Is buying a condo in THAILAND a huge mistake?

#Thailand #Pattaya #jomtien

I bought my condo in Thailand 2 years ago now and a few things have gone wrong. I have also heard some nightmare stories from some other condo owners here in the Pattaya and Jomtien area. I will share my info with you!

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M O R E A B O U T U S

My name is Brian but everyone calls me Greeny. I retired in January of 2020 after working 30 years in Law Enforcement. I wanted to retire young enough to be able to do some of the things I always dreamed about! I knew I wanted to travel extensively and retire somewhere warm and exotic I sampled a ton of places in the Caribbean, Panama, Colombia, Turkey but set my sights on Thailand. In 2020 I met Fai on a Tinder date and we hit it off immediately. We have been inseparable ever since!

I started making videos as a hobby but now it is more like a passion.

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T H A N K Y O U F O R S U P P O R T I N G T H E C H A N N E L

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P R O D U C T I O N T O O L S

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L E T S C O N N E C T!

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[MrLinggah]

I am a renter and lived in condos in the Pattaya area of and on for 20 years. You are right in what you say but for me 1 bad neighbour can ruin the rest of your life. I prefer the freedom of just getting out at the end of the Month if this arises. I've had the water shut off on me without notice from the office (maintenance etc), phone line disconnected without any reason while still paying the fees, animals (cats and dogs) defecating in hallways and the owners don't clean up after them. At one stage the juristic people had issues with the cleaning company and nothing was getting cleaned for a while. Anyhow now I am in a serviced apartment now and it is much better and I can leave anytime I like. It can work for many people but for me I'll keep renting.

[chrisperrins]

I have a rule I follow - I never invest in a country where I don’t speak the language and don’t trust the law. When I go to Thailand, as much as I love the country I have never been tempted to buy there.

[RaymondCore]

I bought a condo three and a half years ago and already consider it a good purchase. My condo is 27 years old and has great water pressure, is quiet, close to Sky Train, close to Makro/Lotus/Big C/Villa and not far from Central Dept. Store. I paid $18, 000 and another $10, 000 to remodel and furnish it. I can sell it for a profit on quick notice if I choose. I chose East facing because the prevailing winds during the cool/dry season come from the East and the rain from the Monsoon comes from the West. I have zero complaints and wish I had bought my condo when I first fell in love with Thailand 23 years ago. Oh, the money I spent on hotels, apartments, and guest houses.

[tchalla]

If you have 3k in USD a month, I don't understand buying a primary residence when rent is sooo cheap which allows you to leave within 3 months if anything goes wrong at that property!!

[evansmusic]

I bought my condo here in Jomtien just over a year ago. While away they always have us turn off the water and sign off on a book managed by the building security.. My 1 bedroom place is ultra quiet, has small balconies so nobody sits outside... I'm north facing so doesn't get too hot.. maintenance fees only 14000/year.. I never had a tax bill - maybe under the threshold!? Very happy with the place so far - other than replacing the kitchen, painting, etc. when I bought the place (Juristic requested a deposit and inspection after work done to get a refund ) I have no issues... Sadly I don't spend enough time here is the only issue...

[richguest]

Nearly bought a condo in 2013, however, changed my mind and bought a house in the UK and used the rental income to rent a place in Bangkok - looking back it's a decision I'm very happy I made. Unless you really know what you're doing, and as others are saying, be mindful of investing into Thailand more than you're prepared to walk away from.

[ResmithSR]

That situation with Airbnbs or a neighbor and people partying and making noise at all hours of the night would make me not want to get stuck after buying a condo there. People go to Pattaya and Thailand to party so it very well could happen. Rent there is so cheap, 😊so the ability to just move somewhere else is a better alternative.

[ohdearearthlings]

Those flexible water hoses are always a bomb waiting to go off. They are strictly for the convenience of tradesmen. Get a proper plumber to replace them with solid copper tubing.

[VictorHenderson]

100 percent this video convinced me never to buy a condo however for one reason. People problems. I forget about the misery living in close proximity to people can bring because I have lived the last 35 years in my own house. Watching this video had me remembering the times in my younger days in an apartment. Ugh... never. Never again. Thanks for the memory jolt.

