfriend was in the news charged with bank robbery!

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Bought my house 22 years ago for 1 million. £16666 at the time. Obviously kitted it out and renovated it since but saved a fortune on rent, especially now. Its cheap to own so guess I,ll hang on until death do us part. In the past I rented it out for a total of 18 months while I was working which paid the renovations. No regrets obviously. Now I see businesses near me like Punch and Judy and The Lion Pub closed down permanently whereas the Caddyshack remains in operation. I would think that rents on the first 2 are a big cause of the closure while owner operated Caddyshack is relieved of that expence. A Thai earlier this year offered me 3 million for it as he wished to rent it out. Thats without looking for a buyer. I,m going to hang on as I said.

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I bought pretty much after discovering Thailand, knew it would be a big part of my life one way or another going forward. 

But didn't go mad, just a small HQ in Pattaya, a base, and purposely slightly past 3rd Rd so not right in the circus, but only a 2mins bike ride away, the way I wanted.

Bought when it was 68/69, so did okay, and wasn't expensive anyway, only small, a wee holiday bolt hole.

Used it twice a year for a good few years, when I stayed in Pattaya mostly.

But I changed, and what I wanted for my life changed, hence getting married and child. I now don't spend much time at all in Pattaya each trip, and when I do, I stay central, around 2nd road. No way would I go on a bike with the child. Each to their own, but if anything happened, a crash or whatever and she got hurt or worse, i'd never forgive myself. 

So now I rent it out. It's quite good to have Baht going into my Thai A/C each month, kinda helps with exchange rate plunge. 

Wasn't a big outlay to begin with anyway, could sell and transfer back into £'s, probably make a wee bit. But no rush to do anything.

Going forward, I think we'll always keep as our base, the UK, for a few reasons, probably rent in long 3/4 month trips, winter etc in Thailand, Hua Hin or Sattahip direction. But, who knows, Pattaya doesn't hold much attraction for me nowadays. Still enjoy it, but obviously now i'm married with a child, not the same. But Pattaya is changing, see what it's like in 10 or so years when thinking seriously about retirement and long trips. 

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4 hours ago, Yessongs said:

Wifey bought her home in 2005 new, paid it off in 2012, after selling the other one she had out in Bang Phli by the airport. Good decision as this one is really nice. She did the kitchen, knocked out some walls and made it bigger and wider after 2 years long before I got there. It is nice for both her and I as my place is paid off too, not to have that monthly monkey on your back every month by renting. Neither her or I, would ever consider renting our places out to anyone while we are not there for sure. Ok yes Thailand is changing and all, always good to be able to live in America if we have to I guess. I cannot imagine having to shell out 20k per month to rent a house in Thailand Cliff. 

I will say one thing about Thailand from just a personal observation by living there, if you buy, you better make sure you like living there. Homes that in our neighbor hood that are as nice as wifeys, do not sell very fast. There are 3 homes there still up for sale in our neighborhood of 110 houses, that have been for sale when I moved there in Jan 2016. And......there is very little equity as prices reamin the same. You are not going to be able to make alot of money on your home there....even after years of living there. I think she told me once that 65% of Thai residents rent, as they just cannot afford to buy. 

That is not the case here in Calif. 

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Does she have someone to keep an eye on her home whilst she is away or is the area safe anyway? 

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5 hours ago, Yessongs said:

I cannot imagine having to shell out 20k per month to rent a house in Thailand Cliff. 

From what I saw 15 to 20k is the minimum price if you want a decent place to live as a couple in Thailand, except maybe if you accept to be in the middle of nowhere.

My place in Bali is 17 k

 

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2 hours ago, Thai Spice said:

From what I saw 15 to 20k is the minimum price if you want a decent place to live as a couple in Thailand, except maybe if you accept to be in the middle of nowhere.

My place in Bali is 17 k

Around Pattaya I would agree. This is the place I've been renting for almost eight years for 17k/month. Friend just rented a house a few doors down that is of identical design and quality and got a good deal at 15k/month. I'd also add from my experience, and from what I've heard from others is once you establish yourself as a good tenant, rent increases are pretty much unheard of.

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Based on the fact you can't actually legally own any land here in Thailand buying a house for me if i was single would be a non starter, it would have to be a condo/appt which i would'nt want to buy for the reasons i stated and the fact i don't want to live long term in a condo/appt. I know many single expats who have circumvented the rules by setting up a Thai company and put the house in a company name, fine for them but i would'nt be prepared to spend a few million and then have the Thai government confiscate the property which one day they could well do, TIT
I paid for our house which is in wifey's name and we are now very happy living here, our neighbours are all good people and we get on like a house on fire, i just could'nt see us living in a condo/appt for 12 years, it would be purgatory for us.
After 13 years of marriage and putting up with me wifey more than deserves the house as some security for her future along with the 50% widows pension she will receive on my death but she reckons when i'm gone she won't want to live in the house anymore and will sell and keep half of the proceeds and give the other half to my sons, i've told her that is a decision for her to make, she is under no obligation. 
 
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I understand your reluctance but I bought mine the Thai company route in June 1997. Reasoned that at the time, my parents paid approx the same for a new Audi 80 car. The Thai government haven,t taken it yet and I would think if there were a problem I could shut down the company and transfer it to my wife. In any event after 22 years it owes me nothing. ie £757 a year approx 30000bt

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23 hours ago, Stillearly said:

Does she have someone to keep an eye on her home whilst she is away or is the area safe anyway? 

Her brother looks after the home while we are not there, we pay 600 baht for 24/7 Security. There is one way in and one way out for her neighborhood. Good Security guys, friendly to me since day one. The neighbors she is all tight with too......they even like me LOL!  

@Pumpuynarak Rachanee told me years ago that if she dies, since we are married, the house would be mine. I told her if that ever happened, I could not live there by myself really. Just too hard and I for sure would let her brother have it, even though he has bought and paid for his house too about 30 minute drive from her place. I too feel like you do, no apt or condo for me long term anywhere. Again, unlike others on here, I still do not want to pay rent at these prices and I like keeping the money for myself and not making other people rich. 

 

 

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We bought our house in Korat in 2010,it's directly opposite her sister's house so very good for security when we're in the UK.Obviously in wifey's name but after 19 years I reckoned if she was going to fleece me she'd have done it by then.

If I outlive my mum & still have my marbles I plan on buying or renting a condo somewhere.Jomtien was my first thought but now thinking about somewhere on the riverbank in Bangkok.

Of course lots of ifs & buts in this.

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