[blackthaiaffair]

Hey Greeny! Thanks for the perspective :) Rent and travel for me....just a studio, keeping my expenses low with no worries about the property...if it has issues i like the idea of just moving on to a new place and different scenery :) Nice pool, a washing machine, good parking and a view are really all I need :) Thanks again...take care. rb

[annecy]

Your issues are no different from what you would experience in other parts of the world. I live in Canada and my condo unit was flooded 3 times in one year! And the apartment building I was living at also had floodings due to the facade. This is not exclusively Thailand.

[TravelingNomad]

Had a condo in Bangkok the previous tenant put a water filtration system under the sink I never thought much of it. One night I wake up to security pounding on my door the water line snapped and flooded the main room went under the door flooded the hallway and I happened to live across the elevator shaft on the 19th floor needless to say both elevators out of commission for weeks thank god the service elevator was not affected close to 3 million baht of damage and I wasn't responsible because I had not put the water filtration system in. The landlord ended up forking over a good bit of money. One of the main reasons I will always rent in Thailand.

[toshimon]

Great insight on owning a condo in Thailand, thank you! To be honest the problems are no different than what I've heard of from condo owners here in the US just seems like its a lot cheaper. Good luck!

[gord]

Good heads up with the info as usual here!!
Yep always a few risks wen buying your condo there …juristic office n condo fees etc…make sure it’s in foreign name for a start!! But if you’ve lived at a place where u feel comfortable and like it for your base in retirement then why not??
I did n got corner condo in Jomtien while ago that’s rented out long term so it’s covering the condo fees n any maintenance etc…as looking long term base from where to travel around to other places n neighbouring countries. 😉😎

[fastj]

I think I mentioned this in another thread, I replaced a few pipes, and a relay on my pump for the house, and 30 lightbulbs. On 3 corners of the house, the fittings for the garden hoses which are quick release were literally falling apart. When I went to unscrew 2 of the 3 they crumbled in my hand. I replaced them with brass fittings. I talked to several property managers and realestate people and the build quality in Thailand is absolutely low. WE toured several gated communities in defferen cities and first, Thai housing design is goofy. A lot of them have this idea that Kitchens should be in a closet. Out driveway which looked cool was sinking. They definately didn't compact the ground correctly before pouring it. We were gonna rent it out but we are selling.
No reason to own a place if you aren't living there. We can always buy later....lol We actually might buy some land and build in Huahin.

[billdadrill]

I have owned a condo for many years in Siracha i have been fortunate to have minimal issues. I come to Thailand a few times a year and keep my things there so when I get there Im sleeping in my home not a hotel everytime. I think it was a good investment. Not for everyone but it worked for me. Watching from AMMAN JORDAN.

[GapBahnDirk]

I bought two condo units in the same building in Bangkok in 2002/3. I sold one in 2016 for double the price I paid. Also rented one condo out, so the result is that my remaining condo did not cost me anything. There have of course been maintenance costs along the way, but that has been a lot cheaper than paying rent.

[ep]

If you want to buy buy into an older building, why? you see the quality and maintenance in action. Also buy into a building low rise and around 35 units.

[SjaakSchulteis]

Wow.... I'm living in Thailand for over 10 years now and have a house south of Hua Hin. It keeps me busy... repairing things, changing things, working the garden etc. Sometimes I'm thinking of living in a condo would let me enjoy life more and have everything done for me. But seeing your video.... well, that healed me for the moment. I had some issues in the house which I discovered about two months ago when a hole I digged for a small sitting pool, kept filling up with water. I thought my pond was leaking, but then I got the water bill which was triple of what I used to pay. So I went to check my waterpiping and turned out that I had leaks on three different places, losing huge amounts of water. (no neighbor below me who could complain like in a complex). It took me several days to fix all that...
But at least I could do it myself, the damage was on my piece of land and well, that's the nice thing about living in a small house. Also over the years I extended our house and I like to live here, whilst in a condo you live with what you have.
So all in all.... I really would think twice about living in a condo. It looks nice from the outside, but those hidden disadvantages are really annoying. By the way, my wife went to pay house tax yesterday: 17 Baht! I think she spent more on gasoline to get to the office!

[mg_williams]

I had similar issues as mentioned in the video, but my condo is in the Netherlands. These things happen in every country no matter how high developed the county might look like compared with other countries.